he beasts and birds and fishes and told them what to play at.

But towards evening, when people and things grow restless and tired,
there came up the Man (With his own little girl-daughter?)--Yes, with
his own best beloved little girl-daughter sitting upon his shoulder, and
he said, 'What is this play, Eldest Magician?' And the Eldest Magician
said, 'Ho, Son of Adam, this is the play of the Very Beginning; but you
are too wise for this play.' And the Man saluted and said, 'Yes, I am
too wise for this play; but see that you make all the Animals obedient
to me.'

Now, while the two were talking together, Pau Amma the Crab, who was
next in the game, scuttled off sideways and stepped into the sea, saying
to himself, 'I will play my play alone in the deep waters, and I will
never be obedient to this son of Adam.' Nobody saw him go away except
the little girl-daughter where she leaned on the Man's shoulder. And the
play went on till there were no more Animals left without orders; and
the Eldest Magician wiped the fine dust off his hands and walked about
the world to see how the Animals were playing.

He went North, Best Beloved, and he found All-the-Elephant-there-was
digging with his tusks and stamping with his feet in the nice new clean
earth that had been made ready for him.

'_Kun?_' said All-the-Elephant-there-was, meaning, 'Is this right?'

'_Payah kun_,' said the Eldest Magician, meaning, 'That is quite right';
and he breathed upon the great rocks and lumps of earth that
All-the-Elephant-there-was had thrown up, and they became the great
Himalayan Mountains, and you can look them out on the map.

He went East, and he found All-the-Cow-there-was feeding in the field
that had been made ready for her, and she licked her tongue round a
whole forest at a time, and swallowed it and sat down to chew her cud.

[Illustration: THIS is a picture of Pau Amma the Crab running away
while the Eldest Magician was talking to the Man and his Little Girl
Daughter. The Eldest Magician is sitting on his magic throne, wrapped up
in his Magic Cloud. The three flowers in front of him are the three
Magic Flowers. On the top of the hill you can see
All-the-Elephant-there-was, and All-the-Cow-there-was, and
All-the-Turtle-there-was going off to play as the Eldest Magician told
them. The Cow has a hump, because she was All-the-Cow-there-was; so she
had to have all there was for all the cows that were made afterwards.
Under the hill there a