COYOTE & JACKRABBIT - a Paiute story

The story is shown first in English, followed by Paiute.

A big coyote who was very hungry started chasing a jackrabbit in a Paba-'yoo etza'a unu paze'a mee, kammu tubewa-be field.  Jackrabbit was very afraid. He knew that he couldn't keep on

tu- yoho-ga. Kammu unu sui-'hoo. Oosoo oo running.  He was very old, and his legs were tired. Quickly he soobbedaggwatoo gi wu'na'we tanohomanne- bodo-koo. Oosoo tired unu wa'itse - na, oo ggowpa gi mani-koo. Yabe-oo stopped running and faced the coyote. He said to the coyote, don't

tanohomanne- magwu-'hoo- koo etza'a koba-kaaheno. Oosoo ka etza'a chase me. Why are you chasing me. Are you going to eat me? mee netamma "gi-e tu-yoho - pana. How u koo nuka tu - yoho - bodote? How u tuka-koo? Etza'a yadooa

Coyote answered him, "yes I will eat you." The Jackrabbit told him na "toge-sabba, nu u tuka-koo." Soo kammu oo dduukwehe don't eat me. If you eat me you will die. How you think is that I

gi e tuka-pana. U nuka tuka-se, u ya'e-koo. How u mee am a jackrabbit, I am not. I am a rattlesnake. After you eat me, my soonamme howne kammu, nu gi. Nu togoggwa. U e tuka-se

poison will kill you. Coyote asked him, "I am hungry. What will I e bbisuna u bbatsa-koo." Etza'a oo tubengu "nu paze'a. Hemma eat? And then the jackrabbit told him, "eat these chokecherries

nu tuka-koo?" Yise soo kammu oo yadoo'e "ekea tuka to'esabooe yaa e hanne-na. Nu a no- na e kawona-wi that I am bringing here. I was carrying them in my basket to eat nobe-ggwi-'yoo a tuka-koo, yise u e tu- yoho-bodote" mee-'hoo at home and then you started chasing me. Coyote said to him "jackrabbits eat chokecherries, but rattlesnakes don't eat chokecherries. oo netamma. Etza'a mee-'hoo unaggwe "kammu ekea to'esabooe tuka, masoo togoggwa gi to'esabooe tuka.

You are lying. You are a jackrabbit. Maybe you fooled yourself, but U esaya'e. U kammu. Tuwa-soo u usoo na-e-mooaka you didn't fool me. It is good that you are a jackrabbit. I like to

gi e ne-mooaka-pana. U besa koo kammu-na. Nu kammu eat jackrabbits. I don't eat rattlesnakes. And then coyote ate the besa tukz, nu gi togoggwa tuka-du. Yise soo etza'a koo jackrabbit who tried to fool him. and then he ate jackrabbit's kammu tuka pume too'e ne-mooaka-du. Yise oosoo chokecherries. He died sitting under a cottonwood tree. The kammu to'esabooe tuka. Oosoo ya'e, sunnga - dooha  The chokecherries were poison.' katu. Soo to'esabooe na-bbisuna-na

Glenn Welker, Keeper of Stories