Once there was a little boy. He was an orphan. This boy cried day and night and would never be quiet. His grandmother asked him one day, “What makes you cry?”

He said, “I cry because I want a wife.” Now his grandparents knew of a girl who lived toward the east and they sent him there. As he went along the
trail, he came to a giant’s house. He went in to see the giant, who asked him to stay to breakfast. The giant had five roasts on the fire. He had four large roasts and one small one.

He said to the boy, “Pick out the roast you want for breakfast.”

The boy picked out the small roast. Now, the four large roasts were the legs of people that the giant had killed. The small roast was venison. The boy knew this from what his grandmother had told him. She said, “Never eat too much.”

After breakfast he went on. On the road he came to a great rock cliff. Its name was Cliff-Giant and it crushed people. The other giant had told him of this one, and how to get by it.

He had said, “Turn yourself into a little dog and very slowly follow the trail under the Rock-Cliff. Keep your eye on Rock-Cliff. When you see it move, run fast.”

He did this and escaped. Then he went on. He could see at a distance the place where the girl lived. Until he came in sight of this lodge he had never left off crying. Now, this girl had a great horse which would kill people before they could reach her lodge. That was her guard. The boy picked up two large stones and ran, still crying, toward the lodge. The animal ran at the boy, but the boy spat all over one of the stones. When the horse came close, he threw the stone behind him. Then the horse stopped to stamp on the stone and the boy ran on. He was almost in reach of the lodge when he threw the other stone. The horse stopped to stamp on that, and the boy reached the lodge and jumped in.

Very soon the girl entered. She knew him at once and called him by name Iwapnep ftswitki, Cry-because-he-had-no-wife. She talked to him and asked him if he wanted a bath. So she built a fire, heated water, and prepared him a bath. When he had taken the bath he became of man’s size. Next morning
they started toward his home. When they reached this, his grandparents were very old, because he had been gone many years.

The girl said to her husband: “You tell your grandparents to do nothing wrong to-night. If they obey, I will give them a bath that will make them
young again.”

In the morning she did so; but they had not obeyed her directions so they did not become young again. The next night they were both dead. Then the girl and her husband started for her old home. They rode back on the great horse but he did not go very well. They made a whip out of black haw.

The whip said to them, “I can outlast all other whips.”

They made a whip out of smoke-wood (Coyote-rope). This whip said, “When the giant gets too close, throw me down and I will tangle up the giant.” They made a whip out of mud. This whip said, “Throw me down and I will mire the giant.”

They made a whip out of slide-rock. This whip said, “Throw me down and the giant will have trouble in getting by.” They made a whip out of red haw. This whip said, “Throw me down, and I will tear the giant’s flesh.”

They made a whip out of big mountains. This whip said, “Throw me down and the giant will not be able to get past me.”

When they had finished all the whips, they started to pass the giant’s house.

The giant rushed out and cried, “Give me your wife!” The boy answered, “Get me a drink of water and I will give you my wife.”

When the giant went to get the water, the boy whipped up the horse and hurried on. They had gone some ways when the giant came out. They threw down the whip of black haw. He almost overtook them and they threw down the whip of smoke-wood. It tangled up the giant until they got away. When the giant almost overtook them again, they threw down the mud whip and he was mired. When the giant almost overtook them the fourth time, they threw down the slide-rock whip and the giant had great trouble in getting by. When the giant almost overtook them the fifth time, they threw down the red-haw whip, and it tore the flesh of the giant. And when the giant almost overtook them the sixth time, they threw down the whip of high mountains and he could not cross it. Thus they escaped.

