'We will go together,' Djun said to the orphans, and the three set off
at once to the house of the chief. Inside, there was a crowd of people,
except for an empty space round the fire where lay the chief and his
daughter. The shaman sat down between them and worked all the spells she
knew, but they grew no better. Then she rose and walked through the
people in the room, and when she had looked at each one she said to the
chief:
'The witch that is killing you two is not here.'
As soon as the people heard that, they left the house and brought in
those of the villagers who had not come before, for there was not room
for a very great number. For the second time Djun went among them and
examined them, and then she repeated:
'The witch is not yet here.' But the spirits, which showed her what
others could not see, opened her eyes, and after a moment she spoke
again.
'The road of the witch is very clear now; it runs straight to this
house.' After that she waited in silence, and the people were silent
also. At last they heard a bird whistling in the woods at the back, and
the shaman said:
'She is coming now; open the door and let her in,' and they flung the
door wide, and there flew in a wild canary.
'Go and sit between the two sick persons,' said Djun, and the canary
fluttered towards them, making such a noise with her wings that they
were frightened and shrank away from her. And the shaman desired a man
to tie the bird's wings to her side so that she might be still. Next a
rolling sound such as thunder makes a long way off filled the air.
'Here come her children,' cried the shaman. 'Stop all the holes so that
they may not enter, for they are very angry.' But though the holes were
stopped, there were cracks in the boards, and the birds flew in through
the cracks till the house became full of them, and the noise was
deafening. They flew round and round among the people, and whosoever
they touched received a cut or a bruise. Suddenly--no one knew how--they
all vanished, and not a bird was left in the room save the one which was
tied.
* * * * *
Hours had passed since the shaman first came to the house, and it was
now morning. The canary never ceased making a noise all that time, and
at last the shaman said:
'She wants to go to the place where she has put the food and the locks
of hair with which she is bewitching the chief and his daughter. Untie
her wings and let her do as she will, but be careful to follow her.' So
they untied her wings, and the canary flew out of the house followed by
four men, and she hopped ahead of them the way she had come through the
woods.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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