COYOTE WAS GOING THROUGH the woods looking for food when he came to where some squirrels were playing. He stood at the bottom of the tree and said, “Grandchildren, you are having such a good time up there and your grandfather is down here starving. Help your poor old grandfather. Give him something to eat.”
“No, you are too mean,” said the squirrels. “We won’t give you anything to eat.”
But Coyote kept begging and they finally came down. One of them said, “Now, we will give you something, Grandfather. But you must be careful. This is no time for tricks. You must not cut me the wrong way. Do what I say and you will have plenty to eat.”
The squirrel put one foot on the ground and one foot up against a tree. Then he told Coyote to take his knife and cut off one of his testes. As soon as Coyote cut him, down came a lot of pecans, so there was a big pile on the ground. Then the squirrel ran back up the tree.
“Now, Grandfather, you may eat those nuts.”
“These nuts taste very good, my grandchildren. But you must take pity on your grandfather and teach him how to do this trick.”
“Go on. You can do it the same way, but only three or four times a day. No more.”
Coyote went home and told his wife to cut one of his testes off and down poured the pecans. His children all gathered around and ate and when they were finished, Coyote asked if everyone had had enough. They said no. Then he told his wife to cut him again, and again they had a lot of pecans to eat. Four times they did this and then they tried a fifth time. When his wife cut him, this time blood came out but no pecans. This frightened Coyote and he ran back to where the squirrels were.
“Grandchildren! I must have made a mistake. The blood is flowing from me.”
“We knew you would not do as you were told. We will stop the blood and heal the wound, but the power will be taken away from you. You are too silly a person to do anything the right way.”