[152] Coyote was dwelling at Ha'udulilmauna.[153] Coyote was living there alone with his sister. His sister pounded acorns, while Coyote went out to hunt small game. When it was dark Coyote came back home from hunting. The woman soaked acorns at a small creek to the south. In the morning Coyote went out to hunt small game, and came back again when it was dark. "Take this acorn mush," said his sister, giving Coyote some acorn mush to eat. Coyote ate the acorn mush with his fingers.

Coyote was sick. "I am sick," he said to his sister. "Indeed!" said the woman. "There has arrived here a person from the west, and have you not seen him?" he said to his sister. "So?" said the woman, "who may he be?" "A Killdeer person told me, he arrived here," he said to his sister. Coyote was sick. For two days Coyote was sick, and his cheek on one side of his mouth was swollen. "I'll tell you, sister, what the Killdeer person told me." "Indeed!" said the Coyote woman to her brother, "what was it that he said, when he told you the news?" "He says that they are going to have a dance, that is what he told me, and he came to tell us about it." "Indeed!" said the woman. The woman had no husband and Coyote had no wife. They two alone, he and his sister, stayed there together by themselves.

The door of the house was on the south side. The woman came back from the south, having gone to fetch water. She went in by the door, but Coyote was lying there sick. He had put round stones into his mouth, so that Coyote's cheek was swollen. The woman went to him, there lay Coyote. Coyote Woman had gone out to fetch water and stood right there. "Hê!" said the woman, "go back inside! Move away! Move away from the door! Lie down yonder on the north! You might be hurting your cheek if I step on you." "?En" groaned Coyote with (pretended) pain. "Step over me, take your water. Step over me, sister."[154] The woman did so, stepped over him. Coyote was lying on his back and yelped (when she stepped over him).[155] "M‘!" said the woman. "You see, why did you do that, not lying away from the door? I told you that your cheek would be hurt." She pounded acorns, and soaked them in a small creek to the south. Coyote Woman came back into the house, fetching water. Coyote was lying at the door. "Lie down away from here!" (she said). "Step over me, sister." "M‘!" said the woman. The woman did as he asked her, stepped over him. Coyote yelped as before. "See now, you hurt your cheek."

"I shall tell you, sister, will you go to stay over night to have a dance? They say that the Killdeer people are going to have a dance. They say that they are going to have a dance there at Wī'tc‘uman?na." "Yes," said the woman. "But I shall not go off, I shall not go to see how they dance," said Coyote, "but do you go to stay over night to have a dance! I shall tell you," said Coyote. "When the eastern people come they will have their faces blackened with black pitch. All those eastern people will be that way, having their faces blackened, and all of them will have faces that are quite black. When yon see the Yā'?wi[156] people, (you will notice that) the Yā'?wi chief will be very tall and will talk loudly as dance leader." The woman listened with lowered head. "Pray do not look at those eastern people, but do look at the Yā'?wi. When the chief shouts as leader, take him and dance with him. One Yā'?wi will have sucker-fish fat rubbed all over his face. That one is the chief, look at him, and when it is night, take him to yourself!"

Coyote Woman fixed herself up nice. She painted herself with red paint, put her buckskin skirt about her hips, put on her white-grass tasseled dress, and put her tule basket-cap on her head. Ah! That woman was pretty. "Well, I shall go off, it is nearly dark." "Yes," said Coyote, "I must stay right home, for I am very sick," he said to his sister. Now the woman went off to the west, all alone. The sun was down already and it was night now. "Hä+u!" They danced, filing in towards the fire. Coyote Woman stood there, held her fists pressed against her cheeks. The woman did not look at the eastern people as they danced. "Hä+u!" said the Yā'?wi in the west, as they danced. The woman looked up in the night; she was very pretty. The woman looked to the west, the chief was shouting, "Hêhä'u! Hêhä'u! Hêhä'u!" Three times he shouted. Coyote's sister looked all around, looked at the chief. "That yonder must be the one," she said in her heart. "That is what my brother said to me. He told me to look at the chief, when he shouts as dance leader."

When his sister had gone away, Coyote took the stones out of his mouth and threw them away. He dressed himself up nice, put sucker-fish fat on his face. "I wish there might come to me an otter-skin quiver! I wish that I were tall!" It happened thus. Coyote became tall, and an otter-skin quiver full of arrows came to him. Coyote was very handsome. In the middle of the night Coyote went around and shouted, "Hau! hau! Hau! hau!" There he was, dancing as chief. The woman had come from the east. There was Coyote dancing, and there was the woman coming dancing from the east. The woman took hold of the Yā'?wi chief, took hold of her brother. They were dancing together, dancing during the night. Coyote pulled the woman off to the east (saying), "Let us go to the east! Come on with me!" The woman did so, going off to the east with him into the brush. They lay down to sleep, sat there talking to each other. Coyote tickled the woman, the woman did likewise to the man.