Myths and legends of the Pacific Northwest, especially of Washington and Oregon, by Judson, Katharine Berry, Chicago : A.C. McClurg, 1912, c1910

Coyote was traveling up the river. He heard some one calling to him from far off. A woman’s voice said to him, “Come here and finish killing him for me!” He looked, and saw a girl standing at the top of a cliff. She had bow and arrows, but could not use them; and she was trying to kill Mountain-Sheep. So Coyote went up to help her. Besides the bow and arrows, she had a forked stick. She asked Coyote to look over the cliff and see how best they could get at Mountain-Sheep; and while he was doing this, she caught his neck with the forked stick and pushed him over the cliff. Then she went down where he had landed; and when she saw that her victim was only Coyote, she threw the body into the river.

Coyote floated down the river a bend and a half, and stranded. Magpie came flying up the river; and when he saw Coyote, he thought to himself, “I wonder if there is matter in his eyes!” When Magpie began pecking at the eyes of Coyote, however, the latter came to, and said to Magpie, “Why are you flying around here? I myself have just been to battle, capturing women.” Magpie replied, “You were in no battle; you were pushed over the cliff and killed by Mountain-Sheep Girl.” Then Magpie told Coyote what to do to play even.

So Coyote traveled upstream a second time, and again he heard her call. He went up to her; and when she asked him to do the same thing, he replied, “Now, let me take the stick, and then you show me just where I have to stand in order to see Mountain-Sheep plainly.” When she went to show him, Coyote caught her with the forked stick, pushed her over the cliff, and killed her.

Then Coyote resumed his journey up river; and by and by he heard another woman, who called to him to come and lie with her. He arrived where the woman was. Then he embraced her and began to copulate. His penis was cut off, and he died. When the woman saw that it was only Coyote she had killed, she threw the body into the water, and it drifted down the river.

Again Magpie saw the body, and came to feed on the matter in the eyes. Coyote came to, and said, “Why did you wake me up? I have been to war, capturing women.” Then Magpie answered, “No, you were over there with Mussel-Shell Woman (sewisyeye), who cut off your penis and killed you.” So again Magpie told him what to do to kill her in turn. He went up the river, and at the same place the woman called to him again; but now Coyote had a bone which he used instead of his penis. So he killed her, and said, “You will be only a mussel-shell, and Indians will eat you, but you will not be able to hurt any one.”

Nez Perce Tales, By Herbert J. Spinden, 1907

Coyote and his wife were staying in a nice village. One winter his wife became ill. She died. In time Coyote became very lonely. He did nothing but weep for his wife.

The death spirit came to him and asked if he was crying for his wife.

“Yes, my friend,” answered Coyote. “I long for her. There is a great pain in my heart.”

After a while the death spirit said, “I can take you to the place where your wife has gone, but if I do, you must do exactly what I say. You can’t disregard a single word.”

“What would you expect me to do? I will do whatever you say, everything, my friend.”

“Well, then let’s go.”

After they had gone a ways the death spirit again cautioned Coyote to do exactly as he was told and Coyote said he would.

By this time Coyote was having trouble seeing the death spirit. He was like a shadow on an overcast day. They were going across the prairie to the east and the ghost said, “Oh, look at all these horses over there. It must be a roundup.” Coyote could not see any horses but he said, “Yes, yes.”

They were getting nearer the place of the dead.

“Oh, look at all these service berries! Let’s pick some to eat.” Coyote could not see the berries, so the ghost said, “When you see me reach up and pull the limb down, you do the same.”

The ghost pulled one of the limbs down and Coyote did the same thing. Although he could not see anything, he imitated the ghost, putting his hand to his mouth as though he were eating. He watched how the ghost did everything and imitated him.

“These are very good service berries,” said the ghost.

“Yes, it’s good we found them.”

“Well, let’s get going now.”

They went on. “We are about to arrive,” said the ghost. “Your wife is in a very long lodge, that one over there. Wait here. I will ask someone exactly where.”

In a little while the ghost returned and said, “They have told me where your wife is.” They walked a short distance. “We are coming to a door here. Do in every way exactly what I do. I will take hold of the door flap, raise it up, and, bending low, will enter. Then you take hold of the door flap and do the same.”

In this way they went in. Coyote’s wife was right near the entrance. The ghost said, “Sit down here by your wife.” They both sat down. “Your wife is now going to prepare some food for us.”

