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33. The Roc (first version)
- University of New Mexico Press
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232 | 33. The Roc (first version)1 i do not know where fox lived. he and his younger brother lived alone; they had no women. They thought how to catch game, and then made a trap. First they caught a mouse. It was about daylight when the elder brother woke and sang to his younger brother, “Get up. Run and see what is in the trap. I heard a noise there which kept me awake.” The younger brother rose and ran to the trap. There was a rat in it. He caught it, brought it home, and roasted it in the ashes. When it was done, they tore it in two, and each ate his portion. Again at dawn, the older brother sang, “Get up. Hurry; see what is caught in the trap. I heard so great a noise it kept me awake.” The younger brother ran there and found a chipmunk2 in the trap. Again he took this home, roasted it, tore it in two, and each ate his portion. At dawn, Fox sang again to his younger brother, “Hurry; get up. Run see what is caught in the trap.” He found a chipmunk,3 brought it home, cooked it, and tore it in two the same way, and each ate half. Just at dawn, Fox sang to his younger brother, “Get up. Run to see what is in it again. There was so much noise it kept me awake.” He found a rock squirrel in it. He brought it home, roasted, tore it in two as before, and each ate his half. (They set the trap every night in this story, not in the daytime.) Fox told his younger brother, “Get up and run to the trap to see what is caught. I heard a great noise; I heard the weight fall.” The younger brother ran to look; the trap held a rabbit. Again he took it home, roasted it in the ashes, and each had half to eat. They caught all sorts of animals; at first little ones, then larger and larger. Again at daylight, Fox sang, “Younger brother, wake up. Run and see what is caught. I heard the trap fall.” The younger brother ran over to it and found a jackrabbit with long ears in it. He took it the roc (first version) | 233 home; this one he boiled, and they ate it. This was the biggest animal they had caught. Just at dawn, the older brother heard a great noise in the trap. “Younger brother, get up. Run [and] see what is in the trap.” He ran there and found an antelope in it. He left it in the trap and returned to tell his older brother to come help him carry in home. They skinned it. Then they had plenty of meat to cook and eat. They sliced it in order to dry it. Again at dawn he sang, “Run and see what is caught. I heard a great noise which kept me awake.” The younger brother ran to the trap, which held a big mountain sheep ram. He carried it home, skinned it as they did the antelope. They had plenty of meat, which they sliced and dried. Just at dawn, he said, “Run over and see what is in the trap. I heard much noise.” The other ran there and found a big buck in it. When he saw this, he ran back to tell his older brother. Both went to fetch it home, skinned it, and had plenty of meat then. Again at dawn, Fox told his younger brother, “Go look at the trap, to see if another animal had [has] been caught. I heard a noise which kept me awake.” The younger brother ran there and found that the trap had caught an immense bird, larger than an eagle. His wings were very long (as long as an airplane). It was still alive as it lay there. Both brothers shot at it with arrows, but they could not kill it. So one ran home and got a heavy, stone-headed club. But he could not kill it with this: the heavy stone head just smashed to bits. The bird was not killed. After a while he took the two foxes, put them on his back, and flew up. (This story does not say in which direction they were taken.) As he flew along, he gathered up more people to carry on his back. He flew on and on, straight...