And the field says,—"Go, bring me some water." Then the magpie goes to a water-carrier,[1] and begs and says,—"Watercarrier, water-carrier, give me some water! I will take it to the field. The field will give me some grass. I will take it to the cow. The cow will give me some milk. I will take that to the old woman. The old woman will give me my tail. I will take it and fasten it on, and go and join my companions."
And the water-carrier says,—"Go, bring me an egg." So the magpie goes to the hen, and begs and says,—"Hen, hen, give me an egg! I will take it to the water-carrier. The water-carrier will give me some water. I will take it to the field. The field will give me some grass. I will take it to the cow. The cow will give me some milk. I will take that to the old woman. The old woman will give me my tail. I will take it and fasten it on, and go and join my companions."
The hen's heart is moved with pity for the magpie. She sits down and lays two eggs. The magpie takes them to the watercarrier. The water-carrier gives him some water. He takes it to the field. The field gives him some grass. He takes it to the cow. The cow gives him some milk. He takes it to the old woman. The old woman gives him his tail. He takes it and fastens it on, and flies away and joins his companions.
Talas (Cesarea).
(To be continued.)
Playing the Wer-Beast: A Malay Game.
In Europe the werwolf and other wer-beasts were looked on as exceptional phenomena produced only by the reincarnation of wicked souls or by the changing of the shape of men and women by witchcraft. But in Burmah and Sumatra a quite ordinary man may turn into a tiger in the evening without any fuss. It is simply a gift. In the Malay Peninsula also the wer-tiger is regarded as a fact as real as the natural beast. As a by-product of this belief, and all over the country Malay boys have a
- ↑ Literally, the man who apportions the water to each field.
