How the man married the teleriko

[A Leriko is a fabulous being, which flew, had hair hundreds of yards long, body-hair like orange thorns ; in some cases a growth on ear or neck, which trail far behind as he walked. It had four eyes, two in front and two behind. The female is a Teleriko.]

A man saw a Teleriko asleep in a banyan-tree, he caught hold of her hair which , was hundreds of yards long, and tied it in four different directions. When the Teleriko awoke she tried to rise but could not, because he had fastened her hair. When she saw the man she said to him,

“ You strip away the rough hair from my body,” for her body was like orange thorns.

He hid her and went home, took a knife, a mat, petticoat, and paint, and brought them to her. He cut away her hair, gave her the petticoat, adorned her with paint, and said to her,

“You say just here, I am going to the house, and then together we will go home.”

He went to the house where the village people were preparing a yam pudding. They put it on the fire and when it was cooked he brought it in, squeezed coconut-cream on to it, and took it out to her, and they ate it together. While they were eating the men came and saw them. They came to look, and said,

“ Where did you get her from? It looks as if you have taken another man’s wife.”

He said, “Oh, no, it is my own wife.”

They said, “Where did you bring her from?”

He said, “ I brought her from the bush and he took her into his house as his wife.”