Page:Papuan Fairy Tales.djvu/120

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82
PAPUAN FAIRY TALES

When the man reached the hole, he found that his dog had also gone down, and he feared lest it might lose its way and come not back to him. Therefore he rolled away the great stone which lay over the hole, and looked down. There far below he saw coconuts growing, so he said within himself, "This is a village."

Then he too went down the hole far into the earth. His dog was before him, and he caught him in his arms. Now so it is in Ioloa that all the day the bones of the Dead lie on the ground, but at even each takes his own bones, and lives thus till the dawn. And as the man drew near, it was the time that the bones should live. It so befell that his wife was already walking, and was coming towards him. When she saw him, she said in her heart, "My husband hath died on the earth, and hath come to me."

Then she went to him, and with her fingers pinched his arm until the blood showed on his skin. Then said she, "Thou art not dead. Wherefore hast thou come hither?" And when he had told her how it had befallen him to find the hole in the earth, and that he had followed his dog, she said, "Hold thy dog closely lest he go after the bones of men which lie upon the ground, and come thou with me while I hide thee, for it may be that the Dead will slay thee if they find thee here."

Then she took him to her house and bade him lie still nor let the voice of the dog be heard, for it was