Page:Indian Fairy Tales (Stokes, 1879).djvu/79

The Man who went to seek his Pate. 67 money, " said the man, '' and I can find none, so I am taking the water out of the river in order to get some." " You shall have some in a minute, " said the alligator, '' only do stop drawing the water/' Then a great wave of water dashed on to the land and dashed back into the river, leaving be- hind it a great heap of gold which the man picked up joy- fully. The next day he came again, and night and day he drew water out the river. At last the alligator got very angry and said, '' My fishes will all die for want of water. Once I gave the man a heap of gold and yet he wants more. I won't give him any," and the ^ligator thrust up his head out of the river and swallowed the man whole. For four days and four nights the man lived in the alligator's stomach. At the end of the fourth night the king of the fishes said to him, ^* I will let you get out of my stomach on condition that you tell no man what has happened to you. If you do, you will die instantly." The man jumped out of the alli- gator's mouth and walked towards his house. On his way he met some men and told them what had happened to him, and as soon as he got home he told his wife and children, and the moment he had done so he became mad and dumb, and blood came out of his mouth and be fell down ^ead. d

Told by Dunkni.