by Alan Nafzger & Lilly Tabbytite (Comanche)
There was a man with a pointed leg who could run, jump, and stick himself into the side of a tree. He brought himself back to the ground by saying, "Leg come out." On a hot day, he would climb high into a tree for shade and a cool breeze. However, he could only perform this trick four times in one day.
Coyote happened to pass by while he was performing this trick.
"Hey, my brother, what are you doing?"
"I'm getting out of the heat by getting into the shade of this tree."
"Hone my leg. Then I can do it, "Coyote explained.
While the man sharpened his leg with an ax, Coyote stood up on a log. It hurt, and tears streamed down Coyote's cheeks.
When he was finished, the man instructed Coyote to only perform this trick four times per day. He instructed him to keep track of how many times he did it.
Coyote agreed and walked toward the river, singing one of his songs. He threw himself up in a large cottonwood tree and got stuck in the bark when he arrived. Then he summoned himself to the ground. "I was just testing this trick," Coyote explained to himself. "I'm going to start counting now." He ran up to a tree, jumped, stuck himself in the trunk, and counted, "One!"
He shouted "Two!" the next time he jumped.
The following time, he counted "three!" and became entangled in the branches of a pine tree.
Many animals had gathered by this point to watch what Coyote was doing. They requested that he teach them this trick. "How did you learn that?" they inquired. The Coyote strutted around with pride. He refused to answer.
Finally, he ran at a tree a fifth time, jumped as high as he could, and stuck his leg in up to the thigh. Everyone exchanged glances. What Coyote was doing was extremely powerful. Coyote then yelled, "Leg come out!" in an attempt to return to the ground, but nothing happened. "Leg come out!" he yelled again, but he was stuck. He told the animals watching to go find the man who taught him this trick and bring him back, but they simply walked away. They realized it was just Coyote. He stayed in that tree until he died of starvation.