Note 81 — FICTION (continued 4)

At this moment he heard the old man cry out. Running to him at once, he found that the man whom he called friend, the old widow’s grandson, had already taken flesh from the legs and thighs of the old man. There he stood with his flint knife, ready to cut off more flesh, saying, “I do not know where to take off the next piece of flesh,” when Hodadeñon came into the room. The latter at once declared, “My friend, you agreed when we parted last that if you would eat human flesh you would first kill the person before eating him, and you have not kept your word.”81 The other man defiantly replied, “Let us go out and fight to decide who shall rule.” At once they went out, and they began to fight, going westward as they struggled, and soon disappeared in the woods. The young woman heard their cries and groans for several days. Killing the dog, she tried out its fat, and when the 10 days had passed and she heard them coming back toward the lodge she heated the fat and had it ready.