" King Solomon replied, saying, "If the Mouse-deer hath done this
thing wittingly, assuredly he is guilty of death." Then he summoned
the Mouse-deer before him.
And when the Mouse-deer came into the presence of the King, the King
inquired of the Otter, "What is your charge against him?" The Otter
replied, "Your slave accuses him of the murder of your slave's
children; your slave would hear the Law of the Land." Then the King
said unto the Mouse-deer, "Was it your doing that the Otter's children
were killed?" The Mouse-deer replied, "Assuredly it was, but I crave
pardon for doing so." "How was it, then," said the King, "that you
came to kill them?" The Mouse-deer replied, "Your slave came to kill
them because the Woodpecker appeared and sounded the War-gong. Your
slave, as your Majesty is aware, is Chief Dancer of the War-dance;
therefore your slave danced, and, forgetting about the Otter's
children, your slave trod upon them and crushed them flat." Here the
King sent for the Woodpecker also, and the Woodpecker came before him.
"Was it you, Woodpecker," said the King, "who sounded the war-gong?"
"Assuredly it was," said the Woodpecker,--"forasmuch as your slave saw
the Great Lizard wearing his sword.
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