s he had brought, while his wife sprinkled them with water from
the bamboo tube. And when they had filled the field, they returned
home, happy to think of the splendid cane they should have.

After seven days Aponitolau went back to the field to see if the
plants had lived, and he found that the leaves were already long and
pointed. This delighted him, and while he stood looking at it he grew
impatient and determined to use his magical power so that the cane
would grow very fast. In five days he again visited the field and
found that the stalks were tall and ready to chew. He hurried home
to tell Aponibolinayen how fast their plants had grown, and she was
proud of her powerful husband.

Now about this time Gaygayoma, who was the daughter of Bagbagak, a
big star, and Sinag, the moon, looked down from her home in the sky,
and when she saw the tall sugar-cane growing below, she was seized
with a desire to chew it. She called to her father, Bagbagak, and said:

"Oh, Father, please send the stars down to the earth to get some of
the sugar-cane that I see, for I must have it to chew."

So Bagbagak sent the stars down, and when they reached the bamboo fence
that was around the field they sprang over it, and each broke a stalk
of the cane and pulled some beans which Aponibolinayen had planted,
and the stems of these beans were of gold. Gaygayoma was delighted
with the things that the stars brought her. She cooked the beans with
the golden stems and spent long hours chewing the sweet cane. When
all that the stars brought was gone, however, she grew restless and
called to her father, the big star:

"Come, Father, and go with me to the place where the sugar-cane grows,
for I want to see it now."

Bagbagak called many stars to accompany him, and they all followed
Gaygayoma down to the place where the sugar-cane grew. Some sat
on the bamboo fence, while others went to the middle of the field,
and all ate as much as they wished.

The day following this, Aponitolau said to his wife:

"Aponibolinayen, I am going to the field to see if the bamboo fence
is strong, for the carabao will try to get in to eat our sugar-cane."

So he set out, and when he reached the field and began looking along
the fence to see if it was strong, he kept finding the stalks that
the stars had chewed, and he knew that someone had been there. He went
into the middle of the field, and there on the ground was a piece of
gold, and he said to himself:

"