MONGOL WORD ^ KILEH.' 143 



that he was a native of the West, and had come on 

 a pilgrimage to pray at all the famous temples of the 

 East. ' Ah ! ' said the old man, 'we are fortunate in- 

 deed in possessing so many beautiful shrines. They 

 are trying in vain to build one in Tibet, but their 

 work will never be completed, because in the very 

 place which they have chosen for it, there is a subter- 

 ranean lake which loosens the foundations as fast as 

 they are laid. But, prithee, keep this secret, for if 

 the Tibetan lamas hear of it, the waters of the lake 

 will pass hitherwards and swallow us up.' 



Hardly had he done speaking when his guest 

 started from his seat, and announcing that he was a 

 lama from Tibet whose object was to discover this 

 very secret, jumped on his horse and galloped away. 

 Despair and fear took possession of the old man. 

 He began calling loudly for help, and as soon as one 

 of his sons, who was tending the cattle hard by, came 

 in, the father bade him quickly saddle a horse. 

 ' Haste thee, haste thee after that lama, and wrest 

 his tongue from him.' Of course the old man was 



О 



thinking of his secret, and meant that the son should 

 put the stranger past blabbing. But the word 4cileh' 

 means in Mongol either the tongue of a man or 

 animal, or the buckle of a saddle-girth. Hence, 

 when the messenger overtook the lama he told him 

 that his father wanted him to return his 4cileh' 

 whereupon the latter unfastened the borrowed buckle 

 and gave it to the son, who returned with it to his 

 father. The latter on finding that his son had only 

 brought back the buckle, and had suffered the lama 



