with it, but told the man to go down again for more; he brought up two handfuls, gave God one, but put the other in his mouth. He was nearly suffocated thereby, and cried out to God to save him. God told him to spit the earth out, which he did, and thereby small hillocks were formed. Then God said to him, "Thou art sinful. Thou thoughtest to do me evil. The minds of the people subject to thee will be just as evil. The dispositions of my subjects will be holy. They will see the sun and the light, and I shall be called the true Kurbystan. [By this Shiefner understands Ormazd, known to Mongols as Khurmustu.'] Thy name shall be Erlik."
§ 17. A single branchless tree sprang up. This was not pleasant to God, who ordered nine shoots to grow, with a man at the foot of each, and that a nation should spring from each man.
Erlik saw everything living that God had made—men, animals, birds, &c.; and wondered what they fed upon. He noticed they only eat from one side of the single tree, and asked them why they did so.
A man said God had given a command, they were not to eat the food of four branches, but only of the five branches on the east side. After telling them this he had gone up to heaven, and had left a dog and a snake at the foot of the tree to bite the Devil if he approached, and to prevent men from eating of the four forbidden branches.
§ 18. When the Devil heard this he went to the tree, and found a man called Töröngoi, and told him to eat of the four forbidden branches, but to leave the other five untouched. Then the Devil entered the snake, climbed the tree, and eat of the forbidden food. A girl named Edyi lived with Töröngoi. The Devil invited both of these to eat. The man refused, but Edyi eat and found the food very sweet. Then she rubbed his mouth with it; the hair fell from their bodies, and they were ashamed, and hid behind two different trees.
When God came he asked what was the matter. The woman said the snake had entered her while she slept, and had done the mischief. On being questioned, the dog said he could not seize the snake, as it was invisible to him.
