52 TRADITIONS OF THE CADDO. 
always be hungry because he had disobeyed them. ‘Then they held 
a council among themselves and decided to go to the sky and live there 
with their sister. 
27. THE OLD WOMAN WHO KEPT ALL THE PECANS.* 
There lived an old woman who was mother to all the pecan trees. 
She owned all of the trees and gathered all the nuts herself. When 
people went to her lodge she would give them a few pecans to eat, but 
would never allow them to take anyaway. The people were very fond 
of pecans and they wanted some for their own use, but the old woman 
would not let them have any. One time the people were very hungry 
and the old woman had everything in her lodge filled with pecans, but 
she would give them only a few when they went to see her and she 
made them eat them before going away. ‘This made the people angry 
and they decided that something must be done. 
There was in the village an old man who had four little sons who 
were very troublesome and meddlesome. ‘The people—they were the 
field Rats—thought that these four little boys would be the right ones 
to go over to the old woman’s house some night to try to steal some 
of the nuts. ‘They chose the four boys both because they were small 
and quiet and sly and because they were such a nuisance around the 
village that they would be no great loss to the people if the old woman 
killed them. The Rats were willing to go because they were always 
glad to be meddling. They chose one to slip over and make sure that 
the old woman wasasleep. He went to her lodge and peeped in through 
a small crack and saw that she was still at work. He waited until she 
finished her work and went to bed; then when he heard her snore he 
ran back home to tell his brothers to come. When he went inside his 
father’s lodge he sawa stranger sitting there. The stranger was Coyote. 
He had come to tell the Rats not to trouble about stealing pecans from 
the old woman, for he was going over the next day and kill her. Coyote 
was afraid to trust the Rats. He wanted to go himself, so he could get 
the most of the pecans. The next morning he went over to see the old 
woman and acted very friendly. The old woman gave him some pecans 
and he sat down and ate them all up. ‘Then he asked her for some 
more, and as she turned around to get them he pulled out his stone knife 
and struck her on the head. She died, and ever since then the pecan 
trees have grown everywhere and belong to all of the people. 
* Told by Wing. 
