." Thus spake the foxes. Thus does it come about that all men,
both Japanese and Aino, worship the fox. So it is said.--(Translated
literally. Told by Ishanashte, 15th July, 1886.)

x.--_The Man who Married the Bear-Goddess._

There was a very populous village. It was a village having both plenty
of fish and plenty of venison. It was a place lacking no kind of food.
Nevertheless, once upon a time, a famine set in. There was no food, no
venison, no fish, nothing to eat at all; there was a famine. So in that
populous village all the people died.

Now the village chief was a man who had two children, a boy and a girl.
After a time, only those two children remained alive. Now the girl was
the older of the two, and the boy was the younger. The girl spoke thus:
"As for me, it does not matter even if I do die, since I am a girl. But
you, being a boy, can, if you like, take up our father's inheritance. So
you should take these things with you, use them to buy food with, eat
it, and live." So spoke the girl, and took out a bag made of cloth, and
gave it to him.

Then the boy went out on to the sand, and walked along the sea-shore.
When he had walked on the sand for a long time, he saw a pretty little
house a short way inland. Near it was lying the carcase of a large
whale. The boy went to the house, and after a time entered it. On
looking around, he saw a man of divine appearance. The man's wife, too,
looked like a goddess, and was dressed altogether in black raiment. The
man was dressed altogether in speckled raiment. The boy went in, and
stood by the door. The man said to him: "Welcome to you, whencesoever
you may have come." Afterwards a lot of the whale's flesh was boiled,
and the boy was feasted on it. But the woman never looked towards him.
Then the boy went out and fetched his parcel, which he had left outside.
He brought in the bag made of cloth which had been given to him by his
sister, and opened its mouth. On taking out and looking at the things
inside it, they were found to be very precious treasures. "I will give
you these treasures in payment for the food," said the boy, and gave
them to that divine-looking man-of-the-house. The god, having looked at
them, said: "They are very beautiful treasures." He said again: "You
need not have paid me for the food. But I will take these treasures of
yours, carry them to my [other] house, and bring you my own treasures in
exchange for them. As for this whale's flesh, you c