In the Reign of Coyote/Why the Snakes change their Skins
WHY THE SNAKES
CHANGE THEIR SKINS
NE day as the children were passing Klayukat's shop, they saw him oiling a rattlesnake's skin.
"Oh, what a big snake!" and Juanita shuddered.
"Did you kill it? How many rattles did it have?" questioned Antonio.
"Twelve rattles. Yes, I killed it last evening over near the quarry."
"My! I'll never go near there any more"; and Juanita puckered up her face into a hundred wrinkles.
"Oh, rattlers will not hurt you!" Antonio assured her. "They always ring their rattles in time for you to get out of their way. What are you going to do with the skin, Klayukat?"
"It is to hold medicine. I shall oil it many times, and then it will always keep soft and whole. It will not crumble like the skins the snakes have cast off and you find on the ground."
"Do snakes cast off their skins?"
"Did you not know that, young Antonio?" queried the old Indian in surprise. "Yes, they throw off their skins when they need new ones. That is the law since the old times. Did you never hear why the rattlesnake changes its skin?"
"No. Why? Please tell us, Klayukat." Even Juanita edged nearer the snake skin.
Klayukat went on rubbing the skin, up and down, up and down, and his words kept rhythmic measure with his hands.
A long time ago an old witch went to an eagle's nest while he was away from home. She grabbed his older son by the neck and sucked his blood, every drop. She grabbed his younger son by the neck and sucked his blood, every drop. Then she flew down to earth.
When Eagle returned home, he called to his children. There was no answer. He looked in the nest. There were the two lifeless bodies. "Ah me! ah me!" he cried. "Who has done this awful deed?" He wheeled around in the air to see what creature was guilty. He saw all the animals busy with their own affairs; but down in the pine forest he caught a glimpse of the old witch hiding among the needles.
"Ah, that is the wretch!" he screamed. "I 'll have her blood"; and he swooped down in the air above her.
The old witch heard him coming. She ran as the north wind through the trees and up to the top of the rocky cliffs. There a rattlesnake lay sunning himself.
"Save me!" cried the old witch. "O Rattlesnake, save me from the wrath of Eagle."
Rattlesnake had opened his lips to say that he could do nothing, when lo! she ran right into his open mouth.
Now Rattlesnake liked to eat all kinds of young and tender creatures; but when it came to old witches, he refused to have them in his body.
"Get out of me!" he exclaimed. "Get out of me, or I 'll pitch you down the steepest precipice."
The old witch answered never a word.
"Fly out of me, or I 'll swallow an eagle to battle with you"; and Rattlesnake hissed and threatened and shook his rattles to frighten her.
But the old witch never stirred.
Rattlesnake sputtered and hissed, twisted and writhed, until at last he wriggled out of his skin and left the old witch in it. He was so surprised to be rid of her that he exclaimed, "Old Witch, where are you?"
Then the old witch in the skin mocked his tone of voice and said, just as he had said, "Old Witch, where are you?"
Ever since that time snakes have shed their skins. And since then witches have lived in these old cast-off snake skins, and if you talk near one of them, an old witch will mock your words and voice.
"Did you ever talk near an old snake skin, Klayukat? And did a witch mock you?" Juanita's tones were awed.
"Let 's try with this skin. There was no mocking when you told the story," said Antonio.
"Oh, but this skin was not cast off by the snake. I peeled this off myself. What you want is to find an old skin on the hillside, and then you will see. You will hear, too." Klayukat's voice seemed to come from the soles of his feet, so deep was it.
"Let 's go to mamma, Tonio"; and Juanita slipped her hand into her brother's.
"Yes, dinner must be nearly ready now. Good morning, Klayukat. Thank you for the story."
"Good morning, children. God keep you safe until we meet again."