No!^80r* ^*^' EASTERN CHEROKEE FOLKTALES — KILPATRICK 407 



Then the Rabbit left, and when he got home, he told the Chief 

 and the townsfolk that he had come from where the chiefs were as- 

 sembled, and that they had decreed that his settlement must have a 

 dance, and that every girl must go to it with a boy and have fun 

 with him (you know what I mean) . 



The Chief said, "Well, if our chiefs have decided that, we must 

 obey." So arrangements for a dance were made. 



The Rabbit had many girls to go with because he had a good at- 

 tract-medicine, but the Possum could not get a single girl because girls 

 were not attracted to him. The next day the Possum went to the 

 Rabbit and complained because he had not had any success at the 

 dance. He asked the Rabbit if there was going to be another dance 

 soon. 



"Well, I'll go hear what the council says," the Rabbit said, "and if 

 it decides that we must have another dance, why, we'll have it." 



The Rabbit went again to the place where the chiefs were assembled. 

 They were discussing some important business. 



When the Rabbit returned home, he said, "This time our chiefs 

 said that we have to fight. They want us to fight as hard as we 

 can." 



The Chief said, "We must do what the council says to do," 



So arrangements to have a fight were made, and then when the 

 night for it had come, all fought as hard as they could. 



The Possum got hit so hard that he became almost dead (he is a 

 poor fighter, and soon dies), but when the fight was all over, he came 

 back to life again. 



Now, therefore, when you hit the Possum, he dies immediately, 

 but comes back to life again soon afterward.*^ 



5.— THE RABBIT DUPES THE WOLF 



The Wolf was the best runner of all the animals — and he still is. 



One day he met up with the Rabbit and challenged the Rabbit to 

 a race. The Rabbit said, "I don't know whether I could beat you or 

 not, but maybe I can find someone to race against you." The Wolf 

 was very proud because the Rabbit said that, and said that he was 

 willing to race against anyone that the Rabbit might find. 



The Rabbit went to see the Terrapin, and they talked over the 

 matter. The Rabbit had a trick in mind. The Terrapin said that 

 he would be willing to do as the Rabbit said. 



The Rabbit went out and found six terrapins which were exactly 

 the same color as the Terrapin. When he had everything ready, he 



" This story is but slightly varied from a presentation in Mooney (1900, p. 273). 



