‘If I let her go he must pay me a thousand head of cattle in exchange,’ replied the old woman. And Thakané carried her answer back to Masilo.
‘Why, I would gladly give her two thousand!’ cried he, ‘for she has saved my daughter.’ And he bade messengers hasten to all the neighbouring villages, and tell his people to send him at once all the cattle he possessed. When they were all assembled he chose a thousand of the finest bulls and cows, and drove them down to the river, followed by a great crowd wondering what would happen.
Then Thakané stepped forward in front of the cattle and sang:
Bring to me Dilah, Dilah the rejected one,
Dilah, whom her father Masilo cast out!
And Dilah came from the waters holding out her hands to Masilo and Thakané, and in her place the cattle sank into the lake, and were driven by the old woman to the great city filled with people, which lies at the bottom.
[Contes Populaires des Bassoutos.]
THE WICKED WOLVERINE
One day a wolverine was out walking on the hillside, when, on turning a corner, he suddenly saw a large rock.