Seventeen years among the Sea Dyaks of Borneo; a ... - Sabrizain.org

268 THREE DYAK LEGENDS
parts of the jungle, no one touched his fruit, for all feared
the fate which awaited them if they did any such things.
But Danjai 's wife knew nothing about the Were-Tiger.
No one had told her of him, and she had never been out
before in the jungle by herself, and she had never been
warned not
about.
to touch any fruit she might find lying
"
Oh, Danjai," she said, as soon as she met her hus-
band, " I am afraid I am rather late. You must be
very tired and hungry, working the whole morning at
your boat without having had anything
mind !
Here
to eat. Never
is your breakfast at last." And she handed
the basket which contained his food to her husband.
Now Danjai was really very hungry, so he was glad to
see his food had arrived. He thanked his wife, and at
once began to empty the basket.
The first thing he saw was the ripe sibau fruit at the
top, and he asked his wife where she got them from. She
told him she had found them on the stump of a tree by
the wayside, and she said she thought they had been left
there by him. She added with a smile that they were
very good, as she had eaten some herself.
Then Danjai, brave man though he was, turned pale
with fear and anxiety.
' We must not linger here a moment," he said to his
"
wife. Hungry though I am, I will not eat my food
here. We must both hurry home at once. You have
taken and eaten fruit belonging to the Were-Tiger, so
much feared by all. It is said that whoever touches his
fruit will surely die a terrible death :
person I know who has done so."
Danjai hurriedly gathered together
and you
are the first
all his tools and
told those that were with him of his trouble, and they all