[53] Told by Antelope.
53. THE COYOTE RIDES THE BUFFALO.[54]
There was a village, and in the village lived one young girl who was very pretty. All the young men courted her, but she did not care to marry. A Buffalo came who wanted to marry her. Once in a while he would turn into a young man, nicely dressed and smelling very fine. The girl became very much attached to the Buffalo.
The Coyote came to visit the girl, and he talked to her. The girl said she did not care to talk to anybody now, because she had a young man, and that young man was the Buffalo. The Coyote said: “Why, that Buffalo is my horse. I ride him.” The girl said, “If you will ride that Buffalo here I will marry you.” The Coyote went home, took a club and hit himself very hard on the knee, so as to make it sore. The Buffalo came to the girl to talk with her. The girl told the Buffalo what the Coyote had said. The Buffalo was mad, and said, “I am going to bring the Coyote here and kill him.” The Buffalo pawed the ground and threw up the dirt. The Coyote saw the Buffalo coming. The Buffalo called to the Coyote to come out. He said: “I want you to go with me to the girl’s tipi; I am to kill you.” The Coyote said, “I am a cripple, I can not go.” “It is not true,” said the Buffalo. “Come out, uncle, can’t you? Come on.” Said the Coyote, “If you want me to go, and can carry me to the girl’s tipi, I will go.” The Buffalo agreed to carry the Coyote. The Buffalo got down on his knees and the Coyote got on top of him and sat upon him. The Coyote had a cane that he was to hit the Buffalo with.
The Coyote jumped up and ran back to the village and married the girl. The Buffalo was so ashamed that he never came back to the village. For this reason, the descendants of the Coyote are bad and tricky. By foul means, they marry.
FOOTNOTES:
[54] Told by Cut-Arm.
54. THE COYOTE AND THE BUFFALO RUN A RACE.[55]
Once when a Coyote was sauntering along he looked up and saw a Buffalo a long distance off. The Coyote ran, and nearly caught up with the Buffalo. The Coyote saw the Buffalo drop chips. He went and ate some of them. The Buffalo looked around and saw the Coyote eating the chips. The Buffalo turned back and asked the Coyote what he was doing. The Coyote said: “O, you shaggy-looking thing; why do you not go on your way and not bother a poor fellow like me? I am eating some pemmican that some fellow must have dropped.” After a while, the Coyote said, “Say, grandfather, can you run?” “Yes,” said the Buffalo, “I can run fast.” “But,” said the Coyote, “I do not see how you can run with such big feet. Then there is danger of your breaking your legs. Ah, grandfather,” said the Coyote, “I think I can beat you. I am a man who has fought in battles, and have killed many people on account of my swiftness. If you are willing to run with me, do not stand there and laugh at me. I can beat you.” So the Buffalo said, “If you want to run a race, I will run with you, and I will show you that my legs can carry me a long way and beat you.” “All right,” said the Coyote, “I will go and measure the ground, and we will run.” So the Coyote went away and selected a place. The place selected was a tableland, and there was a steep bank at the other end. The Coyote set landmarks near the steep bank and winked to himself, and said, “Now I will have a whole buffalo to eat,” for at the bottom of this steep place there was a rock. The Coyote went where the Buffalo stood, and said: “Now we will run. As soon as we get to the two landmarks I have made we will run fast. At this place we will close our eyes. When we have gone a short distance we will open our eyes and see who is in the lead.” The Buffalo agreed. They began the race, and as they came to the landmarks, the Coyote said, “Now run your best and close your eyes.” The Coyote, being on the right side of the Buffalo, closed his left eye. The Buffalo ran with his eyes closed and jumped over the steep bank. The Coyote stopped, looked, and saw the Buffalo lying dead at the bottom of the steep bank.