re.' And the man
threw the rejected honey on the grass, and started off to get some
fresh. When he got back he offered it to his wife, who treated it as
she had done the first bowlful. 'That honey has got ants in it: throw it
away,' she said, and when he brought her some more, she declared it was
full of earth. In his fourth journey he managed to find some that she
would eat, and then she begged him to get her some water. This took him
some time, but at length he came to a lake whose waters were sweetened
with sugar. He filled a pannikin quite full, and carried it home to his
wife, who drank it eagerly, and said that she now felt quite well. When
she was up and had dressed herself, her husband lay down in her place,
saying: 'You have given me a great deal of trouble, and now it is my
turn!'

'What is the matter with you?' asked the wife.

'I am thirsty and want some water,' answered he; and she took a large
pot and carried it to the nearest spring, which was a good way off.
'Here is the water,' she said to her husband, lifting the heavy pot from
her head; but he turned away in disgust.

'You have drawn it from the pool that is full of frogs and willows;
you must get me some more.' So the woman set out again and walked still
further to another lake.

'This water tastes of rushes,' he exclaimed, 'go and get some fresh.'
But when she brought back a third supply he declared that it seemed made
up of water-lilies, and that he must have water that was pure, and not
spoilt by willows, or frogs, or rushes. So for the fourth time she put
her jug on her head, and passing all the lakes she had hitherto tried,
she came to another, where the water was golden like honey. She stooped
down to drink, when a horrible head bobbed up on the surface.

'How dare you steal my water?' cried the head.

'It is my husband who has sent me,' she replied, trembling all over.
'But do not kill me! You shall have my baby, if you will only let me
go.'

'How am I to know which is your baby?' asked the Ogre.

'Oh, that is easily managed. I will shave both sides of his head, and
hang some white beads round his neck. And when you come to the hut you
have only to call "Motikatika!" and he will run to meet you, and you can
eat him.'

'Very well,' said the ogre, 'you can go home.' And after filling the pot
she returned, and told her husband of the dreadful danger she had been
in.

Now, though his mother did not know it, the baby was a magician and