“Have you seen twelve maidens pass this way?” asked she.
“No,” answered the cow.
“If you do not speak the truth, I’ll kill and eat you,” cried she.
“I saw them as they made haste in that way,” replied the cow.
The cannibal woman pursued that way.
After the cow left them, the maidens hastened on and as they hastened they met an elephant and begged it to save them from the cannibal.
The elephant opened its mouth and the [32 ] maidens jumped in, but so slowly did one jump that an edge of her garment hung out of the mouth. As they journeyed the cannibal overtook them.
“Did you see twelve maidens hastening toward the city?” asked the cannibal.
“No,” answered the elephant.
“From this time forth forever the lip of thy mouth shall hang down as a garment,” cursed the cannibal, for she had seen the edge of the maiden’s garment hanging out of the elephant’s mouth and knew it was protecting the twelve maidens. And to this day doth the lip of the elephant hang down like a garment.