to the opposite bank.

Scarcely had her feet touched the ground when she whispered in the bat's ear, saying: Listen, Uzu, I have a secret I want to share with you; but I will not disclose it to you unless you carry me on your back and fly me to the top of the tree. A moment later the bat was soar-ing through the air with the tortoise on his back, while the leopard remained tied to the tree. Not much time passed before a hunter came by bearing a sharp spear that flashed in the sunlight, and with it he pierced the poor leopard... As for Uzu, he fared no better, for Miyub told him the tale of the king's feast and per-suaded him to fly her many miles over the green forest.

When they reached the outskirts of the city, she asked Uzu the bat to bring her down onto a small bush, for with her two sharp eyes she had seen the king standing in the courtyard of the temple, devouring food from a dish that had been prepared for the eagle god — when he was supposed to be fasting. The tortoise drew near the king and cried out at him: I saw you! I saw you!... The king fell on his knees in abasement and submission, and began begging the tortoise not to betray him, promising that if she kept the secret he would honor her on the day of the banquet and care well for her. So she promised him.

But did she keep her promise? We shall see.

The tortoise joined the king's retinue, and they set off toward the city. When they arrived, the king sent secretly for his sorcerer, who prepared a charm for him, and he placed it in the bowl from which Miyub was to eat on the day of

the feast.

The next day the banquet began with singing and dancing, and Miyub sat down, before her a bowl full of potatoes, her favorite food of all. Joy and delight possessed her, and she ate and lost herself in eating — yet the food never grew less... for she was eating from the enchanted bowl... But she went on eating until she was glutted and could take no more... Then she rose to go out. She had scarcely taken a few steps when the bowl followed her. She stopped and fixed it with a glance full of doubt and suspicion. Then she walked a few steps more, stopped suddenly, and looked — and found it still behind her... This did not please her, so she set off running through the streets of the city, crying: The king ate of the forbidden food in the courtyard of the temple!... Yes, he ate of it, and I saw him with my own eyes!...

But no one paid her words any heed, for all the people were laughing at the top of their voices, and the sound of their laughter drowned out her voice, so they did not hear it.

Miyub kept running through the streets, the bowl following her wherever she went, until the tortoise stumbled and fell into a hole. The bowl fell right after

her and landed upon her back, where it settled and stuck fast. The tortoise tried to rid herself of it, but in vain. And from that time on, the tortoise has had the hard back that you all know.