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I a certain land was a fierce boar, and the people of that land feared him greatly, for each day one or other of their number came not back to the village at even, and all knew that he had been seized and eaten by the boar, and each trembled lest on the morrow his turn should come to enter the evil den of the dread beast. Many plans they laid whereby to ensnare the boar, but they came to nought, and the old men, who were wise, counselled that all should flee to another land, where they might dwell in safety. And the people hearing this word knew that it was good, and gathered their goods upon canoes and set out secretly for a country whither the boar might not follow them.

Now it came to pass that in their haste one woman was left behind. When she found that she was indeed alone, she wept for her companions, but, being not faint-hearted, she soon arose and dug a hole in the earth, where she might hide from the boar. All day she lay in her burrow fearing the fierce beast, but at night, when he slept, she crept to the deserted gardens and gathered food wherewith to stay her hunger. After not many days a son was born to her, and the woman nursed him in the burrow until he was grown. Sometimes the child would cry in Rh