IT WAS WINTER AND Coyote was passing by a lake that was all frozen over. He went out on the ice and walked around. He liked the sound it made when it cracked. While he was walking around he saw Fisher coming toward him.
Fisher had seen Coyote first and gone over to the shore and peeled some basswood bark which he had tied to two stones. He tied one stone to each ankle and came over to where Coyote was. As he walked, the stones bounced on the ice behind him and made a sort of musical sound.
He ran the last little ways to Coyote and Coyote heard the sound he was making.
“Hey, my brother, what have you got that basswood tied to your ankles for?”
“Nothing,” said Fisher. “It’s just a nice day and I thought I would attach these stones to my legs.”
He danced all round Coyote making music, the way the stones fell on the ice. Coyote listened to the ice-music for some time, until Fisher danced out of sight across the lake. Then he went to the shore. He peeled some basswood bark, tied up stones with it and, making two holes in the lower part of his body, he attached them to himself.
As he walked along, the stones made a loud noise on the ice which pleased him. After a while, the stones were making less and less music which caused Coyote to look and see what the problem was. He saw that the stones were far behind him and that he was dragging a part of his entrails on the ice. They had pulled out into a long thing, like a rope. He cut them off and threw them, on an elm tree saying, “My nephews, the Indians, will call this the climbing vine. They will use it when they have nothing else for food.”