Page:Papuan Fairy Tales.djvu/183

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WHY WAMIRANS ARE FEW
141

Now the lad when he came to the river again searched until he found a hollow piece of bamboo which lay there. This he brake, and forthwith much people came forth and stood before him. Thus did he, who had taken one life, repay it by causing many persons to live. Then he bade them follow him to where the people of Dimadima awaited him, and they did so and did eat of the food which had been prepared. Yet though there was much food, they were so many in number that some after they had eaten were still hungry. But as for the men of Dimadima, they ate of the food which they had hidden in the bush, as the lad had bidden them.

So have I told thee of a surety wherefore there are such a many people in the west. Yet if the lad had but turned to the east when he set forth, we of Wamira should have been many and they few even as we.


THE MAN WITHOUT HANDS AND FEET.

In a certain village lived a man whose name was Waidudu, and he had neither hands nor feet. But that mattered the less in that he had two brothers who brought him food each day, and cared for him in many other ways. Now it came to pass that one day they went forth to the gardens and left Waidudu