406 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 196 



"How can we find out that what you say is true?" asked the Otter. 



"I know how," the Rabbit said. "What are your stools like when 

 you defecate?" 



"When I defecate," said the Otter, "there are shells of crayfish in 

 my stools." 



Said the Rabbit, "It's the same with me — shells of crayfish, heaps 

 of them. Let's both of us sit down, close our eyes, and defecate. 

 Then you will see that we are kinsfolk." 



So they both sat down. Closing his eyes, the Otter defecated. 

 As soon as he had done so, the Rabbit took half of the stool of the 

 Otter and placed it under himself. Then he told the Otter to open his 

 eyes. Sure enough, there was the same kind of ordure under both of 

 them. 



"And yet," the Otter said, "I never knew myself to defecate so little." 



"Nor am I accustomed to defecating so little," said the Rabbit. 



The Otter was still doubtful, and did not let the Rabbit loose. 

 They traveled together along the same trail, and when night was 

 approaching, at the place called Dida:dhlahosgi:yi ('they [granulated] 

 which fall upon one-place'), they halted and built a fire. 



The Otter went to sleep, but the Rabbit kept awake, and as soon 

 as the Otter was fast asleep, the Rabbit took a piece of bark, and using 

 it as a shovel, threw burning coals upon the Otter's coat. The Otter 

 was badly burned, and suffered severely. 



The Rabbit shouted, "Run this way to the water!" 



The Rabbit ran the other way, but the Otter ran straight into the 

 water, and he has lived there ever since. 



The place where this happened is called De:gale:yvsv:i ('burned 

 [in several places], one-place').*^ 



4.— THE RABBIT DUPES THE POSSUM 



In olden times the animals had a principal chief, and they had a 

 place of assembly where they often went to discuss their affairs. The 

 Rabbit heard about one of their meetings, so he went to where the 

 animals were assembled. 



There was an important matter under discussion at the meeting. 

 The Rabbit listened. (The Rabbit was going to pretend that they 

 were talking about something else, and thus have some fun. He sat 

 there listening with his ears pricked up, thinking of the fun he was 

 going to have.) 



** Olbrechts informs us that a place near Bryson City, in Swain County, is called by this term. 



It is probable that this story was originally Muskogean, for one finds in Swanton (1929) the following 

 versions of it: four Creek (pp. 42-45); two Alabama (pp. 159-161); two Koasati (pp. 205-206, 207-208); and one 

 Natchez-Cherokee (pp. 259-261). There is a Tasgigi version in Speck (1907, p. 154). The ending of the 

 story is almost identical with an episode in a Cherokee myth in Mooney (1900, pp. 267-268). 



