Although even many times he did not give heed to the word of his wife, because the young man was unwilling to kill his mother, in the end, at the time when his wife set off to go away, he said, “It is good; I will kill mother. You must tell me the way to kill her.”
Thereupon his wife said thus, “In the night time, when thy mother is sleeping, taking completely[2] the bed and having gone [with it], let us throw it in the river,” she said.
In the night time, at the time when all are sleeping, the young woman having tied a cord to the leg of the bed on which her mother-in-law is sleeping, went to sleep, placing an end of the cord in her hand.
The young man having seen this circumstance, after his wife went to sleep unfastened the end of the cord that was tied to the leg of his mother’s bed, and tied it to the leg of the bed of his wife’s mother. While it was thus, suddenly this young woman arose, and spoke to her husband: “Now the time is good,” she said.
When he asked, “Because there is darkness how shall we find our mother’s bed?” “I have been placing a mark,” the woman said. Well then, because the end of the cord was tied to the leg of this woman’s bed, both together lifting up the bed went and threw it in the river.
After it became light, when she looked, perceiving that the young woman’s mother was thrown into the river, and coming to grief, and having wept, she said thus to her husband, “For committing some fault[3] we have thrown my mother into the river. Well, let us kill your mother, too,” she said again.
The husband being not satisfied with this, because the request of his wife was stronger than that [disinclination], said, “It is good; let us kill her.”
When her husband further asked, “By what method shall we kill mother?” she said, “When thy mother is asleep, lifting up the bed completely and having gone [with it], and having placed a pile of sticks at a new grave, let us burn her.” The husband approved of her word.
On the following day, subsequently to its becoming light, when the woman whom the two persons were lifting up was asleep, having gone [after] lifting up the bed completely, they placed this woman together with the bed on the middle of the pile of firewood which they had gathered together previously. But to set fire to the heap of firewood they did not remember to take fire. Because of it, and because to bring fire each person was afraid to go alone, both set off and went.
During the time while they were going thus, when strong dew was falling like rain the woman who was asleep on the pile of firewood having opened her eyes, said, “Am I not at this grave mound?” She also having looked far and near,[4] thought, “It is indeed a work, this, of my son and daughter-in-law;” and having descended from the pile of firewood, lifting up a new corpse that was at the grave, and having gone and placed it upon that bed that was on the pile of firewood, she plucked off her cloth, and having clothed the corpse she entered the jungle quite unclothed.