One day he said to his wife: “I have been here a long time. My people must surely be wondering where I am, and whether I am still alive. My mother, too, must be very anxious about me. I should like to return to my people, and I want you to accompany me. My mother and my friends are sure to welcome you as my wife.” “Oh yes, I will gladly accompany you back to your home. But you must remember and say nothing of the things you have seen in this house. When shall we start?” “We can start early to-morrow morning, soon after breakfast,” answered Siu. They started early the next day, taking with them food enough for four days, as they expected the journey would last as long as that. Siu’s wife seemed to know the way, and after journeying for three days, they came to the stream near the house, and they stopped to have a bath. Some of the children of the house saw them there, and ran up to the house, and said: “Siu has come back, and with him is a beautiful woman, who seems to be his wife.” Some of the older people checked the children, saying: “It cannot be Siu; he has been dead for a long time. Don’t mention his name, for if his mother hears you talk of him, it will make her very unhappy.” But the children persisted in saying that it was indeed Siu that they had seen. Just then Siu and his wife appeared and walked up to the house. Siu said to his wife: “The door before which I hang up my sword is the door of my room. Walk straight in. You will find my mother there, and she will be sure to gladly welcome you as her daughter-in-law.” When they came into the house, all the inmates rushed out to meet them, and to congratulate Siu on his safe return. They asked him many questions: where had he been living all this time? how he came to be married? and what was the name of his wife’s country? But Siu answered little, as he remembered the promise he had made to his wife, that he would not speak of what he had seen in her house. When they reached the door of his room, Siu hung up his sword, and his wife went into the room. But she did not see his mother, as she was ill, and was lying in her mosquito-curtain. Then Siu followed his wife into the room, and called out: “Mother, where are you? Here is your son Siu come back!” But his mother made no answer, so he opened her curtain, and saw her lying down, covered up with a blanket. She had been so troubled at the thought that her son was dead, that she had refused to eat, and had become quite ill. She would not believe that her son had really returned alive, and she said: “Do not try to deceive me; my son Siu is dead.” “I am indeed your son Siu, and I have come back alive and well!” “No,” she replied, “my son Siu is dead. Leave me alone; I have not long to live. Let me die in peace, and follow my son to the grave.”