“They have all jumped but you,” said Old Man.  “Come on, you will like it.”

“Take pity on me,” said the cow.  “I am very heavy, and I am afraid to jump.”

“Go away, then,” said Old Man; “go and live.  Then some day there will be plenty of elk again.”

Old Man built a fire and cooked some of the meat, and then he skinned all the elk, and cut up the meat and hung it up to dry.  The tongues he hung on a pole.

The next day he started off and was gone all day, and at night, as he was coming home, he was very hungry.  He was thinking to himself that he would have some roasted ribs and a tongue and other good things; but when he reached the place, the meat was all gone; the wolves had eaten it.

“It was lucky I hung up those tongues,” said Old Man, “or I should not have had anything to eat.”  But when he took down the tongues they were all hollow.  The mice had eaten out the meat, leaving only the skins.

THE ROLLING ROCK

Once when Old Man was travelling about and felt tired, he sat down on a rock to rest.  After he was rested he started on his way, and because the sun was hot he threw his robe over the rock and said to it, “Here, I give you my robe because you are poor and have let me rest on you.  Keep it always.”

He had not gone far when it began to rain, and meeting a coyote, he said to him, “Little brother, run back to that rock and ask him to lend me his robe.  We will cover ourselves with it and keep dry.”

The coyote ran back to the rock, but presently returned without the robe.

“Where is the robe?” asked Old Man.

“Why,” said the coyote, “the rock said that you had given him the robe and he was going to keep it.”

This made Old Man angry, and he went back to the rock and snatched the robe off it, saying, “I was only going to borrow this robe until the rain was over, but now that you have acted so mean about it, I will keep it.  You don’t need a robe, anyhow.  You have been out in the rain and snow all your life, and it will not hurt you to live so always.”

When he had said this he put the robe about his shoulders, and with the coyote he went off into a ravine and they sat down there.  The rain was falling and they covered themselves with the robe, and were warm and dry.

Pretty soon they heard a loud, rumbling noise, and Old Man said to the coyote, “Little brother, go up on the hill and see what that noise is.”

The coyote went off, but presently he came back, running as hard as he could, saying, “Run, run, the big rock is coming.”  They both started, and ran away as fast as they could.  The coyote tried to creep into a badger-hole, but it was too small for him and he stuck fast, and before he could get out the rock rolled over him and crushed his hips.  Old Man was frightened, and as he ran he threw away his robe and everything that he had on, so that he might run faster.  The rock was gaining on him all the time.