--- title: The Girl Who Was the Ring [1] — The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian S… · full text with trees · page 2 description: The Girl Who Was the Ring [1], «The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories» by George Bird Grinnell: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: By the bank of a river stood a lodge, in which lived four brothers and their sister. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66596/7/page/2/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [The Punishment of the Stingy, and Othe…](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66596/) / The Girl Who Was the Ring \[1\] # The Girl Who Was the Ring \[1\] · page 2 [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66596/7/) **2** After a little while the Coyote pretended that he felt better, and he got up and went over to where the young Bulls were sitting, looking on at the game, and sat down with them, and watched the play with the others.[99](../../99/ "tree and pragmatics") Every now and then two of the young Bulls would begin to dispute over the game, each saying that his stick was the nearer to the ring, and sometimes they would wrangle for a long time.[100](../../100/ "tree and pragmatics") Once, while they were doing this, the Coyote went up to them and said: “Here\![101](../../101/ "tree and pragmatics") You men need not quarrel about this.[102](../../102/ "tree and pragmatics") Let me look.[103](../../103/ "tree and pragmatics") I know all about this game.[104](../../104/ "tree and pragmatics") I can tell which stick is the nearer.”[105](../../105/ "tree and pragmatics") The Bulls stopped talking and looked at him, and then said: “Yes, let him look.[106](../../106/ "tree and pragmatics") Let us hear what he says.”[107](../../107/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the Coyote went up to the ring and looked, and said, pointing: “That stick is nearest.[108](../../108/ "tree and pragmatics") That man has won.”[109](../../109/ "tree and pragmatics") The Bulls looked at each other, and nodded their heads and said: “He knows.[110](../../110/ "tree and pragmatics") He is right.”[111](../../111/ "tree and pragmatics") The next time they had a dispute, he decided it again, and all were satisfied.[112](../../112/ "tree and pragmatics") At length two of the young Bulls had a very fierce dispute, and almost came to fighting over it.[113](../../113/ "tree and pragmatics") The Coyote came up and looked, and said: “This is very close.[114](../../114/ "tree and pragmatics") I must look carefully, but I cannot see well if you are all crowding around me in this way.[115](../../115/ "tree and pragmatics") I must have room.[116](../../116/ "tree and pragmatics") You would all better go over to that hill, and sit down there and wait for me to decide.”[117](../../117/ "tree and pragmatics") The Bulls all went over to the hill and sat down, and then the Coyote began to look.[118](../../118/ "tree and pragmatics") First he would go to one stick and look carefully, and then he would go to the other and look.[119](../../119/ "tree and pragmatics") The sticks were about the same distance from the ring, and for a long time it seemed that he could not make up his mind which was the nearer.[120](../../120/ "tree and pragmatics") He went backward and forward, looking at the sticks, and stooping down and putting his hands on his knees and squinting, and at last, when once his face was close to the ground, he suddenly snatched up the ring in his mouth, and started, running as hard as he could, for the place where he had left the Badger.[121](../../121/ "tree and pragmatics") As soon as he had started, all the Bulls on the hill saw what he was doing—that he was taking the ring away from them—and they started after him.[122](../../122/ "tree and pragmatics") They did not want to lose the ring, for it was very useful to them, and they played with it all the time.[123](../../123/ "tree and pragmatics") When the Buffalo in the camp saw that the young Bulls had started, they all followed, so that soon all the Buffalo were rushing after the Coyote.[124](../../124/ "tree and pragmatics") He ran fast, and for a long time he kept ahead of the Buffalo, but they followed, a great mass of Buffalo crowding and pushing, running as hard as they could run.[125](../../125/ "tree and pragmatics") At last the Coyote was beginning to get tired, and was running more slowly, and the Buffalo were beginning to catch up to him, but he was getting near to where the Badger was.[126](../../126/ "tree and pragmatics") After a time the Buffalo were getting nearer to the Coyote.[127](../../127/ "tree and pragmatics") He was very tired, and it seemed to him as if he could not run any farther.[128](../../128/ "tree and pragmatics") If he did not soon get to where he had left the Badger, the Buffalo would run over him and trample him to death, and get back the ring.[129](../../129/ "tree and pragmatics") At length, when they were close behind him, he ran over the top of a little hill, and down in the valley below saw the Badger sitting at the mouth of his hole.[130](../../130/ "tree and pragmatics") The Coyote raced down the hill as fast as he could, and when he got to the hole he gave the ring to the Badger, and just as the herd of Buffalo got to the place, they both dived down into the hole.