Page 72 - Animals of the Sakhalin Region in myths and legends

Once Coyote fell asleep so soundly that a flock of quails was able to cut
a piece of fatty meat from his body. They fled and set up camp to prepare
it. Then Coyote woke up and went up the trail.

— Where did you get such tasty meat? Share with me too. The quails
were given to him as much as he wanted. The coyote ate and walked on.
When he moved away a little, the quails called out to him:
— Coyote, you ate your own flesh.
— What did you say?
— Oh, nothing. Something fell from the mountain.

Soon the quails shouted again:
— Coyote, you ate your own flesh».
— What did you say?
— Oh, nothing. It was someone knocking with their grindstone. Coyote
ran on. Finally, he felt the wound. Then he understood what the quails
were talking about. He came back and threatened them that he would eat.
The birds flew up, and the coyote was so angry that he chased after them.
The quails flew to their burrows in the ground. The smartest of them

took a cactus sprout with him. All the birds huddled in the hole, but the
coyote dug a hole and got to them. He went to the first reel and asked:
— Did you say that I ate myself?
— No, not me.
The coyote let go of the quail and it flew away. Then he continued the
interrogation, but everyone answered that they did not say anything. So

all the quails flew away. There was only a cactus, which was covered with
feathers, and began to look just like a quail. When the coyote reached him
and asked the same question, the cactus didn’t answer.
— Since you are silent, then it was you!
The coyote bit the thorn with all his might, and it got stuck in his throat.

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