Cleofas Jaramillo, Santa Fe, New Mexico

One day, a little rabbit and a little coyote found themselves in the same place, and as any small creatures will do, they began to play and, before they knew it, they had become friends. That day, the little coyote said to his new friend:

“Rabbit, look how beautiful the dusk is. Before it gets too dark, let’s go for a walk.”

As the two were walking through the fields, Coyote looked down at his little friend and could not help but think, Oh, I am so hungry and I had not noticed how nice and fat Rabbit is. He would make a great dinner. 

Feeling the eyes of Coyote on him and perceiving his bad intentions, as they approached a bridge Manito Rabbit said to Coyote:

“Coyote, look at that huge piece of cheese floating on the water.”

Without even seeing it himself, Coyote instinctively jumped into the water, swimming in every direction looking for the cheese. But finding nothing, he emerged half drowned and realizing he had been fooled, he began to chase Rabbit, who ran up into and hid in some confines of a bush. When Coyote arrived at the bush, he called out: 

“Rabbit, hiding in there. There are newlyweds coming this way. Once they pass, we will follow them to their party.”

While Coyote waited, Rabbit jumped out to the edge of the bush and as he did, he lit it on fire. At that moment, the newlyweds passed and Rabbit followed. Having come in as far as he could to hide himself, Coyote emerged and was immediately caught up in the fire, scorching his eyes. Not able to see well, he began to chase Rabbit, who was much more agile and managed to enter into the couple’s house and hide in the pantry. 

By the time Coyote managed to get into the pantry, Rabbit had already devised a new plan. There was a pan on the floor catching the wine that had been draining from a barrel. 

“Hey, Coyote, you should drink the water from this pan to cool off.”

And while Coyote drank, Rabbit once again was able to escape. Coyote followed, but found that he was so drunk that all he could do was shuffle and stumble along. At this time, the dogs saw Coyote and began their own chase, biting at his paws as he ran. When he finally was able to catch up, Rabbit was already waiting for him with a sack.

“Coyote, quick, jump into this sack so the dogs can’t find you,” said Rabbit. 

Once Coyote entered the sack, Rabbit tied the ends up and began to pelt the sack with stones. Eventually the bag broke and Coyote was able to run out. In the meantime, Rabbit had run and hidden behind a thicket and Coyote passed right by. 

Rabbit eventually came out from his hiding place and went to his little hole and shouted out:

“Ah, I love my little shelter. But why doesn’t it respond? My little shelter always responds.”

As Rabbit stuck his head further into his hold, Coyote grasped his neck and took him back to his lair and there had a little bunny feast.  

Manito Conejito y El Coyotito

Un dia se hicieron muy amigos un conejito y un coyotito y vino el coyotito y le dijo al conejito:

—Mira qué bonita tarde está haciendo. Vamos a tomar un paseo.
Se fueron pasiando por los campos. Ai en donde iban, pensó el

coyotito, ^“Qué bueno cena daría yo con este conejito tan gordo^”. Pero manito conejito maliciando las malas intenciones del coyo-

tito, le dijo al pasar un puente:

—Mira qué queso tan grande se ve ai en el agua.

Brincó el coyotito para adentro del río y se puso a buscar el queso pero no hallando nada, salió medio hogado, y muy enojado corría tras del conejito. Pero el conejito corrió y se metió en unos ramales. Llegó el coyotito y le dijo:

—Escóndete aquí. Ai vienen unos novios. Que pasen y luego los siguemos a la fiesta.

Mientras el coyotito esperaba, el conejito fué a la orilla del ramal y lo prendió. En eso pasaron los novios y él los siguió. Quiso salir también el coyotito y se chamuscó todos los ojos pero así corrió a pescar al conejito, pero aquél, más liviano, entró a la casa y se escondió en la dispensa. Cuando el coyotito entró, ya el conejito había pensado de otro plan. Estaba una bandeja en el suelo en donde estaba escurriendo el vino de un barril.

—Mira —le dijo al coyotito—, bebe de esta agua para que te refresques.

Y mientras el coyotito bebía, él salió corriendo. El coyotito lo siguió pero tan embolado, que iba trastrabillando y cayéndose. Lo vieron los perros y salieron tras él mordiéndole las patas. Cuando llegó a donde estaba el conejito, ya él lo estaba esperando con un costal.

—Métete aquí en este saco para que no te muerdan los perros —le dijo el conejito.

Se metió en el saco el coyotito, amarró la boca del saco el manito conejito y se puso a apedriarlo hasta que se rompió el saco y salió el coyotito. Luego corrió manito conejito y se escondió tras de un matorral mientras se pasó el coyotito. Luego salió y se fué para su cueva, pero antes de entrar, gritó en la puerta:

—¡Aquí mi cuevita abriga! Pero ¿por qué no responde? Mi cuevita siempre responde.

Y fué saliendo el coyotito y cogió al manito conejito. Lo llevó a su casa, lo asó y se lo comió.

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Cleofas M. Jaramillo was 50 years old when she shared five stories with Professor Juan B. Rael. Cleofas was born in Arroyo Hondo, New Mexico, the daughter of Julian Antonio Martínez and Marina Lucero. She was married to Venceslao Jaramillo and they had one daughter, Angelina. In 1935, her passion for preserving the culture of New Mexico led her to write a number of books and found the La Sociedad Folklorica de Santa Fe (Folklore Society of Santa Fe).