Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/186

158 wandered far seeking guinea fowl and the sun set when we were far from home; we wish to sleep here to-night and return home to-morrow." He said, "Very well, sleep here." They lay down and slept; but one of them was wakeful. The old man thought they were all asleep and he got up and went to the door. He sang:

It opened, and he went out and sang:

It shut. It was a strong door made of iron.

The old man went hither and thither, calling the wild beasts, and he told them, "Come and eat; there are men in my house." The brother who was awake woke the others, saying, "Look, the old man has left us shut up here; he has gone." They looked and saw he was gone. Then he said, "Wait; I will sing what I heard him singing," and he sang, "Door, open! door, open!" and it opened and all three went out. He said, "Door, shut! door, shut!" and it shut and they ran away.

Now the old man came back and brought all the wild beasts, saying, "There are men in my house." They said, "Where are they?" He said, "I will show you," and he sang, "Door, open! door, open!" The door opened and he went in and saw that they had gone. He was afraid, because he had brought the beasts there for nothing, so he hid himself in a hole in the ground near the fire. The beasts said, "Where is he?" but they could not find him. At last one of them found him in the hole; it said, "Here he is!" and they pulled him out and they ate him.

There was a Man and he set a snare for game. His snare caught a great Snake (python). When he came to