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

from sword fights. Some young men were trying to throw big rocks over houses. Some could do it, but some couldn’t and the rocks would fall on the houses and break holes in the roofs. Finally one of them, a handsome prince in fine clothes, defeated all the others. The king declared that the strongest man had been found. “If there is anyone else who wishes to challenge the prince,” called out the king, “let him say so now.”
    The shepherd raised his hand. “Your Majesty,” he said, “maybe I could be stronger than the prince.” Everyone turned to look at the ragged shepherd. He wasn’t especially tall. His shoulders weren’t very broad. His legs were long and thin.
    The king frowned. “You can’t challenge a prince,” he said. “You don’t even own a decent suit of clothes.”
    But the shepherd said, “Your Majesty, your proclamation said that anyone could enter the contest. I want to challenge the prince.”
    So the king said that in one week the prince and the shepherd would compete to see who was stronger.
    The king ordered his craftsmen to make four great pillars—one of wood, one of stone, one of iron and one of solid gold. He said that anyone who could lift a pillar of each material would surely be the strongest man in the world.
    All week long the prince trained for the contest. He lifted big rocks over his head and wrestled with ten men at a time. The shepherd slept all day long in the hay in the king’s barn. When the week had passed, a crowd gathered to watch the prince and the young shepherd compete.
    First the king led them to the pillar of wood. “Which of you can lift this?” he asked.
    The prince huffed and puffed and stretched and twisted, and then wrapped his arms around the pillar. He lifted it from the ground. A cheer went up from the crowd.
    The shepherd blessed himself. And then he blessed himself again for good measure. He placed a hand on either side of the pillar and then threw it into the air. It rose until it was just a tiny speck in the sky. When it fell to earth, it shook the windows in the king’s palace.
    The king was very surprised, and the prince began to look worried. Next they walked to the pillar of stone. For a long time the prince stretched and groaned and then wrapped his arms around the pillar. He lifted it a few feet from the ground, and then dropped it. Again the crowd cheered.
    The shepherd blessed himself again. He threw the pillar over his shoulder. Into the air it sailed. When it hit the ground, a crack appeared in the wall of the king’s palace.
    The king led the prince and the shepherd to the pillar of iron. The prince threw all his strength into the task. He lifted the pillar an inch or so from the ground.
    The boy blessed himself. He launched the pillar into the air. When it landed, the ground shook like an earthquake and the palace cracked in two.
    Finally, the king conducted them to the pillar of gold, but the prince had used up all his strength and couldn’t even try. The king said to the shepherd, “If you lift the pillar of gold you will be king after I die, and in the meantime, you can keep all this gold!”
    But the shepherd was looking around him, and he said, “I don’t think I’ll even try. Just look at all the harm your foolish idea has done. I can see men with broken arms and broken legs. I see houses with their roofs broken open. Look at your palace: It’s broken in half. I’m beginning to worry. If I become the king, I might end up as foolish as you. I think I’d better go back home where I belong.”
    The boy set out for home, and when he got there, he blessed himself backwards until his strength was just what it should be. Then he gave the ring back to the wise old woman.
    And what happened at the palace? Well, the queen sat the king down and told him, “It doesn’t matter if that shepherd is stronger than the prince or