ROTH] THE SPIRITS OF THE BUSH 205 



spnted on condition that he never mention her name, and they lived very happUy 

 together for many years. And just in the same way that he became universally 

 acknowledged as the best man for findin" bees' nests, so she rnade a name for herself 

 in the way of brewing excellent cassiri and paiwarri. She had to make only one 

 jugful, and it would prove quite sufficient, no matter the number of visitors; more 

 than this, the one jugful would make them all drunk. She thus proved herself to be 

 a splendid wife. One day, however, when the drink was finished, he went round as 

 house-master, in the usual manner, to his many guests and expressed regret that even 

 the last dregs of the liquor had been now drained. He promised them, however, that 

 the next time they came, there would be pro\nded by Maba — yes, he made a mistake 

 and thus s])oke of his wife. And no sooner had he mentioned the name, than she 

 flew away to her bees' nest. He put up his hands to stop her, but she was already 

 flown. And with her, his luck flew, and since that time honey has always been more 

 or less scarce.' 



136. The Man who Cladied the Tiger's Meal (C) 



One day an Indian went out hunting and came across a freshly-killed Maipuri. He 

 could see that a Tiger must have slaughtered it only the night before, but as he was 

 greedy he intended claiming the meat for himself, ^'ith this object in ^^ew, he 

 turned back to fetch his wife in order to lend assistance in smoke-drying it. Now, 

 when his wife saw the carcass, she knew at once by the signs on it that her husband 

 had never killed the beast and had no right to it, but of course did not tell him so: 

 she realized the token that something unusual was about to happen, and took measures 

 accordingly. Hence, when her husband had cut up the meat, she built two babra- 

 cotes, one close to the ground, and another high up on top.^ The husband, ha\'ing 

 completed his share of the business, tied his hammock near the fire, turned in, and 

 soon fell fast asleep. The wife, however, went on drying the flesh, and continued 

 doing so until late into the night, when she heard a tiger growling in the distance. 

 She immediately called out, "Tiger! Tiger!" and shook the man's hammock, but he 

 would not wake. She then threw a calabashful of water over him, but this did not 

 rouse him, so she took a blazing fire-stick and jilaced it close beneath him, but even 

 that did not make him stir. By this time Tiger was close at hand, so climbing up 

 on the top babracote she sat there very quiet. With the light of the fire, .she 

 saw the brute jump upon her husband, kill him, and eat one arm. The next night it 

 came again and ate the other arm and a leg: and so for four nights it came, until there 

 was "no more man," The poor woman had to remain all this time up on the babra- 

 cote, but she knew why her husband had been punished, 



i;J6A. The Womax who Battled with Two Tigers (W)' 



A man, having tired of his old wife, went off to another settlement to fetch a yoimg 

 one, and brought her home with him. But the two women could not agree, and the 

 new one was always getting worsted, so much so, that the husband, finally obliged 

 to take pity on her, was forced to send her to the home from which he had taken her. 

 In order that she should have protection on the road, he gave her a large sharp knife. 

 Starting in the early morning, the road led her along the bush, and she traveled on 

 until night overtook her, when she selected a young ite palm up which she climbed. 

 But before climbing .she cut down a lot of "pimpler" palms [Bactris sp,], which she 



' I am afraid my readers will be weary ad nauseam of the repetition, in these legends, of cases in which the 

 tongue gets loosened under the induence of drink. When, however, one realizes that these bacchanalian 

 orgies constitute an integral part of the Indian social life, it will be no matter for surprise that the old 

 adage, In vino Veritas, so often finds application here, — W. E. R. 



' Among all these Indians the making of the babracote is woman's work. 



^ For another Warrau version of this story see Sect. SOO. 



