Storytelling: The Coyote's Big Mistake

It had rained for days and days on end, and when the rain finally let up, the whole town was at least 2 feet underwater. It was impossible to get around except by boat, so the animals had taken shelter from the water in trees, on rocks, and on buildings until the water receded.

A coyote was stuck in a cottonwood tree, and he had quickly eaten any animals who were unfortunate enough to climb into the tree with him. Days passed, and the water did not receed. The coyote soon grew very hungry, and climbed down the tree to see if the water was shallow enough for him to swim in.

When he reached the lowest branches of the tree, he saw that the current was still too swift and the water too deep, so he could not leave the tree because he was not a strong swimmer. He had skipped swimming lessons to chase rabbits in the fields next to the lake. Now, he found that his hunting skills couldn’t save him because he was stuck in this tree.

A woman came by boat looking for her dog, and when she spotted the coyote in the cottonwood tree from far away, she thought he might be her dog. When she got close to the tree, she was able to anchor her boat to a stump that was sticking out of the ground not too far away. She called to the coyote, “Come down and show yourself! I have tortillas, and I know you must be hungry!”

The coyote climbed down the tree again, and when the woman saw that it was not her dog, she began to unanchor her boat from the tree stump. The coyote begged for her to toss him a tortilla. She laughed and asked why she should give a coyote who probably ate her livestock some food. He continued to beg, saying that he was starving and promised not to hunt her livestock again.

The coyote knew this promise was an empty one, and the woman stopped to think about this proposition for a minute. She wanted to catch the coyote in his lie and punish him for it, so she said, “I will toss you this tortilla, but if you do not catch it, I will not give you another.”

The coyote swiftly agreed, and the woman pulled a tortilla from her pack. The coyote climbed as close to the boat as he could and waited, jaws open and his tounge hanging from his mouth. When she threw the tortilla to him, she made sure it went just short of where he was waiting. He jumped forward, snapping violently, and soon realized the mistake he had just made. He splashed loudly into the water and was carried away by the swift current. The woman returned to her search, knowing that the coyote wouldn’t bother her family again.

A coyote on the move

Author's note: This story is based on Coyote and the Tortillas in the Southwestern and California Legends unit. A coyote is stuck in a cottonwood tree during a flood, and a woman comes by with a basket of tortillas on her head. When he asks for one, the woman refuses because they are for someone else. Because she refuses, the coyote threatens to shoot her, so she convinces him to come down the tree by saying she can't climb it. When he does, she tricks him into thinking the water is not deep, so he jumps from the tree and drowns. I wanted to keep the story very similar, but I elaborated on the original story quite a bit, since it is so short. I also changed up the interaction between the woman and the coyote. The coyote only thinks about himself, so I wanted him to get some payback for the tricks he pulls on other people.