XXXI.—TRANSMIGRATION OF THE SOUL.
A certain woman had a kind of adventure. When she
went out into the field to cut grass, or to fetch hemp, and
placed food in the stove, then somebody took the victuals
out of the stove, and ate them all clean up. She thought,
what might such a thing as this signify? Nohow could she
guess it. She came, the door was shut, and there was only
remaining in the house a baby—maybe half a year old—in
the cradle. Well, she betook herself to a wise woman. She
entreated her and paid her to come, and she came. She
looked about, she snuffed about—I mean the wise woman.
All at once she heard something indefinite. `Go you,' she
said, `into the field, and I'll hide myself and we'll see what
this is.' The woman went into the field, and the wise
woman hid herself in a corner, and kept a look-out. Then,
pop! the baby jumped out of the cradle! She looked,
and it was no more a baby, but an old man. He was quite
dwarfish, and his beard was long. In a moment he was after
the eatables, pulled the victuals out of the stove, then gave a
screech, and began to gobble up the food. When he had
devoured all, then he became a baby again; but now he
didn't crawl into the cradle, but lay down, and screeched
till the whole house rang. Then the wise woman was after
him: she placed him on a block of wood, and began to
chop the block under his feet. He screeched and she
chopped: he screeched and she chopped. Then she saw
how, taking an opportunity, he became an old man again,
and said: `Old woman, I have transformed myself not once
nor twice only: I was first a fish, then I became a bird, an
ant, and a quadruped, and now I have once more made trial
of being a human being. It isn't better thus than being
among the ants; but among human beings—it isn't worse!'
