They laughed at him, calling him a fool, saying: “Maybe you are some kind of a ghost?”
“I am not a ghost,” said Little Rabbit, “but I am more powerful than you. Put me on these red-glowing rocks and if I do not burn you must let me do the same to you.”
“This fellow is really a fool,” thought the two men. Aloud they said: “We agree.” They put Little Rabbit on the sizzling rocks, but he cooled them with his magic breath and did not burn.
Little Rabbit said: “Brothers, now it’s your turn.” He seized them and held them down on the red-hot stones, and they were consumed by heat and fire until only their ashes remained. “Lie there,” said Little Rabbit, “until you can get up again!” He laughed, saying: “This is good practice for fighting Sun!” He went on, uttering fierce war cries.
Next day he came upon two women gathering berries in baskets. He sat down and the women brought him a basket of berries to eat. He saw that there were many thorns among the berries, and told the women: “Blow these thorns into my eyes, because it will make them feel good!” They did as told, thinking to blind him, but he blew the thorns away with his magic breath.
Then the women asked: “Are you a ghost?”
“I am not a ghost,” he answered. “I am just an ordinary, everyday fellow. I guess you know that thorns cannot hurt your eyes. Let me show you.” They agreed and he made them blind. “That will teach you offering a guest berries mixed with thorns,” said Little Rabbit, and knocked them dead. “Aha,” he said, “I am learning how to kill. This is good practice. I am going to kill Sun.” He went on, whooping and hollering.
The next day he saw some women standing on the top of a high cliff. They saw him coming. “It is Little Rabbit,” they said to each other. “Let us kill him by hurling rocks at his head as he passes.” He heard them. He stopped a little short of them, took some dried meat mixed with chokecherries. He ate some of it with great relish.
The women on the cliff became curious. “What have you got there?” they asked him.
“Something very sweet and good-tasting. Come to the edge and I will throw some of it up to you.”
The women went to the brink of the cliff. Little Rabbit threw lumps of the jerk meat up to them, but so that they could not quite reach them. He kept throwing it up again and again, until the women came to the cliff’s very edge, leaning way over trying to catch the meat. They leaned so far over that they toppled from the cliff and fell to their deaths. “You got what you deserved for your greed,” said Little Rabbit. “I am on my way to kill Sun.” He went on, uttering war cries.
The day after, Little Rabbit saw two women making willow baskets lined with pitch. He was still a good way off, but he heard them talking, for he had a wonderful ear. He heard them saying: “Here comes that no-good Rabbit. Let’s kill him.”
He went up to them and said: “What were you talking about?”
“Oh, we were only saying: ‘Here comes that good-looking grandson of ours.’ ”
“Is that so? Well, let’s see whether I can fit into one of your water baskets.” He got in. “Now braid the neck,” he told them.
“Gladly,” they said. They wove the basket’s neck really small, thinking: “Now he’s trapped. He can’t get out.” But with his magic breath Little Rabbit burst the basket open, and stood there smiling. “You must surely be a ghost,” said the women.
“I am no ghost,” he said, “just a common little no-account Rabbit. But why do you wonder? Don’t you know that such a basket can hold water, but never a human being?”
“You are smart and know everything,” said the women.
“Try it out for yourselves,” he told them. They jumped into baskets lined with pitch and got stuck. “Why don’t you jump out?” he taunted them. Then he rolled them around, and kicked them about, and made fun of them. Finally he killed them with his magic ball. “I am getting better and better at this killing business,” said Little Rabbit. “I am going to fight Sun.” He uttered a war cry and went on.
The next day Little Rabbit came upon Kwiats, the Great Bear. Kwiats was digging in the ground, making a huge hole. “What are you doing?” asked Little Rabbit.
“Brother, I am digging a hole so that I can hide myself from Little Rabbit, the Great Slayer of all who stand in his way.”
