This advice, of course, pleased the youth. When the maiden arose in the morning, she looked at the sea, she found him not, she looked at the mountain, she looked at the sky, and still she could not see him, so she broke her mirror. Then the youth pushed his head through the floor, bowed, and said to the maiden: ‘Thou art mine and I am thine!’ They summoned the viziers, sent the news to the king, and a great feast began.
[1] Cf. the beginning of ‘Gulambara and Sulambara’ on p. 42; also the Biblical story of Tobit and the Angel.
[2] Kila, a measure of flour = about 36 to 40 pounds.
V
The Cunning Old Man and the Demi
There was once an old man. He might have worked but he was lazy. His children went out to the fields, but this old man sat by the fire, and if they did not show him great respect, he kept them out of the house. His daughters-in-law quarrelled with him, and ended by turning him out of the house. He begged of his eldest daughter-in-law, saying: ‘Give me a jar of flour, an egg,[1] and an awl, then I shall go away.’ She gave him these things.
The old man went on day and night, and came to the bank of a stream; he looked over, and saw on the other side a demi, to whom he cried: ‘Carry me across this river.’ The demi answered: ‘I shall not carry thee, but thou shalt carry me across, or I shall turn thee into dust.’ The demi seized a stone, struck it on the rocky bank, and turned the great stone into powder. The old man also took his jar of flour, struck it on the rock, and dust arose. The demi was astonished, and said: ‘How has he turned this stone into powder?’ The demi took another stone, squeezed it in his hand, and said: ‘I shall crush thee like this stone.’ Then the old man took out the egg, squeezed it, and when the moisture began to ooze out, the demi was alarmed: he came over the stream, took the old man on his shoulder, and carried him across.
In the middle of the stream, the demi said to the old man: ‘How light thou art!’ The old man answered: ‘I am holding on to the sky with one hand, if I let go, thou wouldst fall under my weight.’ The demi said: ‘Just leave go for a moment.’ The old man took out the awl, and stuck it in the demi’s neck. The demi cried: ‘Lay hold of the sky again!’ The old man put the awl in his pocket.