Far away from other men, on the side of a lonely mountain, a man and his
wife were preparing their ground that they might plant the hill rice.
Their work was hard, and they saw no one from day to day, and, upon a
time, when tired of their labor, the husband said,
"Let us play that we are young and unmarried, and that I am coming to
visit you to try to gain you for a wife."
The wife dressed herself as a young maiden, with flowers in her hair,
and sat at the spinning-wheel.
The husband came as though from a distance, and in his hand he carried
the stem of a banana leaf, which he pretended was a musical instrument.
Playfully, he drew his fingers over it, singing, "It is pleasant to be
here. Where you are, I am happy. Where you are not, I am but of little
heart and sad." He drew near, and, as he was not forbidden, he walked up
into the house and sat down by the maiden. Bowing himself to the ground,
he spoke, saying, "O fair princess, I come but as your servant! May I
sit here near you?"