Fables 197 



79 



The polo 1 said to a boy named Ilonen, "Tik-tik-loden, come and 

 catch me," many times. Then the boy answered, "I am making a 

 snare for you." The bird called again, "Tik-tik-loden." "I am 

 almost finished," said Ilonen. Then the bird called again and the boy 

 came and put the snare over the bird and caught it. He took it home 

 and put it in a jar and then went with the other boys to swim. While 

 he was gone, his grandmother ate the bird. Ilonen came back and 

 went to the jar to see the bird, but no bird. "Where is my bird?" he 

 said. "I do not know," said his grandmother. "Let me see your 

 anus," said the boy. Then he saw his grandmother's anus and he saw 

 feathers there and was very angry. "It is better I get lost," he said 

 and went away. He came to a big stone called balintogan and said, 

 "Stone, open your mouth and eat me." Then the stone opened his 

 mouth and swallowed the boy. His grandmother went to find him and 

 looked very much. When she came to the stone, it said, "Here is." 

 She called the horses to come to the stone. They kicked it, but could 

 not break. She called the carabao and they hooked it, but only broke 

 their horns; then she called the chickens and they pecked it, but could 

 not open. Then she called thunder, but it could not help. Then her 

 friends came to open the stone, but could not, so she went home without 

 the boy. 



80 



A frog was fastened to a fish hook in the water. A fish came and 

 said, "What are you doing?" "I am swinging," said the frog, " come and 

 try if you wish." But the fish was angry with the frog. "You can not 

 catch me," said the frog. Then the fish jumped up to catch him, but 

 the frog pushed his anus upon the stick and left the hook so the fish 

 was caught. 



8l 



The five fingers were brothers. The other four sent the little 

 thumb to get posel. 2 He went to get, but when he got there, the posel 

 said, "Kiss me, for I have a good odor to you." So the thumb kissed 

 him, and his nose stuck to the bamboo. The others could not wait so 

 long, so they sent the first finger to get. When he got there, he saw 

 the thumb, and said, "What are you doing?" "I am smelling this 

 posel, for it has a good smell." Then the first finger smelled and his 

 nose was caught. The others could not wait, so they sent the second 



1 A little bird. 



* A kind of bamboo. 



