774 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



By and by the goblin gave a banana to the little girl, and said, 

 "Eat this banana, and give me the skin." But the little girl 

 pealed the banana and gave it to the goblin, and ate the skin her- 

 self. 



Then the goblin said to the little girl : " Go and pick three 

 ados.* Do not pick the ados which cry, ' Pick me, pick me, pick 

 me ' ; but pick those that say nothing, and then return to your 

 home. When you are half-way back, break one ado; break 

 another when you are at the house door, and the third when you 

 are inside the house." And the little girl said, " Very well." 



She picked the ados as she was told, and returned home. 



When she was half-way home she broke one ado, and behold, 

 many slaves and horses appeared and followed her. 



When she was at the house door the little girl broke the sec- 

 ond ado, and behold, many creatures appeared, sheep and goats 

 and fowls, more than two hundred, and followed her. 



Then, when she had entered the house, the little girl broke the 

 last ado, and at once the house was filled to overflowing with 

 cowries, which poured out of the doors and windows. 



The mother of the little girl took twenty country cloths, twen- 

 ty strings of valuable beads, twenty sheep and goats, and twenty 

 fowls,! an< i went to make a present to the iyale.% 



The iyale asked whence all these things came, and when she 

 had been told she refused to accept them. She said she would 

 send her own child to do the same, and that she could easily get 

 as much.* 



Then the iyale made palm oil and gave it to her own little 

 girl, and told her to go and sell it in the market. 



The little girl went to the market. The goblin came, bought 

 palm oil of her, and paid her with cowries. He gave the proper 

 number of cowries, but the little girl hid one and pretended that 

 he had not given her enough. 



" What am I to do ? " said the goblin. " I have no more cow- 

 ries." 



" Oh ! " said the little girl, " I will follow you to your house, 

 and then you can pay me." And the goblin said, " Very well." 



* The ado is a small calabash, commonly used for keeping medicinal powders in. 

 f The Yorubas reckon by scores and two hundreds i. e., ten scores. 



\ In polygamous households the chief wife, who rules the others, is called the iyale, 

 " mistress of the house." The mother of the little girl was one of the inferior wives, 

 called iya-ico, " mistress of trade," because they usually sell in the markets. 



* From the European point of view this would appear to be a good trait on the part of 

 the iyale, for the inference would be that she did not wish to deprive the subordinate wife 

 of so much property, but that would not be the construction a native would put on it. To 

 the native mind a person only refuses a present when he is nurturing rancor against the 

 donor, and to refuse a gift is regarded as a sign of enmity. 



