Coyote was travelling

Coyote was travelling, and heard someone singing, “Come back, my eyes!” (in silutsaal). Soon he saw Wildcat (kahap) playing ball with his eyes. He said, “I wish I could do that! If I could do that and do it at Qualp (a place in Washington), I should do great things.” Coyote decided to try. He went into the woods. When he tried to take out his eye, it hurt so that he screamed. Finally he succeeded in removing it. He threw it up into the air and called to it to come back, and it dropped back into its socket. “Now I can do it,” he said to himself. Wildcat heard him, and, knowing it was Coyote, took his horn (kapatkd’x), and, when Coyote threw his eye up again, he knocked it out of the way, so that it did not return. Coyote called several times, but the eye did not come back. Coyote now said, “My eye must be near. If I take out the other one, they will both come back to me.” So he took it out and threw it up. Both came back.

“That’s a fine trick,” Coyote said. Now he threw both at the same time. This time Wildcat knocked both away, and Coyote became totally blind.

Here follows the story of the origin of the Elbow-Baby (Katsainomiats). The man whose eyes he tears out cries, “Ane, ane!” and becomes the catbird (awexuox). When Coyote came to a tent, he found an old woman living there. He listened outside, and heard her sing about Coyote’s eyes. “It is a good thing he lost his eyes,” she sang. Coyote then went in, and saw the woman grinding seeds. She ground them very fine. “What are you singing about?” Coyote asked. “Coyote lost his eyes,” she said. “That is why I am singing. People are gathered here from all over, dancing about Coyote’s eyes. My grand-daughters have gone there. They will come back to me soon.” The woman then gave some seeds to Coyote, who said to himself, “I must kill this old woman.” To her he said, “I must go out a minute.”

With that he went out to get two stones. When he returned, he said, “I am glad Coyote lost his eyes.” Then he hit her on the head with a stone and killed her. He took his knife and skinned her. The body he hid outside. All the meal and seeds he cooked and ate. Then he put on her skin and clothes and assumed her shape. He kept on pounding the meal and seeds until towards evening he heard a noise. The oldest daughter came in, then the next younger, and the others in order, the youngest one coming last. She looked at Coyote and recognized him. She decided that he had killed her grandmother. The other girls said to him, “You are not grinding the seeds properly. The meal is much too coarse.”

“My legs hurt,” answered Coyote. “I was shot in the thigh a long time ago, and it hurts so that I cannot do much pounding now.”

Soon after this the girls went back into the tent, and, being tired, went to sleep. Coyote went over to them and put his hand on the privates of the four elder girls. As he approached the youngest, she awoke and kicked him. She knew he was Coyote, and asked him, “What are you doing?” At this the other girls awoke, too, and rebuked her for acting so toward her grandmother. The following day they said to her, “Grandmother, they want you at the dance to dance about Coyote.” Coyote replied, “I am so weak, I doubt if I could get there.”

“We will carry you,” the girls said. The oldest one carried him first. She lifted him on her back. Coyote then told her to raise up her dress and let him slide down lower on her back. With that she felt him touch her, and dropped him. To the others she said, “I did not mean to drop her.”

The next one tried to carry him, and the same thing happened; and so with all four of them. Then they told the youngest that she must do her share. She refused, however, so the oldest tried again. When they reached the hill and could see the houses, Coyote said, “I can walk from here on.” When they arrived at the place, they heard a loud noise and saw the people dancing. There was another Coyote at the camp. This one, when he caught sight of them, called out, “The old woman is coming to dance with us!” The disguised Coyote began to dance and sing, and forgot all about his lameness. “Where are Coyote’s eyes? Let me have them!” he said.

“Let her have them!” some one said. The people crowded together and made room for her to dance. As soon as he had his eyes, he took out the other ones and put back his own. Then he took off his disguise and ran away. The people wondered at first. Then they saw they had been deceived, and pursued him. Fox caught up with him. Coyote then scattered some of the black paint that he had, and it grew dark. The pursuers lost their way, while Coyote sat on a hill a little way off. When it cleared, they gave chase again. Coyote eluded them, as before. This happened five times. At last they grew weary and gave up the chase. So Coyote got his eyes back. Later on he went back and gave names to the children of the girls whom he had deceived.