Others were still more artful—those with cold hearts—and always carried
large plates of brass so finely polished as to be perfect reflectors. By
means of these they sent the glances back with such increased power (for
they were concave) the giants beat a hasty and precipitate retreat.
Each hair of the beards of these giants was of the size of large twine.
Upon one occasion my grandfather, Fa Bel, dropped his false teeth into a
well several hundred feet deep. He was in much despair, for they were a
new thing in those days and he had become so accustomed to them he would
not do without them. My grandmother told him to cut off his beard and
she would weave it into a rope by which he could descend into the well
and recover his loss. This he agreed to and was soon happy again.
But he was so much improved in appearance by the removal of his beard,
had not the other men observed the state of affairs and also cut off
their beards, there might have been grievous trouble in all the land;
for had these men gone to war their bulk was so great and their voices
so strong the shock of conflict would have burst the earth into pieces.
This was the beginning of the custom of shaving the face, which became
prevalent in all lands, and also of the cutting of the hair of men.
_Fourth Narrative_
His sons and daughters were so impressed by this story they sought to
provide against another such evil day; and they set about it in this
wise.
They went upon a great mountain and raised up a marvelous tower which
reached into and through the land of the skies. When it was completed
there was joy and thanksgiving, which was all quickly turned to sorrow
when it was discovered that this pinnacle gave ready vent for the
electricity in the clouds, which came down this shaft with such force it
not only paralyzed all their tongues but their brains also, and caused
them to forget all the words they had ever used. And they ran away, one
by one, to hide, and when they came forth they knew not father or
mother, brother, or sister, or friend; and so each was compelled to
start a new race; but it also caused the great steeple to crumble and
fall away and the winds blew it all into the sea.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
VIII
Here appears the second of the documents I
discovered in the box, and its amazing contents will
satisfy the most fastidious, and will, likewise,
remove many false impressions as to the origin of
certain things, customs, etc., such as the origin of
the pigmies and people of the present stature; the
cause of the variety of complexion now existing,
both in skin and hair; the albinos, volcanoes,
mineral springs, and glaciers. Also traces my
genealogy from Li Ur to Sto Ry, the writer of the
document here given.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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