Coyote could see nothing. He was sitting in an open prairie where there was nothing in sight. He could barely sense the presence of the shadow.

“Now, she has prepared our food. Let’s eat.”

The ghost reached down and brought his hand to his mouth. Coyote could see only grass and dust in front of him. They ate. Coyote imitated all the actions of his companion. When they had finished and the woman had apparently put the food away, the ghost said to Coyote, “You stay here. I must go around and see some people. Here we have conditions different from those you have in the land of the living. When it gets dark here it is dawn where you live. When it’s dawn for us, it is growing dark for you.”

Now it was getting dark and Coyote thought he could hear voices, very faintly, talking all around him. Then darkness set in and Coyote could begin to see a little. There were many small fires in the long house. He began to see the people, waking up. They had forms, very vague, like shadows, but he recognized some of them. He saw his wife sitting by his side and was overjoyed. Coyote went around and greeted all his old friends who had died long ago. This made him very happy. He went among them visiting and talking with everyone. All night he did this. Toward morning he saw a little light around the place where he had entered the long house. The death spirit said to him, “Coyote, our night is falling and in a little while you will not see us. But you must stay here. Do not move. In the evening you will see all these people again.”

“Where would I go, my friend? Sure, I will stay right here.”

When dawn came, Coyote found himself sitting alone in the middle of the prairie. He sat there all day in the heat. He could hear the meadowlarks somewhere. It got hotter and he grew very thirsty. Finally evening came and he saw the lodge again. For a couple of days he went on like this. suffering through the daytime in the heat but visiting with his friends every night in the lodge.

One night the death spirit came to him and said, “Coyote, tomorrow you will go home. You will take your wife with you.” ‘

“But I like it here very much my friend,” Coyote protested. “I am having a good time and should like to remain.”

“Yes, but you will go tomorrow. I will advise you about what you are to do. Listen. There are five mountains to the west. You will travel for five days. Your wife will be with you but you must not touch her. Do not yield to any notion you may have to do something foolish. When you have crossed and descended the fifth mountain you can do whatever you want.”

“It will be this way, then,” said Coyote.

When dawn came. Coyote and his wife set out. At first it seemed to Coyote as though he were alone, but he was aware of his wife’s dim presence as she walked along behind. The first day they crossed the first mountain and camped. The next day they crossed the second mountain. They went on like this, camping each night. Each night when they sat across from each other at the fire Coyote could see his wife a little more clearly.

The death spirit had begun to count the days and to figure the distance Coyote had traveled. “I hope he does everything right,” he thought, “and takes his wife on to the other world.”

The time of their fourth camping was their last camp. On the next day Coyote’s wife would become entirely like a living person again. Coyote could see her clearly across the fire now. He could see the light on her face and body but he did not dare to touch her. Suddenly a joyous impulse overtook him. He was so glad to have his wife back! He jumped up and ran around the fire to embrace her.

“Stop! Stop!” screamed his wife. “Coyote do not touch me!”

But her warning had no effect. Coyote rushed to her and just as he touched her she vanished. She disappeared and returned to the shadowland.

When the death spirit learned what Coyote had done he became furious.

“You are always doing things like this. Coyote,” he yelled. “I told you not to do anything foolish. You were about to establish the practice of returning from death. Now it won’t happen. You have made it this way.”

Coyote wept and wept. His sorrow was very deep. He decided that he would go back, he would find the death lodge and find his wife again. He crossed the five mountains. He went out in the prairie and found the place where the ghost had seen the horses, and then he began to do the same things they had done when they were on their way to the shadowland the other time.

“Oh, look at all these horses. It must be a roundup!”

