Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/538

 496 Collectanea.

shall we put inside the room ? " Then the Ostrich said she would go in. She said let her body be tied with a rope, (so that) when she entered they could pull (were pulling) the rope from behind. She said, — " If you hear me say ' Pull,' (then) pull." The Ostrich, when she had entered, was caught by the neck by the old woman. 12 Then she (Ostrich) said, — "Pull." They pulled (were pulling), and the old woman pulled, until the old woman cut off the Ostrich's head. Then the Ostrich fell down. (She had) no head. So they scattered. While they were running, the Elephant trampled on the Hare, and on the Duiker, and on the Jerboa, and all died. Then the old woman came out from the house and collected the flesh. Thus it was that she inherited the house of the Hysena and of the Monkey.

25. Why the Hy(27ia and the Donkey do not agree. (B. G.)

This is about the Hysena and the Donkey, and what caused them to quarrel. ^2 The Hysena said to the Donkey, — "Why do you wag your head (the wagging that you do) ? You wag to the south. You wag to the north. What do you get by it ? " Then the Donkey said to her, — " Every time I wag (every wagging that I do), if I wag to the south I am given a piece of meat ; if I wag to the north I am given a piece of meat." Then the Hysena said, — " Oh, of a truth, Donkey, you will not get thin. Always in the dry season and the wet season you are fat and well con- ditioned." 1* Then she said, — " Now, as for me, what shall I do also to get some ? " Then he said, — " Wait until we have unloaded. Then come and sleep with us." So she said, — "Very well," and (all that day) she was praying to God that the evening would come.^5 Then she went amongst them and slept. When morning came, they said, — "Bring the donkeys and put their loads on." When all had had loads put on, and all were complete, she said she had none. So a load was taken off from one small donkey which was not fit to carry a load, and it was given to her. Now, when

^2 Lit. " The ostrich, when she had entered, then the old woman seized her neck."

i^Lit. "what joined them in strife."

^* Literally tibbir means rolling in fat.

J«Lit. " Oh God, oh God, let night come (quickly)."