Page:The Melanesians Studies in their Anthropology and Folklore.djvu/385

my brothers, you know that I have sought him, and have not seen him at all; and I have dived and dived, and my body is black and blue, and my eyes are red; and so I have swum up ashore. But as they are still together, they see the Crab crawling out into the open, and they say, Hallo! where did you swim up from the sea? And he said, Indeed when we became pieces of the wreck, you know, I sank right down, you know, to the bottom of the sea, and then I crawled here. And they said, Ewe! we said you were the missing one of our number, but it is not so, we are all safe. Come, let us tidy ourselves up. Then said the Tasis to the Tagere, Friend, come here and make me tidy; and the Qatman said to the Green Parrot, I will tidy you, and the Tatagoras said to the Wasia, I will tidy you; and they all of them sat down in pairs. Then said the Rat to the Owl, Friend, come here, let me make you tidy; so he sits down and the Rat begins to make him tidy; and as he combs his head he keeps saying, 'Comb-comb-dung-dung, comb-comb-dung-dung'; and he dungs upon the head of the Owl. Then says the Rat, My paws are tired out, let some one else take my place. I will, says the Mes, the trichoglossus parrot; so the Rat runs off, and the Mes sits down in his place. And the Mes parrot combs the Owl's head, and perceives that it smells, and Is-is! cries the Parrot. And the Owl asks, Eh? what is the matter, friend? Oh! nothing, he says. But he says, Speak out; and the Parrot says, Oh! your friend the Rat has played you a trick, he has played you a trick in tidying you; he has made a pig of himself upon you. Then said the Owl, Really! is that true? and he flies off and chases the Rat; and the two go round and about. But the Rat saw a hole and ran into it, and the Owl sat by helpless. Then says he, What shall I do to this fellow who has made a mock of me? and he cracks a cocoa-nut and sets it up opposite the mouth of the hole; but the Rat did not come out. Then says he, What shall I do to deceive this Rat? and he sought what he might do. Then says he, If I roast this red wasia caladium and try, will that do or not? So he roasts it right off; and as he scrapes that root the smell goes out and reaches