THERE WAS A place where a lot of prairie dogs and rabbits were living. Coyote knew about the place but he didn’t know how to get the animals. There was a stream close by. He thought he might change the course of that stream and drown them all.
Skunk lived near the stream. Coyote was walking along there, trying to think how to get those animals, when he met Skunk. He told Skunk all about the rabbits and the prairie dogs. “Let’s make a plan to catch them,” said Coyote.
“All right,” said Skunk.
Coyote said he was going to go upstream a ways and that Skunk should go get some slime grass. The water level would drop off in the stream said Coyote, and Skunk would find him lying in some driftwood. He should take the slime grass, which looked like maggots, and stuff it in Coyote’s ears and mouth and all around underneath him, under his tail and in his nose. After he did this, Skunk was to go over and tell all the prairie dogs and rabbits that Coyote was dead.
It was a hot day and as he went along Coyote wished for a cloud. A cloud appeared over him. Then he wished it would sprinkle so he could run on cool ground. It began to sprinkle. Coyote wished it would rain hard so that the water would come up around his knees, and it did. He wished the water would become deep enough to reach his stomach, and the water came up that far. Then he wished the water would come up so that only his ears would stick out, and the water came up that far. Then Coyote wished he’d be carried downstream by the water, and he was. Then he wished he’d be caught in a pile of driftwood, and he was.
When the water went down Skunk went looking for Coyote. When he found him he put the grass in his ears and mouth and under his tail and in his nose. Then he went over and told the rabbits and the prairie dogs that the person they hated was dead.
Two rabbits came over to see if Skunk was telling the truth, Jack Rabbit and White Rabbit. Coyote had told Skunk to take a stick and hit him in the stomach when the animals came over, so they could see he was dead.
Skunk hit Coyote in the stomach and the two rabbits thought he was dead. They went back and told the others that Skunk was telling the truth. The others did not trust Skunk, so they sent over two other rabbits to see if Coyote was dead, Furry Rabbit and Gray Rabbit. They went over and again Skunk hit Coyote in the belly with the stick. The two rabbits went back and told the other animals that Coyote was dead. But some of them still didn’t believe it, so they sent over two prairie dogs to see. Again, Skunk hit Coyote in the belly with the stick. Then the prairie dogs got up close to look at the maggots in Coyote’s ears and nose and mouth and in his anus. They returned and told the others. Everyone now believed Coyote was dead.
When the animals arrived, Skunk told them they must dance because their enemy was dead. Some of the rabbits didn’t like this and they hung back. But the prairie dogs, they wanted to dance, and started right in. They made a ring around Coyote. Then the rabbits finally came over and started dancing. Soon everyone was dancing. Skunk was singing along with them making a lot of noise when suddenly he said, “Look up there! Look at that pretty bird!” They all stopped dancing and looked up and Skunk turned around and sprayed everyone. The liquid got in their eyes and they couldn’t see anything. Coyote had two sticks hidden under him. He jumped up and began to club rabbits and prairie dogs. Only a few got away.
Coyote built a fire and then told Skunk to carry the rabbits and prairie dogs over. Skunk took four big loads to the fire. Then he cleaned all the animals and singed off all their hair. He was doing all the work. Coyote told him to dig a pit and put the animals in with some saltbush. He buried them with just their tails sticking out and built another fire on top of the pit.
While the meat was cooking, Coyote and Skunk sat in the shade of some big rocks. Coyote was thinking. “Cousin,” he said, “let’s run a race. Whoever wins can eat all the rabbits and prairie dogs. We’ll run over to that mountain and back.”
“No, I can’t run fast at all. Anyway, that’s too far to go.”
But Coyote kept asking and asking. Finally, Skunk gave in. “All right,” he said, “but you must let me start first because I can’t run very fast.”
At first Coyote said no, but finally he agreed. Skunk said to wait until he got over the first hill.
When Skunk reached the first hill he looked around for a badger hole. He found one and pulled a tumbleweed in behind him. Soon Coyote raced past like he was on fire. Skunk came out of the hole and went back to where the rabbits and prairie dogs were cooking. They were done just right, very tender and dripping with juices. He took them all out of the pit, cut off the tails of the prairie dogs and put them back in the ground so it looked like they were still cooking, and then he went up on a high rock and began eating.
Just as Skunk was finishing his meal, Coyote came back. He was sweating and so out of breath. He was holding on to his knee. He dug up some wet sand in the stream bed to wipe over himself to cool down. “I wonder where Skunk is?” he thought. “He has such short legs, he must be way back there.”
Coyote went over to the prairie dog pit and saw the tails sticking up. “They must be done by now,” he thought. He reached down and pulled at the tails. “They must be nice and tender. Their tails come right off.” He took a stick and dug around in the ashes, but he couldn’t find any prairie dogs. He kept digging but there wasn’t anything there. He got angry and he began looking for tracks. “Skunk did this,” he thought. “When I find him I’ll kill him.”
While Coyote was running around looking for the right set of tracks to follow, Skunk threw down a piece of bone. Coyote looked up and saw Skunk. “Please, give me some of that meat.” But Skunk did not answer. He finished his meal and stretched out for a nap.