Once upon a time, a snake lay across a well-traveled path used by all animals. The Coyote came to him and said, “Why don’t you lie further off the path?”

“If I step over you, you shall die,” said the Coyote.

“This path is not big enough for the both of us,” said the Snake. “It is you that must go around to the other side.”

The Snake and the Coyote did not agree, and they began to argue.

“Whew!” said the Coyote, “do as I say, move out of the way!”

“It is you that must leave the path to go to the other side,” said the Snake.

“Well, I shall step over you and you shall die,” said the Coyote.

“No,” said the Snake, “when a person steps over me, he usually dies.”

“Yes, I will die. Let us see which one has told the truth,” said the Coyote.

Then, the Coyote suddenly stepped over the Snake. When he stepped over, the Snake bit him on the foot.

“Aho,” said the Coyote, “you shall die, as I have stepped over you.”

The Snake replied, “now you shall die.”

Then, the Coyote departed and went on his way. As he went, he said, “Whew! My body feels different. I am fat.”

The Coyote stretched his neck as far as he could to examine his back. He looked at himself all over and gave the “scalp yell” often. After a while, he was breathing hard with his mouth wide open. His mouth was dry, so he found a pond to satisfy his thirst.

When he looked into the pond to take a drink, he saw that his face and body were swollen. The Coyote yelled in pain, “the Snake told the truth!”

His entire body was swollen and his skin was tight. The Coyote seated himself in a sheltered place warmed by the sun. He coiled himself as far as possible, just like a snake does. It was there that he fell into a deep sleep and never awoke; he died.

It was because of this event between the Coyote and the Snake, they say, that when snakes bite four-legged animals, their entire bodies swell and they die.

End of story.