Long ago (_hamaha_), the bluebirds (?) (_kaihadanish_) were grinding. Coyote (_chuski_) began to grind too. The bluebirds said, “Let us all go get a drink on top of Katzímo! But what shall we do with our friend (_saukin_) here? He has no feathers. We must give him some of our feathers.” So they gave him of their feathers. They flew to the top of the mesa. They drank. Then they said, “Let us take back our feathers! Let us leave Coyote here!” They took all their feathers away from him. He roamed about looking for a way down. He began to jump. It was steep. He fell and killed himself. The bluebirds wondered what had become of him.[166] THE SERPENT, THE MAN, THE OX, THE HORSE, AND THE COYOTE (From Acomita)[167] Once a man, while going through a meadow, found a serpent trapped under a stone. The man had compassion for it and took away the stone. At that time the animals spoke the same as we, and the serpent said to the man: “Now I am going to eat you: I am very hungry.” “Why do you wish to eat me after I did you such a great benefit?” But the serpent insisted on eating him and at last the man said to him: “Wait a little while. Wait until that ox gets here and then you may eat me.” “Good,” the serpent replied. And as soon as the ox arrived the man said to him: “Where has it been seen that a good deed is repaid with evil?” “In me,” replied the ox. “After I served my master for many years he unkindly turned me out here to get fat so that he can kill me.” And then the serpent said to the man: “So you see it is right that I should eat you.” “Wait a little until that old horse comes, and then you may eat me,” the man said to him. Good; so they waited, and as soon as he came the man said to him, “Where has it been seen that a good deed is repaid with an evil one?” “In me,” said the horse, “for after serving my master for many years they left me here for the wild beasts to eat me.” “Now you see how right it is that I should eat you,” the serpent said to the man. “Wait a bit until that coyote comes and then you may eat me.” Good; so the coyote came and the man said to him: “Where has it been seen that good is repaid by evil? This serpent was trapped under a stone, and because I did him the benefit of taking away the stone he now wishes to eat me.” “It is quite right that he should eat you,” said the coyote, “but first I wish to see how the serpent was trapped.” The serpent then consented that they should roll back the stone so that they might see how he was trapped. And as soon as he was well trapped, the coyote said: “Was it like this that he was trapped?” “Yes, it was like this,” they all replied. “Good,” the coyote said to them, “if that is the way it was, let him remain so, so that the devil may not cause him to eat me also.” SAN PASCUAL