Native American Legends
The Fast Runners
A Blackfoot Legend
Once, long ago, the antelope and the deer met on the prairie. At
this time both of them had galls and both dew claws. They began
to talk together, and each was telling the other what he could do.
Each one told how fast he could run, and before long they were disputing
as to which could run the faster. Neither would allow that the other
could beat him, so they agreed that they would have a race to decide
which was the swifter, and they bet their galls on the race. When
they ran, the antelope proved the faster runner, and beat the deer
and took his gall.
Then the deer said: "Yes, you have beaten me on the prairie,
but that is not where I live. I only go out there sometimes to feed,
or when I am traveling around. We ought to have another race in
the timber. That is my home, and there I can run faster than you
can."
The antelope felt very big because he had beaten the deer in the
race, and he thought wherever they might be, he could run faster
than the deer. So he agreed to race in the timber, and on this race
they bet their dew claws.
They ran through the thick timber, among the brush and over fallen
logs, and this time the antelope ran slowly, because he was not
used to this kind of traveling, and the deer easily beat him, and
took his dew claws.
Since then the deer has had no gall, and the antelope no dew claws.
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