Storytelling Week 9: The Jealous Uncle

The Savageness of the Cow

One time, on a ranch in Wyoming, there was a large herd of cattle that were unlike any other in the world. These cows could talk and understand almost as much as humans did. In fact, some would say that their ability to hide the fact that they could talk proves that they were smarter than the humans. One thing is for sure though: even if they were not as smart, they definitely felt emotions as much as their human counterparts, especially jealousy and rage.

The leader of the herd was the biggest and strongest bull. He was called Wayne. Wayne was not particularly clever, and he was always scared that a younger bull would finally beat him out for leader of the herd. Whenever Wayne's brother would have a son, Wayne would kill the young calf.

The third time that Wayne's brother had a calf, they lied to their leader and told him it was a female. For a year, they told their offspring to go by Pat and only do as the females do. Eventually, Wayne caught on to their schemes and was enraged. "I am going to kill that boy and his parents too!" said Wayne.

Native American depiction of an Eagle by T. Baker. Image information.

Since Wayne was in charge, all the cattle feared him and would never challenge him, even if he was going to kill one of their own. Pat knew that if he was going to survive, he would have to outsmart his uncle, and he would be on his own. One night, Wayne came to Pat and said, "Nephew, come with me to kill these snakes that are bothering our neighbors." Pat knew that it was a trap, but he had prepared ahead of time. He had found old, hollow logs and stepped through them like shoes, protecting his legs.

When they went to the snake pit, Wayne pushed Pat to the middle of the pit and made a loud noise, waking the snakes. The murderous uncle quickly ran away without looking back and assumed that his nephew was dead. However, the snakes tried to bite Pat and became stuck on the wood around his legs. Pat took off his wooden armor, calmly walked back to the herd, and went to sleep.

The next morning, Wayne was burning with anger at the sight of his still-healthy nephew, but he would not give up. This time, he invited Pat to accompany him to the rancher's house. When they arrived, Wayne tricked his nephew into a trailer, and then locked him inside. The trailer left the ranch and drove for nearly a day.

When Pat arrived at this unknown land, he was very thirsty and headed toward the first pond he saw. While drinking from the pond, he began to sink into the mud without noticing and soon became stuck. Before he could call out for help, a shapely young heifer came to his aid and pulled him out of the mud. Pat thanked his savior, and soon made it clear that he did not intend for her to be a heifer for much longer.

These cattle were not like his herd in Wyoming, and they could not speak, but they did have their own kind of magic. They had special clothing that allowed them to turn into eagles. As a welcoming gift, they shared this magic with Pat. Though he liked this new herd, he decided that he must use his new skills to protect his parents. He turned into an eagle and flew all the way to his old ranch in Wyoming. When he arrived, the whole herd stared at the largest bird they had ever seen. Wayne announced that the bird was a gift from the gods to himself for being the best leader ever. As he was speaking to all the cattle, the eagle swooped down and cut off Wayne's head with his large talons.

Satisfied with his parents' safety, Pat flew back to his new herd and lived happily ever after.

Author's Note: This story is based off of one called The Jealous Uncle and is actually more similar to the original than you may think. The characters are not cows, they are human, but it involves an uncle killing his nephews to stay in power. Nephew number three outsmarts him and even when he is shipped across the sea in a box, comes back to avenge himself in the form of an eagle.

Bibliography: Thompson, Stith. Tales of the North American Indian. "The Jealous Uncle." 1929.

Read the full story.