Long ago, there lived a very handsome youth. All the girls were eager to marry him, but he did not care for women. There was a good-looking girl who was living with her grandmother. She proposed to the youth, but he refused to marry her. The girl returned and complained to her grandmother.
The old woman was angry, and said, “Let me stay behind when the camp moves.” When the camp was broken, the old woman remained in the rear. The men went out to hunt. She allowed them to pass without saying anything. At last, when the young man came, she asked him to pack her on his back.
“Why do you ask me to do this ?”
“I am unable to walk. Carry me on your back and put me off near the camp.”
Finally, the youth consented and carried her near the camp. There he tried to set her down, but she stuck tight. He tried to throw her off, running against trees, but she still stuck to him.
When he saw he could not get her off, he began to cry. Some women, hearing the noise, ran up to see what was the matter. When they tried to pull her off, the hag cried, “Don’t bother me, I am his wife.”
They could not get her down; they went to the youth’s father and told him what had happened.
The old man said, “Whoever pulls off the old woman, may marry my son.” A number of women tried, but all failed. Whenever they caught hold of her, the old woman cried, “Let me alone, I am married to him.”
There were two good-looking girls who did not say anything, but thought they could rid the youth of his burden. They went there and found him lying on his stomach. One went on either side. They began to pull. Four times they pulled, and the last time they pulled the old woman off, whereupon they killed her.
The youth’s back had been fouled by the woman’s urine. They washed him, and doctored him in a sweat-lodge. Thus they restored him to his former condition. When he was clean again, they had him for a husband.