A Life for a Life
| One day in the evening a man was playing with his children at the sitting place. He saw a dove being chased by a hawk which wanted to kill it. The dove came and fell on the man’s head trying to hide. When the children saw it, they wanted to kill the dove and roast it. But the father hid the dove under his arm and said to the children, “It flew away.” After the children left, he took out the dove and let it fly away. Another day some enemy came to attack and raid the people of that homestead. While the enemy were on the way to attack, the same dove came to the sitting place and perched on the top of a tree. As for the man, he was together with his children in the sitting place. In a little while he heard something saying, “A life for a life. Leave. A life for a life. Leave. Tonight the enemy will attack in the early hours of morning.” When the man lifted his head, he saw that he was hearing the dove on top of the tree. He got up and told his wives to pack their things. When he told the other people who lived with him, they laughed saying, “Where are the enemy?” He took his family and herded his cattle onto the path and left. In the early morning truly the enemy came and killed the remaining people and took all the cattle. ~~~~~ Reprinted with permission of the translator, Jonathan E. Arensen from Mice Are Men (International Museum of Cultures, 1992) copyright by The summer Insstitute of Linguistics, Inc., 1992 ~~~~~ |