1865.] Religion &c. among the Karens. 227 
“He was accompanied to the jail by his dog, his cat, and his rat ; 
and he ordered them to go and fetch his gold ring from the Brahmin 
that night, and to be sure to be back before morning. Away they 
went at once. The dog swam across the sea, and the cat and rat rode 
on his back. 
“When they arrived at the Brahmin’s, they found-him asleep under 
wire musquito curtains. The cat told the rat to gnaw a hole through 
the curtain, which it did large enough for the cat to get in. They 
both went in, and the cat said ; ‘ Rat, smell about, and tell me where 
my master’s ring is.’ The rat replied: ‘ I smell the ring in his mouth.’ 
The cat then said: ‘I will bite him in the throat, and if he vomits 
up the ring seize it quickly.’ The rat replied : ‘ Perhaps our master 
will think we killed the Brahmin, and then he will kill us. To make 
him throw the ring out of his mouth, I will put my tail up his nostril 
and tickle him till he sneezes, and then he will throw the ring out of 
his mouth ; and then you must snatch it up immediately.’ 
“The plan succeeded. They obtained the ring and both ran out of 
the house to the dog, that was waiting for them outside. He asked, if 
they had gotten the ring ; and on being told they had, he said: ‘ Give 
it to me, you cannot carry it safely,’ So they gave it to him, and he 
- put it in his mouth, 
“The whole three returned then across the sea, as they came; but 
when half way back, the dog saw a pack of otters in the water and he 
barked at them, when the ring was thrown out of his mouth into the 
sea, where it was swallowed by a fish. 
“ The cat said: ‘ This is hard. The ring is lost, and our master will 
be killed in the morning.’ The rat said: ‘The otters were the cause 
of this misfortune. Dog, go bite them on the rocks.’ The dog leap- 
ed on the rocks, and bit an old otter, saying: ‘It is on your account 
that we have lost the gold ring into the sea, and our master will be 
killed in the morning.’ The otter replied: ‘ Do not kill me, I will 
get the fish for you.’ So he plunged into the water, brought up the 
fish that had swallowed the ring; and the cat ripped it up and took 
the ring out of its belly. They then continued their journey, and 
arrived with the ring without further accident, which they delivered 
to their master ; who then delivered himself from prison, and brought 
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