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Once the trickster Coyote was walking to the village to do some mischief when he saw Old Woman crawling upon the ground. Although Coyote was mischievous, he was as curious as any other person. "Why are you crawling upon the ground, Old Woman?" He asked. She looked up at him weakly and replied, "I have just escaped with my magic from the belly of a giant. I had been trapped in there for a month with no food. Beware, Coyote! He has eaten villages and towns alike and he is up ahead." Coyote laughed at her. "Don't worry, Old Woman. No giant shall swallow me! I'll bash him on the head with a stick if I spot him and steal his treasure! You just watch." Saying this, he walked away. Much later in the day, the sun was out and singing the hair off of Coyote's head, it was so hot. Unfortunately, there was no shade anywhere to rest under. Up ahead, he spotted a cave. "How fortunate I am!" Coyote said to himself. "I shall wait in the cool cave until evening when it shall be more temperate." He stepped into the cave and began descending into the darkness. After a while, he found a man laying upon the ground. "Why are you laying there?" Coyote asked. The man weakly looked up at him. "There is no food in the belly of the giant." He replied. Coyote scoffed. "Fool! This is not the belly of the giant! This is a cave that I stopped in to take refuge from the heat." "No," said the man, "This is the belly of the giant. The mouth of the cave you stepped in was really the giant's mouth. That is how he catches people." Coyote looked about him and saw this was true. People in various states of starvation were scattered about. The air was filled with the sound of quiet suffering. "Why are you starving?" Coyote loudly asked the people. "There is food all around you." "Where?" They asked him, looking about. "Everywhere!" Coyote replied. "The giant is made of meat. That is what you are walking on. Simply cut out the meat and eat it." "We never thought of that." Said the people. "Of course not." Said Coyote. "You're not as smart as I am." As the people dug out chunks of flesh, the giant roared with pain. "Stop! Stop!" He begged. The people didn't listen and feasted. "As fun as this is," Coyote said, "I am growing bored of the scenery and wish to leave." "How are you to do that?" asked the people. "See that volcano over there?" said Coyote. "It is really the giants heart. I will stab it with my walking stick and kill the giant. When the giant takes his last breath, we will run through it and escape. But you must make certain to run very fast, or else you shall be stuck and there will be no way to get you out." The people agreed and crowded up next to the giants mouth as Coyote climbed the volcano. With one sharp push he speared the giant's heart. As the giants mouth opened, everyone pushed their way through into the open air, Coyote first in line. The tick, which at that time was the size of a dog, was last. It had climbed halfway through when the great lips of the giant fell upon it. "Help me!" It squealed. The people pulled and pulled until finally the tick popped out. However, the weight of the lips had crushed the tick down to the size of grain. That is why to this day the tick is tiny and not large as it once had been. |