Folk Tales
Author's TalesO-way-way-ham-by-yoh, long time ago, a fox went out to hunt. He had such a good place to hunt in, for just north of his den was a stretch of woods, where wild turkeys and many kinds of animals lived. He and Mrs. Fox had been living on cow sinews for many days, so he was hungry for something different to eat.
He hunted for a long time until he grew tired. When suddenly he found – what do you suppose? – a big fat turkey. He was just ready to stick his sharp teeth into the turkey to drag him to his den, when the turkey said; “Wait, Fox-man, are you ill, you look very pale? You look as if you will faint. Don”t you want to take a nap? You lie down and go to sleep and I'll go down to your house and tell Mrs. Fox to cook me for your dinner. Poor fellow, you look so weary!” This made Mr. Fox really feel ill.
“That will be kind of you, Turkey-Man.”
So the turkey started off towards the fox”s den and the fox watched him until he reached the door, then he lay down under a tree and went to sleep.
When the turkey reached the door of the fox”s den, he knocked loudly.
“Who”s there?”, asked Mrs. Fox.
“Just a friend with a message for you.”
“Won”t you come in?”
“No, thank you, I am in a hurry. Mr. Fox asked me to come by to tell you that he will be back soon. He is very hungry and wants you to cook him a mess of cow sinews for his dinner.”
And then the turkey ran away.
Mrs. Fox got busy and cooked some cow sinews. Very soon Mr. Fox came home smacking his lips. He was so pleased to think what a delicious turkey dinner he was going to have.
Mrs. Fox brought the dinner and set it on the table before Mr. Fox. He bit off a big piece and began to chew.
“This is the toughest turkey I have ever tasted,” said he. “It tastes more like cow sinews than turkey to me. What is the matter with it?”
“Turkey!” exclaimed Mrs. Fox. “Why I have no turkey! These are cow sinews. Some one knocked at the door this morning. He told me you were hungry and wanted me to cook cow sinews for your dinner right away.”
“Oh,” groaned Mr. Fox, “that must have been the turkey!”
Author Note: San Juan Pueblo