The lion went out and roared to call his brothers. They came in great haste
and said to him, "Why do you call us now?"
"Take the Half-a-Cock from the ox-yard, for it has one of my hairs, which
it can put into the fire. If you don't rescue Half-a-Cock, it will burn the
hair, and I don't want to smell the odor of burning hair while I am alive."
His brothers obeyed. They at once killed all the cattle in the pen. The
King saw that his animals were all dead, and he fell into such a rage that
he nearly strangled. He looked for Half-a-Cock to kill it with his own
hands. He searched a long time without finding it, and finally went home to
rest. At sunset Half-a-Cock came to his usual place and crowed as on the
former occasions. The King called his negroes and said to them:
"This time when you have caught Half-a-Cock, put it in a house and shut all
the doors till morning. I will kill it myself."
The negroes seized him immediately and put him in the treasure-room. When
it got there, it saw money under its feet. It waited till it had nothing to
fear from the masters of the house, who were all sound asleep, took from
under its wing the hair of the boar, started a fire, and placed the hair in
it. At once the boar came running and shaking the earth. It thrust its head
against the wall. The wall shook and half of it fell down, and going to
Half-a-Cock the boar said:
"Why are you burning my hair at this moment?"
"Pardon me, you see the situation in which I am, without counting what
awaits me in the morning, for the King is going to kill me with his own
hands if you don't get me out of this prison."
The boar replied: "The thing is easy; fear not, I will open the door so
that you may go out. In fact, you have stayed here long enough. Get up, go
and take money enough for you and your children."
Half-a-Cock obeyed. It rolled in the gold, took all that stuck to its wing
and its foot, and swallowed as much as it could hold. It took the road it
had followed the first day and when it had arrived near the house it called
the mistress and said: "Strike now, be not afraid to kill me." His mistress
began to strike until Half-a-Cock called from beneath the mat:
"Enough now. Roll the mat."
She obeyed and saw the earth all shining with gold.
* * * * *
At the time when Half-a-Cock returned from his pilgrimage the two women
owned a dog in common. The foolish one seeing that her companion had
received much money said to her:
"We will divide the dog between us."
The wise woman answered: "We can't do anything with it. Let it live, I will
give you my half. Keep it for yourself. I have no need of it."
The foolish one said to the dog, "Go on a pilgrimage as Half-a-Cock did and
bring me some gold."
The dog started to carry out the commands of his mistress. She began her
journey in the morning and came to a fountain. As she was thirsty she
started to drink. As she stopped she saw in the middle of the fountain a
yellow stone. She took it in her mouth and ran back home. When she reached
the house she called her mistress and said to her:
"Get ready the mats and the rods, you see that I have come back from the
pilgrimage."
The foolish one prepared the mats under which the dog ran as soon as she
heard the voice of her mistress and said, "Strike gently." The woman seized
the rods and struck with all the force possible. The dog cried out to her a
long while for her to stop the blows. Her mistress refused to stop until
the animal was cold. She lighted up the mats and found the dog dead with
the yellow stone in its mouth.
* * * * *