382 ANIMISM AND FOLK-LORE OF GUIANA INDIANS [eth. ann. 30 



afternoon just before her husband arrived. When lie saw the grated cassava lying in 

 the trough he asked her what she had been about; surely she had not taken all day 

 to grate that little bit of cassava! She was forced then to tell him, how his brother 

 had come to visit her during his absence, how he had chased her into the bush, and 

 what had happened there. The husband said, "All right! I will wait for him tomor- 

 row, when he will be sure to visit you again." Thenext day, sure enough, the brother 

 came once more. "Where is your husband? " he inquired. "Yonderin the maraka- 

 hakuru," she told him.' The husband purposely made a noise with his massi [club] 

 to attract the attention of the visitor; the latter heard it, and thinking that drink 

 must be the cause of the row, went over to see if that really were the case. But as soon 

 as he got inside, the aggrieved man gave him a good beating, told him what he had 

 heard from his wife's own lips, chased him into the bush, still beating him, and ran on 

 until he could run no farther. When the husband finally got home again, he told his 

 wdfe to sling up their hammock close to the roof, on the runner (to which the thatch 

 was tied), because his brother would certainly return that night to kill the pair of 

 them. There, close to the roof, they went to sleep, and in the middle of the night the 

 brother came. They heard him say, "I will show you what I will do for your trying 

 to kill me." They saw him take a stick and strike in all directions. They saw the 

 cudgel knock against the beam and break, part rebounding on the would-be mur- 

 derer's head. Half dazed with the blow, the latter thought it was the injured husband 

 who had struck him, because they heard him scream out, "Oh! instead of me killing 

 you as I had intended, you have killed me." The husband now descended from his 

 hammock and chased the worthless fellow out into the bush, saying, "I will indeed 

 kill you if you dare come here again." But the scoundrel never returned to molest 

 his sister-in-law. 



369. The Old Blind Man Who Wanted a Woman (W) 



There was once an old blind man and the young fellows were always making fun of 

 him. One day they asked him if he would like to have a woman. He said " yes, " and 

 told them to find him a fine young one. It was therefore arranged for that very 

 evening, that they would tie a rope to his hammock and attach its other end to the 

 hammock of a young girl, so that, as soon as everyone was asleep, he would have merely 

 to feel his way stealtlifully along the rope. Now, instead of attaching the rope's end 

 as originally promised, the young rascals tied it to a tree overhanging the river bank, 

 with the result that on obeying the in.structions given, the pour <ild blind man floun- 

 dered into the chilly waters of the stream, and just managed to save himself from 

 drowning by holding onto a ho-aranni tree.- 'RTien the young men saw that their 

 joke had gone too far, they became frightened, and, getting into a corial, went to bring 

 him back. "Grandfather! we have come to fetch you;" but the old man was much 

 vexed and they were obliged to return without him. One of the youngsters, dressing 

 himself up as a girl, with an apron-belt, and ]«itting the basket-strap over his forehead, 

 just as the women carry it, now went to get the old man home. " No! " he said, " I am 

 not coming home any more; " but when he heard the young man say, " I am a girl, " 

 he felt her cotton anklets, her bangles, and her basket, and was accordingly satisfied; 

 he then jumped into the corial and saved himseU. 



1 The TnaTaka^dkuru is a small detached house, in which in the olden times the Warrau house-master 

 would keep his arrows, clubs, tools, and implements, and other knickknacks. 



2 Any snag or tree growin,t^ from out of the river-bed above the water is believed to have been planted 

 there by the Water People, or Ho-aranni (Sect. /77), and hence is given this name. 



