A Navajo tale from the long collection of tales about Coyote.
Coyote was walking one day when he met Old Woman. She greeted him and asked
where he was headed."Just roaming around," said Coyote.
"You better stop going that way, or you'll meet a giant who kills everybody."
"Oh, giants don't frighten me," said Coyote (who had never met one). "I always kill them. I'll fight this one too, and make an end of him."
"He's bigger and closer than you think," said Old Woman.
"I don't care," said Coyote, deciding that a giant would be about as big as a bull moose and calculating that he could kill one easily.
So Coyote said good-bye to Old Woman and went ahead, whistling a tune. On his way he saw a large fallen branch that looked like a club. Picking it up, he said to himself, "I'll hit the giant over the head with this. It's big enough and heavy enough to kill him." He walked on and came to a huge cave right in the middle of the path. Whistling merrily, he went in.
Suddenly Coyote met a woman who was crawling along on the ground.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"I'm starving," she said, "and too weak to walk. What are you doing with that stick?"
"I'm going to kill the giant with it," said Coyote, and he asked if she knew where he was hiding.
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