There came a greyhound, which ate some meat. The butcher gave it a
blow, which made it yelp. Seeing this, the heart of the man was touched
with compassion. He bought of the butcher half a piece of meat and flung it
to the greyhound. The dog took it and went away. It was the son of a king
of the nether world.
Fortune changed with the man. He lost all his possessions, and began to
wash for people. One day, he had gone to wash something, he stretched it on
the sand to dry. A jerboa appeared with a ring in its ear. The man ran
after it, killed it, hid the ring, made a fire, cooked the jerboa and ate
it. A woman came out of the earth, seized him, and demanded, "Haven't you
seen my son, with an ear-ring?"
"I haven't seen anybody," he answered; "but I saw a jerboa which had a ring
in its ear."
"It is my son." She drew him under the earth and told him: "You have eaten
my son, you have separated me from him. Now I will separate you from your
children, and you shall work in the place of my son." He who was changed
into a greyhound saw this man that day, and said to him: "It is you who
bought some meat for a greyhound and threw it to him?"
"It is I.
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