COYOTE WAS OUT HUNTING and met Rattlesnake. They were going along when Coyote said, “Come over to my house tomorrow. We will eat together.”
The next morning, Rattlesnake came over. He moved slowly around the floor of Coyote’s lodge and shook his tail. Coyote sat over to one side when he heard this. He did not like it. It made him afraid. Finally Rattlesnake settled down.
Coyote put a big kettle of hot rabbit stew down in front of Rattlesnake. “Here, eat, my friend. You’ll like this.”
“No, I cannot eat this. I do not understand your food.”
“What food do you eat?”
“I eat the yellow flowers of the corn.”
Coyote was surprised at this but he looked around for some yellow pollen. When he found some, Rattlesnake said, “That’s good. Now put some on my nose so that I can eat it.” Coyote stood off as far as possible from the snake and put a little on the top of Rattlesnake’s nose. “Come over here,” said Rattlesnake, “and put enough on my nose so that I can find it.” He rattled a little and Coyote jumped back afraid, but after a while he came closer and put some more pollen on Rattlesnake’s nose.
When he’d finished eating Rattlesnake said, “I am going now. Tomorrow you come over to my house and eat.”
Coyote thought about what Rattlesnake had done and how afraid he had been to get near Rattlesnake. The next day, before leaving for Rattlesnake’s house, he put some pebbles in a gourd and tied the gourd to his tail. Then he went on his way, moving on his belly like a snake. This is how he came into Rattlesnake’s house, with his hand shaking his tail to make the sound of the rattle.
When Coyote shook his rattle the snake said, “Oh, my friend, I am afraid when you do that.” Rattlesnake had a stew of mice on the fire and he put these in front of Coyote, being careful to stay back as far as possible, as though he were afraid to get too close to Coyote. Coyote showed his teeth. Rattlesnake jumped back fast. Then he said, “Please, my companion, eat some of my food.”
“I cannot eat your food because I do not understand it.”
Rattlesnake insisted, but Coyote refused the food. He said, “If you will put some of the flower of the corn on my head I will eat it. That’s the kind of food I eat. I understand that.”
Rattlesnake got some corn pollen but he pretended to be afraid of getting too close to Coyote.
“Come nearer, my friend. Put that corn pollen on my head.”
“I am afraid of you.”
“Come nearer. I am not bad.”
Rattlesnake came up to Coyote and put the pollen on top of his nose. Coyote tried to get it with his tongue. But he did not have a tongue like the snake’s and he could not reach the pollen. He tried many times, putting his tongue up on one side of his nose and then the other but he couldn’t reach the pollen. The snake had turned away to conceal his laughing. Finally, Coyote said he was not really hungry and would eat later. He began to leave and took hold of his tail and shook his rattle. The snake backed off and said, “Oh, my companion, I am so afraid.”
Later, Coyote was still crawling along on his belly like a snake. “I was such a fool. The snake had a good stew, lots of it, and I wouldn’t eat any. Now I am just hungry.”
He went on like that, trying to find something to eat.