Page:The Melanesians Studies in their Anthropology and Folklore.djvu/381

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xix.]
The Heron and the Turtle.
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were far away the Soo comes along, and the boys say to him, Where have you come from? and the Soo says to them, I am just idling about; and he says to them, Should you like me to dance for you? says he. And the boys say, Yes, we should like you to dance for us. And the Soo says, Bring me the porpoise teeth and dog's teeth ornaments of your fathers and mothers, that I may dress myself up in the best. And they brought him the best ornaments, and he dressed himself out in them, and then he danced for them. So he danced along to the fence in which the Turtle was, and the Turtle saw him coming, and cried out, Now I am to die, my brother, cries he. And the Soo says to him, And now I shall save your life, because you saved mine before. And the Soo came into the house where the boys were, and there he danced for them. And he says, Kerembaembae! Kerembaembae! Loosed is your leg that they have tied! and his leg is loosed. Kerembaembae! Slipped out is your head! and his head slipped out. Kerembaembae! Clear the forepart! and the forepart of him was clear. Kerembaembae! Clear the hinder part! and his hinder part was clear. Kerembaembae! Clear the rest of you! and the rest of him was clear. Kerembaembae! Follow the path! Kerembaembae! Reach the sand! Kerembaembae! Down with you into the sea! Kerembaembae! Dive out of sight! Kerembaembae! Go a fathom's length! Kerembaembae! Go two fathoms! So he escaped with his life. And the people returned from inland and came out into the open, and looked at the fence. But the Soo was gone; and they said, Some one has stolen our turtle; and they asked the boys, and said, Who has been here now? And the boys said, There was only a Soo came here and danced for us, and we gave him all your things, and he deceived us so that we did not go and look after the turtle, said the boys to them. And bad were the feelings of the people of the village; and they went and looked at the path, and there they saw the traces of the turtle, and they said, Yes, he has saved himself for certain, nobody has stolen him, said they.