Coyote and the Crying Song by Harold Courlander

 Coyote and the Crying Song

Once there lived a coyote and dove on second Mesa near the village of shipaulovi. It was harvest time and the dove was collecting the seeds of the kwakwi grass. She had to separate seeds from the grass. The grass blade was sharp and it cut down her hands. Then she began to cry. Coyote heard this moan and felt that someone was singing beautifully. Then he came close to the dove. He asked her to sing again. But she said that she was crying. He insisted her to sing and moaned. To save her life, she moaned. Coyote wanted to imitate the song and wanted keep it safely at home. On the way home, he fell and forgets the song and came again to learn it. He repeatedly learned the song and forgets it when he fell.

At last he said that if he forget the song this time, he would take the dove home.so when coyote was out of sight, the the dove painted eyes on the dove birdlike stone and went away taking the kwakwi seeds. Coyote fell this time also and came to the dove angrily to take her home and to eat.
He saw the painted eyes and attacked. His teeth broke and started bleeding. He began to moan like dove. Just then a crow arrived to the field and said that coyote is singing beautifully. Coyote replied that the crow was foolish enough not to know the differences between singing and crying.

- Harold Courlander In this parable, the narrator is trying to focus on wrong process of teaching-learning system. Coyote represents the teachers and he alone obviously stands for the students. Without knowing the psychology of the students, the teachers always force them to believe, what they think even the crying sound of dove is forcefully turn into a song. The dove repeatedly rejected that he was singing. Coyote was forcing him that it was a song. Thus, incident mocks at the stupidity of the teacher.

This parable can also be interpreted in terms of moral lesson looking at Coyote's behaviour we can say that over confidence is a great obstacle in a learning process. Similarly reciting something without knowing its roots is a great mistake. Moreover, Coyote is impatient, ill tempered and easily frustrated which the great enemies in learning process are. Besides, this parable also clarifies that practical knowledge is superior to the bookish knowledge. When Coyote himself was hurt, he knew that Hu-hu-huu! Hu-hu-huu! Was not a song but a moaning sound.

In this way, this parable gives us some better tips in learning process. We must recited that teaching and learning must be in a natural environment and if possible, in a practical way.

New Directions, B.A. 2nd Year Compulsory English,