He went on to the place where the ghost had picked the service berries. “Oh, such choice service berries. Let’s pick some and eat.” He went through the motions of picking and eating the berries. He finally came to the place where the death lodge stood. He said to himself, “Now, when I take hold of the door flap and raise it up, you must do the same.” Coyote remembered all the things his friend had done and he did them. He saw the spot where he had sat before. He went to it and sat down. “Now your wife has brought us some food. Let’s eat.” He went through the motions of eating again.

Darkness fell and Coyote listened for the voices. He looked all around, but nothing happened. Coyote sat there in the middle of the prairie. He sat there all night but the lodge didn’t appear again. In the morning he heard meadowlarks.

Giving Birth to Thunder, Sleeping With His Daughter. Copyright 1977 by Barry Holstun Lopez

Coyote [itsaya' ya] and his daughter dwelt nearby. Coyote became ill. He said to his daughter, “Daughter-child, go search for bones, even bleached ones, with which to make me broth.” And she went out to search for bones. It was wintertime. She would break up the bones and boil the little pieces. In this way she made broth for Coyote.

One day she happened to find a whole limb that had been gnawed clean. Wolves had eaten the flesh and left the good bones. She thought, “Poor father will eat heartily of this.” Then another day she found a salmon that had been only slightly eaten. “I will make broth of this for my poor father.” She said to Coyote, “I found this salmon.”

But he exclaimed, “Foul [Rotten]! Daughter-child, it is winter salmon!” In truth, however, Coyote did not want any of the Otters’ catch because he had no desire that his daughter should be taken in marriage by the Otters. This was the consideration which prompted him to find the salmon revolting, to lie to his daughter about winter salmon, and to command her, “Throw it away!” But Coyote liked the five Wolf brothers, and he thought, “It would be much better if she went to them.” Thus he ate their leftover deer bones with much gusto.

Coyote’s daughter now threw away the salmon and went out to look for food again. She came upon a great antlered buck lying completely untouched, uneaten. Oh, such meat she took home. She laid the venison out to dry. Then she went out again, and this time she found a large bunch of salmon all strung together for carrying. “Ah, such good salmon.” They were large ones and not even touched. “I will take these home.” She took them to Coyote and said to him, “I found these very, very good salmon. Someone had gone away and left them, and here I’ve brought them home.”

“No, daughter-child, no! They are winter salmon and not at all good. Throw them away!” She threw them away. Coyote got well in the course of time, and the Wolves took his daughter for their wife. They took her away with them.

Now the Otters [q laszya' ya] became indignant. They said, “Let us go to set the Wolves afire; let us encircle them with fire.” Thereupon they went and set fire clear around the conical lodge and burned the Wolves to death.

Then the dead Wolves began to prepare for their death departure when Coyote’s daughter decided, “I must go to Coyote and have him burn all my things. Then I can go on from there to the death world.” Thus she went to her fathers lodge.

Coyote heard her coming. She came along laughing loudly, and Coyote recognize her. “I wonder why daughter-child comes to me at this time of the night? She is a doer of strange things, and now she comes along laughing.”

From outside she said to Coyote, “Father, we are on our way now. You will burn all of my things.”

“Such valuable things, daughter-child!” Coyote replied.

“You will cause the Otters to become indignant! They set us afire, and now we are dead. Hurry, toss my things into the fire. The others are leaving me behind already. Hurry!

“No, daughter-child! What shall I do here? I shall pine, daughter-child. Do not go.”

“There is no way I can remain. But you will stay here.”

“No, daughter-child. Then I, too, will follow along.”

“You cannot follow. You are alive.”

“Let me follow along anyhow. I shall do very pitifully if I stay here. Now I, too, am going.

“Then if you must be so insistent, you will throw yourself into the fire; in that way you too, will be ready to go.”

“Yes daughter-child, I will throw myself into the fire.” Here Coyote flung himself into the fire There was a sudden and noisy sizzle of burning hair ["ts' ox"], and he jumped out. He tried again and again. He would hurl himself into the flames; there would be a sizzle, burning hair, and out he would jump again. Then he said to his daughter, “I can’t in any manner burn myself, daughter-child. Let me go just as I am, daughter-child. I will follow along, daughter-child, alive just as I am.”

