28. Antelopes Take Arrows From Coyote

They got two little antelopes for him and placed them in his way. He came where they were lying. "Now we will have a footrace, my little nephews," Coyote said. Coyote put a panther skin quiver on one of them, a black bow on the other. The antelopes fell down. "You do not run very fast, my nephews," said Coyote, "stand here in front of me." The antelopes ran off in another direction. They were running side by side.

p. 226

[paragraph continues] Then they turned and ran back side by side. Coyote ran after them. When he was close to them they ran in different directions. Coyote ran after one of them. The one that was running this way fell. Coyote looked at it and then ran toward the place where it fell. It ran away from him again. Coyote was pretty close when he looked at the other one and saw it fall. He ran to the second one which fell. They were getting a long ways apart and Coyote was tired out, running first one way and then the other. The antelopes took the arrows away and went among their friends.

Coyote speaking as a chief said, "I want you to go after the antelope." They all stood in a circle. "I want you to run after the one which carries the quiver," Coyote said. The antelopes stood facing outward. They broke through the circle. They came together again. "All of you look for the antelopes," Coyote said. They surrounded them. "Go after the one which has the quiver," he said. The antelopes were facing outward. They broke through again. Coyote himself came home, out of breath with running. They all came back.

The next day he gathered the people again. They surrounded the antelope. "Run after the one that has the quiver," he told them. The antelope stood facing outward. They broke through again. The next day he gathered the people together again and they formed a circle. The antelope stood facing outward. They broke through the line. He himself was out of breath.