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

THREE DYAK LEGENDS 260
started and walked silently back. Danjai was wondering
how he was to avert the fate which awaited his young
wife. She was silent, because she saw her husband was
troubled, and she was sorry that she had caused him
grief.
As soon as they arrived at the house, Danjai
sent for
all the men round about and told them what had happened,
how his wife had taken and eaten the fruit of the
Were-Tiger. He begged them all to help to shield her,
for the Were-Tiger was sure to have his revenge, and
come and take the head of his wife.
So they all prepared themselves for the tiger's visit
by sharpening their knives and spears. Some men placed
themselves on the roof of the house, others in the veranda.
The ladder leading up to the house was also guarded,
and so were all parts of the house by which he was likely
to force an entrance. As for Danjai's wife, they hid her
beneath some mats and sheets in the room, and twelve
brave men stood round her with their swords drawn,
ready
to save her life even at the cost of their own.
Just before dark they heard the roar of the tiger in the
distance. Though still a long way off, the sound was
very terrible to hear, and the men all grasped their
swords and spears firmly, for they knew the tiger would
soon be upon them.
Once more the tiger's roar sounded, nearer and clearer,
and then they heard him crash through the leaf-thatch
roof and fall into the room. There was a great commo-
tion among the men, but though all tried to kill the
animal, none could see him. Soon after they heard a
roar of triumph from the tiger outside the house. They
lifted up the mats and sheets which covered Danjai's
wife, and there they saw her headless body !
The
Were-