“Then get yourself ready quickly. The others have left me far behind already.”

Now Coyote prepared himself, and they went. He could not see the others, but he could hear their voices and, guided thereby, he followed along. Dawn came.

Coyote’s daughter said to him, “It dawns for us when to you night falls, and your night is our daytime. Now night has fallen, and we are camping over. Though it is dawn to you, you are to stay right here. Do not go anywhere. Sit the day through here. When it is dusk for you, it will again be time for us to go on.”

Coyote spent the whole day there. Now the shadows fell; evening came. He began to hear them as if they were talking in whispers ["tsaw, tsaw"]. It grew dark, and now he heard them clearly, talking and laughing. In the wake of their voices again he followed them They traveled in this manner. Five times they camped overnight.

Then Coyote’s daughter said to him, “We have been traveling for five days. Tomorrow we shall arrive.”

“Let it be so.” They traveled on, and at last they arrived.

Coyote heard another coyote somewhere up front making formal announcements. [It was some coyote that had died long before.] “The Wolves arrive, five brothers; they bring Coyote’s daughter with them. And Coyote, the interloper, arrives,” was announced. Oh, there were many people, and Coyote could see them plainly now for the first time. He began to recognize various persons, and he enjoyed himself to the utmost. He saw various comrades who had died.

His daughter said to him, “It is getting dark now, but to you it is coming dawn. In a little while you will not see anyone or hear anyone talking. But you must remain right here throughout the day. Do not go anywhere, even a short distance, because you will get lost and never find us again. In the evening you will see us all again.”

“Yes, daughter-child. Where could I go?” Now Coyote spent the day on the open prairie. In the evening he saw the people, and again he enjoyed himself. He stayed six days.

One night his daughter came to him and said, “You are to go home now. You cannot remain here indefinitely like this. Even though you are enjoying yourself, you must go home tomorrow.”

“Yes, daughter-child, but I am having such a good time here. Why should I go home? I’m staying here.”

“No. You will do very poorly here. You must go. You cause me to worry constantly. You must go home. I will make a lunch for you.”

Even though Coyote was most unwilling to go, he replied, “Yes, I will go then.”

His daughter continued, “When it has dawned for you, you will go.” Now she brought for him a little package in buckskin wrapping. “You will take this with you, packed on your back. There are five mountains you must cross. Never look back of you. Do not even think, ‘Let me look back from the summit.’ You must go straight along and do nothing foolish. You may get tired, and you can rest. But above all you must never look behind you. You may hear things back of you, or recognize somebody by his voice. Still, you must not look behind you.”

“Yes, daughter-child, thus I will do. I will heed your words.”

Now she handed him the buckskin package which contained something and said, ‘You may find this very heavy, but you will rest yourself. Do not look back ever.”

“Yes, daughter-child. How could I find this heavy?”

In the morning he put his package on his back and started while his daughter instructed him for the last time. “You are to cross over five mountains. When you have crossed all five and have descended from the fifth, you may look behind you, but not until then.”

“Yes, daughter-child.” Coyote went. He walked along fast, carrying on his back the little package wrapped in buckskin. He crossed one mountain, two, and then the third. “And she said of this, ‘You will get tired.’” But now on the fourth mountain he began to feel a little bit fatigued. “The pack seems to be getting heavier.” He climbed, and he began to tire. He barely crossed over and descended. He felt thoroughly exhausted now as he started up the fifth mountain. He was scarcely able to walk, and he felt the pack growing very, very heavy. He continued the ascent, just barely moving along. He reached the half way point, and he looked up. The summit appeared to be very far away. He kept going, just dragging one foot after another, and slowly ascended. He was tired, completely exhausted but he saw the top of the mountain only a short distance away now. Here his strength deserted him. He would take one step, and then he would have to rest. “Daughter-child spoke the truth when she told me, ‘You will find the pack heavy.’ ” He continued slowly as he saw the summit close by. But suddenly his pack pulled him backwards into a sitting position. He fell backwards, and, suddenly, he turned his head and looked behind him. Coyote saw the five Wolf brothers and his daughter stand up suddenly from the pack he had been carrying them all along.

