One day, after a good hunt, Iktomé, the spider man, found a good place to rest in a tree. Below was a new baby, bundled for sleep, hanging from a branch. The baby was crying, and he would not rest. Iktomé wanted to rest, and so wanted to know what made the child so unhappy. So, Iktomé asked his friend Coyoté, for he knew what made children sad.
“It is a bad dream. He is dreaming of monsters, and that frightens him. Maybe, he is dreaming of you, Ha!” Coyoté was a good friend, yet he liked to joke at other people’ expence.
Iktomé never dreamed of monsters, or of anything sad or frightening. His web, you see, catches such clumsy things. Yet delightful, pretty dreams are cleaver, and float right through his net. So, Iktomé thought, “How pleasant it would be if I wove my net over this child’s papoose. Then, he can have happy dreams instead of sad ones, and maybe he will grow wise as I.”
So, Iktomé spun his net, making it just big enough to protect the child. The bad dreams did not see the net, and were caught in it, unable to leave. The baby slept well, as did his mother … and Iktomé.
In the morning Iktomé saw the bad dreams, still struggling to get at the child. With the morning’s light they did not seem so bad. As Iktomé ate his web, as spiders often do, he ate the bad dreams. They were bitter, yet filling.
So, Iktomé’s net is placed above our beds so that good, clever dreams may entertain us at night. So, we honor Iktomé by letting all spiders go their way, and hunt in peace.