The boys tried very hard to please her, but if they brought nice pine wood she scolded them, and if they brought large dry reeds she said:
“These are no good for my fire, for they leave too much ashes in the house.”
Try as they would, they failed to satisfy her; and their bodies grew very thin from working hard all day and from want of enough to eat.
One morning when they left for the mountains the mother gave them a bit of dog meat to eat, and the boys were very sad. When they reached the forest one of them said:
“You wait here while I climb the tree and cut off some branches.”
Type of Mandaya tree house
He went up the tree and soon called down, “Here is some wood,” and the bones of his arm dropped to the ground.
“Oh,” cried his brother, “it is your arm!”
“Here is some more wood,” cried the other, and the bones of the other arm dropped to the ground.