55. Rabbit And Big Man-eater (Second Version)

55. RABBIT AND BIG MAN-EATER (65)

(SECOND VERSION)

Big Man-eater (Atipa-tcoba) came to a village. He killed all of the people there and ate them. He we s going to another village when he met Rabbit. Rabbit said, "All of the people of that village have runaway." Now Big Man-eater and Rabbit both stood on one side of the trail and defecated. Big Man-eater's excrement consisted of bones of the people he had eaten. Rabbit's excrement was green grass. Afterwards they struck up a friendship and started on together.

They started along another trail and made a camp. That night when they lay down near each other and Big Man-eater had fallen asleep Rabbit picked up ashes and threw them over him. He picked up some more ashes and put them on his own body. Big Man-eater did not know who did it. When Big Man-eater awoke Rabbit threw a few over himself. Then they moved their camp to another place. While Big. Man-eater was asleep Rabbit made a fire around him. He burned a neighboring dead tree through and pushed it down upon his companion's body. Big Man-eater kicked it away and woke up. He had suffered no harm. To escape suspicion Rabbit laid small pieces of the tree over his own body. He jumped up and down as if in pain. He had thrown only a few on himself. Big Man-eater threw them off in the same manner.

Next day the two went on and jumped back and forth over a creek with bluffs on each side. Rabbit said to Big Man-eater, "Let us jump across it four times." Rabbit jumped across four times first and then Big Man-eater jumped across four times. "Let us jump again," said Rabbit. Big Man-eater carried a bag and Rabbit said, "Let

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me hold it," so Big Man-eater gave it to him. Then Big Man-eater jumped. When he tried to jump across he fell down in the water. It ran on with him out to sea. Rabbit, however, went back to his place.