by Alan Nafzger & Lilly Tabbytite (Comanche)
One day, Coyote came across a lodge standing alone on the prairie one day. Coyote peered inside and noticed a lot of dried meat and other food. When he looked around, he found a pair of buffalo-hide leggings that had magpie feathers and porcupine quills on them.
Coyote then noticed the lodge's owner.
"Give me these fine leggings, my friend," he said.
"No," said the stranger."I'm not going to give them to you."
"I have to have them." "I really need these leggings."
"They're worn-out leggings." "They are useless to you."
"All right, then, let me sleep here." "I'm exhausted."
"You can do it," the stranger said, and Coyote lay down and fell asleep.
When he thought everyone was asleep, it was late at night. Coyote snatched the leggings and bolted from the lodge. He ran all night until he thought he was too far ahead to be caught. He then lay down and fell asleep.
He awoke a short time later, back in the stranger's lodge.
"My friend," the man said, "get up and eat." When he noticed the leggings next to Coyote's sleeping spot, he asked, "What are you doing with my leggings there?"
"Oh, I couldn't find anything for a pillow, so I just sat on these." Coyote handed the man the leggings.
Coyote decided to stay another night after eating. He was desperate for the leggings and promised to try again.
He grabbed the leggings again and ran away that night, while everyone was sleeping. He ran until morning, then lay down and fell asleep. When he awoke, he found himself back in the stranger's lodge.
"What are you doing with my leggings here?"
"Well, I don't know how this happened," Coyote said, clearly surprised. "I think the leggings like me a lot, and they've come to stay with me."
"Well, my friend, if the leggings really like you, I'll give them to you." But these aren't your average leggings. They're called medicine leggings. You should not wear them every day, but only when hunting. Put these leggings on whenever you find a game in the brush and run around and around where the game is. This will start a fire, making it easy to catch the game. But I must warn you: you must never wear these leggings unless you have a specific purpose for them. "
Coyote was overjoyed with his leggings and set out for home. On the outskirts of his village, he came to a halt and noticed that everyone was staring at him. He started dressing up very nicely. "Here are those leggings," he explained, "and I think I'll wear them." They'll make me look great. "
So he put them on, and with the first step, sparks flew out, igniting the grass. This scared Coyote, and he began to flee. The more fire there was, the faster he ran. People shouted that Coyote was attempting to burn down the entire village. Coyote finally got the leggings off. He threw them to the ground, where they exploded in flames.
People in his village looked at Coyote strangely for a long time after that.