Presently the skull came up and went round and round the old man, saying:—
“Old man give me my woman.”
But the old man was silent. Then, said the skull:—
“Give me the woman I was running after.”
But the old man would not answer.
When the skull asked for the woman the fourth time, the old man said:—
“I am tired of you.” So he took a bow and broke the skull in pieces, and he said to the woman:—
“Get down and gather up these pieces. Pile them up, and set them on fire. After you set them on fire, whatever you see, don’t you touch it. You will be punished if you do.”
When the woman saw the fire going down she espied a comb.[[7]] She picked it up and hid it in her blanket, but it burned her side so badly that she died. The old man said:—
“I told you not to pick up anything, but you did so. I punish you. Disobedience brings its own punishment.”