There are several ideas attached to the derma: it may only be an offering to appease the gods; it may be merely something dedicated to a saint; it may be simply an offering of gratitude to the gods; it may be used toward off an evil spirit and bring prosperity on a Journey. In the present case the derma was to be used to ransom the life of the lama. With very little warning to the servant, the lama disappeared into the water, but before doing so he gave the servant the following instructions Something will happen to the ws ters. Do not get frightened, but Just pray this prayer:—"Dorma to the water, lama to the rock." After the lama' disappeared, the servant sat patiently waiting. Suddenly there was a wild commotion on the face of the stream, and a huge crocodile, with its mouth wide open, appeared before the servant. Walking up und down inside the crocodile's mouth, apparently _unperturbed, was the mule, with the load still on its back. To say the servant was scared is putting it mild: ly. He so far forgot himself as to forget his prayer, and instead of praying "derma to the water, lama to the Jand," he prayed "lama to the water, derma to the land," and, 40 saying, he threw the derma to the land. upset was the old hermit that he determined to take his life, as an evidence of his sincerity. "If what you say is true, I will descend to Nyalwa and there receive the punishment for my sin, but if what you say is not true, I shall become fan Incarnation, return to thi trict and destroy those who have deliberately spread this evil rumour" A few days later, the old hrermit's body The gos-8 then discovered what a mistake Humanly speaking, this was the end of the lama, a3 his servant unintentionally had drowned him. Waiting a considerable time and nothing further taking place, the servant decided to retire. Leading the horses up the side of the he continued his journey ba home. When just about passing the point where the mule fell into the river, a hurricane took hold of the servant and the two horses and together they also rolled into the stream. Thus in one day there took
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.