Oct , 1903. Arapaho Traditions — Dorsey and Kroeber. 77 



said Nih^a"(;a''. So they went down the hill and reached a creek, which 

 had much timber and grass. "Say, mother-in-law, we shall have to 

 camp out for the night, and we shall take time to-morrow to reach 

 home," said Nih'a"<;a". 



Both of them together erected a shelter and made separate beds. 

 Late in the night, Nih^a°(;a° complained of being too cold. The moth- 

 er-in-law gave him more cover, but he was knocking his teeth to- 

 gether, and rolled about. "Are you still cold, son-in-law?" said the 

 woman. ''Oh, yes ! I can't lie still, said Nih'a.'^ga''. "Age dum," in- 

 quit mulier, *'potes mecum reclinari." Itaque reclinatus est et quamquam 

 mox calefiebat tamen horrebat. "Quid nunc agis" inquit mulier. "Quid 

 mater," inquit ille, "una pars corporis mei gelata est et nisi tu me 

 juvabis, molestiam habelo," inquit Nih'a^ga". "Quae est pars ilia?" 

 inquit Nih'a°<;a^ "Age," inquit mulier, "ascende in me; id calidum 

 membrum suum quod durum et rigidum erat. "Id est paene gelatum" 

 inquit Nih'a°<;a°. "Age" inquit mulier, "ascende in me id calidum 

 faciam." Nih'a^a" cum in eam ascendisset, laborari coepil . Membrum 

 eius tam magnum erat ut mulier effugere conaretur. Hare fiens ex eo 

 petivit ut descenderet. Ille respondit : "Mater cara, tace ; patere ; ego et 

 tu in flumine coitus coimus." Sic per totam noctem cum ea coibat. Mane 

 domum profecti sunt. Mulier non bene ambulari poterat quod per 

 totem noctem coierant et multum patebatur. Finally they reached their 

 home feeling very tired. "Well, what made you return so soon? ' said 

 the daughter. "My dear wife, when we climbed the hill, I saw 

 the enemy below, after us, and we just barely escaped from them. Be- 

 sides, the other parties had gone so far that we could not begin to 

 catch up with them, and the journey was dangerous, too, so we re- 

 turned. I am glad to see you, wife. I might have been killed if I 

 had been in the fight," said Nih'a^^a". 



This story teaches that some men have intercourse with their 

 mothers-in-law. It all depends upon the virtue of the man and the 

 woman, — D. 



Told by .Adopted. Cf. No. 40. 



40. — One-Eyed-Sioux and his Mother-in-Law/ 



One-eyed-Sioux having gone on the war-path with his mother-in- 

 law, they camped in the woods, having two separate shelters. His 

 mother-in-law lay down to sleep in her shelter, and he too lay down 

 in his. When it was well into the night, One-eyed-Sioux asked for 



• From a text by informant A. 



