Coyote Marries a Man

by Alan Nafzger & Lilly Tabbytite (Comanche)

The Wedding of Coyote

Coyote was traveling along when he came across a village. There were a lot of people there and plenty of food, so Coyote decided to stay for a while. There was a good-looking man named Not Enough Horses who wanted to marry but wouldn't have anything to do with the girls in the village. He claimed they weren't the right kind for him, that they weren't good enough.

When Coyote heard this, he decided to disguise himself as a woman and marry this man. He transformed himself in this way and became very attractive. He returned to the village on a sled pulled by two wolves, carrying his tipi and other belongings. When Not Enough Horses first saw her, he fell in love with her.

"My mother, she is handsome," Not Enough Horses said to his mother. She's the type I'm looking for. "You should invite her over."

The elderly lady stated that she would do so. She went over to the girl's residence.

"You must come over to my house, niece."

"What are you doing?"

"My son would like to see you."

"I'll be there then."

"My son wishes to marry you," the elderly lady explained.

"You know, so many men wanted to marry me that I ran away and came here," the young lady explained. "'Go away,' said my elder brother."

"Oh, my son also ran away and came here!" There were numerous women who desired to marry him. That is why he fled and came here. "

"Oh, that's very interesting," the young lady said.

They went to the old woman's house, where she saw the young man. He was very attractive. They married and lived together for a while. The man was pleased because the young woman was a hard worker. Then a young woman made the decision to leave. She had children, but she had never shown them to anyone. She left the children behind, and when the old woman and her son came in to see them, they discovered they were wolf puppies.

"Oho!" exclaimed the elderly lady. "That individual was Coyote!"

She was laughing as she wrapped blankets around the wolf puppies. This was what Not Enough Horses had for kids. Everyone in the village was now laughing at him.

"Truly, this man has accomplished great things," they said. This conceited young man has managed to marry a man! We'll have something to laugh about now! "

They were laughing so hard that the young man left the village. He was embarrassed.

While driving, he told himself, "I don't care what kind of woman I marry or what she looks like. "Coyote has truly embarrassed me."

He eventually arrived at a lodge. He waited for the woman inside to say, "Come in."

"I've come to take you as my wife," he explained.

She was far too thin and unattractive. He took that woman as his wife, despite the fact that it was dark inside the lodge and he couldn't see well. He felt terrible when they slept together because he could feel how bony she was.

They loaded her sled with everything from her lodge and left that place the next morning. They returned to his village. He was ashamed of the way this woman looked, but he reasoned that now that he had married this ugly woman, no one would mock him for marrying Coyote.

When they arrived in town, his wife got out of the sled. But she wasn't any longer skinny. It was Coyote once more.

"Hey, young man, are you the same one who married Coyote the other time?" he asked.

The entire village burst out laughing.

Coyote had him both times.