Reading Notes: California and the Old Southwest

I think the story I like the best at the moment is the fable of the animals. It has some good comedy potential. All the animals have been made and Man is coming in the morning to give them all bows of varying length correlating to their power. Coyote wants the largest bow and stays up all night to be first in line but ends up falling asleep. He then gets the smallest bow and all the animals make fun of him. Man then gives him a consolation prize of 10x as much cunning as he originally had.

It's really simple and short so I'm trying to think of how to spin it. I think I could have kids being given presents by their grandma. One stays up all night to see her in order to get the best gift but she sleeps in. Once she wakes up, her siblings have already claimed their gifts and she gets the one she likes least. Maybe an embroidered pillow or something. As a consolation though, grandma actually teaches her how to embroider, which ends up being a useful skill that none of the others have any patience to learn.

(child's embroidery)

The Fable of Animals, Karuk People's tale. Myths and Legends of California and the Old Southwest by Katharine Berry Judson.