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

And the sound of his voice blew all the leaves off the tree. The priest hurried on down the road, praying and blessing himself as he walked along.
    In the meantime, the shepherd had reached a village. When he put his hand into his pocket for a coin to buy a bite to eat, he noticed that his ring was gone. He started back to find it. Soon he saw someone coming toward him, knocking down trees, pulling up fences and raising a great cloud of dust.
    The priest saw the shepherd boy and tried to warn him. “DON’T COME NEAR ME.” His voice was like the bellow of a bull. “JUST THE SOUND OF MY VOICE MIGHT HURT YOU!”
    The shepherd stopped and called out, “Father, did you find a ring?”
    The priest tried to whisper his reply. It was a deafening: “YES!”
    â€œBless yourself backwards, Father,” the young man told him. “Your strength will return to normal.”
    The priest began to make the sign of the cross backwards. Each time he did it, his voice grew softer, and his feet stirred up less dust when he moved. Finally he thought his strength was reduced to normal, and he said to the shepherd, “Here, take your ring back. I want no part of it.” He threw the ring to the boy.
    But the priest was still twice as strong as normal, and the ring shot right past the boy. It landed in the tall grass beside the road about a hundred yards beyond him. “That’s all right, Father,” the shepherd said. “I’ll find the ring. Go on to the village. The people are waiting for you at the church.”
    The priest went on, and the shepherd stayed to look for his ring. But he couldn’t find it. He walked up and down parting the grass. He crawled on his hands and knees. The ring was too well hidden. Finally the shepherd boy decided he would go into the village for something to eat and then return to search some more.
    He had hardly left, when a little old woman came walking up the road, leaning on her cane. She was on her way to church, praying softly to herself as she walked along. She saw the ring in the grass beside the road and picked it up. She slipped it on her finger.
    Before long she blessed herself, “ En el nombre del padre y del hijo y del espíritu santo .” She reached up to take out the handkerchief she had stuffed into her sleeve, and tore the sleeve off her dress. “Oh, my goodness!” she said. “How did that happen?”
    Soon she blessed herself again, and then again. She came upon two men who were trying to move a stubborn mule. One man was tugging on the reins in front of the mule and the other was pushing from behind, but the mule had its hooves dug in and wouldn’t move an inch.
    â€œShame on you, you stubborn old mule,” the old woman said to the animal. “Stop being so lazy.” And she nudged the mule with her cane. The mule flew past the man in front. It didn’t touch the ground until it was fifty feet beyond him. It hit the ground running and disappeared down the road.
    The old woman went back to her praying. By the time she reached the church, she was so strong she pulled the door from its hinges. As she walked up the aisle, she knocked over benches and sent people rolling onto the floor.
    The priest looked up from his book. Before he even saw the ring on her finger, he knew what had happened. “ Señora ,” he told her, “make the sign of the cross backwards.”
    She obeyed him, and her strength grew less and less. When she had only the strength of a young woman left, he told her to stop. Then he sent someone to find the shepherd and tell him to come for his ring. The shepherd put the ring on his finger, and didn’t take it off until he arrived at the king’s palace.
    When he got to the palace, he saw that the courtyard was full of strong men. They were wrestling and fighting with swords. Some of them had broken arms and broken legs from the wrestling matches. Some had big gashes