hich a large python was curled.

"Come down," said the Pig, "and I will kill you."

"I cannot come down to-day. I am set here to watch the King's girdle.
Look at it," he said, pointing to the Python. "Is it not pretty? I have
never seen such a handsome waist-belt before."

"It is beautiful," said the Pig. "How I should like to wear it for one
day!"

"So you may," said the Mouse-deer, "but be careful and do not spoil it."

So the foolish Pig entangled himself in the folds of the Python, who
soon crushed him to death and ate him for his dinner, and the clever
Mouse-deer escaped, having outwitted his enemies.

CHAPTER XII

OMENS AND DREAMS

The Dyak is conscious of his ignorance of the laws which govern the
world in which he lives. He feels his weakness and the need of some
guidance from unseen powers. He has no knowledge of God and the
revelation He has made in the Bible, and so he has devised for himself a
system of omens.

There are seven birds in Borneo whose native names are: _Katupong_,
_Beragai_, _Kutok_, _Embuas_, _Nendak_, _Papau_ and _Bejampong_. These
are supposed to reveal to the Dyaks the will of the great god Singalang
Burong. These birds are beautiful in plumage, but, like most tropical
birds, they have little song, and their calls are shrill and piercing.
They are supposed to be the seven sons-in-law of Singalang Burong, and
the legend which tells of how the Dyaks came to know them and to listen
to their cries is given in Chap. XIV. ("The Story of Siu").

The system of bird omens as carried out by the Dyaks, is most
complicated, and the younger men have constantly to ask the older ones
how to act when contradictory omens are heard. The law and observance of
omens occupy a great share of the thoughts of the Dyak.

Some idea of the method in which the Dyaks carry out their system of
omens may be learned from what is done at the beginning of the yearly
rice farming. Some man who has the reputation of being fortunate, and
has had large paddy crops, will be the augur, and undertake to obtain
omens for a large area of land, on which he and others intend to plant.
This man begins his work some time before the Dyaks begin clearing the
ground of jungle and high grass. He will have to hear the cry of the
_Nendak_, the _Katupong_ and the _Beragai_, all on his left. If these
cries come from birds on his right, they are not propitious. He goes
forth in the early morning, and wanders about the jungle