Page:Life in Java Volume 1.djvu/158

140 who, although possessed of extraordinary power as a sorcerer, had but this one child, of whom he was, therefore, very fond. One day, whilst at their morning meal, the prince vexed his father, who became so enraged that he snatched the ladle from the rice prio, or pot, and struck the young man on the forehead, exclaiming as he did so, in a loud tone, ' May you be known by that mark, and your children after you, until the last day!' Instantly, like Epimetheus, son of Japetus, the prince was transmuted into an ape, with a white mark on his brow. Thus disgraced, he left his home to roam with the beasts of the jungle, until the judgment day, when he will resume his former shape. What makes these creatures cry in that sad way," continued the man whose words I have translated, " is, that they pine to be readmitted to the society of men."

The skin of the Untah is black, as also their coat, except on the breast and stomach, which are