III
THE CAT'S TAIL
AT a place called Lamu lived a woman and her husband. One day, whilst they were at meal, a cat came in and looked at them. Now these two people loved to disagree with each other.
So that woman said to the man, "I say that the tail of a cat is stuck in."
The man said to his wife, "No, it is not stuck in; it sprouts out."
So they wrangled together about this matter for many days. At last they disputed so noisily that their neighbours threatened to drive them out of the village. Then, as neither the husband nor the wife would give in, they decided to seek the wise man who lived at Shela, for sure he would know and could settle this great question.
So they each took a dollar and tied it in the corner of their robes and set out for Shela, quarrelling so hard all the way that everybody turned round to stare at them.
The Wise man who lived at Shela.
At last they arrived at the town of Shela and found the wise man at his house. When he saw the big round dollars bulging out of their clothes he smiled upon them and invited them in.