Coyote Juggles His Eyes and Becomes Blind

One day while out walking, Coyote came to a lake where there were many ducks and geese swimming around. He went close to the water and sat down. “They look good to eat,” thought he; “I wonder how I can catch them!” At last he decided to try walking on the bottom of the lake. He walked a long way out until he saw the birds’ feet, and then he seized them and walked ashore. He did this until he had three or four big ones. Then he packed them home, and met his Indian friend. “What do you call them?” he asked him. The Indian called the ducks “tciqutc,” and the geese “uwénunq.” “What are they good for?” asked Coyote.

“They are good to eat,” replied the Indian; “we use the small feathers for pillows to rest our heads, and the long feathers to feather our arrows.” So Coyote cooked the birds and ate them, and made arrows with the long feathers.

Then they went hunting fish. The Indian shot one and took it home. He showed Coyote how to use the bow and arrow, and Coyote went hunting alone. He stood on the bank of a creek, and a big fish came swimming along. Coyote shot at him, but the big fish broke the arrow. Coyote was so frightened that he ran home and told the Indian. “Go again,” said the Indian, “and kill the fish; he is good to eat, and you can dry and keep his flesh also.”

Then Coyote walked till he came to a big white-pine tree. He heard some laughing and talking, and saw some Bears there, so he ran home and asked his Indian friend for some arrows. Then he returned and crawled up close to the Bears, who were copulating. He heard the Bear’s wife say, “Hold on! Coyote may come and see what you are doing.” But the Bear laughed and said, “Oh, no! Coyote is a coward. He is afraid of everything. If he saw me a long ways off he would run.” Then Coyote came up close, shot him many times, and then chased him. The Bear wondered, “How did Coyote learn to shoot and hurt me ? I’ll kill him some time.” He was very angry, but Coyote only laughed.

Another time Coyote was wandering around to see what he could find. He heard birds laughing and talking. So he crawled up close in the willows and brush by the lake, and saw many little birds in a tall tree. The little birds pulled their eyes out and threw them up in the willow-branches. Then they shook the branches, and the eyes fell down in their places again. Then they laughed. Coyote asked them what they were doing with their eyes, and they said they were just having some fun. Then Coyote said, “Let me try it!”

“No,” said they, “you will lose your eyes; you can’t do it.” But Coyote went and sat down by the lake. He felt crazy. He pulled his eyes out and threw them up in the willows. Then he shook the willows, but the eyes only fell on the ground. Now he was blind. He thought now he was certainly crazy. He heard water rushing far away, and followed it and sat down by the brook.
Soon two little girls came along. They did not see him; but he called to them, “Halloo! Where do you come from ? What tribe do you belong to?”

“Shoshone,” they replied. “What tribe are you ?”

“Just the same as you, Shoshone,” he said. “I’ll go along with you.”

“All right,” said they, so he covered his eyes and went along. Soon they came to a buffalo, and the girls told him to kill it. “Yes,” said Coyote, “but I left my arrows at home.”

“Never mind,” said the girls, “we’ll make one quickly;” so they made one out of bone.

“You’d better kill one,” they said, and so Coyote walked till he got the wind from the buffalo. Then he crawled up along the wind and shot several times. He hit and killed it, but he did not know it. He thought he had missed. Soon the girls came up. “Why don’t you skin it ?” they asked.

“Well,” he replied, “I was waiting for you.” Then he followed them up to the buffalo.

“Why don’t you begin ?” asked the girls. “I haven’t any knife,” he said. Then one of the girls handed him hers. He grasped blindly at it. “ What’s the matter?” she said. “Haven’t you any eyes?”

Then Coyote took the knife and tried to skin the buffalo, but he cut it all to pieces. “What’s the matter?” they said. “You’ve cut the skin all to pieces.”

“Oh!” he said. “I tried to skin it quickly. We’ll throw it away and kill some more buffalo.”

Then the girls cooked the beef, and told him to come and eat. He walked past far below the fire. “Where are you going?” they cried.

“Oh,” he said, “I was just doing that for fun.” Then he came up and sat down in the meat. “Why do you sit down in the meat ?” they said. Then the girls made a wickiup, and Coyote went to sleep while they stayed up and packed the meat.

Then they thought, “What’s the reason he can’t see? Maybe he has no eyes!” So they crept up to him, lifted the covering, and saw that his eyes were gone. So they ran away and left him still sleeping. They found some old timber full of red ants, and brought it back to the camp. They put it under his head and then ran away. The ants ran all over his head and into the eye-sockets and bit him. Then he woke up and cried, “Come here! The ants are biting me all over.” But there was no answer. Then he jumped up and smelled around till he found the girls’ trail, and ran after them. The girls were now on a high hill, and saw him coming. “What’s the matter?” they cried. “All right,” said he, “I’ll catch you.”

“All right,” they replied.

One of the girls had a purse with jingles on it. These made a great noise, and Coyote followed the sound. Now he was catching up to them. On the other side of the hill was a high cliff. The girls shook the purse, threw it over the cliff, and then ran to either side. Coyote ran right over the cliff and broke his leg. The girls came to the cliff and looked over. Coyote was far below on the rocks, eating the marrow out of the broken bone. The girls cried, “Coyote, what are you doing? Eating your own leg-grease? Shame!” But Coyote said, “No! I killed a mountain-sheep, and I am eating his bones. Better come down.”

“No,” said they, “you are eating your own leg-grease. Shame!”’

Coyote Juggles His Eyes and Becomes Blind Told by Jim Duncan; translated by John.