48
One man in Solay[47] said to another, “Tomorrow we meet on the mountain to get wild carabao.” The other man agreed, and early the next morning the first man set out on horseback. The second man died that night, but the first man did not know this. When he got to the place agreed, he said “Sh-sh” through his teeth, and the spirit of the dead answered a little way off. The man went towards the answer and signalled again. The spirit again answered, and then the man saw the spirit of the dead, which was very big, was running to catch him. Page 181He ran his horse at full speed, but the spirit was gaining when the lasta[48] on the saddle caught on a dead limb and was jerked away. “Very good that you leave that or I would take your life,” said the spirit. Then the man ran his horse until he got to Solay. When he got there, he could not get off his horse, for his legs were stuck very tight to each side of the horse, so a man had to pull each leg loose and lift him from the saddle. That is why we know that the spirits of the dead men sometimes do harm and go places.
49
A man and his wife were living in the field where they planted corn and rice. When they were there, the man died. The woman did not want to go to the town, because there was no one to watch the dead man. She could not bury him. The Ībwa[49] noticed that there was a dead man in the house. He sent one of his sons to get the dead man. When the Ībwa came in the house, the woman took the headaxes and cut him in the doorway. The Ībwa went under the house. His father could not wait for him; he sent his second son and his third son. The boys could not take the body, because they were afraid of the headaxes, for the woman had one in each hand. The Ībwa went there. He said to his sons, “Why do you not take the dead man?” His sons said, “We could not take him, because if we go up in the house the woman takes the two headaxes and tries to kill us.” Ībwa went up into the house; he broke the door of the house. He said to the woman, “Now I am your husband.” The Ībwa took the two ears of the dead man; he ate one and gave the other to the woman to chew, like betel-nut, to see the sign. The sign of the saliva was good. He made the woman's two breasts into one in the center of her chest. He took her to his house.
50
The stems of the alangtin are good charms against the spirits of the dead, and are often worn concealed in the hair or hat.
There were two brothers, and one died. The other went to hunt and killed a deer. While he had it over the fire to singe, his dead brother's spirit came to him.[50] Then the man began to cut the meat into small pieces, and as fast as he cut it up, the spirit ate it; and as fast as he ate it, the meat came out of his anus. When the meat was almost Page 182all gone, the man became very much afraid and started to run, and the spirit chased him. When he ran where some alangtin grew, the spirit stopped and said, “If you had not gone to the alangtin, I would have eaten you also.”