He continued until he came to a river;
there he saw a buffalo herd that had
crossed the ford onto the other side.

"What shall I do now?" thought
Porcupine as he sat down. He called
out, "Carry me across!" One of the
buffalo replied, "Do you mean me?"
Porcupine called again, "No, I want
a different buffalo." Thus he
rejected each member of the herd,
one after another, as each asked.
"Do you mean me?"

Finally the last and best one in the
herd said, "I will carry you across
the river." The buffalo crossed the
river and said to porcupine, "Climb
on my back."

Porcupine said, "No, I'm afraid I will
fall off into the water." Buffalo
said, "Then climb up and ride between
my horns." "No," replied Porcupine.
"I'm sure I'll slide off into the
river."

Buffalo suggested many other ways to
carry him, but Porcupine protested.
"Perhaps you'd rather ride inside of
me?" offered the buffalo. "Yes," said
Porcupine, and let himself be
swallowed by the buffalo.

"Where are we now?" asked Porcupine.
"In the middle of the river," said the
buffalo, After a little while,
Porcupine asked again. "We have nearly
crossed," said the buffalo. "Now we
have emerged from the water; come
out of me!" Porcupine said, "No, not
yet, go a little farther."

Soon the buffalo stopped and said,
"We have gone far enough, so come
out."

Then Porcupine hit the buffalo's heart
with his heavy tail. The buffalo
started to run, but fell down and
died right there.

Porcupine had killed him. Others in
the herd tried to hook Porcupine, but
he sat under the buffalo's ribs,
where he could not be hooked.

Soon the herd tired and ran on
their way.

Porcupine came out and said aloud,
"I wish I had something to butcher
this nice big buffalo with."
Now, Coyote was sleeping nearby,
and woke up and heard him. Coyote went
to Porcupine and said, "Here is my
knife for butchering."

So they went together to the side
of the buffalo.

"Let him butcher who can jump over
it," said Coyote.

Porcupine ran and jumped, but only
partway over the buffalo. Coyote
jumped over it without touching the dead
animal, so he began to butcher, cutting
up the buffalo.

After a little time, he handed the
paunch to Porcupine and said, "Go wash
it in the river, but don't eat it yet."
Porcupine took it to the river, washed
it, then he bit off a piece. When Coyote
saw what Porcupine had done, he became
very angry with him and went after him,
"I told you not to eat any of the
paunch."

Coyote picked up a club and killed
Porcupine and placed him beside the
buffalo, and went to his home. Then
he told his family, "I have killed a
buffalo and I have killed a porcupine.
Let us go and carry them home."

Before Porcupine had come out of the
buffalo, he said magic words, "Let a
red pine grow here fast." Then at once
red pine began to grow under the meat
and under Porcupine. It grew very tall
and fast. All of the meat and Porcupine
rested at the top of the red pine tree,
high in the air, Porcupine magically
coming alive again.

Coyote and his family arrived and were
surprised that all of the meat was gone.
They began to hunt for it.

"I wish they would look up," said
Porcupine. Then the smallest child looked
up and said "Oh!" The family looked
up and saw Porcupine sitting on top of
the meat in the tall red pine tree.

Coyote said, "Throw down a piece of the
neck, we are very hungry."

"Yes," said Porcupine. "Place that
youngest child a little farther away.
"Yes," they responded and took him to
one side.

"Now make a ring and all hold hands
upward," said Porcupine. So the family
joined hands and held them up.
Porcupine threw down several pieces of
the buffalo meat, killing Coyote and
those in the ring.

Porcupine then threw down the rest of
the buffalo meat, and climbed down
the tree.