by Alan Nafzger & Lilly Tabbytite (Comanche)
Coyote was traveling across the plains, crossing the mountains and landing on the prairie. He discovered the skull of a Buffalo Bull there. Coyote was terrified of the Buffalo Bull, but he still played with the skull. He stomped on it and threw rocks at it. He kicked dust into the eye sockets and spat in them. He began to walk away when he heard a thunderous clap. He looked up into the blue sky. The sound then became louder. He spun around. The Buffalo Bull was pursuing him.
Coyote dashed ahead, but Buffalo was right behind him. So Coyote felt Buffalo's hot breath on his neck and the ground beneath his feet trembling, so he summoned his power for assistance. The coyote jumped up and grabbed a limb from the first tree as three trees emerged from the ground. He climbed high in the trees. With his horns, the Buffalo Bull began chopping at the tree. It collapsed just as Coyote leapt into the second tree. The buffalo bull charged the second tree, knocking it down just as Coyote leapt into the third.
When Buffalo Bull used his horns to slash at the third tree, "Please, my friend, let me smoke my pipe once more," Coyote said. Then I can die happy. "
The Buffalo Bull looked up from his work on the tree. "You may have one cigarette, Coyote." "This is the path of the warrior."
Coyote loaded his pipe with new kinnikinick and started smoking. He offered the pipe to Buffalo Bull after a few puffs.
I'm not going to smoke with you, Coyote. You crushed my bones."
"Do not murder me, my friend. This is not the way to behave. Allow me to come down and make you a new set of horns. The ones you currently have are cracked and dull-looking. "
Coyote was let down by the Buffalo Bull. With his flint knife and pitch wood, Coyote carved two fine, heavy horns with sharp points. The Buffalo Bull adored his gleaming black horns. He forgot about Coyote as soon as he got them. He went with them and killed Young Buffalo. The Buffalo Bull's cows were once all taken by Young Buffalo. He has now returned them. He was so pleased with his new horns that he gave Coyote one of the cows.
"Coyote, never kill this cow. When you're hungry, use your flint knife to cut off some of the fat. Apply ashes to the wound. The wound will mend. You'll have meat for the rest of your life this way. "
Coyote promised to do exactly that. He returned over the mountains with the buffalo cow. When he was hungry, he would cut away a little fat and then, as Buffalo Bull had suggested, heal the wound with ashes. But after a while, he became bored with the fat. He was curious about the bone marrow and the fresh liver. He'd crossed the plains and was back in his own country by this point.
"What Buffalo Bull said is only true in his country," Coyote reflected. "I am the commandant here. Buffalo Bull's words have no meaning. He'll never find out. "
Coyote led the young cow to the creek's edge. "You appear a little sore-footed," he observed. "Stay here for a while and rest and feed."
While she was feeding, a coyote attacked her and killed her. Crows and magpies appeared as he removed her hide. More appeared when Coyote attempted to chase them away. More arrived, until they had consumed all of the meat from the young cow, leaving only the bones.
"At least I'll have the marrow," Coyote reasoned.
Then an elderly lady appeared. "You are a great chief," she told Coyote. You should not do the work of a woman. Allow me to prepare those bones for you. "
Coyote admired this woman's demeanor. He sat down and fell asleep. He awoke to find the woman fleeing with the marrow-fat and boiled grease. He chased her down, but she was too fast. Slowly, he returned to his campfire and gathered the remaining bone fragments. He planned to boil them and make soup, but when he returned from the creek with water, he discovered that all the bones had turned into sticks.
He decided there was nothing else to do but return to Buffalo Bull and get another cow. When he reached Buffalo Bull's herd after crossing the mountains, he noticed that the young cow he had killed was among them. Coyote apologized and stated that he would not repeat his actions. But the cow refused to accompany him, and the Buffalo Bull refused to give him another.
Coyote returned to his village. When he arrived, he discovered that everyone had relocated. They'd heard what he'd done and were embarrassed to be in the same room as him.