was
the matter with his head. Nobody would buy his meat. Nobody cared to
deal with him in earnest, and all his meat decayed.

He went home in despair, and planned to take vengeance on his nephew
for the mischief he had done him. He cast the little orphan into
a big sack, and sewed the mouth of the little prison all up. Then
he said that at night he would take the sack and throw it into the
river. However, Juan managed to get out of the bag, and in his place
he put a muzzled dog. When night came, the uncle shouldered the bag,
took it to the river, and hurled it into the deep water. He hoped
that Juan would perish there, and that he himself could gain full
possession of his nephew's money.

But when morning came, Uncle Diego saw Juan smilingly enter the door
of his house. "Juan," said the uncle, "I am surprised to see you
again. Tell me all about how you managed to escape from the sack."

"Oh, no, Uncle!" returned Juan, "I haven't time; there is not a moment
to lose. I have only come here to bid you good-by."

"And where are you going?"

"Back to the bottom of the river. My love, the Sirena, [68] is waiting
for me."

"O Juan!" pleaded the uncle, "if I could only go with you!"

"No, no, no!" protested the boy. "Only one can go at a time. The
Sirena would be angry, and she would consequently refuse to admit to
her glorious habitation any being from this outside world."

"Then let me go first!"

"No, no, no!" said the boy.

But the uncle pleaded so earnestly, that finally the boy yielded with
pretended reluctance. The uncle then covered himself with a rice-sack,
and Juan tied the mouth of the bag securely. "I will fool him," Uncle
Diego said to himself. "When I am under the water and the Sirena
takes me to her house to become her husband, I shall never come back
to Juan. Ha, ha, ha!"

"I will fool him," Juan said to himself. "There is no such thing as
the Sirena in the river. Thank God, my dreadful uncle will soon be
disposed of!" At midnight Juan hurled his happy uncle into the river,
saying, "There is no one who owes that must not pay his debt. [69]
May my act be justified!"

The heavy sack sank to the bottom of the river, and nothing more was
heard of Uncle Diego.

Notes.

Two other variants, which were collected by Mr. Rusk, and which I
have only in abstract, run about as follows:--

Juan the Ashes-Trader.--Juan, a poor dealer in ashes, was in the woods
when he heard some robbers coming, and climbe