Native American Legends
A Raccoon tricks four blind men
A Winnebago (Hotcâk) Legend
Once there was a raccoon who went up a stream. As he went along
suddenly he came to an Indian rope trap. He thought it was that
kind, so he raised his left paw, but did not put it down. 'If I
put it down, the trap will bite me.' Then all day he stood there,
only at night did he go home. The sun rose as he went along the
Indian path and soon he came to water.
He kept going on the path, and then there was a long lodge. He
peeped in and there four old men were on each side within this house.
One of them said, 'Your cooking must be done by now.' 'Yes, it is
cooked. Hand the dish here and I will give you some.' The raccoon
went in. All four of these old men were blind. Then the old men
on the other side said, 'Ho! here is the dish, pass it over.' But
then the raccoon said, 'Ho!' and took the dish. The one being served
said, 'What? ' as he had not gotten the dish. 'What happened? I
handed it to you and you took the corn,' he said. 'I am saying that
no one here handed it to me,' he said. Then he hit him right in
his face.
He said, 'Ho! We will do it. I said I handed it to you.' Then the
other one right in the face he hit him. 'Ho! we will do it,' he
said, and he stood up. Now the two fellows got a hold of one another
and began to fight each other. It was the raccoon who stood up and
did it, hitting them in the face too. 'Well! We will do it,' then
all four of them began fighting and then the raccoon laughed as
the old men were funny.
The four then went into town and there they knew of him. 'Ho ho!
Old men, the raccoon is the cause of this,' they said. 'Stand at
the door.' Then they did it, but the raccoon had gone out on top
of the lodge.
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