Page:The Folk-Lore Journal Volume 1 1883.djvu/216

208 again. But Andrianòro refused, and ate from the plate of the servants. So his father-in-law was astonished, and said, "Art thou the husband of my daughter?" "Yes," said Andrianòro. Then said he again, "If thou, my lad, art indeed her husband, then go and do this work for me: cut down yonder trees which hide the sun; and fetch those thousand spades buried in the lake which is full of crocodiles; and also find out which are the mothers which bore those thousand oxen, for the mothers and the offspring are alike; and also find out which is the mother amongst my wife and daughters. For if you cannot accomplish all these things you shall surely die, so do not hope to live. If, on the contrary, you can perform these acts, and can cut down the trees, then you shall have my daughter to wife, and shall also have wherewith to live." "Yes, my lord," replied Andrianòro. So he went off to call the beasts and the birds who had made a compact with him to help him, saying, "Help me, beasts and birds!" So he went to work, and the beasts ploughed up the earth with their tusks, so that it was dug all over; and the trees were plucked up by the birds and uprooted by the beasts, so they were all felled. And the thousand spades were brought by the crocodiles until they were all fetched. And the great cattle-fly said, "Those which I bite on the nose are the mothers among those thousand cattle." And the little fly also said, "The woman on whose nose I settle is the mother, so take good heed."

So Andrianòro bade his father-in-law come out to look at the work which he had performed, and also pointed out the mothers among the cattle, and the mother amongst the four women. Then his father-in-law was astonished, and gave Andrianòro his daughter for his wife. And he gave a quantity of oxen, and numbers of slaves, and much money, to him and his wife. So the pair returned to the husband's fatherland, and they all came in peace and safety to their house, but Andrianòro's sister, Rafàravàvy, had died of sorrow.

And these were the concluding words of the story-tellers:—"It is not I who tell fictions (lit. "lies"), but the people in former times related them. The heat of the sun to-morrow breaks the bald head; I break the bones, but you are those who suck them out."

Once upon a time a crocodile and a dog chanced to meet suddenly on the road. Then said the crocodile, "Where are you from, my