Tales of the Mythical Period 85 



said the old woman, but he did not believe her, and so he did not go. 

 When he would not eat she called Sinogyaman to go and eat, but the 

 young man said, " I do not wish to eat with anyone except the pretty girl 

 who never goes outdoors." So the old woman called Indiapan. As soon 

 as she went outdoors to the place where the young man was, "No, that 

 is not the girl I want. There is one prettier still. I will not go to eat." 

 The old woman became angry and said, " If you are not hungry and do 

 not wish to eat that is all right. I have offered three young girls to eat 

 with you, but if you do not wish to eat with them I do not care." When 

 the old woman and the three girls had eaten they gave him a place to 

 sleep, and they slept also. 



While the others were talking to the young man, Aponibolinayen was 

 looking through a crack of the house, and she liked him very much. She 

 wished to go outdoors and talk to him, but she was afraid because the 

 old woman had said there were only the three young girls whom she 

 called. As soon as they had finished talking, they went to bed. 



In the middle of the night Ingiwan said to himself, "I believe there 

 are other young girls here prettier than the last one she showed me. I 

 will use my power and will become a firefly, and I will fly to all parts of 

 the house, and see if there is a prettier one there." So he used his power 

 and he became a firefly and he flew. 1 When he was in the room where the 

 old woman was, he left, and went where Alama-an was, and he went on 

 to Sinogyaman. When he did not like her he went to Indiapan. " This 

 is the last girl she showed me and I like her, but I believe that there is 

 another prettier." So he went to the next room, but no one slept there, 

 and so he went on to the ninth room. He heard the sound of the pan 

 pipe in the ninth room, and he was very glad. He flew over the head of 

 the woman who was playing, and she stopped playing and struck at 

 him. "How did the firefly get in here? I do not think there are any 

 cracks in here." The firefly said, "Do not strike at me, for I fear you 

 will hit my headaxe and be cut." So he became a man and sat down 

 beside her, and Aponibolinayen saw that it was the man who had talked 

 with the old woman and the girls, and she loved him, but she said, "Go 

 outdoors, do not come here. I am afraid that the old woman who cares 

 for us will see us. If you want something wait until morning and we will 

 talk with her." Ingiwan did not get up and he would not go outdoors, 

 and he said, "The best thing for us to do is to chew betel-nut, so we will 

 know each other. Do not be afraid for I would not have come here if it 

 was not my fortune to marry you, for I was taking a walk and intended 

 to go back home, but I met a high bank in the way, and there was no 



1 See p. 18, note 3. 