His daughter said to him, “I told you, ‘Do not look back until you have crossed the five mountain.’ Now you have caused us to return by your having looked behind you.”

“No, daughter-child. Let me pack you again. Do not return!”

“No,” she said to Coyote. “The coming of the human race is only a short time away and the returning of the dead could have become an established thing. You, yourself would have brought this about had you taken us over the mountain top there. But now you have made death a permanent condition, and people will never return from death.”

Now they disappeared and left Coyote there to weep. He called after them, “Then let me follow you back, and I will bring you again.” No. They had left him. At this Coyote hiked off sulkily somewhere.

Taken from Tales of the Nez Perce by Donald M. Hines, Ye Galleon Press; Fairfield, Washington, 1999 [gathered from other source books dated between 1912 and 1949]

Coyote [itsaya' ya] was building a fish ladder down the river. While he was busily engaged at this task, someone shouted to him, “Now why are you bothering with that? All the people have gone on the big expedition into the East Country.”

“Huh!” he said to himself. “I believe I will go, too. Why should I stay here?” He started for the East Country. He found as he went along traces of the people’s camping, and evidences of such activities as ball playing, announcing of daily events, war dancing, and in fact every kind of merriment. He saw all these things as he followed.

While going along, he suddenly came upon a lodge in a little meadow. “Well, who is his?” he said to himself. He crept up to the lodge cautiously. He was brimming with curiosity. He heard a moan come from within. He crept closer and came to the door-flap, thereupon he peeped through to behold a beautiful maiden ill in bed.

Coyote quickly retreated. There, some distance from the lodge, he charmed himself by saying, “Let me become a very handsome man, finely clothed, and let me have a beautiful, spotted horse.” Thereupon he became possessed of all these things.

He went to the lodge again, approaching grandly and in all pomp, with the jingling of he bells and ornaments that he wore. When she heard his approach, the maiden inside rendered who could be coming to visit her. Now disguised, Coyote entered and said to the maiden, “What has happened to you?” He used the down-river accent to make his guise Bore effective.

“I have a splinter in my foot, a buffalo horn,” replied the maiden.

“Well,” said Coyote, “where are my friends the Eagle and others? He named those of great power. Why did they not doctor you? They are always claiming powers superior to mine. Why did they leave you in this pitiful condition?”

“Well, my mother and father told me that if someone should come along and doctor me, and make me well again, he should become my husband,” the maiden told him.

“I see,” said Coyote, “but there is a party of us; they are waiting for me there now. Being young men they are in a hurry, but perhaps they will sing for you briefly and then go long. They are in such a hurry.” [He pretended that he was a great shaman.]

Coyote went outside, walked away some distance, and then struck his hip with his fist to cause his children to tumble out ["yo '-x ox ox ox"]. At once these ten children began to fight fiercely among themselves. Coyote called for their fighting to stop and told them, “You are going to sing for me and beat sticks in accompaniment because there is a maiden ill abed.” Thereupon they all marched into the lodge where Coyote placed himself at the maiden’s feet while the others, from the opposite side, made a great din by their singing are beating of sticks ["wax-wax-wax-wax"].

Now Coyote began to work on the horn in her foot, tugging at it with his teeth. The splinter had already caused a big accumulation of pus and, suddenly now, as Coyote pulled out the horn, he was splattered with pus. Then, quickly, he blew his breath on the wound to cool it.

. “Now, these boys are in a hurry,” Coyote told her. “So let me see them off briefly that they may be on their way.” All stood up in unison and went out. There outside Coyote told them. “Hurry, jump inside.” He came back to the house quickly, and there he nursed her They stayed day after day until eventually her foot became much better.

