two girls had kindled a fire and they cried: "Let us
out! We will give you lots of precious stones, and lots of gold, and
will do you no harm!" But the girls would not listen to them, and kept
on making a bigger fire. So that was the end of the wolf and the fox
in the kettles.

Then the girls lived happily for a number of days in the cave. But
their father was seized with a longing for his daughters, and he went
into the mountains to look for them. And he sat right down on the
stone in front of the cave to rest, and tapped his pipe against it to
empty the ashes. Then the girls within called out: "Who is knocking at
our door?" And the father said: "Are those not my daughters' voices?"
While the daughters replied: "Is that not our father's voice?" Then
they pushed aside the stone and saw that it was their father, and
their father was glad to see them once more. He was much surprised to
think that they should have chanced on this cave full of precious
stones, and they told him the whole story. Then their father fetched
people to help him carry home the jewels. And when they got home, his
wife wondered where he had obtained all these treasures. So the father
and daughters told her everything, and they became a very wealthy
family, and lived happily to the end of their days.

Note: "The Cave of the Beasts" is traditionally
narrated.

IX

THE PANTHER

Once upon a time there was a widow who had two daughters and a little
son. And one day the mother said to her daughters: "Take good care of
the house, for I am going to see grandmother, together with your
little brother!" So the daughters promised her they would do so, and
their mother went off. On her way a panther met her, and asked where
she were going.

She said: "I am going with my child to see my mother."

"Will you not rest a bit?" asked the panther.

"No," said she, "it is already late, and it is a long road to where my
mother lives."

But the panther did not cease urging her, and finally she gave in and
sat down by the road side.

"I will comb your hair a bit," said the panther. And the woman allowed
the panther to comb her hair. But as he passed his claws through her
hair, he tore off a bit of her skin and devoured it.

"Stop!" cried the woman, "the way you comb my hair hurts!"

But the panther tore off a much larger piece of skin. Now the woman
wanted to call for help, but the panther seized and devoured her. Then
he turned on her litt