The Prairie Falcon Loses (Yaudanchi Yokut)

The prairie falcon shouted because he beat all the people at playing. Then the dove and the meadow-lark told Coyote: “Go and cuckold him.” Coyote said: “Yes, I will do it.” He went up the mountain.

Halfway up was a spring. From there Coyote went to the summit. He rolled himself down. At each bound he cried: “I am the prairie falcon, I am the prairie falcon!” When he had rolled to the spring he looked at himself in the water. He resembled the prairie falcon a little. He went to the top of the mountain again and rolled down once more, crying: “I am the prairie falcon.” Then he looked at himself in the spring and thought: “I am a little more like him.”

Again he went to the top and rolled down. Then he looked at himself in the water. Now he was the prairie falcon. Then he said: “Let me have a stick.” Then he had his stick and went to the prairie falcon’s house. He leaned the stick against the entrance and said to the woman: “Give me my ball.”

She asked him: “Where is it?”

“It is there at our pillow.”

She could not find it. So she said: “Come, get it yourself.” Coyote entered the house, lifted up the pillow, and there was the ball. The prairie falcon’s wife asked: “Why did you not take it when you went?” Then he hugged her. And then he cohabited with her. When he went out of the house, the woman saw his tail sticking out. He went where they were playing.

Now the dove won and the meadow-lark won, and the prairie falcon lost. He lost all his beads.

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