COYOTE WAS WALKING ALONG the river when he came on some young women taking their baths. They were on the other side and they called out to Coyote, “Brother-in-law, come over and play with us. We would like to have you for a child, one of us at a time.”
Coyote jumped across the stream and began trying to fondle the women’s breasts.
“What are you doing,” they asked.
“I am seeing which one has the nicest breasts. She will be my mother first.”
Coyote selected one woman and lay down with his head in her lap. This woman began to pick lice out of his hair, and the other women came around and started picking lice out of his hair, too. Coyote liked this very much. He reached out and tried to grab their breasts and he tried to roll over on top of one of the women, but they pushed him back down.
“You are not behaving like a good child,” they said. They pulled the lice from his hair and played with him until he finally fell asleep in the warm sunlight.
When Coyote woke up he was all twisted around. His hair was full of cockleburs. The way they were knotted up in his fur his lips were pulled around to one side of his face and his eyes were pulled around the other way. His thighs were stuck together and his arms were stuck to his buttocks.
Coyote flopped all around trying to get his flint knife out. By rolling over on it he was able to cut away a little hair and free himself. The pain was very bad and Coyote winced as he cut away the hair knots and the burs. He looked awful when he was through, with his hair all cut up.
Coyote started out for his lodge. Just before he came into the village he began crying. When he came up to his lodge he pretended to go crazy. He told his wife how glad he was to see her again. “They told me over there that you had been killed by enemies!” said Coyote. “So I went out and mourned for you. Look how I have cut my hair off short and cut myself all up with my knife. Look at all this bleeding. Oh, how lucky I am you are here.”
“Someone gave you false news, my husband,” said his wife.