And after the man had eaten he sat down north of the hearth,[1] and his wife sat south of it, and the children east of it. And after a little time the man's stomach began to swell, and the bird also called out again in his stomach thus:
"Is full indeed, is this man,
Is full of the little antsaly!
Is full!"
Then his wife spoke again to him, "Now you see what you've got! for you were admonished and wouldn't take warning." But the man could not answer, but wept, and his tears flowed apace. And then, wonderful to relate, the bird's parents out in the field called out:
"Gone where is the little antsaly?
Gone where is the little antsaly?
Gone where?"
And their child there in the man's stomach answered thus:
"Here indeed I am, father,
Here indeed I am, mother.
Here!"
So the parent birds heard it and came near; and coming west of the compound called out thus:
"Gone where is the little antsaly?
Gone where is the little antsaly?
Gone where?"
So the bird answered again:
"Here indeed I am, father,
Here indeed I am, mother,
Here!"
And when the pair heard that they came into the house and also said, "Was it you (pl.) who ate our child?" Then the children in the house answered, "It was daddy who ate it." So the birds spoke again, "Why was it that thou atest our child?" But the man answered nothing, but wept profusely. Then the birds tore up the man's belly with their claws and got their child; and then the three went home into the woods, but the man who would not be warned by wife and children died.
- ↑ Hova houses are always built north and south, and north of the hearth, which is an open fire-place of earth and stones, is the place of honour in the house.
(To be continued.)
