One
day Coyote and Iktomi were walking along. These two were good
friends and liked doing things together. After awhile, they walked
by Iya, the rock. This rock was covered with moss and was very
old.
Coyote and Iktomi stopped. Coyote
said, "Look at this fine
rock. I'm sure it has great powers."
Coyote took off the blanket he wore
around his shoulders and
placed it over the rock
"Here, Iya, this blanket is
for you. It will keep you warm when
the cold winds blow."
"What a nice person you are,
Coyote," said Iktomi. "Giving your
blanket to Iya was a very generous thing to do."
" Oh, that's just the way I
am," Coyote replied. "I like to share
what I have with others."
The two friends kept on walking.
It wasn't long before the clouds covered the sun and rain began
to fall. Harder and harder the rain fell. Then the rain turned
to hail. Coyote and Iktomi looked for a place to wait until the
hail stopped. They found a cave and went inside. |
But
the cave was damp and cold. Iktomi didn't seem to mind. He was
wearing his heavy buffalo robe. Coyote wasn't so lucky. He no
longer had his blanket to keep him warm. Coyote shivered and his
teeth chattered loudly.
"This is awful," Coyote
groaned. "Iktomi, go back and get my
blanket. That rock has always gotten along just fine without one.
Hurry, before I freeze to death."
Because he was a good and true friend,
Iktomi did as Coyote wanted. He walked back along the path to
where the rock was sitting. Iktomi asked Iya to return Coyote's
blanket. Iya, the rock, was not about to give up the blanket.
"No, I won't," said the rock. "I like my new blanket.
I intend to keep what was given to me." |
Iktomi
came back to the cave. He told Coyote the bad news.
" Iya, the rock, is going
to keep your blanket."
" What?" Coyote shouted.
"That no-good rock. He did nothing to
earn that blanket. He has no right to keep it. I'll go get it
myself."
But Iktomi warned Coyote. "Iya,
the rock, has much power. You
may be sorry if you try to take the blanket from him."
But Coyote had his mind made up,
and he walked back to where the rock was sitting. "Hey,
rock! What do you mean by keeping my blanket? You don't need
it. Give it back now."
The rock just looked at Coyote.
Then he said, "No. I intend to keep what was given to me."
"You are no friend of mine,
rock. I might catch cold. It.would
be your fault. Don't you care if I freeze to death?" |
At that
point Coyote grabbed the blanket away from Iya and wrapped it
around his shoulders. "I'll show you!" Coyote said.
"Now that's over."
"You are mistaken, Coyote,"
said the rock. "We will see what happens next." |
Coyote
went back to the cave where Iktomi waited. By this time, the rain
and hail had stopped. The clouds cleared away and soon the sun
was shining. Coyote and Iktomi came out of the cave. They sat
on the ground while they ate their lunch of fry bread. When they
finished eating they stretched out to let the sun warm them. All
of a sudden Iktomi sat up and said to Coyote, "Do you hear
that noise?"
"What noise?" Coyote
answered. "I hear nothing but insects
buzzing."
" Listen harder," Iktomi
replied. "It is a rumbling sound like thunder."
Coyote pricked up his ears. "I
hear it now, Iktomi."
"The noise is coming closer,"
lktomi said.
"I wonder what is making such
a loud noise?" Coyote said.
"I'm not sure, my friend, but
I have a good idea," Iktomi replied.
Just then the two friends saw a
great rock crashing over the ground. It was Iya, the rock, headed
straight toward them!
"Let's get out of here! cried
Iktomi. "Iya will squash us if we
don't move!"
Coyote and Iktomi got to their feet
and started to run. They ran as fast as they could away from the
thundering rock. Iya rolled after them, coming closer and closer
every minute. |
Iktomi
called to Coyote, "Let's jump in the river and swim to the
other side. That rock is so heavy it will sink straight to the
I bottom."
So they dove into the water and
started swimming. But Iya, the great rock, rolled into the river
and swam over the water as if it were the hard ground.
When that plan didn't work, Iktomi
cried, "Let's head for the
forest. That big rock won't be able to get through all those trees."
So they ran into the forest. When
they looked back, they could see Iya rolling after them. The rock
was crashing though the thick forest as if the trees were toothpicks.
Coyote and Iktomi ran and ran until the forest was far behind
them. They ran across the grasslands with Iya closing in on them.
" I just remembered something,
dear friend," Iktomi told Coyote.
"I have an appointment to keep. I must be going or I'll be
late."
With that, Iktomi changed himself
into a spider and rolled into a
nearby mouse hole. |
Coyote
was getting tired. He was running as fast as he could, but Iya
was gaining on him. Then Iya, the great rock, caught up with Coyote
and rolled right over him. Coyote was lying in the dirt, as flat
as a pancake. Iya grabbed the blanket. As he rolled back to his
spot on the road, he called out to Coyote. "I told you so.
I will keep what was given to me."
After a while a hunter happened
by. He saw Coyote lying there flattened out . |
"Hm-m
-m-m," the hunter said to himself. "That looks like
a nice
rug. Someone must have lost it." So the hunter picked up
Coyote and
slung him over his horse. When the hunter returned home, he unrolled
Coyote right in front of his fire.
In the old days when a Coyote was
killed, he could come back to
life by pumping himself full of air. Coyote puffed and puffed.
It
took him the whole night, but finally he was his regular shape
once
again.
The next morning the hunter's wife
woke her husband. "Husband,"
she said, "I just saw your rug. It was running away."
Coyote had learned his lesson. From
that time on, whenever Coyote
gave something away, he never tried to take it back.
Now the story is ended. |
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