The Buffalo-Man
There once was a young hunter who went out to find himself a wife. However, he identified more with the buffalo than he did his fellow humans and decided to mate with one of them instead. Finding one that pleased him, he stayed with her and they had a son after the right time had passed. However, the hunter was greatly ashamed of what he had done and decided not to stay in his son's life. He fled and returned to his old life.
Years later, the young buffalo son greatly desired to meet his father and set out to find them. He sat and observed everyone coming through the village, trying to pick out who he belonged to. Many men came and went, but he did not find any that seemed as if they could be his father. Then, a man passed through on his was to the market that caught the young buffalo's attention. He wasn't sure why he of all people seemed like a possibility, but he pursued him anyway. As he approached, the young hunter had a look of sudden recognition come over his face and realized that it was his son. He was immediately overcome with joy and knew immediately he could no longer not be present in his son's life. However, when he announced this, his son's buffalo community wasn't so sure that he deserved such privilege. How do we know he's going to be genuine this time, they questioned. As a result, they decided to test the man.
As a test, they put the young buffalo in the herd with all of his friends and made the father guess which one belonged to him. His son was desperate for his father to be correct so he had small signals that he used to alert the man, allowing him to accurately identify which buffalo was his son. The buffalo weren't convinced however, and made him try again. This went on for a while until the man got confused and suddenly picked the wrong buffalo as his son. He knew immediately that he had messed up because he saw a young buffalo's face fall instantly and knew that that was his son instead of the one that he had picked.
Once the test was over, the buffalo royalty met and made a decision. They ultimately decided that the man could stay with his son because they had pity on him, but there was going to be a consequence for his error in his ways. They decided that he would be allowed to stay, but that he must also become a buffalo to prove his loyalty to the herd. The man hesitated but accepted because of the love he had found for his son recently. That wasn't something he was willing to give up. Instantly, the man took on his buffalo form and headed off into the field to join his new family and start this new life that was now laid out in front of him.
The hunter turned into a buffalo to pass the rest of his life.
Source: Wikimedia Commons
Author's Note
I rewrote this piece based on The Piqued Buffalo-Wife by Stith Thompson. I liked the way the story unfolded but I decided that I wanted to change the ending a little bit by having the family rain together in buffalo form. I kept most of the rest of the story the same but did change the was that it was worded and cut down some of the elaborate details to make it more of a short story.
Very interesting story! I did not expect the buffalo to have a hierarchy or royalty. I was confused on how the man so easily came to the decision to mate with a buffalo or how they spoke to him and how he transformed. I get that there is magic involved, but it would be nice to know that as a certainty in the story.
ReplyDeleteHi there Hannah!
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if it a new feature of your website, or I just didn't notice it before, but I think how your website pulls up is so cool!! Like when you click on the link, and it comes down like a sticky note... maybe I am easily amused but I thought that was so cool! Regardless, I like the idea of your story, and the symbolism of man into animal and so on. This unit especially is so heavy with symbolic elements like this, and I think thats what made it so special!