“What a coincidence,” exclaimed Little Rabbit, “I am trying to hide myself from this same terrible killer. Let us dig together.” While Kwiats scooped out huge amounts of earth, Little Rabbit quickly made himself a secret passage out of this den. He slipped out. After a while, Kwiats wondered where his companion had gone. “I wonder where the little fellow is at?” Kwiats grumbled. He found the secret passage all the way to the exit, but he could not get through because he was much too big. He could only squeeze his head through. At the exit Little Rabbit was waiting. He shattered Kwiats’s skull with his magic ball. “I am really getting the hang of it now,” said Little Rabbit. “Now I go on to fight Sun.” He uttered a war whoop and continued his journey.
Next, Little Rabbit came across Tarantula. Tarantula was very smart. He had already heard about Little Rabbit and his deeds. Tarantula had a magic club that could not hurt him, but could hurt others. “I shall be using it to kill Little Rabbit,” Tarantula said to himself. Aloud he said: “Brother, I have a terrific headache. It is caused by an evil spirit inside my skull. Please beat it out of me with this club.”
Little Rabbit pounded Tarantula’s head with the club but could not hurt him. Little Rabbit was smarter than Tarantula. He figured out what Tarantula was up to. He quickly exchanged the club for his magic ball and with it pounded Tarantula’s head to bits. “I am on my way to kill Sun,” Little Rabbit cried. “Now I know I can do it!” He uttered his piercing war cry.
Little Rabbit came to the edge of the world in the east. He was careful not to fall over the edge into bottomless nothingness. He waited for Sun to come up. As soon as Sun did, Little Rabbit shattered his face into a thousand fragments. They were scattered all over the world, setting the earth on fire. The flames burned Little Rabbit’s toes, then his legs, body, and arms, until only his head was left. It rolled on all by itself until the terrible heat burst his swollen eyes, which exploded in a flood of tears that covered the whole earth and put out the fire. It took a long time until Sun and Little Rabbit had re-created themselves. “It seems killing is not the answer,” said Little Rabbit.
THE LONG BLACK STRANGER
{Omaha}
Rabbit lived alone in his tipi—alone except for his grandmother. Every morning Rabbit went out to hunt with his bow and arrows and always someone long and black followed his footstep. Whenever Rabbit looked back, the long black one was there. Rabbit could not shake him. It seemed as if he were stuck to Rabbit’s heels.
Rabbit was scared of whoever was following. He said to himself: “I will get up very early, before that long, black fellow.” But it was no use. The stranger kept dogging his trail. This went on day after day. Rabbit was angry. One evening, after he came home, he made himself a snare out of his bowstring.
“Why are you doing this?” his grandmother asked.
“Because someone is always following me,” Rabbit answered. “I am fed up with this. I will trap him.” He put the snare along his footprints.
In the morning, when Rabbit checked his snare, he saw that he had caught something. It was blindingly bright and very hot. He ran back to his tipi. “Grandmother,” he said, “I have caught something terribly bright and scorching. I am afraid of it. But I want to get my bowstring back.” He took his knife and went to where his snare was.
The thing he had caught in his trap was very angry. It shouted: “You no-good fellow, how dare you set a snare for me? Cut me loose at once or I’ll burn you to ashes!”
Rabbit wanted to obey but was afraid to come too near. The thing was so hot that already the grass around it was smoldering. “Who are you?” Rabbit asked.
“They call me Sun,” the glowing thing answered. “Why do you keep standin
g there with your mouth open? Miserable oaf, use your knife to cut me loose. Hurry!”
Rabbit crept near to the thing on his belly, stretching his arm, holding the knife as far out as he could. Quickly he cut the bowstring. At once Sun rose into the sky and lit up the world. Of course, the somebody who had followed his footsteps had been his own shadow. Coming so near to Sun, Rabbit had been burned between his shoulder blades. Ever since then he has a dark, reddish spot there.
