# In the Reign of Coyote/The Creation of Man

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THE CREATION OF MAN
After Coyote had his great fall from the star, he sat around awhile doing nothing. Soon he grew tired of this and said, "I must do something."
He looked around the earth, but there was nothing to do. All the animals were warm and fat, and living without fear of anything. "They don't need any help," sighed Coyote, "but I must do something. I think I 'll make a man."
​He went down to the creek and began to model a figure out of the clay. As he worked, he became dissatisfied with the figure. "I wish I could make it better," he thought to himself. "I think I will ask the other animals for their opinions. Perhaps they can give me some good ideas."
He called all the animals of the world to meet together on the hilltop. The fishes wobbled up from the sea, the birds swept down from the heavens, and the other animals came hurrying from all the corners of the earth. They sat round in a circle,—Cougar, Grizzly, Antelope, Mountain Sheep, Deer, and so on, down to little Mouse, who was on the left of Cougar. In the center sat Coyote.
He said: "It is time for us to make man. Tell me how we shall make him."
"O-ho!" burst out Cougar. "That 's easy. Give him a mighty voice to frighten all the animals, and long hair, and strong talons with terrible fangs at the end of them. Then he will be master of the world. O-ho!" and Cougar chuckled, as poor little Mouse shrunk away from him.
"Gru-u-u!" rumbled Grizzly. "It 's perfectly ridiculous to have such a great voice. Half the time it frightens the prey so that it can hide. Give him a big enough voice, of course, but give him sense enough to seldom use it. Let him move quietly ​and swiftly. And let him have great strength to hold his capture."
"Huh!" wheezed Deer. "Strength to hold is good enough, but he would look foolish without antlers to fight with. I think, with Grizzly, that it is perfectly absurd to give him a roaring voice. I should pay less attention to his voice and more to his ears and eyes. Have his ears as sensitive as the spider's web, and his eyes like coals of fire. Then he can detect any approaching danger."
"Baa-aa!" bellowed Mountain Sheep. "Antlers are only a bother. They always catch in the brush. You would do better to roll up the antlers into little horns on either side of the forehead. That will give his head weight and enable him to butt harder."
"Oh, you animals have no brains," interrupted Coyote. "You each want man to be just like yourself. You might as well take one of your own children and call it man. Now you know that I am wiser than any of you, and yet I want man to be better than I am. Of course I wish him to have four legs like myself, and five toes. But Grizzly's toes spread out straight so that he can stand on two feet. That is a good thing. I want man's toes to be spread out like Grizzly's.
"Then, too, he 'd better have no tail, like Grizzly, for tails are only good for fleas to ride on. He may ​have a voice like Cougar's, but he need not roar all the time. But as to giving him thick hair, that would be a burden. Look at Fish. He is naked, and he is comfortable under the hottest sun. So I want man's skin to be like the skin of Fish. As to claws, they should be like Eagle's, so that he can carry things. Deer's eyes and ears are good, and his throat, too. So I 'd make man with ears and eyes and throat like Deer's. His brains should be like mine, so that he can rule the whole world."
"Nonsense! nonsense!" Beaver had been gurgling for some time. "No tail! no tail! Why, he could not live without a good broad tail. How would he haul his mud and build his house without a tail?"
"And no wings?" hooted Owl. "No wings, indeed! You are perfectly senseless not to think of giving him wings."
"Pu-u-u!" sniffed Mole. "It 's senseless to have wings. They only bump you against the sky. And eyes are useless, too. The sun only burns them. It would be better to give him a soft fur, and let him cuddle down in the moist, cool earth."
"Living in the earth is the worst nonsense of all," exclaimed Mouse. "He will need to creep into the sunshine to get warm. And he needs eyes to see what he is eating."
​"O-reech-o!" began Screech Owl, when Coyote ordered: "Stop your screeching. You may all go home. I 'll make man myself."
Each animal echoed, "I 'll make man myself," and they all rushed quarreling and snapping to the clay bank. Each began to model a figure.
At sundown they stopped to sleep,—all but Coyote. He went on working. When he heard snores from every bush, he went among the models of the other animals and destroyed every single one. Then he returned to his own figure and worked steadily. As the morning star mounted in the heavens, the figure of man was finished.
"Shine bright on him, O Morning Star!" whispered Coyote. "Give him life from the heavens, for he is to be superior to us all."
The morning star flashed five rays on the figure. Man straightened himself up. His eyes brightened. He stretched out his arms. Coyote took his hand and said: "You were partly made in the light, so you will always love the sunshine. You were partly made in the night, so you will never fear the darkness. Your mind will be active under sun or stars. You must gather cunning from all times, for henceforth you are to be the ruler of the world."
​"But did n't Coyote feel sorry to have man the ruler of the world, when he had been the most cunning all along?" asked Antonio.
"Oh, Coyote! He does not mind about man. He and man are good friends. And he is more cunning now, for you know man made him more cunning."
"Man made him more cunning? How could man make Coyote more cunning?"
"I will tell you that story another time. Now I must heat my irons. Your Señor Padre will be in for dinner soon."