85

A boy’s parents sent a man to carry gifts to the girl’s house, and see if they would agree to a marriage.  When he got to the door of the house, the people were all eating kool, and when they sucked the meat out of the shell, they nodded their heads.  The man saw them nod, so did not state his errand, but returned and said that the people in the house all desired the union.  Then the boy’s people got ready the things for pakalon [387] and went to the girl’s house.  The girl’s parents were very much surprised.

86

A man went to the other town.  When he got there, the people were eating labon. [388] He asked them what they ate, and they said pangaldanen (the bamboo ladder is called “aldan".) He went home and had nothing to eat but rice, so he cut his ladder into small pieces and cooked all day, but the bamboo was still very hard.  He could not wait longer, so called his friends and asked why he could not make it like the people had in the other town.  Then his friends laughed and told him his mistake.

87

A man went to get coconuts and loaded his horse heavily.  He met a boy and asked how long to his house.  “If you go slowly, very soon; if you go fast, all day,” said the boy.  The man did not believe, so hurried his horse and the coconuts fell off, so he had to stop and pick them up.  He did this many times and it was night before he got home.

88

Two women went to get atimon [389] which belonged to the crocodile.  “You must not throw the rind with your teeth marks where the crocodile can see it,” said the first woman.  Then they ate; but the other woman threw a rind with her teeth marks in the river, and the crocodile saw it and knew who the woman was.  He was very angry and went to her house and called the people to send out the woman so he could eat her, for she had eaten his atimon.  “Yes,” they said, “but sit down and wait a while.”  Then they put the iron soil turner in the fire until it was red hot.  “Eat this first,” they said to the crocodile, and when he opened his mouth, they threw it very far into his body and he died.

89 [390]

There was a man named Dogidog who was very lazy and very poor.  His house was small and had no floor, only the boards to put the floor on.  He went to the forest to cut bamboo with which to make a floor, and he carried cooked rice with him.  When he got there he hung the rice in a tree and went to cut the bamboo.  While he was gone, a cat came and ate the rice, so when the man got hungry and came to eat, he had no rice, so he went home.  The next day he went to cut again, and when he had hung the rice in the tree, the cat came to eat it.  The third day he went again and hung the rice in the tree, but fixed it in a trap; then he hid in some brush and did not cut bamboo.  The cat came to eat the rice and was caught.  Then the man said, “I will kill you.”  “No,” said the cat, “do not kill me.”  “Alright, then I take you home to watch my house,” said the man.  Then he took the cat home, and tied it near the door of his house and went away.  When he came back, the cat had become a cock.