WHY THE POSSUM’S TAIL IS BARE
{Cherokee}
The Possum used to have a long, bushy tail, and was so proud of it that he combed it out every morning and sang about it at the dance, until the Rabbit, who had had no tail since the Bear pulled it out, became very jealous and made up his mind to play the Possum a trick.
There was to be a great council and a dance at which all the animals were to be present. It was the Rabbit’s business to send out the news, so as he was passing the Possum’s place he stopped to ask him if he intended to be there. The Possum said he would come if he could have a special seat, “because I have such a handsome tail that I ought to sit where everybody can see me.” The Rabbit promised to attend to it and to send someone besides to comb and dress the Possum’s tail for the dance, so the Possum was very much pleased and agreed to come.
Then the Rabbit went over to the Cricket, who is such an expert hair cutter that the Indians call him the barber, and told him to go next morning and dress the Possum’s tail for the dance that night. He told the Cricket just what to do and then went on about some other mischief.
In the morning the Cricket went to the Possum’s house and said he had come to get him ready for the dance. So the Possum stretched himself out and shut his eyes while the Cricket combed out his tail and wrapped a red string around it to keep it smooth until night. But all this time, as he wound the string around, he was clipping off the hair close to the roots, and Possum never knew it.
When it was night the Possum went to the lodge where the dance was to be and found the best seat ready for him, just as the Rabbit had promised. When his turn came in the dance he loosened the string from his tail and stepped into the middle of the floor. The drummers began to drum and the Possum began to sing, “See my beautiful tail.” Everybody shouted, and he danced around the circle and sang again, “See what a fine color it has.” They shouted again, and he danced around another time, singing, “See how it sweeps the ground.” The animals shouted more loudly than ever, and the Possum was delighted. He danced around again and sang, “See how fine the fur is.”
Then everybody laughed so long that the Possum wondered what they meant. He looked around the circle of animals and they were all laughing at him. Then he looked down at his beautiful tail and saw that there was not a hair left upon it, but that it was as bare as the tail of a lizard. He was so much astonished and ashamed that he could not say a word, but rolled over helpless on the ground and grinned, as the Possum does to this day when taken by surprise.
RABBIT ESCAPES FROM THE BOX
{Creek}
The Rabbit had so often deceived mankind that a council was held to try him and, being found guilty, he was condemned to death by drowning. A box was made and he was put into it, carried to the banks of a stream, and left there for a while. A little child came to the box during the absence of the people and, discovering the Rabbit, asked him what he was doing there.
“Oh, I am listening to the sweetest music in the world,” said he.
“Let me get in there, too,” begged the child. So the Rabbit told the child how to open the box, and once Rabbit was out and the child was fastened in, away he ran into the forest.
When the people returned they lifted the box and threw it into the stream and said: “There, we will never be troubled by the Rabbit again.” The next busk came, when every criminal is free to return, and hardly had the dancing ground been swept clean when in jumped the Rabbit, all dressed in red, and danced with the pretty girls, while all the people stood amazed.
“Did we not drown him?” they said. “We put him in a box and threw him into the water, yet here he is.”
Asked how he came back, the Rabbit replied: “I am glad you threw me into the water. I did not die, I went to a beautiful place, where there were thousands of pretty girls who begged me to stay, and I am now sorry I came away from them.” The young warriors crowded around him and did not tire of hearing about such a lovely land. They begged him to show them the way, and he selected those he most envied and told them to prepare boxes in which they could be placed. When all were ready, their friends carried them to the stream and the Rabbit ordered them thrown in.
Again the busk rolled around and anxious friends awaited the return of the young warriors, but they did not come. At last the boxes were found on an island and in the boxes were the bodies of the ill-fated young men. A little box was also found containing the bones of the child. Then it was known that the Rabbit had deceived them again. On being questioned, he said: “I told you I was the only one who had ever returned from that beautiful country. I warned the warriors, but they would have me show them the way, and no one can be blamed except themselves.”
