Coyote Gets Stuck

In the early fall, Coyote went to visit his elder brother. Now Coyote's elder brother was old. He lived in a house along the banks of the Rogue River, and he sat inside most of the day, and night, smoking his pipe, napping, dreaming, musing, contemplating and seldom eating.

After five days at the place, Coyote got hungry and bored and went off looking for food.

It was a firey fall day as he walked along. His nose was searching for tasty tidbits, his eyes for anything interesting, and his mind fully focused upon his wonderful self, when he heard someone say, "Dolhee, dolhee, dolhee. Who's going to hit me? Foul-mouthed Coyote with the red ears and the smelly teeth? Little-boy Coyote who gets easily bored?"

Coyote stopped and listened. "Who's saying that? I want to know who's making fun of me. I should warn you, I'm very important and very powerful, and once I hit someone so hard in the face that his eyes slid clear through his head and landed behind him ... a half mile upriver. I warn you, I'm a very good hitter!"

But the voice kept saying, "Dolhee, dolhee, dolhee."

Coyote kept on and came to a large stump, all sticky and oozing with pitch under the warm sun. Coyote walked up to the stump and the stump said, "Dolhee, dolhee, dolhee. Who's going to hit me? Weak-fisted Coyote with the smelly teeth?"

"So it's you, is it? Well, I warned you about how good I can hit. Take this!" Coyote wound up his arm and let his fist fly full force into the stump, and his hand stuck in the pitch. THUNK!

"This is a funny way to fight. Let go of my hand. What kind of a person are you, anyway? Take this!"

Coyote let his other fist fly into the stump, and it stuck. THUNK!

Coyote stood there, face to face with the stump, both hands stuck, and the stump said, "Dolhee, dolhee, dolhee. Who's going to kick me? Foul-mouthed Coyote with the red ears and the smelly teeth? No-hands Coyote? Coyote who has bad luck with women?"

That got Coyote mad. "Look, you, that may be true but you don't have to tell everyone about it. Take this!"

THUNK! Coyote's foot stuck. THUNK! Coyote's other foot stuck.

The stump said, "Dolhee, dolhee, dolhee. Who's going to cut me with his tail? Stupid Coyote who messes up all the time? Slow-learner Coyote? Coyote who will never be hungry because he's so full of himself?"

Coyote was even madder. His hands were stuck. His feet were stuck. He looked rather silly with his rear end sticking out like it was ... and he knew it. But soon he had his tail wagging. He swung his rear end around, and THUNK! His tail stuck.

The stump said, "Dolhee, dolhee, dolhee. Who's going to bite me? Coyote the storyteller who can't use his hands? Coyote the dancer who can't use his feet? Coyote the canine fool without a tail? Coyote who is dumber than I thought he was when we started this little duet? Stupid Coyote?"

"That's it, friend. I'd better warn you, I have a big mouth with lots of teeth, and I'm about to use all of them on you. Take this!"

Coyote sunk his teeth into the stump, deep into the pitch. THUNK! Coyote's mouth got stuck. He gasped for air, got nothing, and that was that. Coyote was dead ... for now.

Back in his house, Coyote's elder brother stopped smoking. He looked around, wondering why his younger brother hadn't come back. So he went off looking for him, making tracks through the hot sun along the river.

He was going along and he heard, "Gwkjwk!"

Coyote's elder brother stopped and cocked his ears. "What was that?"

He went on, making tracks, listening. Then he heard it again. "Gwkjwk!"

"Sounds like my younger brother's big mouth doesn't work any more. Sounds like he's dead."

So Coyote's elder brother went off and got his good friend Fire, and he and Fire went to the place Coyote was stuck on the stump, pitch all over him.

Fire mentioned that they might do the world a favor and leave him there, but Elder Coyote insisted they should help him.

So he dragged Coyote away from the stump. Then Fire got big and orange and yellow, all flamed out, and he leaped onto the stump. FSSST! FSSST! FSSST! FSSST! FSSST! The stump went up in flames and made a huge pine torch, the first one there ever was. Then the stump knew no more.

Coyote's elder brother rolled Coyote in the ashes until he was grey and black all over. Then he smoked his pipe and hummed a song and brought Coyote back to life. Then Elder Coyote went home and took a nap.

And Coyote, having gone through this sort of thing before, went walking downriver toward the west, into the fiery sun, looking for something else to keep him from getting bored.