Sacred Texts Native American Southeast Index Previous Next
Some Wolves pursued a fawn, which ran until it came to where a Beaver was chopping out a canoe. Without stopping it went into his anus. The Wolves arrived and said, "Have you seen a fawn come this way?" "No indeed," he answered. "What is that under your tail?" they said. He replied "Ångatca'" (Perhaps a word in some
other language). "What is it?" they said. Then the fawn came out, made a jump and lodged far up in the fork of a tree.
The Wolves stayed about not knowing how to get it down. Then they thought, "Let Terrapin kill it." "Can you kill it?" they said. He aimed at it and shot it down. Then they said, "Do you want any meat?" "No, indeed," said Terrapin. "Do you want a ham? Do you want a shoulder? Do you want a rib?" they said. "No indeed." "Do you want the head? Do you want the back?" they said. But he answered, "I don't want them." Then all of the Wolves got on the carcass and in a few minutes devoured it completely.
When they were gone Terrapin got some blood, wrapped layer after layer of leaves about it until it was one big roll of leaves as big as that (indicating size with hands), put it on his back and went home. When he got home to his wife with this, he said, "It is venison." His wife untied it but saw nothing but leaves. "It is nothing," she said. "Go farther in," he replied. When she again hunted she found only some blood. "It is too little to cook and eat," she said. She seized it and threw it into Terrapin's eyes. And that is how Terrapin's eyes came to be red.