ONCE UPON A TIME some girls went to pick cherries, and one of them said to one of her comrades, “Let us pick cherries with out eyes shut.” now the rest of her comrades picked without shutting their eyes, and they picked red cherries, but she hers unripe. And she said, “Girls, let us open our eyes,” and she saw that the cherries of her comrades were red. So she said, “My comrades, wait: let me go and pick some good cherries.” And her comrades said, “Go.” However they deceived her and went their ways and defecated. Then she asked, “And you there?” And the dung replied, “We are.” But it was the dung which replied. So she tried to follow her comrades and sang:
“I went with those girls they left me
at the cherries..
They made me stay on the dung and on
the rock,
The dung cried ah-loo-rookok,
Ah-loo-rookok was cried on the rock.”
After a while she came to a marsh, and the marsh caused her to trip and fall and upset her cherries. But the marsh gave her a fish in excahnge for her cherries. So the girl sang:
“Behold, this marsh upsets my cherries:
My cherries I got on the rock, where
the girls left me:
I went with those girls: they left me
at the cherries.
They made me stay on the dung and on the rock,
The dung cried ah-loo-rookok,
Ah-loo-rookok was cried on the rock.”
The marsh then gave her another fish, but a kite snatched the fish away.
So the girl sang:
“Behold, this kite snatches my fish:
My fish I got from that marsh which upset
my cherries:
My cherries I got on the rock, where
the girl left me:
I went with those girls: they left me
at the cherries.
They made me stay on the dung and on the rock.
The dung cried ah-loo-rookok,
Ah-loo-rookok was cried on the rock.”
Then the kite gave her a father. And the girl went along and found a boy who was dancing with a spray of grass. The boy saw that the feather was pretty to grab the feather, and it was badly broken. So the girl sang:
“Behold, this boy breaks my feather:
My feather I got from the kite that snatched
my fish:
My fish I got from that marsh which upset
,y cherries:
My cherries I got on the rock, where
the girls left me:
I went with those girls: they left me
at the cherries.
They made me stay on the dung and on the rock.
The dung cried ah-loo-rookok,
Ah-loo-rookok was cried on the rock.”
So the boy thereupon gave her a withe. The girl went on and came upon a place where a man hit his cow with his penis. The girl laughed at him. “Why do you hit your cow with your penis? Have you no stick/” So the man seized her withe and hit his cow with it a nd the withe broke. Then the girl sang:
“Behold, this man breaks my withe:
My withe I got from the boy who broke my feather:
My feather I got from that kite that snatched
my fish:
My fish I got from that marsh which upset
my cherries:
My cherries I got on the rock, where
the girls left me:
I went with those girls: they left me
at the cherries.
They made me stay on the dung and on the rock,
The dung cried ah-loo-rookok,
Ah-loo-rookok was cried on the rock.”
The children gave her a razor. And next the girl found a place where they shave their heads with a potsherd, and she laughed. “Why do you shave with a potsherd?” Thereupon the man seized her razor and the razor broke. So the girl sang:
“Behold, this man breaks my razor:
My razor I got from those children who upset
my milk:
My milk I got from that man who broke my withe:
My writhe I got from that boy who broke my feather:
My feather I got from that kite that snatched
my fish:
My cherries I got on the rock where
the girls left me:
I went with those girls: they left me
at the cherries.
They made me stay on the dung and on the rock,
The dung cried ah-loo-rookok,
Ah-loo-rookok was cried on the rock.”
These people gave her a cow. Thereupon the girl went on and found a place where they eat bones with the dogs, and she said, “Take this cow and eat it.” Then they killed her cow and ate it, they and their children. So the girl sang:
“Behold, these men kill my cow:
My cow I got from that man who broke my razor:
My razor I got from those children who upset
my milk:
My milk I got from that man who broke my withe:
My withe I got from that boy who broke my feather:
My feather I got from that kite that snatched
my fish:
My fish I got from that marsh that upset
my cherries:
My cherries I got on the rock, where
the girls left me:
I went with those girls: they left me
at the cherries.
They made me stay on the dung and on the rock,
The dung cried ah-loo-rookok,
Ah-loo-rookok was cried on the rock.”
They gave her a dog in exchange for her cow. But the dog killed a man, and they arrested her as the owner of the dog. And the girl said, “Take me to the pasturage that I may defecate.” And they told her, “Go aside here.” But she said, “My dung smells offensive: let me go aside at a distance.” So she escaped from there, fearing vengeance for the man whom the dog had killed.
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