Atondido Stories
The Rabbit Throws out his Sandal
The rabbit was in the cave that was the abode of all the animals:
the snake, the turkey vulture, the buzzard, the deer, the lion, the
skunk and the coyote. They began to get together there to dis-
cuss how they could kill the rabbit mayor (the rabbit is often
called the "mayor".)
But the rabbit mayor was very clever and was looking for a
way to escape. They began to keep watch on him in that house
because they intended to kill him, but they were not able to kill
him as they had planned. They had wanted to smash him to
pieces.
"Make him come out so that he will die right now. Don't let
him escape; that good-for-nothing mayor has deceived us too
many times. Well, now he's surely going to be finished, we're go-
ing to finish him off. Be on your guard and don't let him get
away. When he comes out of the cave we're going to smash him
to pieces, for there's a lot of us. Pity him. Compared to all of us,
he's nothing. We are many against one. I hope now he's going to
pay for all the crimes he has committed against us. That's why
he must to die now. You, turkey vulture, go and watch for him
to come out, and you deer, go right after him. Since you can run
as fast as the mayor, you'll be able to catch up with him. Be on
guard, all of you."
"All right," they said.
"Snake, you look to see when he comes out, and we'll all pile
on top of him. You snake, call him."
"Come on out, hurry," said the townspeople.
"Wait," said the rabbit, "I'm taking off my sandal."
"But hurry," said the snake.
"Wait, I'm coming out. Wait for me there, I'm coming out."
"Well, hurry," said the townspeople.
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