Mary Marshall

Coyote Tries to Kill the Sun (1927)

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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. Kohchi 'o 'oole'm '-uuksoh Segep wehlowoyhl k'i '-uuksoh.
    One time Coyote had ten children.
  2. Kwesi' 'o le'm, Chi nu negepoyon.
    He said to them, Go and pick grass.
  3. Kwesi' 'o le'm.
    Then they went.
  4. Kwesi' 'o tenpewe'hl kwesi' 'o ro'r kwesi' 'o menekoletkohl ku '-uuksoh.
    It rained and it snowed and all his children froze.
  5. Kwesi' wishtu' 'emehl tetomok's.
    That's why he got mad.
  6. Kwesi' 'o legoo'l Segep.
    Coyote went.
  7. 'O le'm, Ki srmrtrk' k'i hegor.
    He said, I'll kill the Sun.
  8. Kwesi' 'o krrchrh 'ap 'o chpinah.
    Then he waited on a ridge.
  9. 'O kohchemo'o' 'o wi'it.
    He stayed right there all night.
  10. Kwesi' 'owoohl won 'o pkwechop' hegor woogin 'o 'u-krrchrh.
    The next morning the Sun came out in a different place, on a different ridge.
  11. Hlenutu' wonoye'ik ho neskwechok'w.
    Finally Coyote arrived in the sky.
  12. Muniprni ha'aag wishtu' nege'm.
    He was carrying a sharp rock.
  13. Kwesi' wit 'ap 'o chpinah 'r'grrch 'we-repokw.
    He waited by the doorway of the sweathouse.
  14. 'Ap 'o ko'mo'y 'och ko'l ka nepe'm chmeyonen.
    In the evening he heard people eating.
  15. Kwesi' 'r'grrch 'o le'm kich 'o chki'm.
    Then they went to the sweathouse and they slept.
  16. Kwesi' 'owoohl koy numi koy 'o ko'moyo'm pegahchewo'm kolin.
    Next morning very early he heard one of them moving.
  17. Kwesi' 'o noohlpe'y mehl 'r'grrch; niki wokhlkechi' ku 'we-noohlpeyk'.
    He went out from the sweathouse; it was just getting daylight when he went out.
  18. Kwesi' wi't 'o myaahlkahpe'm, Segep pi srrhl.
    Right there he jumped on him, Coyote did.
  19. Kwesi' 'o tekwtekwohso'm.
    He hit him with the rock.
  20. Kwesi' hlkeli 'o leko'n ku wonewsleg.
    Then that Sun fell on the ground.
  21. Kwesi' 'iki ho'ohko'hl.
    At once it got dark.
  22. Kwesi' niki 'w-egok' Segep.
    Right away Coyote left.
  23. Kwesi' 'o newo'm wi't 'o gelomeye'm.
    He saw that they were dancing there.
  24. 'O le'm, Ki megelok', ki noo helomeyk'.
    He said, I'll go with you, I'll dance with you.
  25. 'O legi', Paas!
    He was told, No!
  26. Mos wi't ki nohl helomeye'm ki nekah negohl helomeye'm.
    You can't dance as long as we dance.
  27. 'O le'm, Paa'!
    He said, No!
  28. To' ki megelok'.
    I'll go with you anyhow.
  29. 'O legi', Chuu'hl.
    Then he was told, All right.
  30. Kwesi' niki 'w-elomeye'm.
    They kept on dancing.
  31. Kich koosi 'i'ikonew.
    All of them got hold of each other's hands.
  32. Kwesi' nimi' numi wo chpaa nohl helome'y.
    Coyote did not dance for a very long time.
  33. Kwesi' 'o le'm, Nek kwehl loskahpit kiti leko'n.
    He said, My buckskin pipe-cover is about to fall.
  34. Kwesi' 'o legi', Mos wi't ki mehl wey k'-elomeyk'.
    He was told, That's not why you're quitting dancing.
  35. Kwesi' 'i kom letkwelesi'.
    They just dragged him around.
  36. Kwesi' hlow hlkeli 'o loo, 'u-'wrhlkr' chpikom.
    Finally they threw him down on the ground, only his bones were left.
  37. Kwesi' ku 'u-kuchos 'wo-'o'l wi'it numi leko'n.
    He fell right there exactly by his grandmother's house.
  38. Kwesi' koypoh ku 'u-kuchos 'em newo'm kes 'oohlke's.
    In the morning his grandmother saw him where he was lying.
  39. Kwesi' 'o le'm, Ti'ni'shoo wi'?
    She said, What is this?
  40. Kwesi' 'o mehlone'm.
    Then she touched him.
  41. 'O le'm, Nek kwelekw 'i yo chkeyk'.
    He said, It's me, I was just sleeping.
  42. Kwesi' ku 'u-k'ep'ew wi'.
    That was her grandchild.
  43. Kwesi' 'o'lep 'o sootohl.
    Then they went into the house.
  44. Wi't ho wryrkrhl.
    That's where it ended.