The Widows' Revenge

Once upon a time, there was a sneaky man by the name of Unktomi. He was a trickster who loved to prey on a person's weaknesses. On the first day of Spring, Unktomi devised a new plan to trick a couple of widows. On his way to the widows' home, he found a large tree that held large vibrantly red plums. Unktomi then took every plum off of the tree and continued on his trek to the widows' home.

After several hours of walking, Unktomi finally made it to the widows' home, and he was ready to execute his plan in full effect. Unktomi knocked on the door and patiently waited for the widows' greeting. The widows opened the door with their babies on each of their hips.

"Hello, Mister, how may we help you today?" said one of the widows.

"Good morning, ladies, my name is Unktomi and I believe I am your long lost brother," said Unktomi falsely. Unktomi always pretended to be a family member of each person he tricked. Just like many other victims of Unktomi, the widows did not question whether he was family or not.

"Come on in, brother. We would love to get to know you better!" said the widows eagerly. So Unktomi walked in their home and pulled out the delicious-looking red plums that he found. Since the widows had lost their husbands, there had not been much food to eat for them because they had to put their children first and eat whatever was left. So the widows wondered where exactly their brother got the red plums from.

"Brother, where did you get these really large plums?" said one of the widows. Unktomi was happy to answer because his plan was working just like he wanted.

"Sister, I found these plums not far from here. In fact, there are still plenty of plums left on the tree," Unktomi said, knowing that he had picked every single last plum off the tree. The plum tree was also located miles away from their home.

"We would love to go out and get some plums, although we do not have anyone to watch our children this afternoon," said the other widow, defeated. Unktomi smiled and said, "I can watch your babies while you two are out. I will feed them and have supper ready by the time you two return." The widows were delighted and left right away to find the plums before nightfall. 

With the widows gone, Unktomi continued with his plan. He walked in the babies' room and removed each of their heads one at a time. He then cooked the babies with other vegetables in a large pot and waited for the widows to return. Upon the widows' return, Unktomi greeted their sad faces as they walked in through the front door. 

"Sisters, why are you so sad? Did you not find any plums?" said Unktomi, faking his surprise. 

"No, brother, we did not find a single plum. Something sure does smell good in the kitchen though," said one of the widows.

"Why yes. I found some meat and cooked a stew for you to eat. Do not worry about the babies. They are sleeping and you can check on them after you have appeased your appetite," said Unktomi. The widows went on to eat the stew, and later checked on their babies. One of the widows picked up her baby and wailed when she realized what Unktomi had done. "Oh no! Our poor babies!" shrieked one of the widows. 

Unktomi heard their cries and raced out of the widows' home to hide, but the very angry widows chased after him until he jumped in a hole inside a tree. The widows (being very familiar with the tree) knew that there were several ways for Unktomi to escape. The widows then waited for him to come out. Unktomi found another hole to escape from and he dressed up as a random stranger. He walked up to the widows and asked them what was wrong. They told him what Unktomi did and the stranger went in the hole to see if anyone was still down there. While he was in the hole, the widows grabbed him up and tied him to the tree. Unktomi then realized that they knew all along that it was him, and this was the last time he would pull a trick on an innocent. The widows set the tree ablaze and they vowed to never trust anyone again. The end. 

(The two widows)

Bibliography:

 Myths and Legends of the Sioux by Marie McLaughlin (1916).

Author's note: This story originally came from The Myths and Legends of the Sioux. In the original story, Unktomi uses red plums to trick two widows. Both of the widows have a child and they leave their children with Unktomi so they can look for the plums that Unktomi found. While the widows are out, Unktomi cuts off the heads of their babies and uses them in a soup that he cooks for the widows. The widows eat the soup, and then check on their babies to find what Unktomi has done. When they find him, he is hiding in a hole, but he sneaks out of the back of the hole in the tree and pretends to be a stranger. He then told the widows it is safe to go in the tree and he traps the widows in the hole and sets it on fire. What I set out to do for my own story was to retell the story and keep the general theme, but to also change the ending. I like a story that has a good karma-filled ending, and I did not like how Unktomi came out the winner in the end after all that he did to the widows. So in my ending, the widows have the upper hand, and they are privy to Unktomi pretending to be the stranger and they get him in the end.