He lay on the woman and put his arms about her, copulating with her, pushing the woman about. Of goodly size was the woman, fat and very pretty. When it was nearly daylight, Coyote got up again, having finished copulating. Coyote ran off home while the woman still stayed in the brush.

Coyote hastened back home to the east, running very fast. He went back into his house, and put his smooth round stones back into his mouth. Again Coyote lay down on the ground by the door. The woman came back home from the west running quickly. The woman was angry, thinking in her heart (about what had happened). She arrived home and saw how Coyote was going back into the house. She entered inside. Coyote lay down. The woman was pregnant now. "Hê!" said the woman, "get up, husband!" Coyote, with swollen cheeks. whined in answer, "It was not I who did it!" "Do not bawl!" said the woman. She took a stick and whipped Coyote as he lay on the ground. "Get up! Go and hunt deer, husband! I am pregnant." "I! I did not go away. It was not I that did it" (whined Coyote). "Yes!" said the woman, "I saw you." Now she gave birth to children, gave birth to them outside the house. Coyote as usual lay right inside. "Go out!" said the woman, "I am pregnant." She gave birth to ten little coyotes. She put them into her pack-basket and went down south to the creek. She turned her basket over into the creek and they floated westwards in the water. The woman returned from the south and arrived back home. Coyote arose, took the smooth round stones out of his mouth, and threw them away. Coyote went out of the house, ran down hill to the south. He ran west along the creek, following his children. The little coyotes floated westwards in the water; he ran west, following them along the creek. They floated on till they arrived at Wī'tc‘uman?na,[157] he still running west along the creek. Coyote had run west ahead of his children. He made a fish trap, twining it out of willow. He placed it in the water. There was Coyote, while the little coyotes came floating in the water from the east. They floated past the willow fish trap. Coyote hastened back out of the water. The little coyotes floated west, but he ran west ahead of them with his willow fish trap in his hand. When west of them, he hastened to the creek and put it into the water. The little coyotes came floating in the water from the east, floated west past it. "Hê!" said Coyote, "get up out of the water, boys, and get something to eat for yourselves." They floated west, floated till they arrived there at Hamā'damtc!i.[158] "Get up out of the water, boys." They did so, came up out of the water. They were now grown up young men. "Start off south for the hills across the plain." The young coyotes did so, scampered about in every direction to look for gophers, jumping on the gopher piles to mash the gophers to death. "Ah!" said Coyote, "that is good, boys. Spread out in every direction and get food for yourselves. I shall go back home," said Coyote. Coyote now went off, leaving his boys behind him.

Coyote went north and turned east, leaving Clover creek to the north. He went east to Bagat?didja'myak!aina,[159] that far he went. Coming up from the west, Coyote had an otter-skin quiver, and very good was the flint in his quiver. He had white feathers and put them into a net-cap, an eagle's white breast and leg feathers he put into the net-cap.[160] Coyote did not have merely arrow shafts put under his arm, these were all provided with flint arrowheads. Frost came from the east. Frost also had a net-cap filled with white feathers, he had his feathers made of snow. Very pretty were Frost's white feathers. Frost was going west, Coyote was going east; they met each other at Ganu'myā.[161] "Hu!" panted Coyote. Coyote sat down, Frost sat down. "Whither are you going?" asked Coyote. "I am going west," said Frost. "Indeed! I am going east," said Coyote. "Indeed!" said Frost. "Tell me," said Coyote, "how are the east people getting along?" "There are no people. I did not see any," said Frost. "Hê! Very beautiful are your bow and your arrows. Hehe'!" Coyote said, "I should like to have your white feathers," but Frost said nothing. "Let us change about," (said Coyote). "This bow of mine is bad, these arrows of mine and my white feathers are bad." "Oh, well! Let us change about." "Yes," said Frost, and he gave him his arrows, his net-cap filled with white feathers and his bow. "Let us trade good things with each other." Frost handed his net-cap filled with white feathers to Coyote. Now Coyote put white feathers made of snow on his head; just so Frost put Coyote's white feathers on his head. "Well!" said Coyote, "I am going east. Do you for your part go west."

Now he went east, while Frost on his part went west; now they departed from each other. Frost laughed. Coyote went east, and (soon) said to himself, "I am sweating." Really it was snow that was melting, the water came dripping down on Coyote's face. He looked back at his bow, he looked back at his flints and arrows. No arrows were to be seen, no bow was to be seen, they had all melted away. Coyote stood there and looked all around; Frost had gone far off to the west and was no more to be seen. Coyote put his hand on his head, felt around on his head for his white feathers, but the white feathers were no more. Coyote stood still, pondering. "Dam?nimā'na!" said Coyote, "you had good sense, young Frost! I thought indeed they were real white feathers," said Coyote. "That is why I changed about with you. You had good sense." He went on east with nothing now, without bow and without white feathers. Frost's white feathers did not melt, nor his bow and arrows. Coyote now went off home, until he arrived at Ha'udulilmauna.