Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 20, 1909.djvu/467

skin to-day." The old man replied,—"Can you take off my skin? If you can, you had better strip it off yourselves." Then they split his scalp, and stripped off the skin, and behold his face was very beautiful indeed. Then the elder sisters became very envious of the youngest sister, and pinched and pinched her hard. "Oh! father, my elder sisters are pinching me black and blue!", she said. After a short time they were married. Then they held the Chong festival. Then Thlang-pa-saisira spoke,—"As Nu-hlu-pi has not appeared at our Chong, she will certainly appear at our Khuangchoi" he said. Then, after a short time, they celebrated their Khuangchoi. The onlookers each held in his hand a piece of the Ai plant, and Thlang-pa-saisira, he grasped his fighting dao. Then Nu-hlu-pi changed herself into a bird, and came flying whiz! whang! And every one poked at her with their Ai plants, and Thlang-pa-saisira cut her clean in half with one stroke of his dao. Then Nu-hlu-pi changed herself into a huge rock, and blocked up the whole path. Every one tried to roll it away with levers, but they could not move it. Then Thlang-pa-saisira levered it up, and rolled it down rumpity bump. Then she stood obstructing the village water-hole. Thlang-pa-saisira in the same way pushed her away. Then she changed herself into two tall thin reeds in the water. The people tried to pull them up, but could not, but again Thlang-pa-saisira reached down, and pulled and tugged, and up came one, and behold, in the water, an old water demon was splitting cane. "Even though you be young, you shall die for taking it," he said. Then the other people said,— "Pull up the other one," but he replied,—"That old man down there said,—"Though you be young when you take it you shall die." I dare not go into the water again." But the people said,—"It is probably a lie." So he said,—"Very well, put a rope round my neck, and, directly I struggle, pull me out quickly, will you, please!" So they tied a rope round his neck, and made him go into