should be broad and flat, so he could haul mud and sand on it. Not a
furry tail, because they were troublesome on account of fleas.

Owl said man would be useless without wings.

But Mole said wings would be folly. Man would be sure to bump against
the sky. Besides, if he had wings and eyes both, he would get his eyes
burned out by flying too near the sun. But without eyes, he could burrow
in the soft, cool earth where he could be happy.

Mouse said man needed eyes so he could see what he was eating. And
nobody wanted to burrow in the damp earth. So the council broke up in a
quarrel.

Then every animal set to work to make a man according to his own ideas.
Each one took a lump of earth and modelled it just like himself. All but
Coyote, for Coyote began to make the kind of man he had talked of in the
council.

It was late when the animals stopped work and fell asleep. All but
Coyote, for Coyote was the cunningest of all the animals, and he stayed
awake until he had finished his model. He worked hard all night. When
the other animals were fast asleep he threw water on the lumps of earth,
and so spoiled the models of the other animals. But in the morning he
finished his own, and gave it life long before the others could finish
theirs. Thus man was made by Coyote.


The First Man And Woman
Nishinam (near Bear River, Cal.)