660 Jonrnal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal. [December, 1907,] 



property among^it them, and tlie one "wrho got the ladder left the 

 town and wandered from place to place, seeking bis livelihood. 

 He came to a certain town, and was there met by a woman, who 



What 



Hesaidv" An 



instrument for straiirhtening' the crooked.'* She said, "I wish 

 you would straighten me ; for my husband whenever he opens his 

 mouth says to me, "You are crooked from heaven to earth."^ 

 Tlie man said, "Very well; what will you give me ? " She said, 

 " Fifty dollars/^ " All right, '' said he. " Til straighten you/' He 

 weiit to the woman, made her lie down on the ladder, and bound 

 her hands, feet, and neck to it, and then went his way. The 

 woman*s husband came home He said to her, "What is this ? " 

 She said, " Smne one has arrived in the town who straightens the 

 crooked; now whenever you speak to me you say, ' You are crooked 

 from heaven to earth ' ; so I let him straighten me." The husband 

 rose and loosened the fastenings. He then beat her with a club, 

 fjivorced her, and sent her back to her people. As to the owner of 

 the cat, when his brother returned, he said, " I will now go and try 

 to pa">^n a living." He tied his cat with a string and went off, travel- 

 ling from place to place, till one evening he avrived in a certain 

 town. Night overtook him, sohe came to a shopkeeper and said to 

 him, " Let me sleep in ~ 



I'll go off." The owner 

 come with me into the 



T ^^ 



well," and went with him. ITovv the woman of the house had, with 

 her, her lover; so she hid him behind some mats. When the 

 two arrived, the owner of the house brought the stranger some 

 food. When he had supped, he said to him, '* Sleep." '*A]1 

 right," said he, "I'll sleep." When it was morning, the master of 

 the house went to his shop, the owner of the cat remaining in the 

 hou^'e. He caught sight of the feet of the lover underneath the 

 niattingf. He drew the cat near him and pinched it. The cat 

 cried out. He said to the cat, " Keep quiet, do not expose us 

 before everybody." Th. ," " ^"" , ^ 



matter with you that you are talking to the cat r " He 

 cat is fiavine^ sompfhiTic 



Wl 



asked, "Wf 



d I know of." She 

 matter." She said, 

 I ask you by God to tell me." He said, " It says there is a man 

 underneath the matting." The woman said, "Preserve my 

 honour; do not expose me before people," He said, " I shall go 

 and tell yonr husband." The woman said, "Don't tell my 

 husband ; I'll give you as much as you like." .He said, '^What 

 will you give me ? " So they began to haggle, and at last agreed 

 upon three hundred dollars. So he took three hundred dollars 

 from her, and went back to his country and met his brothers. 

 With the fifty dollars of the owner of the ladder; and tnth these 

 three hundred dollars, they opened a shop and placed the owner of 

 Tnenute in it, whUe they themselves went and brought merchaiidise. 



« L 



L\t., nil the distance from heaven to earth, i e., vou conld not be 

 more crooked than rou fire. ' 



