* * * * *
WHO KILLED THE OTTER'S BABIES
ADAPTED BY WALTER SKEAT
The Otter said to the Mouse-deer, "Friend Mouse-deer, will you be so
good as to take charge of the children till I come back? I am going
down to the river to catch fish, and when I come back, I'll share the
catch with you." The Mouse-deer replied, "Very well! go along, and
I'll look after the children." So the Otter went down to the river to
catch fish.
(Here the story of What the Otter Did stops and the story of What
Happened when the Woodpecker Sounded the War-gong commences.) The
Mouse-deer was Chief Dancer of the War-dance, and as he danced he
trod on the Otter's babies and crushed them flat. Presently the Otter
returned home, bringing a string of fish with him. Oh arriving he
saw that his children had been killed, and exclaimed, "How comes it,
Friend Mouse-deer, that my babies have died?" The Mouse-deer replied:
"The Woodpecker came and sounded the war-gong, and I, being Chief
War-Dancer, danced; and, forgetting about your children, I trod upon
them and crushed them flat."
On hearing this the Otter went and made complaint unto King Solomon,
prostrating himself and saying: "Your Majesty's most humble slave
craves pardon for presuming to address your Majesty, but Friend
Mouse-deer has murdered your slave's children, and your slave desires
to learn whether he is guilty or not according to the Law of the
Land.
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