Coyote Gets Rich off the White Men
White Mountain Apache
Once when Coyote was visiting various camps, he and Bobcat heard
about a white man who was making some whiskey. They went together to
the man's house and managed to steal some, and after they had run a
short distance with it, they stopped to drink.
They kept arguing and drinking. Finally Bobcat said,
Now, the white men heard the noise and headed right toward him.
Bobcat had enough whiskey in him to feel good, but Coyote was really
drunk.
Later on, Bobcat used to visit Coyote from time to time, and once they arrested Bobcat and had them both locked up for quite a while.
One day the two prisoners watched some white men breaking horses in
front of the jail. There was one horse that no one could get close
to, and Coyote boasted,
Now Coyote knew horse power, and when he had used it with the horse,
it wasn't wild any more. He got on and rode it around and then
thought he would have some fun. The horse balked, and though he
kicked it gently with his heel, it wouldn't move.
"This horse is thinking about a nice white bridle and bits and
lines, all covered with silver," said Coyote.
Now Coyote got on the horse. Ahead by the gate were some American soldiers. He kicked the horse hard and started for the soldiers at a gallop, making it look as if the horse were running away with him. The soldiers moved back, and he and the horse tore through the gate and disappeared.
The soldiers were interested, and Coyote told them,
The soldiers agreed to the terms, and Coyote got a big rock and threw
it against the trunk. Most of the money fell to the ground.
Coyote traveled for the rest of the day and all night, until he was in another country. Meanwhile the soldiers camped under the walnut tree waiting for noon. Then the officer told the soldiers to hit the tree, and they pounded it hard. When no money fell out, the officer ordered it chopped down, cut into lengths, and split up, in case the money was inside. No matter what they did, they couldn't find even five cents. That night one of Coyote's mules got hungry and started to bray. Irritated at the noise, he killed every mule that brayed, until at last he had killed them all. So when he came to a white man's house, he bought a burro from him.
Now Coyote was always thinking about how he could swindle someone,
and the burro gave him another idea. Returning to his old home in the
mountain, he put a lot of money up the burro's rear end, then kicked
the animal in the belly so that it expelled all the money. He tried
it again, and it worked as before.
Coyote put his money in the burro's rear end and started for town,
where he went to the big man in charge.
On the following day when the time came, the white men brought the
burro out and kicked him. He merely broke wind. They kicked him all
day till evening, the said,
|
