MEN OF THE TREES 



"Lo! I am a great king, past all the other kings that 

 came before me, and I want to build a great palace very 

 high, past all the palaces of all the kings that came be- 

 fore me." And the great men answered the king and 

 said, "What the king says shall be done." So all the peo- 

 ple were brought together from every part of the king- 

 dom, from the North, from the East, from the South 

 and from the West, and the King arranged to give them 

 a "Kdbaba ^ of corn every day. And they worked all 

 of them together for many days cutting down great 

 trees and dragging them to the building and they all 

 worked very hard. 



Many moons passed by, and the palace was built, and 

 the high part of it mounted higher and higher. But the 

 people began to complain that the "Kababa" had be- 

 come very small, and that they were hungry, for there 

 was not much food in that country. All the people 

 worked on the building and ceased to make new farms. 

 But the king shut his ears to their complaints. After 

 many moons the people began to make a great tumult, 

 complaining yet again that the "Kibaba" of corn was 

 very small, and they said "We must return to our own 

 country and to our farms, for in this place there is not 

 enough food to fill our bellies." But all the time the king 

 was deaf to their words, and every day he urged them to 

 build the palace and to make it very high. And he be- 

 gan to be angry when the people complained, and called 



^ Kibaba — a measure, about a pound and a half in weight. 



140 



