38 THE SWALLOW 



They all lived happily and pleasantly to- 

 gether for twenty-three days, but on the 

 twenty-fourth, one of the strangers -was rude 

 to the wife, of the Swallow Chief, and the 

 next day when it became known, the Chief 

 said to the strangers : " We have treated 

 you as friends, and thus you return our 

 kindness. We doubt not that for such 

 crimes you were driven from the lower 

 world, and now you must leave this. This 

 is our land, and we will have you here no 

 longer. Besides, this is a bad land. People 

 are dying here every day, and, even if we 

 spare you, you cannot live here long." 



The Locusts took the lead on hearing this. 

 They soared upwards. The others followed, 

 and all soared and circled till they reached 

 the sky. 



Let us now see if we can solve the Whys 

 concerning the swallow. First, why has she 

 a forked tail ? We find the answer to this 

 Why in several curious legends, the first of 



