Page:The International Folk-Lore Congress of the World's Columbian Exposition, Chicago, July, 1893.djvu/346

286 way through. Intense darkness brooded over this fearsome place. The robber crab was of vast dimensions and was in reality a demon. Many a solitary traveller had this demon robber crab devoured.

At the edge of the forest there was a fountain of pure water, to which at dawn of day folks were wont to come, in order to fill their calabashes. The demon crab, when hungry, adopted the following plan to secure its prey. When the water-carriers had filled their calabashes and were resting, it would get near the selected victim and softly say, "Sleep! sleep!" Such was its power that the doomed one would be at once overcome by drowsiness. The party would, after a time, one by one rise up and return to their respective homes, leaving the sleeper behind. When quite alone the demon robber crab would crawl to the head of the sleeper, pluck out the eyes, then drag the victim into the dark recesses of the Pandanus forest, and there eagerly devour the body.

One morning the children of Tamaro went to the fountain to fill their household calabashes. They were alone. The demon-crab uttered the charm and speedily put them into an enchanted sleep. The elder lad slept very soundly; the younger one but lightly. In a short time the younger lad was roused by the peculiar noise made by the crawling of the great crab over the sere Pandanus leaves. Guessing the deadly purpose of the crab he instantly shook his eldest brother and told him his fears. Then both ran for dear life.

And so the lads escaped and told their father their adventure. Tamaro now made three immense torches of dry cocoanut fronds—one for himself and one for each of his sons. The torches were then lighted and the attacking party soon made their way to three different points at the edge of the Pandanus forest. Tamaro first set on fire his side of the forest. The demon-crab not liking the heat, soon made for the opposite side. But by the time it had arrived there, one of the lads had set that part in a fierce blaze. The demon-crab, in despair, then made for another part; but the other son of Tamaro had set that, too, burning. In fact the entire forest was on