Then she fetched, from the upper chamber, a box full of money, which she
laid before him, saying, 'That is the price of your mother. She sold
well.'
'What do you mean?' he gasped.
'Oh, your mother complained one day that her head was aching, so I got
in two butchers and they agreed to take her. However, I have got her
lungs and liver hidden, till you came back, in a safe place.'
'And my sister?'
'Well, while the people were chopping up your mother she ran away, and I
heard no more of her.'
'Give me my mother's liver and lungs,' said the young man. And she gave
them to him. Then he put them in his pocket, and went away, saying: 'I
can stay no longer in this horrible town. I go to seek my sister.'
Now, one day, the little boy stretched out his finger and said to his
mother, 'My uncle is coming!'
[Illustration: MY UNCLE IS COMING]
'Where is he?' she asked.
'He is still two days' journey off: looking for us; but he will soon be
here.' And in two days, as the boy had foretold, the uncle had found the
hole in the earth, and arrived at the gate of the city. All his money
was spent, and not knowing where his sister lived, he began to beg of
all the people he saw.
'Here comes my uncle,' called out the little boy.
'Where?' asked his mother.
'Here at the house door;' and the woman ran out and embraced him, and
wept over him. When they could both speak, he said: 'My sister, were you
by when they killed my mother?'
'I was absent when they slew her,' replied she, 'and as I could do
nothing, I ran away. But you, my brother, how did you get here?'
'By chance,' he said, 'after I had wandered far; but I did not know I
should find you!'
'My little boy told me you were coming,' she explained, 'when you were
yet two days distant; he alone of all men has that great gift.'
But she did not tell him that her husband could change himself into a
serpent, a dog, or a monster, whenever he pleased. He was a very rich
man, and possessed large herds of camels, goats, sheep, cattle, horses
and asses; all the best of their kind. And the next morning, the sister
said: 'Dear brother, go and watch our sheep, and when you are thirsty,
drink their milk!'
'Very well,' answered he, and he went.