In those days the Coyote was a spirit Coyote; he was a friend of the Man: they were cousins and talked together. The Coyote loved the night: all night long he would sit and watch the stars. There was one large star, more beautiful than the moon or the sun. He was in love with the star and would talk to her, night after night, and all night long. But the star would not answer him; she walked across the sky, looking at him, but saying nothing.
The Coyote grew more and more crazy for that star. He noticed that always, as she walked through the sky, she passed very close to a certain mountain peak, so close it would be easy to touch her. The Coyote traveled as fast as he could, a long, long way; till, very tired, he stood on this mountain, at the place the star always touched. He would not sleep for fear of missing her, so he sat and waited.
In the evening he saw her coming; she was very beautiful. He could see now that she and the other stars were dancing; they moved through the sky dancing. The Coyote waited; his heart was nearly bursting through his skin, but he kept quiet. The star danced nearer and nearer; at last she was on the mountain. He reached up as high as he could, but he could not quite touch her; then he begged her to reach her hand down to him. She did so, and took his paws into her hand.
Slowly she danced with him, up from the mountains; far up into the sky, over the earth. The Coyote got very dizzy; his heart was afraid. They went higher into the sky, among all the stars. It was bitter cold and silent. None of the stars spoke. The Coyote looked down, and fear made his heart very cold. He begged the stars to take him back to the earth. When they were at the very top of the sky, the star let go of the Coyote. He was one whole moon falling, and when he struck the earth, he knocked a great hole in it. His blood turned to water and made a lake. This is Crater Lake, in Klamath country. When the Coyotes talk to the stars at night, they are scolding the star that killed their father.
[from C.E.S. Wood's A Book of Indian Tales (1929), pp. 97-99.]
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