How Coyote Stole Fire
Classical Stories · No. 65 — A relay race down the mountain with a burning brand.
- Classical Stories
- 40 min
- Ages 8–13
- 7 chapters
About this audiobook
In the cold time, the people suffer because three Fire Beings keep all the fire for themselves atop a high mountain and let none escape. Coyote, watching the people shiver, decides to steal it — but he cannot do it alone, so he enlists the animals into a relay. He snatches a burning brand and runs; when the Fire Beings nearly catch him, he passes it to squirrel, who runs until her tail curls from the heat, then to chipmunk, who gets a clawed stripe down his back, then to frog, who loses his tail leaping away, and finally the fire is given to wood — which swallows it and holds it safe, which is why fire still lives inside wood and can be coaxed out by rubbing. The people are warm at last.
Why it's worth a listen
The people are freezing through the winters because three fearsome Fire Beings hoard all the fire on a mountaintop and guard it night and day. So Coyote — the trickster who actually cares — organizes a wild relay: himself, then squirrel, chipmunk, frog, and wood, each carrying the stolen ember a stretch farther down the mountain as the Fire Beings give chase. A rollicking Native American trickster tale about cleverness, teamwork, and why animals look the way they do.
A question to keep
What can a whole community do together that no one could do alone?
Chapters
- The Night Without Stories
- The Gap in the Guard
- The Gathering of the Runners
- The Snatch
- The Relay of the Wild
- The Gift Inside the Bark
- A Question to Keep