and wondered what the cause of this miraculous transforma- 
tion might have been. 
“I have changed because my body was exposed to the 
cool northwind,” said the woman. “Let’s remain here for- 
ever.” 
One day, the man told his youthful wife that he had to 
leave the house for a short while. He wanted to go to the 
field and do some gardening. 
“Fine,” said the woman. “I shall cook dinner and wait for 
you. But don't be later than you said.” 
Time passed, and the man failed to return within the set 
period of time. While his wife was waiting, she suddenly 
saw a handsome young man approaching the house from the 
North. He greeted her kindly and wanted to know where 
her husband had gone. “He has gone to the field and is 
overdue.” 
So then the visitor took advantage of the man’s absence 
and seduced the youthful woman. 
When the husband finally got home, the suitor had long 
since left the house, but the husband noticed that something 
was wrong. Questioning his wife, she finally confessed that 
a young man had visited and embraced her during his 
absence. It was his fault, she said. He had left her alone 
for so long. 
This made the old man very angry. He prepared a rope 
and whipped the poor woman so mercilessly that marks 
began covering her body from head to foot. Days went by, 
and the woman became very ill. Because of the pain, she 
could neither sleep nor eat and, finally, she died. 
Since there were no people living in the neighborhood who 
might have helped the old man bury his wife, the husband 
tied the corpse to a pole in an upright position. It looked as 
if the woman was just standing there, alive. And even after 
a full moon had passed, the woman’s body still looked youth- 
ful and uncorrupted. 
After that, however, the dead woman began to change into 
a tree. The husband left her, and upon looking back a final 
[ 287 ] 
