s this happened, and then the old woman determined to hide and see
who did these kind acts. She did so, and was amazed to see that as soon
as she had left the house (she went under the floor and looked up
through a hole between the bamboos), that a spirit came out of the _mawk
moo_ flower that her son had brought from the road leading to the well,
and commenced to sweep the house. In the midst of it the old woman
rushed up to the flower and destroyed it, so that the spirit could not
go back to its refuge. At the same instant, it changed into the most
beautiful woman ever seen.

That afternoon, Nang Hsen Gaw, for the spirit was she, told old Nai how
her stepmother had killed her at the well, and buried her, and how she
had been changed into the spirit of the beautiful _mawk moo_ flower the
guard had brought to the house, and that she would soon go back to the
king in the palace.

They neither of them had seen the little sparrow sitting on the roof,
but she had been there all the time, and now flew off to the king and
told him all that she had heard. The king gave orders that the wicked
mother of Nang E should be executed immediately, and that a band of
soldiers should go to the guard's house to escort his bride back in
state to the palace, where she reigned many, many years, till she saw
her grandchildren and great-grandchildren grow up. As soon as the queen
entered the gate, the tree began to play; the withered leaves put on a
bright hue, and beautiful flowers burst into bloom; and while Nang Hsen
Gaw lived, the tree bloomed and played sweetest music every day.

The lessons that this story teaches are: As surely as the wheels of the
cart follow the oxen, so surely will wickedness be punished. If you sin
you must suffer. The man who kills another will assuredly meet the same
fate.

[3] The Shans call the two front feet of a quadruped "hands." The digits
are called "fingers" not "toes."

[4] The sacred peepul tree.

[5] The Shans do not usually say that a king "rules" over a country, but
the expression generally used is that he "eats" it; a very suggestive
and alas! too often only too true expression.

THE SPARROW'S WONDERFUL BROOD.

Many, many years ago, at the beginning of the world, a little sparrow
built her nest on the top of a tall tree that grew near the edge of a
lake. In it she laid five little eggs, and never was mother bird prouder
than she, and all day long she flew from tree to tree chirping