until the morning, until I have thought over it." And he bade them sleep on the golden bedstead, and they slept. But when the night was half gone, lo and behold they had not slept at all, for they were thinking of the great wealth they were to have. So God inquired, "Why are Andriamatòa and Andrianàivo turning about so uneasily? is the mattress uncomfortable?" They replied, "No, sir, the bed is very good; but we were then desiring a long tail." He said, "Wait awhile, it is yet night." After a while God asked again, "Perhaps your pillow is uncomfortable? or it is the fleas make you roll about?" "No, sir," said they, "there are no fleas, and the pillow is all right, but we were then wishing for four feet." So he said, "Wait patiently." And after a little while again, God said, "Your bed must surely be uncomfortable, since you act so." "No, sir," said they, "but we were wishing for a large mouth." And after waiting a little while again, God said, "You are altogether too modest, for nothing at all is good!" "No, sir, but we were wishing for long tusks." And after a little while more God said, "Don't be too bashful, friends, for if anything is wrong, speak out." So they protested strongly, "Not at all, sir!" And when it was getting towards morning he said, "I fear there are vermin in the bed?" They replied, "There are none, sir; but we were wishing for long ears and much long hair." So after waiting a little longer day broke, and God said, "Come, wake up, for it is morning, and go out into the courtyard, for you shall have what you desired and sought for." But no sooner had they got there than they changed in an instant, and became long-tailed, and went on all-fours, and had long tusks and big mouths and ears, and abundant long hair.
So when those things came to pass which they had desired, they leaped about and jumped, and then went home to their dwellings. But when they got there the people and their relations said, "What has befallen them?" for one was speckled and the other black. So the people were afraid, and shouted and called out to keep them from coming up into the town, for the women and children were frightened. So the pair went leaping off towards the forest; and the people called them "Ambòanàla!" (This, they say, was the origin of the lemurs.)[1]
- ↑ The Lemuridæ it is well known, are the most characteristic group of mammalia inhabiting Madagascar, and include nearly forty species, that is, more than half of the whole mammalian fauna of the island. Certain species are called by the people Ambòanàla, i.e. "forest dogs."
