ANIMAL STORIES 181

and so this lay unhurt upon the rocks. But it had no power of itself to put the body together again, until someone had spoken to it.

It happened that the Badger fell in his own neighbourhood, and soon his brother came along to Where the backbone lay. The younger brother at once recognised the backbone, and said:

“Pray, what is all this about? What in life are you doing here?” At this the backbone began to speak, but instead of answering these questions of the brother, it called to the differ- ent parts of its body:

“Nooloogoon, ba! Ho! My leg, come hither!” And When the legs had done so, he called again:

“Npetun ogum ba hol—My arm, ho! Come hither!”

At last every part of the body had come to- gether, and there the mischievous Badger stood, the veritable Badger that had been dashed to pieces by his fall from the sky.