October, 1903. Traditions of the Crows — Simms. 295 



14. — Old Man Coyote, the Giants and their Little Enemies. 



Once upon a time the people of the earth were very hungry for buf- 

 falo meat, so three young men started to hunt buffalo and saw two 

 trails of the buffalo coming together in one common trail, which was 

 deeply worn and covered with buffalo manure. This trail terminated 

 in a big hole in the side of the mountain. 



The three young men were very tired from travelling and slept 

 four nights in the hole in the mountain. After walking four days in 

 the mountain hole, they saw light at the opposite end of the hole, which 

 grew lighter and lighter as they neared the opening. When they had 

 reached the light, they saw that they had come out into another world, 

 where the people were tall and large, and where there were plenty 

 of buffalo. 



When the three young men came out, the people of the other world 

 came toward them, and among them was Old Man Coyote, who said 

 to the three young men : "You ask for some of their horses, for their 

 horses are buffalo." The people did not come very close to the three 

 young men, fearing that they might step on the three young men and 

 kill them. The big people asked them, "What do you eat?" The three 

 young men said, "We eat your horses." The big people said, "You 

 may take the horses you like the best and eat them." 



The three young men selected and killed a fat buffalo and while 

 the three young men were cooking the buffalo, the big people stood 

 away off; for they did not like the odor of cooking meat. The big 

 people were very kind to the three young men and told them to re- 

 main as long as they wanted and eat whenever they were hungry. 



After the three young men had finished eating, the big people told 

 them that their (the big people's) enemies were coming the next day, 

 and the big people went into their tipis, made of the hides of buffalo. 

 The big people were afraid the three young men would be harmed, 

 and so put them safely away. The three young men thought that the 

 enemies of the big people were much larger than the big people and 

 would be much more powerful. 



When evening came, and all the people had gone into their tipis, 

 the enemies came, and they were mosquitoes, ants, and bugs of everv 

 description, also rabbits, prairie dogs, and other small animals, as well 

 as small birds. When one of the big people thrust his head out from 

 the tipi the mosquitoes would sting him, and he would fall like dead. 



The three young men could not see what was going on and one of 

 them said : "I am going out and see what their enemies are like. We 



