Atondido Stories
by a crafty trick and I will then be looked upon as a great warri-
or, the foremost in all the land, for all the Chief's men have failed
to find the giants."
So he went to the Chief and said, "Oh, Chief, I know where
the giants live and I swear to you that I am going to kill them. It
is I alone who can rid you of these pests." "You!" said the Chief in
great surprise; "little harm the like of you can do to giants; they
will eat you up in one mouthful," and he laughed loudly at Rab-
bit's boldness. And he called to his warriors saying, "See what a
stout fighter we have here! Little Rabbit says he can do what we
have failed to do; he swears that he will kill the giants; he is
better fitted to kill a mouse!" And they all laughed loud haw-
haws at Rabbit's vanity.
Poor Rabbit's pride was deeply hurt by the Chief's scorn and
the warriors' cruel laughter, but it all made him more deter-
mined than ever to slay the thieving giants. So he went to an old
woman who lived near-by and said, "Give me an old faded dress
and a ragged old shawl and your coloured spectacles and a hat
with a feather in it." The old woman wondered what tricks he
was up to now, but she gave him what he asked for. He put on
the tattered old dress and the battered old hat with a red feather
sticking from the top, and he wrapped the old shawl about his
face, and he wore the woman's coloured spectacles and he car-
ried a crooked stick. And dressed in this fashion he set out to-
wards evening for the giants' home. When he reached the mouth
of the cave, he stood still and waited, leaning on his crooked
stick, for night was coming on and he knew that the giants
would soon be going out on their plundering rounds.
After a time when it was quite dark except for the moonlight,
the giant's old witch wife came out of the cave. When she saw
Rabbit in the dim light she said gruffly, "Who are you, standing
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