the ground, and Ifàra threw him a rope, which he laid hold of. But when he was nearly up he said, "I've got you, Ifàra, my lass!" Then Ifàra let him fall, and he was impaled on his spear and was killed.[1]
So Ifàra was there upon the rock; and she wept and was sad at heart for her father and mother. Then came a crow, and when Ifàra saw it she sang to it as follows:—
"O yonder crow, O yonder crow!
Take me to father's well,
And I will smooth thy tail!"
"And you say I eat unripe earth-nuts, and am I going to carry you there? Stay where you are," said the crow.
Then came a hawk, to whom she said:—
"O yonder hawk, O yonder hawk!
Take me to father's well,
And I will smooth thy tail!"
"And you say I am the eater of dead rats, and am I going to carry you there?"
After that a "Réo" bird (Leptosomus discolor) came, repeating its cry, "Reo, reo, reo," which, when Ifara saw, she called to thus:—
"O yonder reo, O yonder reo!
Take me to father's well,
And I will smooth thy tail;"
"Reo, reo, reo," said the bird, "come, let me carry you, my lass, for I feel for the sorrowful." So the bird took her away and placed her on a tree just above the well of her father and mother.
Soon there came a little slave-girl of theirs to draw water; she washed her face, and seeing a reflection in the water, cried out, "My word! to have a pretty face like mine, and yet carry a water-pot on my head!" But it was the reflection of Ifàra's face she saw in the water and took it for her own. So she broke the water-pot in pieces. Then Ifàra called out from the tree, "Father and mother are at expense to buy water-pots, and you break them!" So the slave-girl, whose name was Itrétrikandévo, looked all about her and said, "Wherever was that person speaking?" So she went off home.
- ↑ Malagasy spears have a small blade at the foot, by which they are stuck in the ground when encamping, &c., so that the large blade stands upright.
