Still the voices from within grumbled and called aloud, "I want to get out; I want to get out." Still the weight grew heavier with every step. Finally Coyote could not walk under it. He set the basket down.
"I am going to let them out," he said. "They are so far away from the Land of the Dead that they will not go back there now." He opened the basket. The dead people flew out. They changed into spirits and faded like the wind.
"Now," growled Eagle, "see what you 've done. You 'll have to go back with me in the spring, when the new buds are out, and try to get them back again."
"No," answered Coyote, "I 'm tired. The dead don't want to come back. They are happier in the Land of the Dead than we are in the Land of the Living. Let the dead stay in the Land of the Dead and never return to our land."
So because Coyote made this law, the dead do not come back. If he had not opened the basket, they would have returned every spring with the new grass and the fresh blossoms.
"Do you think my canary is singing now in the Land of the Dead, Klayukat?"
"Yes, Ninita, he is singing all the night long."
