Mary Marshall
Coyote Tries to Kill the Sun (1927)
Writing system: default | hyphens | linguistic
Display style: paragraph |sentence | look-up
Text identifier: MM4
Speaker: Mary Marshall
Primary documentation: Edward Sapir
Edition: , Howard Berman, "Yurok Texts", Collected Works of Edward Sapir,
volume 14, Northwest California Linguistics, ed. by Victor K. Golla and Sean
O'Neill, pp. 1022-1025
Manuscript source: Edward Sapir, Yurok field notebook, American Philosophical
Society
1. |
Koh-chee 'o 'oo-lem' 'uuek-soh Se-gep we-hlo-woyhl k'ee 'uuek-soh. Kwe-see' 'o le'm, Chee nue ne-ge-po-yon. Kwe-see' 'o le'm. Kwe-see' 'o ten-pe-we'hl kwe-see' 'o ror' kwe-see' 'o me-ne-ko-let-kohl kue 'uuek-soh. Kwe-see' weesh-tue' 'e-mehl te-to-mok's. Kwe-see' 'o le-gool' Se-gep. 'O le'm, Kee ser-mer-terk' k'ee he-gor. Kwe-see' 'o kerr-cherh 'ap 'o chpee-nah. 'O koh-che-mo-'o' 'o wee-'eet. Kwe-see' 'o-woohl won 'o pkwe-chop' he-gor woo-geen 'o 'ue-kerr-cherh. Hle-nue-tue' wo-no-ye-'eek ho nes-kwe-chok'w. Mue-nee-per-nee ha-'aag weesh-tue' ne-ge'm. Kwe-see' weet 'ap 'o chpee-nah 'r'gerrch 'we-re-pokw. 'Ap 'o ko'-moy' 'och kol' ka ne-pem' chmey-yo-nen. Kwe-see' 'r'gerrch 'o lem' keech 'o chkee'm. Kwe-see' 'o-woohl koy nue-mee koy 'o ko'-mo-yom' pe-gah-che-wom' ko-leen. Kwe-see' 'o noohl-pey' mehl 'r'gerrch; nee-kee wokhl-ke-chee' kue 'we-noohl-peyk'. Kwe-see' wee't 'o myaahl-kah-pe'm, Se-gep pee serrhl. Kwe-see' 'o tekw-te-kwoh-so'm. Kwe-see' hlke-lee 'o le-kon' kue wo-news-leg. Kwe-see' 'ee-kee ho-'oh-ko'hl. Kwe-see' nee-kee 'we-gok' Se-gep. Kwe-see' 'o ne-wom' wee't 'o ge-lo-mey-ye'm. 'O le'm, Kee me-ge-lok', kee noo he-lo-meyk'. 'O le-gee', Paas! Mos wee't kee nohl he-lo-mey-yem' kee ne-kah ne-gohl he-lo-mey-ye'm. 'O le'm, Paa'! To' kee me-ge-lok'. 'O le-gee', Chuue'hl. Kwe-see' nee-kee 'we-lo-mey-ye'm. Keech koo-see 'ee-'ee-ko-new. Kwe-see' nee-mee' nue-mee wo chpaa nohl he-lo-me'y. Kwe-see' 'o le'm, Nek kwehl los-kah-peet kee-tee le-ko'n. Kwe-see' 'o le-gee', Mos wee't kee mehl wey k'e-lo-meyk'. Kwe-see' 'ee kom let-kwe-le-see'. Kwe-see' hlow hlke-lee 'o loo, 'ue'-werhl-ker' chpee-kom. Kwe-see' kue 'ue-kue-chos 'wo-'ol' wee-'eet nue-mee le-ko'n. Kwe-see' koy-poh kue 'ue-kue-chos 'em ne-wom' kes 'oohl-ke's. Kwe-see' 'o le'm, Tee'-nee'-shoo wee'? Kwe-see' 'o me-hlo-ne'm. 'O le'm, Nek kwe-lekw 'ee yo chkeyk'. Kwe-see' kue 'uek-'ep-'ew wee'. Kwe-see' 'o'-lep 'o soo-tohl. Wee't ho wer-yer-kerhl. |
One time Coyote had ten children. He said to them, Go and pick grass. Then they went. It rained and it snowed and all his children froze. That's why he got mad. Coyote went. He said, I'll kill the Sun. Then he waited on a ridge. He stayed right there all night. The next morning the Sun came out in a different place, on a different ridge. Finally Coyote arrived in the sky. He was carrying a sharp rock. He waited by the doorway of the sweathouse. In the evening he heard people eating. Then they went to the sweathouse and they slept. Next morning very early he heard one of them moving. He went out from the sweathouse; it was just getting daylight when he went out. Right there he jumped on him, Coyote did. He hit him with the rock. Then that Sun fell on the ground. At once it got dark. Right away Coyote left. He saw that they were dancing there. He said, I'll go with you, I'll dance with you. He was told, No! You can't dance as long as we dance. He said, No! I'll go with you anyhow. Then he was told, All right. They kept on dancing. All of them got hold of each other's hands. Coyote did not dance for a very long time. He said, My buckskin pipe-cover is about to fall. He was told, That's not why you're quitting dancing. They just dragged him around. Finally they threw him down on the ground, only his bones were left. He fell right there exactly by his grandmother's house. In the morning his grandmother saw him where he was lying. She said, What is this? Then she touched him. He said, It's me, I was just sleeping. That was her grandchild. Then they went into the house. That's where it ended. |