The Coyote Under the Table/El Coyote Debajo de la Mesa by Joe Hayes Page B

That’s why I don’t steal from your farm anymore. It’s no fun if there’s no one to chase me. But we can’t let them shoot you. I know what we’ll do.” And the coyote told the dog his plan.
    The dog went trotting off toward the field where his owners were working. They had left their baby asleep under a shady bush at the edge of the field, and the dog lay down not far from where the baby slept.
    Suddenly, the coyote came running out of the brush. With his teeth, he picked up the baby by its blanket and ran off into the trees. The woman screamed and fainted. The man dropped his hoe and came running across the field. And the old dog ran barking and snarling after the coyote.
    As soon as he got into the trees, the dog found the baby lying on the ground. The coyote had left her there, just as he’d said he would. The old dog took the baby’s blanket in his teeth and carried her back to her father.
    â€œGood dog!” the man said. “You saved our baby’s life!” He hugged and patted the dog.
    When the woman recovered her senses and heard what had happened, she said, “How could we think of destroying this dog, just because he eats a few pennies worth of scraps each day? He should eat as well as we do.”
    â€œYou’re right,” the man replied. “From now on this dog won’t eat scraps. He’ll sit right up at the table and eat with us.”
    From that day on, they set a place at the table for the dog each evening, and he sat in a chair and ate whatever his owners ate. When neighbors passed by and saw the dog sitting at the table, they would make fun of the farmer. “Whoever heard of letting a dog sit at the supper table?” they would say.
    But the man would tell them, “That dog saved our baby from a coyote that had carried her off. As long as he lives, he can eat at the table with us.”
    Of course the dog enjoyed his new life. And he kept trying to think of a way to repay the coyote. When the time came for his owners to baptize their baby, he saw his chance. When all the people were at the church for the baptism, he went to the hills and found the coyote. He brought the coyote home and hid him under the table.
    Soon all the family and friends arrived and they sat down at the table for a big meal. The dog took his place at the table as usual, and whenever some food passed his way, he would slip it under the table to the coyote.
    He slipped a whole leg of lamb under the table, and then a big bowl of posole and a stack of tortillas. And then he passed a bottle of wine to the coyote.
    The coyote pulled the cork from the bottle and drained the wine in one gulp. “¡ Ay, caray !” the coyote said. “Now I’m going to sing.”
    â€œOh, no!” The dog hushed the coyote. He grabbed another bottle of wine and poked it under the table. The coyote gulped it down.
    â€œÂ¡ Ay, qué caray !” he said. “I’m really going to sing!” And he threw his head back and let out a long howling song.
    Everyone jumped up from the table in alarm. But the dog went diving under the table, growling and snapping at the coyote. The coyote ran from the house laughing to himself, with the old dog struggling along behind.
    When the dog returned, everyone gathered around to hug him. “That wild coyote wasn’t satisfied with just trying to steal the baby. He had come back to eat us all. And this dog saved us!”
    From that day on, no matter where he went in the whole village, the dog sat in a chair and ate at the supper table with the people of the family. And so the old dog lived out the rest of his days as happy as any dog in this world.

E L COYOTE DEBAJO DE LA MESA

    Ã‰ste es el cuento de un perro viejo y un coyote. El perro pertenecía a un hombre y una mujer que vivían en una laborcita en las afueras del pueblo y por muchos años había servido bien a sus amos. Cuidaba los sembrados y protegía