Once there was an old man and woman and a little girl, and they all
lived in a house made of hempstalks. Now the old man had a little dog
named Turpie; and one night the Hobyahs came and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
his tail." So in the morning the old man cut off little dog Turpie's
tail.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
one of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off one of little
dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
another of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off another of
little dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
another of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off another of
little dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
another of his legs." So in the morning the old man cut off another of
little dog Turpie's legs.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" But little dog Turpie barked so that the
Hobyahs ran off; and the old man said, "Little dog Turpie barks so that
I cannot sleep nor slumber, and if I live till morning I will cut off
little dog Turpie's head." So in the morning the old man cut off little
dog Turpie's head.
The next night the Hobyahs came again, and said, "Hobyah! Hobyah!
Hobyah! Tear down the hempstalks, eat up the old man and woman, and
carry off the little girl!" And when the Hobyahs found that little dog
Turpie's head was off they tore down the hempstalks, ate up the old man
and woman, and carried the little girl off in a bag.
And when the Hobyahs came to their home they hung up the bag with the
little girl in it, and every Hobyah knocked on the top of the bag and
said, "Look me! look me!" And then they went to sleep until the next
night, for the Hobyahs slept in the daytime.
The little girl cried a great deal, and a man with a big dog came that
way and heard her crying. When he asked her how she came there and she
told him, he put the dog in the bag and took the little girl to his
home.
The next night the Hobyahs took down the bag and knocked on the top of
it, and said "Look me! look me!" and when they opened the bag--the big
dog jumped out and ate them all up; so there are no Hobyahs now.