Coyote and the Rock

one sunny day coyote and fox were out walking up a hill together. they were warm and decided1 to stop for a rest. coyote pointed2 to a large smooth rock in front of them.

"fox" he said, "that's a good looking rock. let's rest there." he spread his blanket over the rock and they lay down.

when they were ready to move on again, coyote decided he was tired of carrying his blanket. it was too heavy on this fine day.

he spoke3 to the rock. "thank you for letting us rest on you rock. i'm leaving my blanket as a present, to protect you from the rain and the snow."

coyote and fox set off down the hill on the other side. they hadn't gone far when the sun hid behind the clouds and large drops of rain fell. coyote said "fox, go and get my blanket back from rock. we need it now."fox went back to rock and asked for the blanket. "no!" said rock in his deep voice. "this was a present and i need it to protect me from the rain."

coyote was angry when fox told him what rock had said. he ran back up the hill. "rock, you are ungrateful and selfish. all these years you've been lying here with nothing to protect you - a few more drops of rain won't harm you. i am cold and getting wet and i need this blanket." and he snatched it back.

coyote and fox sat under the blanket, keeping warm and dry. rock was cold and wet.

when the rain stopped, sun peeked4 out from behind the clouds to see if anyone had missed him. then the ground began to rumble5 and a crashing sound came from over the top of the hill.

"fox, go and see what is making the ground rumble" said coyote. fox rushed up to the top of the hill, then ran back down screaming "coyote! quick run! run! rock is coming to take back the blanket."

fox leapt into a nearby badger6 hole. but it was to small and the tip of his tail stuck out.

rock rolled over the hole and squashed the furry7 tip, turning it white. even today fox's tail still has a white tip.

coyote ran as fast as he could, his tail stretched out behind him. reaching the river, he swam to the other side. "i'm safe now" he said. "rock can't swim. he'll sink to the bottom if he follows me."

rock rolled into the river and started swimming. coyote's jaw8 dropped open in surprise. he scrambled9 up the bank and ran off again, heading for the forest. "these big trees will protect me" he panted.

rock smashed and crashed his way through the forest, knocking down trees in his path. "go away coyote, before rock kills us all," shouted the trees.

coyote ran from the forest, down onto the prairie where he saw two bears. "help me! help me!" he howled. "rock is chasing me." "we will stop him" growled10 the bears.

the first bear put out one paw to stop rock, and his paw was broken. "yeeoow!" he cried in pain. the second bear put out both paws but rock rolled right over him, squashing him as thin as a pancake.

coyote ran on until he saw some buffalo11 grazing. "help me!" he howled. "rock is chasing me."

the buffalo lowered their horns and charged at rock. rock cracked their heads and kept rolling. "oooh! my head hurts" moaned one of the buffalo.

coyote ran on until he saw two old women talking outside their lodge12. they were holding stone hatchets13. "help me!" he howled. "rock is chasing me."

he ran up and hid behind the women and when rock reached them they hit him with their hatchets, shattering rock into thousands of tiny pieces. coyote fell on the ground, exhausted14. the two women started whispering, but he could hear what they said.

"coyote is so plump and juicy, he will go well in our cooking pot." frightened, coyote realised they were witches. he had to do something fast or they would eat him for dinner that night!

thinking that he was too tired to run again, the witches went inside their lodge to get their cooking pot. coyote noticed their water jugs15 outside the door. he jumped up, emptied the water out, then lay down again. when the witches came out again he said "i need a drink of water after all that running."

the witches pointed to the jugs. "there's plenty there coyote. help yourself". he turned one of the jugs upside down. "they're empty. i'll go down to the river and fill them for you." the witches believed him.

when he was out of sight, coyote laughed, dropped the jugs and ran away as fast as he could. when the witches realised they had been tricked, they became angry and blamed each other. they shouted louder and louder and finally hit each other on the head with their stone hatchets.

they dropped down dead and that was the end of the witches.

the end