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. Kohchee 'o 'oole'm '-uueksoh Segep wehlowoyhl k'ee '-uueksoh.
    One time Coyote had ten children.
  2. Kwesee' 'o le'm, Chee nue negepoyon.
    He said to them, Go and pick grass.
  3. Kwesee' 'o le'm.
    Then they went.
  4. Kwesee' 'o tenpewe'hl kwesee' 'o ro'r kwesee' 'o menekoletkohl kue '-uueksoh.
    It rained and it snowed and all his children froze.
  5. Kwesee' weeshtue' 'emehl tetomok's.
    That's why he got mad.
  6. Kwesee' 'o lego'l Segep.
    Coyote went.
  7. 'O le'm, Kee sermerterk' k'ee hegor.
    He said, I'll kill the Sun.
  8. Kwesee' 'o kerrcherh 'ap 'o chpeenah.
    Then he waited on a ridge.
  9. 'O kohchemo'o' 'o wee'eet.
    He stayed right there all night.
  10. Kwesee' 'owoohl won 'o pkwechop' hegor woogeen 'o 'ue-kerrcherh.
    The next morning the Sun came out in a different place, on a different ridge.
  11. Hlenuetue' wonoye'eek ho neskwechok'w.
    Finally Coyote arrived in the sky.
  12. Murneepernee ha'aag weeshtue' nege'm.
    He was carrying a sharp rock.
  13. Kwesee' weet 'ap 'o chpeenah 'er'gerrch '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. Kwesee' 'er'gerrch 'o le'm keech 'o chkee'm.
    Then they went to the sweathouse and they slept.
  16. Kwesee' 'owoohl koy nuemee koy 'o ko'moyo'm pegahchewo'm koleen.
    Next morning very early he heard one of them moving.
  17. Kwesee' 'o nohlpe'y mehl 'er'gerrch; neekee wokhlkechee' kue 'we-nohlpeyk'.
    He went out from the sweathouse; it was just getting daylight when he went out.
  18. Kwesee' wee't 'o myaahlkahpe'm, Segep pee serrhl.
    Right there he jumped on him, Coyote did.
  19. Kwesee' 'o tekwtekwohso'm.
    He hit him with the rock.
  20. Kwesee' hlkelee 'o leko'n kue wonewsleg.
    Then that Sun fell on the ground.
  21. Kwesee' 'eekee ho'ohko'hl.
    At once it got dark.
  22. Kwesee' neekee 'w-egook' Segep.
    Right away Coyote left.
  23. Kwesee' 'o newo'm wee't 'o gelomeye'm.
    He saw that they were dancing there.
  24. 'O le'm, Kee megelok', kee noo helomeyk'.
    He said, I'll go with you, I'll dance with you.
  25. 'O legee', Paas!
    He was told, No!
  26. Mos wee't kee nohl helomeye'm kee nekah negohl helomeye'm.
    You can't dance as long as we dance.
  27. 'O le'm, Paa'!
    He said, No!
  28. To' kee megelok'.
    I'll go with you anyhow.
  29. 'O legee', Chuue'hl.
    Then he was told, All right.
  30. Kwesee' neekee 'w-elomeye'm.
    They kept on dancing.
  31. Keech koosee 'ee'eekonew.
    All of them got hold of each other's hands.
  32. Kwesee' neemee' nuemee wo chpaa nohl helome'y.
    Coyote did not dance for a very long time.
  33. Kwesee' 'o le'm, Nek kwehl loskahpeet keetee leko'n.
    He said, My buckskin pipe-cover is about to fall.
  34. Kwesee' 'o legee', Mos wee't kee mehl wey k'-elomeyk'.
    He was told, That's not why you're quitting dancing.
  35. Kwesee' 'ee kom letkwelesee'.
    They just dragged him around.
  36. Kwesee' hlow hlkelee 'o loo, 'ue-'werhlker' chpeekom.
    Finally they threw him down on the ground, only his bones were left.
  37. Kwesee' kue 'ue-kuechos 'wo-'o'l wee'eet nuemee leko'n.
    He fell right there exactly by his grandmother's house.
  38. Kwesee' koypoh kue 'ue-kuechos 'em newo'm kes 'oohlke's.
    In the morning his grandmother saw him where he was lying.
  39. Kwesee' 'o le'm, Tee'nee'shoo wee'?
    She said, What is this?
  40. Kwesee' 'o mehlone'm.
    Then she touched him.
  41. 'O le'm, Nek kwelekw 'ee yo chkeyk'.
    He said, It's me, I was just sleeping.
  42. Kwesee' kue 'ue-k'ep'ew wee'.
    That was her grandchild.
  43. Kwesee' 'o'lep 'o sootohl.
    Then they went into the house.
  44. Wee't ho weryerkerhl.
    That's where it ended.