Coyote had been hunting for several days, but could not catch anything. His stomach was empty, and he was very hungry. As he walked, he could hear a flock of turkeys in the distance, eating in the green grass. Coyote thought, “At last, I might catch something to eat.”

Getting as low to the ground as he could to sneak up on the turkeys, Coyote did his best to blend in with the brown dirt. As hungry as he was, he knew he had to use his trickery not to scare them away. Looking at the turkeys, he thought to himself, “I know what I’ll do.”

Without wasting any time, he ran back to his den as fast as he could. When he got to his den, he grabbed his drum, drumstick, and a sack. Upon returning to the turkeys, they were still eating, with turkeys of all sizes visible.

Coyote went a little ways from the flock and started singing. Instead of being frightened, the turkeys were curious as to why Coyote was singing. Some flew away, but most stayed. The ones that stayed liked his singing and started walking toward him very slowly and carefully.

Meanwhile, Coyote sang with his eyes closed, opening them very slowly to see if the turkeys were still there. The curious turkeys couldn’t stand it any longer. They had to know why Coyote was singing. “Brother, why are you singing?” they asked.

“I am singing because of you beautiful turkeys,” Coyote said. “Your feathers are bright and pretty, and you have caused me to sing.”

The Coyote, being very tricky, had told them a lie. The turkeys, not being very smart but proud of their feathers, began to spread their wings and tails. “You should dance to show off your feathers, and I’ll sing for you,” Coyote said.

“He’s right,” the turkeys said, “we do have beautiful feathers.” Coyote smiled; his plan was working better than he had hoped.

“Before I start singing,” said Coyote, “let the big fat turkeys dance closest to me, the medium-sized turkeys dance in the second ring behind them, and the skinny ones dance in the outer circle.” The turkeys all agreed and were anxious to dance.

Coyote started singing again; he sang one song and started on the next. “This song is special,” said Coyote, “everyone must keep their eyes closed. If you open your eyes, they will turn red.”

The turkeys didn’t question Coyote, so they closed their eyes tight and began to dance, spreading their tail feathers. Coyote, seeing the turkeys had their eyes closed, continued to sing. While he sang, he brought out his sack and grabbed the biggest and fattest turkeys closest to him, stuffing them into the sack.

On the outer circle, one skinny turkey heard a strange sound but wasn’t sure what to do. He was told not to open his eyes, so he hesitated. Once again, he heard that strange sound. He wanted to keep dancing, but he kept hearing it. Finally, he opened his eyes just a little bit and saw Coyote still singing but grabbing his big fat brothers and stuffing them into the sack.

“Run, brothers!” he shouted, “He’s going to eat us!” Some of the turkeys flew away and lived.

The Coyote’s plan worked, and he wasn’t hungry for a while. From that day on, the turkeys had red eyes.