The children called it, and said: “Return, bird of our father,” but it did not come back. They said, “We shall be killed to-day.”
They followed the bird. They came to a tree where there were many birds.
The boy caught one, and said to it: “My father’s bird, make milk.”
It bled. They said: “This is not our father’s bird.”
This bird bled very much; the blood ran like a river. Then the boy released it, and it flew away. The children were seized with fear.
They said to themselves: “If our father finds us, he will kill us to-day.”
In the evening the man came home. When he was yet far off, he saw that the door had been opened.
He said: “I did not shut the door that way.”
He called his children, but only Lonci replied. He asked for the others.
Lonci said: “I went to the river to drink; when I returned they were gone.” [[36]]