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1
Kino, Juana and Coyotito
Kino woke up early in the moming. The stars were
still shining in the sky. The cockerels were beginning to
crow' and the pigs were looking for something to eat. Outside
the little wooden house, some birds were singing and moving in
the bushes.
Kino opened his eyes and looked at the light coming in the
door. Then he looked at the box where his son, Coyotito, was
sleeping. The box hung on ropes from the roof. Lastly, Kino
tumed his head towards Juana, his wife. Juana lay beside him on
the mat. Her shawl covered her body and half her face. Juana's
eyes were open. Her eyes were always open when Kino woke up.
Juana had eyes like little stars. She was looking at Kino as he
woke up. .
Kino could hear the sound of the- waves on the beach 2. The
sound of the waves was like music in the early moming. Kino's
blanket covered his nose because the air was cold. He tumed his
head and saw Juana. She was quietly getting up. She went to the
hanging box where Coyotito slept. She tient over and comforted
Coyotito. The baby looked up for a moment, then closed his eyes
and slept again.
Juana went to the little fire. She took a piece of coal and blew
it until it started to bum. Then Juana put pieces of wood on the
fire. Kino got up and pulled his blanket around his head and
shoulders. He pushed his feet into his sandals and went outside.
He stood and watched the sun corne up.
Kino sat down outside the door and pulled the blanket round
his knees. He looked at the little red clouds high over the sea. A
goat came near and looked at Kino. Behind Kino, the fire began
to burn brightly. Kino could see the flames and the light through
the door. He could see the flames through the holes in the walls
of his little house, too. Juana was busy making comcakes 3 for
breakfast.
Suddenly, the sun came up out of the sea. The sun was so
bright that Kino covered his eyes. He could see Juana making the
corncakes. Kino could smell the comcakes cooking, too. A thin,
frightened dog came up and lay down next to Kino. The moming
was beautiful, like every other moming.
Kino heard Juana take Coyotito out of his hanging box. Juana
washed the baby and pulled her shawl round him. She held
Coyotito close and fed him. Kino could hear these things without
looking at them. Juana was singing an old song. She sang the
song in many different ways. The song comforted Kino. The song
comforted Coyotito, too.
There was a wooden fence around Kino's house. On the
other side of the fence, there were some more houses. Smoke
came from these houses and Kino could hear people having
breakfast. But these sounds were flot like the sounds in Kino's
house. His neighboursm wives were flot like Juana, either.
The moming air was flot so cold now and Kino pulled the
blanket from his face. Kino was young and strong. His black
hair hung down over his brown forehead. He had hard, bright
eyes and a thin, strong moustache.
Yellow sunlight fell on the house. Near the wooden fence,
two cockerels started to light. Kino watched the cockerels for
a moment. Then Kino watched some birds flying towards the
hills. The world was awake now. Kino got up and went into his
little wooden house.
Juana was sitting near the lire. She got up as Kino came
through the door. Juana put Coyotito back into his hanging
box. Then she combed her black hair and tied it back with thin,
green ribbon.
Kino sat by the lire and ate a hot comcake. He only had
corncakes and milk for breakfast. When Kino had finished
eating, Juana came back to the lire. She ate her breakfast, too.
Kino and Juana were both happy. There was no need to talk.
The sun was warming the little house. The light shone
through the holes in the walls. The light shone on Coyotito.
Coyotito was in his hanging box. Something moved on one
of the ropes. Kino and Juana stood quite still and looked.
A scorpion was coming slowly down the rope and its tau l was
straight out behind. A scorpion's tail has a sting in the end,
a sting that kills. The tail can bend over the scorpion's head,
when it wants to sting somebody.
Kino was breathing loudly through his nose, so he opened
his mouth to stop the noise. The scorpion moved slowly down
the rope, towards the box. Juana prayed silently. Kino moved
very quietly across the room, with his hands in front of him. His
eyes were on the scorpion. Under the scorpion, in the hanging
box, Coyotito laughed and put up his hand. The scorpion saw
the hand and stopped. The scorpion's tail bent over its head.
Kino could see the sting in the end of its tail
Kino stood very still and moved his hand forward very
slowly. The scorpion's tail bent over again. At that moment,
Coyotito touched the rope and the scorpion fell. Kino put
his hand forward very quickly, but the scorpion fell past
Kino's lingers, onto the baby's shoulder. The scorpion stung
Coyotito.
Kino cried out like an animal. He took the scorpion and
pressed it between his hands. Kino threw the scorpion down
and beat it into the ground. Coyotito screamed with pain in
his box.
Juana took the baby in her arms. She found the red wound 5 .
She put her lips over the wound and sucked. Juana sucked
hard and spat out the poison. She sucked again and Coyotito
screamed. Kino stood and watched. He could do nothing.
The neighbours heard the baby's screams and they came
out of their houses. Kino's brother, Juan Tomas, stood in the
door with his fat wife, Apolonia, and their four children. All
the neighbours tried to look into the room. One small boy was
trying to see between the neighbours' legs. The people in front
spoke to the people behind.
A scorpion!' they said. 'A scorpion has stung the baby!'
Juana stopped sucking the wound for a moment. The
wound was red and getting bigger. All of these people knew
about scorpions. A man can be very ill from the poison, but a
baby can easily die. First, the wound gets bigger, then the baby
is hot and has a pain in the stomach. A baby can easily die if
enough poison goes into the wound.
The pain of the sting was going away. Coyotito stopped
screaming and began to cry quietly. Juana was a little woman,
but she was very strong. She always did what Kino wanted
and she was always happy. She could work hard and go
without food, almost better than Kino could. When Juana
was ill, she didn't need a doctor. But now Juana did a- very
surprising thing.
`The doctor,' she said. 'Go and bring the doctor.'
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