RABBIT AND POSSUM ON THE PROWL
{Cherokee}
The Rabbit and the Possum each wanted a wife, but no one would marry either of them. They talked over the matter and the Rabbit said, “We can’t get wives here; let’s go to the next settlement. I’m the messenger for the council, and I’ll tell the people that I bring an order that everybody must take a mate at once, and then we’ll be sure to get our wives.”
The Possum thought this a fine plan, so they started off together for the next town. As the Rabbit traveled faster, he got there first and waited outside until the people noticed him and took him into their home. When the chief came to ask his business, the Rabbit said he brought an important order from the council that everybody must get married without delay. So the chief called the people together and told them the message from the council. Every animal took a mate at once, and the Rabbit got a wife.
The Possum traveled so slowly that he got there after all the animals had mated, leaving him still without a wife. The Rabbit pretended to feel sorry for him and said, “Never mind, I’ll carry the message to the people in the next settlement, and you hurry on as fast as you can, and this time you will get your wife.”
So he went on to the next town, and the Possum followed close after him. But when the Rabbit got to the town he sent out the word that, as there had been peace so long that everybody was getting lazy, the council had ordered that there must be war at once and they must begin right in the town. So they all began fighting, but the Rabbit made four great leaps and got away just as the Possum came in. Everybody jumped on the Possum, who had not thought of bringing his weapons on a wedding trip and so could not defend himself. They had nearly beaten the life out of him when he fell over and pretended to be dead until he saw a good chance to jump up and get away. The Possum never got a wife, but he remembers the lesson, and ever since, he shuts his eyes and pretends to be dead when the hunter has him in a close corner.
TAR BABY
{Biloxi}
The Rabbit and the Frenchman were two friends. The Rabbit aided the Frenchman, agreeing to work a piece of land on shares. The first season they planted potatoes. The Rabbit, having been told to select his share of the crop, chose the potato vines, and devoured them all. The next season they planted corn. This year the Rabbit said, “I will eat the roots.” So he pulled up all the corn by the roots, but he found nothing to satisfy his hunger.“
Then the Frenchman said, “Let us dig a well.”
But the Rabbit did not wish to work any longer with his friend. Said he to the Frenchman, “If you wish to dig a well, I shall not help you.”
“Oho,” said the Frenchman, “you shall not drink any of the water from the well.”
“That does not matter,” replied the Rabbit. “I am accustomed to licking the dew from the ground.”
The French
man, suspecting mischief, made a tar baby, which he stood up close to the well. The Rabbit approached the well, carrying a long piece of cane and a tin bucket. On reaching the well, he addressed the tar baby, who remained silent. “Friend, what is the matter? Are you angry?” said the Rabbit. Still the tar baby said nothing. So the Rabbit hit him with one forepaw, which stuck there. “Let me go or I will hit you on the other side,” exclaimed the Rabbit. And when he found that the tar baby paid no attention to him, he hit him with his other forepaw, which stuck to the tar baby. “I will kick you,” said the Rabbit. But when he kicked the tar baby, the hind foot stuck. “I will kick you with the other foot,” said the Rabbit. And when he did so, that foot, too, stuck to the tar baby. Then the Rabbit resembled a ball, because his feet were sticking to the tar baby, and he could neither stand nor recline.
Just at this time the Frenchman approached. He tied the legs of the Rabbit together, laid him down, and scolded him. Then the Rabbit pretended to be in great fear of a brier patch. “As you are in such fear of a brier patch,” said the Frenchman, “I will throw you into one.”
“Oh, no,” replied the Rabbit.
“I will throw you into the brier patch,” responded the Frenchman.
“I am much afraid of it,” said the Rabbit.
“As you are in such dread of it,” said the Frenchman, “I will throw you into it.” So he seized the Rabbit, and threw him into the brier patch.
The Rabbit fell at some distance from the Frenchman. But instead of being injured, he sprang up and ran off laughing at the trick that he had played on the Frenchman.
American Indian Trickster Tales (Myths and Legends) Page 17