i-rau took her
to live with him. She made short work of her rivals, his elder wives;
and all went smoothly until Hine, one unlucky day, asked her husband to
perform an operation upon her head as necessary as familiar in some
strata of civilization. In doing this he made disrespectful observations
about her, when lo! a mist settled down upon them, from the midst of
which her elder brother came and took his sister away. Tini-rau, unable
to endure her absence, determined to go after his wife, accompanied by a
flight of birds, by whose cries he was informed, as he passed one
settlement after another, whether or not his wife was there. At length
he discovered her whereabouts, and made himself known to her sister by a
token which Hine understood. Then he came to her, and she announced his
arrival to all the people, who assembled and welcomed him. He abode
there; and when his wife's relatives complained that he did not go and
get food, he obtained it in abundance by the exercise of magical
powers; and so they lived happy ever after.[202]

Now let us turn to the Malagasy tale of the way in which Andrianoro
obtained a wife from heaven. There three sisters, whose dwelling-place
is in heaven, frequent a lake in the crystal waters whereof they swim,
taking flight at once on the approach of any human being. By a diviner's
advice the hero changes into three lemons, which the youngest sister
desires to take; but the others, fearing a snare, persuade her to fly
away with them. Foiled thus, the hero changes into bluish water in the
midst of the lake, then into the seed of a vegetable growing by the
waterside, and ultimately into an ant. He is at length successful in
seizing the youngest maiden, who consents to be his wife in spite of the
difference of race; for, while her captor is a man living on the earth,
her father dwells in heaven, whence the thunderbolt darts forth if he
speak, and she herself drinks no spirits, "for if spirits even touch my
mouth I die." After some time, during his absence, his father and mother
force _toaka_, or rum, into the lady's mouth, and she dies; but on his
return he insists on opening her grave, and, to his joy, finds her alive
again. But she will not now stay on earth: she must return to her father
and mother in the sky. They are grieving for her, and the thunder is a
sign of their grief. Finding himself unable to prevail upon her to stay,
he obtains permission to accompany her. She warns him, however, o