Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/404

 362 Collectanea.

Oribi said, — "Oh no, it is no business of mine, I (who am) a short-tailed one." Then the Gazelle came. When she had looked as she was going to drink, she said, — " Oh dear, I cannot drink to-day." Then the Hyaena said, — " Come now, Gazelle, do me a good turn." But she said, — " Oh no, it is no business of mine, I (who am) a short-tailed one." Then the Monkey came. He looked in, and saw the Hyaena, and he said, — " Oh dear, the water is too much for me to-day." Then the Hyaena said, — "Come now. Monkey, do me a good turn." Then he said, — " I don't want (lest) to do you a good turn and you to return me evil." Then the Hyasna said, — " I shall not do so to you." So he stretched out his tail to her in the well. The Hyaena seized it, and came out. When he had pulled her out, he said, — " Now, Hyaena, I am going to market." Then she said, — " Will you not let me dry?"^^ Then he said, — "Ah, that is what I was trying to avoid (run from)." When she was dry, she said, — "Come, Monkey, will you not give me a little bit of your tail that I may appease my hunger?" So he said, — "All right." So she bit off (a piece) about the length of a finger. Then the Monkey said, — " That's enough, I'm off." But she said, — " Will you not let me rest?" Then the Monkey said, — "That is what I was trying to avoid." Then the Jerboa came, and said, — " Come here, and I will decide between you at the foot of the tree." So he said, — " My judgment is, the Jerboa inside quickly, the Monkey above, the Hyaena between {i.e. left alone). When she looked, she saw the Monkey above ; the Jerboa had entered his hole. As for her, she went off.

17. The Girl who prevetited the Beasts from drinking. (B. G.)

This is a short one. It is about a certain person, a girl. Now, a younger sister had been born to her, and all used to go to the farm, — the mother, the father, and she the elder sister. They used to leave the younger sister in a pot of grease. It happened that (really) a Hyaena came to the house, and she saw the pot of grease, so she took (it) and swallowed (it). When they returned (it was come), neither the girl nor the pot was to be seen. Then the elder sister began to cry, but she said she would see who had

'^^ The Hyaena had not let the Monkey's tail go.