Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 22, 1911.djvu/504

 468 Collectanea.

slave-house. Then the Spider came to the house to beg. So he (Auta) took guinea-corn, and gave (it to) the Spider. As for the Spider he went to the chief and said, — " What will you give me for my news?" He (chief) said, — "A kola nut." He (Spider) said, — " How many ears have you? " He (chief) said he had two ears (his ears two). He (Spider) said, — "Add two more and you will hear the news." He (chief) said he had added (them). He (Spider) said, — "This boy (who) is here in the forest, (in) the whole world there is not one who is so rich " (the owner of his luck). Then the chief said, — " It is a lie." He (Spider) said, — "Very well. Send me and the councillors to go and see." So he (chief) sent him and the councillors, and they went. So they went and saw the riches. The riches were greater than those of the chief. They went and said, — "This boy is rich." Now, as for the chief, there was a white leper in his house. The advice (talk) of the white leper was what the chief listened to. So he said, — " Now, White Leper, what shall we do that we may take his property?" Then the white leper said, — "Take some grain and put it in a bag.^'^ Take grains of guinea-corn and put them in the bag." Now a great number were put inside the bag, and black atcha (grains) were taken and put in the bag. Dauro (grains) were taken and put in the bag. Millet (grains) were taken and put in the bag. Atcha was taken and put in the bag. Rice and beans were put in the bag. Now the bag was filled. So it was tied up, and taken to the boy's house. He was told that by (the time) day broke he must (have) sorted them out separately (one, one). Then the boy saw he could not, and (began) to cry. He cried hard. Then the Ant came, and the Stinging Ant, and the tiny Red Ant, and the Smelhng Ant came, and told him to be patient. He took all the calabashes, and gave them. One took (a grain) and put (it) here ; another took (a grain) and put (it) here. When day broke, they had divided them all separately. Then the chiefs councillors came to take (them). So he (Auta) took (the calabashes), and gave them (them). Then the chief called the white leper, and said, — "Well, how shall we kill this boy?" Now there was a certain big lake which no one had ever entered (had

2' Bolster-shaped, with slit in centre, slung on donkeys, so that the slit is above the middle of the back.