One day Coyote said to her, “Tomorrow we are going to move up and follow the main party ” They went, and Coyote now had a wife. Far away they caught up to the party which had already crossed the divide into the East Country. The people had assembled in a great encampment. There Coyote asked them, “Where is my aunt, Mouse [laqatsya' ya], living?”

“There, over there is their camp,” they replied. So Coyote went, taking his wife to his aunt. He arrived there and asked, “Where is my cousin, Bear [xa' xats], camped?”

“There,” the Mouse told him. Such a splendid lodge Bear owned, set off in two-tone effect.

Coyote now said, “Go to my cousin’s lodge and fetch his hand-drum to me.

“From such a dangerous one?” said the Mouse in alarm.

“Why you are not even afraid of me! Why should you fear him? Hurry, get it for me!” Coyote insisted. All the people had great respect for Bear, and certainly, no one dared defy or to impose on him.

“Such a nuisance Coyote makes himself invariably,” thought the Mouse; nevertheless she went to Bear’s lodge. There the Mouse sat, very much abashed, in the doorway of Bear’s lodge and said, “I was only made to come by troublesome Coyote. He insisted that his cousin Bear lend him his hand-drum.”

Bear turned to his wife and said, “Give him yours.” Each one had a drum. His wife gave her drum to Mouse who then carried it to Coyote.

“Egad! Whose is it? His very own? No, it is a woman’s,” raved Coyote upon receiving the drum. “I wanted his very own-not my cousin’s wife’s. Hurry back and get the other one for me.”

She went back, looking very downcast and feeling most remorseful, to sit again by doorway of Bear’s lodge. She told him, “He said that he does not want his cousin’s wife but that you should lend him your very own.”

“What bother he talks; and it is always so. Here take this to him. What a nuisance has become.”

The Mouse took the drum and carried it to Coyote. “This is it; this is my cousin’s own! What was he thinking to give me a woman’s in the first place?” said Coyote. Now he lounged back, pillowed himself on the lap of his wife, and commenced playing and singing in an excessively loud voice. The people gathered around. All the people in camp crowded around. There he was, head pillowed on his wife and his eyes closed, playing and singing.

From over in his lodge Bear could hear that the hand-drum had begun to sound strange, and he thought to himself, “What is this? Coyote is ruining my hand-drum.” Coyote had been sprinkling the drum-head with water every little while. Bear ordered them, “Get my hand-drum! Coyote is spoiling it.”

When Coyote heard that Bear wanted his drum returned he, at once, became very angry. In his anger he threw it out of the smoke-hole of the lodge, and it happened to fall exactly into the smoke-hole of Bear’s lodge.

Bear became infuriated at this, but now the people told him, “They have exchanged his wife on him. He thinks that his beautiful wife whom he brought still sits there, and that he is pillowed on her lap. But awhile ago, they changed her around and put Lady Bullfrog [waxwaq'-lo' sana] in her place. It was a long time ago that they took his wife, while he was singing with his eyes closed.

“It serves him right! He was becoming a nuisance,” Bear replied. Here was Coyote reclining very comfortably. He happened to glance upward casually and suddenly beheld Lady Bullfrog with her big eyes blinking. “What are you doing here? So this is why the people have been laughing at me! Go away! So they exchanged my wife while I was reclining on her?”

“Yes, nephew,” replied Lady Bullfrog, “they had me sit here quite awhile ago. I don’t know where they took your wife.”

Coyote now addressed all the people, “Not only am I indignant and hurt. Only a short time from now the human race comes, and many people will come on expeditions to this East Country. But on crossing the divide here, their wives will go wrong, will do foolish things. Even a quiet, well-behaved woman will come over the divide; yet she will go wrong here. Not only for myself am I indignant, for there is only a short time until the coming of the human race.

Taken from Tales of the Nez Perce by Donald M. Hines, Ye Galleon Press; Fairfield, Washington, 1999 [gathered from other source books dated between 1912 and 1949]