[131](../../131/ "tree and pragmatics") The Buffalo crowded about the Badger’s hole, and began to paw the ground, to dig it up so as to get the Coyote and the ring, but the Badger had dug a hole a long way under the ground, and while the Buffalo were digging he ran along through this hole and came out far off, and ran as hard as he could towards the brothers’ lodge.[132](../../132/ "tree and pragmatics") Before he had gone very far, some of the Buffalo on the outside of the herd saw him, and called out to the others: “There he is\![133](../../133/ "tree and pragmatics") There he goes!”[134](../../134/ "tree and pragmatics") Then all the Buffalo started again and ran after the Badger.[135](../../135/ "tree and pragmatics") When they had come pretty close to him, he would stop running and dig another hole, and while the Buffalo were crowding around the hole, trying to dig him out, he would dig along under the ground, until he had got far beyond them, and would then come to the top of the ground, and run as fast as he could towards the lodge.[136](../../136/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the Buffalo would see him and follow him.[137](../../137/ "tree and pragmatics") In this way he went a long distance, but at length he got tired and felt that he could not run or dig much farther.[138](../../138/ "tree and pragmatics") He was almost spent.[139](../../139/ "tree and pragmatics") At last, when he dug out of the ground, he saw not far off the Kit Fox, lying curled upon a rock, asleep in the sun. He called out: “Oh, my brother, I am almost tired out\![140](../../140/ "tree and pragmatics") Help me!”[141](../../141/ "tree and pragmatics") The Kit Fox jumped up and ran to him and took the ring in his mouth and started running, and the Badger dug a deep hole, and stayed there.[142](../../142/ "tree and pragmatics") The little Fox ran fast, gliding along like a bird; and the Buffalo, when they saw him running, chased him and ran hard.[143](../../143/ "tree and pragmatics") The Kit Fox is a swift animal, and for a long time he kept ahead of the Buffalo.[144](../../144/ "tree and pragmatics") When he was almost tired out, he came to where the Rabbit was, and gave him the ring, and ran into a hole, and the Rabbit ran on.[145](../../145/ "tree and pragmatics") The Buffalo followed the Rabbit, but he ran fast and kept ahead of them for a long time.[146](../../146/ "tree and pragmatics") When they had almost caught him, he came to where the Hawk was sitting.[147](../../147/ "tree and pragmatics") The Hawk took the ring in his claws and flew off with it, and the Rabbit ran off to one side and hid in the long grass.[148](../../148/ "tree and pragmatics") The Buffalo followed the Hawk, and ran after him.[149](../../149/ "tree and pragmatics") They seemed never to get tired.[150](../../150/ "tree and pragmatics") The Hawk, after he had been flying a long time, began to feel very weary.[151](../../151/ "tree and pragmatics") He would sail down low over the Buffalo’s backs, and was only just able to keep above them.[152](../../152/ "tree and pragmatics") At last he got near to where the Blackbird was.[153](../../153/ "tree and pragmatics") When the Blackbird heard the pounding of many hoofs and knew that the Buffalo were coming, he flew up on a sunflower stalk and waited.[154](../../154/ "tree and pragmatics") When the Buffalo came to the place where he was, he flew up over them to the Hawk, and took the ring on his neck, and flew along over the Buffalo.[155](../../155/ "tree and pragmatics") The ring was heavy for so small a bird, and he would alight on the backs of the Buffalo and fly from one to another.[156](../../156/ "tree and pragmatics") The Buffalo would toss their heads and try to hit him with their horns, but he kept flying from one to another, and the Buffalo behind were always pushing forward to get near the ring, and they pushed the other Buffalo ahead of them.[157](../../157/ "tree and pragmatics") Pretty soon the herd passed over a hill and were rushing down to the place on the river where the brothers’ lodge stood.[158](../../158/ "tree and pragmatics") Ever since their sister had been lost, the brothers had been making arrows, and now they had piles of them stacked up about the lodge.[159](../../159/ "tree and pragmatics") When they saw the Buffalo coming they got their bows and took their arrows in their hands, and shot and shot until they had killed many, many Buffalo, and the rest were frightened and ran away.[160](../../160/ "tree and pragmatics") The Blackbird had flown into the lodge with the ring, and after the brothers had finished killing, they went into the lodge.[161](../../161/ "tree and pragmatics") And there, sitting by the fire and smiling at them as they came in, they saw their sister.[162](../../162/ "tree and pragmatics") [1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66596/7/) **2** - ← previous: [page 1](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66596/7/) - next →: [The First Corn](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66596/8/) - ↑ back to [The Punishment of the Stingy, and Other Indian Stories](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg66596/)