Upon one occasion my grandfather, Fa Bel, dropped his false teeth into a well several hundred feet deep. He was in much despair, for they were a new thing in those days and he had become so accustomed to them he would not do without them. My grandmother told him to cut off his beard and she would weave it into a rope by which he could descend into the well and recover his loss. This he agreed to and was soon happy again.
But he was so much improved in appearance by the removal of his beard, had not the other men observed the state of affairs and also cut off their beards, there might have been grievous trouble in all the land; for had these men gone to war their bulk was so great and their voices so strong the shock of conflict would have burst the earth into pieces.
This was the beginning of the custom of shaving the face, which became prevalent in all lands, and also of the cutting of the hair of men.
Fourth Narrative
His sons and daughters were so impressed by this story they sought to provide against another such evil day; and they set about it in this wise.
They went upon a great mountain and raised up a marvelous tower which reached into and through the land of the skies. When it was completed there was joy and thanksgiving, which was all quickly turned to sorrow when it was discovered that this pinnacle gave ready vent for the electricity in the clouds, which came down this shaft with such force it not only paralyzed all their tongues but their brains also, and caused them to forget all the words they had ever used. And they ran away, one by one, to hide, and when they came forth they knew not father or mother, brother, or sister, or friend; and so each was compelled to start a new race; but it also caused the great steeple to crumble and fall away and the winds blew it all into the sea.
VIII
Here appears the second of the documents I discovered in the box, and its amazing contents will satisfy the most fastidious, and will, likewise, remove many false impressions as to the origin of certain things, customs, etc., such as the origin of the pigmies and people of the present stature; the cause of the variety of complexion now existing, both in skin and hair; the albinos, volcanoes, mineral springs, and glaciers. Also traces my genealogy from Li Ur to Sto Ry, the writer of the document here given.