55. Rabbit Fools Big Man-eater

55. RABBIT FOOLS BIG MAN-EATER (65)

Big Man-eater killed all of the people in one town and was going on to another town. Rabbit met Big Man-eater, ran back to the village and told all of the Indians. So all the Indians ran away, leaving only a poor orphan. Then Rabbit wetted some old red paint, reddened his mouth with it, and knocked down and killed the orphan. Carrying its body he went along until he met Big Man-eater. Big Man-eater said to him, "How are the people there?" "I have killed them all," he said. "How are they down yonder?" "The same thing happened to them." Then Rabbit said, referring to the orphan child, "This is all I have left." When he gave him to Big Man-eater the latter threw him into the air and when he came down swallowed him at a gulp. "Let us be friends," he said, so they became friends and traveled on together. Then they said, "Let us shut our eyes and defecate." When they did so Big Man-eater passed nothing but split bones while Rabbit defecated only grass. What Big Man-eater passed Rabbit picked up and put down under himself and his own excrement he placed under Big Man-eater. "Let us open our eyes," he said. Nothing but bones were under Rabbit, while Big Man-eater was sitting over excrement from grass.

"I was never so before; I feel ashamed," said Big Man-eater.

"Now let us go to Ashes-thrown-up Camp," said Rabbit. They set out and camped there and Rabbit hunted up a lot of old bark which he laid down near. Then they built a fire, and he heaped

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a lot of hot ashes on the bark, and threw it upon Big Man-eater's chest when he was asleep. Rabbit threw a few upon his own chest and lay down. Then Big Man-eater groaned and stood up, and Rabbit rubbed the ashes off of him. They lay down again until day. Then Rabbit said, "Let us go to Tree-falling-down Camp." They went on and got there. When they made camp they built a fire under a dead tree standing near. When it was lighted, Rabbit walked about, took a small tree, and brought it back. Then Rabbit lay down and Big Man-eater laid himself at the foot of the tree. When it was nearly midnight the tree fell upon Big Man-eater. Rabbit laid the small tree over himself and remained where he was groaning. Big Man-eater was frightened, woke up, and kicked away the tree with his feet. He stood up, pulled the tree off of Rabbit, and threw it away.

When day came Rabbit said, "Let us go to Jumping-back-and-forth Creek," and they set out for it. When they got there Rabbit went ahead and jumped to the other side of it and back. He jumped again until he had jumped four times. Then he said to Big Man-eater, "You do it." So Big Man-eater jumped across and back four times. "Let us jump again," he said. When they jumped, Rabbit crossed over and back quickly. When Big Man-eater was going to jump back, Rabbit said, "Let me take your bag," and he gave it to him. He jumped across and started to come back, but the stream suddenly became full of water, the rising of which struck Big Man-eater. The running water carried him off to the other side of the ocean. Rabbit kept saying, "My friend threw his bag down on the water to me. Look! my friend has gone to the ocean." He was calling to him but he had disappeared far across the sea.