what to do, and thought that surely they could mean him no
ill. And seeing the fresh caught eels and crabs on the plate before
him, he ate a little of them. His wife gave him a reproachful glance,
and he offered some excuse for taking his leave.

But his mother-in-law said: "This is my birthday. You simply must
taste my birthday noodles!"

With that she placed a great dish before him, filled with noodles that
looked like threads of silver, mingled with fat meat, and spiced with
fragrant mushrooms. During all the time he had been living in the
country the son-in-law had never yet seen such an appetizing dish. Its
pleasant odor rose temptingly to his nostrils, and he could not resist
raising his chop-sticks. His wife glanced over at him, but he
pretended that he did not see her.

She coughed significantly, but he acted as though he did not hear.
Finally she trod on his foot under the table; and then he regained
control of himself.

He had not as yet eaten half of the food and said: "My hunger is
satisfied."

Then he took leave, and went off with his wife.

"This is a serious matter," said the latter. "You would not listen to
my words, and now you will surely have to die!"

But still he did not believe her, until he suddenly felt terrible
pains, which soon grew unbearable, so that he fell to the ground
unconscious. His wife at once hung him up by the feet from the beam of
the roof, and put a panful of glowing charcoal under his body, and a
great jar of water, into which she had poured sesame oil, in front of
the fire, directly below his mouth. And when the fire had heated him
thoroughly, he suddenly opened his mouth--and can you imagine what
came out of it? A squirming, crawling mass of poisonous worms,
centipedes, toads and tadpoles, who all fell into the jar of water.
Then his wife untied him, carried him to bed, and gave him wine
mingled with realgar to drink. Then he recovered.

"What you ate in the belief that they were eels and crabs," said his
wife, "were nothing but toads and tadpoles, and the birthday noodles
were poisonous worms and centipedes. But you must continue to be
careful. My parents know that you have not died, and they will think
up other evil plans."

A few days later his father-in-law said to him: "There is a large tree
growing on the precipice which juts over the cave. In it is the nest
of the phenix. You are still young and able to climb, so go there
quickly and fetch me the eggs!"

H