202 TALES OF READY-TO-GIVE. 
57. THE BOY WHO MARRIED A BUFFALO.’ 
A boy and his sister lived by themselves. The boy traveled toward 
the south to get feathers; then he made arrows. He made one arrow red 
and another one black and the others plain. There was another village 
in the west, where the Buffalo lived. The daughter of the Buffalo chief 
came to visit the boy and his sister. The boy’s sister saw some one coming 
to their tipi. Then the girl began to sing: 
Stand there, my brother, 
Some one is coming on the hill, 
There on the hilltops from where you brought your feathers. 
Pa-o-o, pa-o-o. (Cry of coyote.) 
The boy stopped his work and said: ‘“‘ Whoever is coming, let him come.”’ 
All at once a young Buffalo cow came into the tipi. The boy took his 
bow and arrows and shot at the Buffalo. The arrow did not go through 
the body, but the point curled under the hair and hung on the side of the 
cow. She ran outside of the tipi, and the boy followed, expecting every 
minute that the arrow would drop off.- The boy kept on following the 
Buffalo until they came to box-elder timber. It was twilight. The 
Buffalo went into the timber. The boy followed and there he found a 
tipi. The boy lay down near the tipi and went to sleep. 
Next morning, when the boy woke up, the Buffalo stood where the 
tipi had been. The Buffalo went east a little and circled around and then 
went west again. The boy became angry and called the Buffalo names. 
In the evening the cow went into a cottonwood grove. The boy went into 
the timber and there again was the tipi. The boy went into the tipi and 
there sat a woman all covered up with her robe. The boy sat down on 
the south side. When it was dark the woman gave the boy a calf robe 
and told him to lie down upon it. In the morning when the boy awoke 
the Buffalo stood by him with the arrow still in her hair. The boy 
crawled up to get the arrow, but the cowran again. The boy followed. 
She went slowly and the boy kept following, expecting the arrow to drop. 
Towards evening the cow went into the weeping-willow timber. The 
boy went into the timber and again saw the same tipi. He went into 
the tipi and sat down on the south side. When it was dark the cow 
1Told by Thief, Kitkehahki. This story is related during ceremonies by the 
old men to the children who may have entered the lodge; it especially teaches 
the boys to take good care of their bows and arrows and instills in them a desire to 
kill buffalo, that they may consecrate some of its meat to the gods of the heavens 
through the bundle. It also teaches young married people to be hospitable to 
strangers, especially those from distant countries, because they may thus be enter- 
taining unawares supernatural beings of great power. 
