Chapter XXI 

 MISCELLANEOUS FOLK-LORE, INDEPENDENT OF ANIMISM 



Various Tales and Legends (366-370). 



365. How THE Lazy Man was Cured (W) 



This is another crab storj' (Sect. 278), but the hero of it was distinguished by his 

 laziness, and not by his ignorance. A large party of people went out in a big boat to 

 catch crabs: every one of them had twenty quakes aboard, and as they rested at each 

 stopping-place, they still continued plaiting them. You see, they had nothing to dis- 

 tract their attention, having left their wives at home to make the paiwarri ready for 

 their return. At one of the inlets where they put in for a rest on tlie way down, they 

 saw growing close to the banks a small kokerite palm, with a large bunch of ripe fruit. 

 Having cut off the bunch, they put it into the boat, shoved off, and then started eating. 

 The hero of this story asked them to save all the seeds, after they had removed the fruity 

 parts, and let him have them. This they did, and on the night before their arrival 

 at the place agreed upon for catching crabs, he fdled all his quakes with them. Next 

 morning the others landed to hunt, but this fellow refused to join them, and remained 

 in the boat, not even putting his feet into the water. He knew well enough how to 

 hunt the crabs, but was too lazy, and counted on receiving contributions from all 

 his companions. These, on the contrary, were equally determined that lie should 

 not have any: they filled all their own quakes, returned to the boat, and finally 

 reached home. It was night when they got there, and they turned into their ham- 

 mocks. Next morning, they called their wives to fetch the crabs from the place where 

 they had left them at the water-side. The wife of the individual who had brought 

 back the kokerite seeds, asked him where his crabs were: he told her that 

 she would find them at the bottom of the heap and that she would have to wait 

 until all the other women had cleared away theirs. She did as she was instructed, 

 and, carrying the quakes to her mother, let her know that these were the kind of 

 crabs that her husband had brought home with him. The old woman thought much, 

 but merely said, "Put them into a big pot and boil them on the fire, till the shells 

 crack." In the meantime, each of the other women gave the naturally disappointed 

 wife one quakeful of crabs each , but conditionally , on her promising that she would give 

 none to her husband. And thus, with one exception, they all started on a hearty 

 meal of crabs and paiwarri. The old mother took a calabash full of the cooked kokerite 

 seeds, and placing it before her good-for-nothing son-in-law, bade him eat. This he 

 was obliged to do, even if only otit of mere shame, because he was so hungry, and he 

 knew that no one woidd give him of their crabs. At any rate, the lesson cured him 

 of his laziness, and on the next occasion that he went out hunting, he brought home 

 to his poor wife crabs and not kokerite seeds. 



366. Always be Content (W) 



An expedition was arranged by a house-master fur his relative.-i and friends, who 

 were to come and join him on the coast and hunt sea-birds. Before starting, they all 

 made quakes for collecting the birds' eggs, it being then the proper season, and eggs 

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