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"How the Buzzard
Got a Pierced Nose," #42 Swapping
Stories
The following two stories were told to Pat Mire, June 7, 1991, at Bel's home when he was interviewed for the Imperial Calcasieu Folklife Survey. Bel first heard this story when he was about twelve. In this story, the Rabbit, the Koasati trickster, is himself tricked by Vulture. An important theme in this story is the excessive pride of Rabbit, who tries to imitate Bear's way of providing food, even though he is unable to do so.
The Bear and the Rabbit are two friends, two friends. They like each other. They go see each other all the time. Talk to each other. Stay together most of the time, the Rabbit and the Bear. One time the Rabbit went over to the Bear and visit over there. "Okay, come on, sit down," [Bear] says. They sit down and talking and talking. Build a fire. "Well, just about ready to go back home," he says. That's what Rabbit says. The Bear asks him, says, "No, you could stay here till I cook and [you] eat with me and you go home." The Rabbit says, "All right," and sits down and wait. After a while, the Bear went over there and look for something to cook, but he don't have nothing to cook. He look for it, but can't find nothing, nothing cooking. After a while, he says, "Okay." The Bear so fat, you know, so he get the knife and put a little side in there. [Makes motion like he is cutting the side of his body.] He start cooking to feed the Rabbit. The Rabbit eat some and went back home. [The Rabbit said], "You come over and I cook some, too," he said. "All right," and the Bear will stay a while there. After a while, the Bear says, "I'm going to go see the Rabbit." Went over there to Rabbit's. "Come on in. Let's talk, sit down and talk." Have a friend talking to each other. After a while, the Bear is just about leave over there, too. "No, I am going to cook, too, you know. You going to eat with me. You going to have a dinner with me." And the Bear says, "All right." After a while, you know, [Rabbit] wants to do like the Bear did. He went over there and looked for something to eat. He don't know what the Bear was eating. He look around and look around, you know. He ain't got nothing to eat, because he eats a little grass, a little green grass, like a cabbage. But he don't have it. So he look around. He do the same way, too, you know. He pulled a side in there, used the knife in there. [Makes motion like he is cutting the side of his body.] But the Bear was fat, you know. But the rabbit was skinny. He don't have much in it. But they pull it anyhow. And they cut it open and the guts was falling out. The Rabbit says, "Oh, I got hurt! I got hurt!" he says. He called the Bear, "I got hurt. I got hurt," he says. "Okay." He runs over there and looked at it, you know. Got a big cut in there. Guts was hanging out, you know, so he don't know what to do. He says, "I'm going to town. I need some help." That's what Rabbit says. "Okay, I'll go get you a doctor. I'll find you a doctor and be right back." The Bear left, on a trail. Went walking on a trail. And after a while, he says, "Help, I need a help. My friend got hurt. I need a help." And one old Buzzard was heard about it, on top of the thing, sitting on top of the thing. "Oh, I need a help. My friend got hurt." "Hey, what do you want me to do?" [Buzzard] says. "I'm a doctor," he says. The old Buzzard says. "Okay, okay, my friend
got hurt. I want you to come and doctor for me." "Okay." The Bear run back to tent to where the Rabbit at. And the Buzzard followed all the way over there. "Okay, now what you want me to do?," he said. "Cut you a lot of palmetto, you know." They cut it and pinch it up all the way around. So disease won't get in there, he says. [Makes motions to build a small palmetto shelter.] So they cut it and they pinch it all in there. Cause the Rabbit was laying down. They pinch it all in there. The Buzzard flies in there. [Makes a shooshing noise.] Says, "What happened?" Oh he got hurt really bad. But they don't see because it's all pinched in, you know. Really bad. After a while the Rabbit says, "Whah, whah, whah." The Bear was outside. "What happened, What happened?" he said. "Oh, he got hurt so bad. But he don't want to take my medicine," he says. "Don't want to take my medicine," he says. After a while he said, "Whah, whah, whah." He stop, he stop making noises. Then that's it, no more noise. But the Buzzard, you know, he kill him, he eat him in there. He killed the Rabbit. And he eat the Rabbit, eat the Rabbit. That's why he don't make no noise in there. "Hey, what happened? What's the matter in there?" "He so hurt, he don't want to take my medicine," he says. That's what Buzzard says. "He don't take my medicine." But he eat it up, you know. He kill him and eat him. The Buzzard eat him up, eat him up. Just a lot of bones in there, you know, when he finish it up. "Okay. Okay, now you can come in there to see him." But the Buzzard's ready to fly off. Fly off to the limb over there. Fly to the limb over there. "Now you can go in there and see it," he said. The Bear was walked in there. Look at it. He can't find the Rabbit. All the bones was there. Look around in there. Look around in there. He says he can't find it. Thought he would take it [Rabbit] up there, too. He looked at it, nothing in there. But the Rabbit bones was there. He found out he was killing him and eating him up, you know. The Bear got so mad, you know. He don't know what to do. He mad. Mad at that Buzzard, you know. So after a while, you know, the big Bear got up, got a knife on the side in there. The Buzzard was up there. He got this knife, you know, and throw it at that Buzzard. And he pierced in that nose right here. [Points to the bridge of his nose.] It stuck him through and through. Stuck it through and through in there. And Buzzard jumped out and pulled the knife out and throwed it off and fly away. He almost kill him, but it was just through in his nose. And the Buzzard just took the knife and throw it away and fly off. And after that, you know, and today, you can see all the buzzards' noses are speared all the time. All the birds got speared in there. [Points to his nose.] But you see, birds went through and through there. That's what had happened. That's the end of my story. That's a tafhiyÇm. [Spits.]
Notes to the Teacher: This is a variant of the widespread Native American tale complex, J2425. The bungling host. Franz Boas (1916) studies the North American distribution of these tales and finds many variants among southern tribes. See also K1955. Sham doctor. The motif of posing as a doctor to kill enemies is reported widely (Thompson 1929, 352). Q451. Mutilation as punishment; S172. Mutilation: nose cut off or crushed (CL). Although some interpreters of Bungling Host tales claim that their main purpose is to illustrate the importance of hospitality, Bel does not seem to tell his tale for this reason, because in this version mutual hospitality is assumed. Rather, the focus is on the hubris (ilakasamotilkÇ) of Rabbit, who tries to imitate Bear's way of providing food, even though he is unable to do so. Another focus is the idea of the trickster tricked: here Rabbit, who usually gets the better of others, is bested by Vulture. The last word of the tale is tafhiyÇm, traditionally used as a sort of blessing to protect the teller; those who tell their tales without uttering tafhiyÇm may get a crooked back or a humpback (GK). |
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