VERT VERT ; OR PARROT GOSSIP 267 



Now when things had come to this pass Tupi the 

 Father, called his brother to him and said : brother 

 Guarani, this is a day of grief to us who had looked 

 to the spending of our remaining years together 

 with all our children at this place where we have lived 

 so long. Now this can no longer be on account of 

 the great quarrel about a parrot, and the shedding 

 of blood ; for only by separating our two familes 

 can we save them from destroying one another. 

 Come then, let us divide them and lead them away 

 in opposite directions, so that when we settle again 

 they may be far apart. Guarani consented, and he 

 also said that Tupi was the elder and their head, and 

 was called the Father, and it was therefore in his 

 right to remain in possession of the village and of all 

 that land and to end his days in it. He, on his 

 part, would call his people together and lead them to 

 a land so distant that the two families would never 

 see nor hear of each other again, and there would 

 be no more bitter words and strife between them. 



Then the two old brothers bade each other an 

 eternal farewell, and Guarani led his people south a 

 great distance and travelled many moons until he 

 came to the River Paraguay, and settled there ; and 

 his people still dwell there and are called by his name 

 to this day. 



