Abstracts 225 



83 

 A crab and a shell go to get wood. The crab pulls the rope on his 

 load so tightly that he breaks his big legs and dies. The shell finds his 

 friend dead and cries until he belches his own body out of the shell and 

 he dies. 



84 

 A mosquito tells a man he would eat him were it not for his ears. 



85 

 A messenger goes to negotiate a marriage. When he arrives he sees 

 the people nodding their heads as they suck meat out of shells. He 

 returns home without stating his mission, but reports an acceptance. 

 Girl's people are surprised when people come for pakdlon. 



86 



A man sees people eating bamboo shoots, and is told they are eating 

 pagaldanen. He understands them to say aldan — "ladder," so he goes 

 home and cooks his bamboo ladder. Is ridiculed by his friends. 



87 

 A man with heavily laden horse asks the length of a certain trip. 

 Boy replies, " If you go slowly, very soon; if you go fast, all day." The 

 man hurries so that coconuts keep falling off the load and have to be 

 replaced. It is dark when he arrives. 



88 



A woman eats the fruit belonging to crocodile and throws away the 

 rind. Crocodile sees her tooth marks and recognizes the offender. 

 He demands that she be given him to eat. Her people agree, but first 

 feed him a hot iron. He swallows it and dies. 



89 



A lazy man goes to cut bamboo, and a cat steals his cooked rice. He 

 catches the cat in a trap and takes it home. It becomes a fighting cock. 

 The man starts for a cock fight, and on the way is joined by a crocodile, 

 a deer, a mound of earth and a monkey. The rooster kills all the other 

 birds at the fight, then the crocodile wins a diving contest, the deer a 

 race, the mound of earth a wrestling match, and the monkey excels all 

 in climbing. The man wins much money in wagers and buys a good 

 house. 



