t, and
are undoing the evil they did in the past by bringing people to God.

CHAPTER XI

SOME ANIMAL STORIES

The Dyaks of Borneo, both young and old, are very fond of listening to
stories, and often in the evening in the public hall of the long Dyak
village house, a crowd of men, women and children may be seen seated on
mats, listening to a legend or fairy-tale related by some old man. They
have a large number of stories about animals which the Dyaks are never
tired of listening to; and though they know them well, still they love
to hear them retold again and again. These animal stories correspond to
the adventures of Brer Rabbit, or our own tales illustrating the cunning
of the fox. In the Dyak stories the mouse-deer, one of the smallest
animals to be found in Borneo, is represented as very clever, and able
to outwit with his cunning the larger and stronger animals. Here are two
animal stories which I have myself heard related by the Dyaks
themselves:

THE STORY OF THE MOUSE-DEER AND OTHER ANIMALS WHO WENT OUT FISHING

Once upon a time the Mouse-deer, accompanied by many other animals, went
on a fishing expedition. All day long they fished, and in the evening
they returned to the little hut they had put up by the river-side,
salted the fish they had caught, and stored it up in large jars. They
noticed, when they returned in the evening, that much of the fish they
had left in the morning was missing. The animals held a council to
decide what it was best to do, and after some discussion, it was decided
that the Deer should stay behind to catch the thief, while the others
went out to fish.

"I shall be able to master him, whoever he is," said the Deer. "If he
refuses to do what I wish, I shall punish him with my sharp horns."

So the others went out fishing, leaving the Deer at home. Soon he heard
the tramp of someone coming to the foot of the ladder leading up into
the hut, and a voice called out:

"Is anyone at home?"

"I am here," said the Deer. Looking out he saw a great giant, and his
heart failed him. He wished he had asked one of his companions to stay
with him.

"I smell some fish," said the Giant. "I want some, and you must give it
to me at once. I am hungry. Let me have what I want."

"It does not belong to me," said the Deer, in great fear. "It belongs to
the Pig, the Bear, the Tiger, and the Mouse-deer. They would punish me
severely if I gave any of it to you."

"Don't talk to me in