There was once a Black Beetle who said to herself: "Why do I stay here? I'll go and visit the Mouse and marry him." She started off and began walking along the road, and on her way she came to an old camping-ground. There she found a piece of goat's-hair webbing and she put it on as side-locks, and the skin of an onion she made into a chader.

Thus adorned, she went on her way, and presently she saw a man coming along riding on a cow. He called to her: "Mistress Beetle, where are you going and where are you coming from?' "May you become a beetle!" cried she. "May you become mud! may you be lost off the face of the earth - that is no way to speak to me! They address me as 'Sister Nazi, onion-veil, webbing-locks, forty-plaits.'"

"Very good, Sister Nazi, onion-veil, webbing-locks, forty-plaits, where are you going and where have you come from?" She answered: "I'm going to Hamadan to marry Ramazan. I shall eat wheaten cakes and worry his beard." "Won't you come and go along with me, then?" said he. - "What will you mount me on?" "I'll mount you on my yellow cow," said he. - "It mustn't kick and buck, then, and break my delicate arms and legs." - "Oh, all right, don't come, then."

On went Sister Nazi, and on and on, and came to a certain place, and saw that a man was coming along riding on a mule. "Mistress Beetle, where have you been and where are you going?" asked he. "May you become a beetle!" cried she. "May you become mud! may you be lost off the face of the earth! Say: 'Sister Nazi, onion-veil, webbing-locks, forty-plaits, where are you coming from and where are you going to?'"

"Very well, Sister Nazi, onion-veil, webbing-locks, forty plaits, where are you coming from and where are you going to?" - "I'm going to Hamadan, I am going to marry Ramazan. I shall eat wheaten cakes and worry his beard." "Come along, I'll give you a mount and take you on your way," said the man. - "What will you mount me on?" - "On a mule." - "It mustn't kick and buck and break my delicate arms and legs." "Very well," said he, "you know best," and he rode on without her.

She went on and on till she came to the mark of a cow's hoof. By chance she fell into it, and however much she tried she couldn't get up out of it again. Just then some mounted men came riding along past her, and she called out: "O sowars, you who are riding along, I hear the clatter of your horses' hoofs, and there is a greyhound with you - say to the Mouse, say to the Mouse with two teeth, say to the Terror of the Flourbag: 'Sister Nazi, onion-veil, webbing-locks, forty-plaits has fallen into a pit, come and get her out.'"

The sowars said: "Very good," and rode on, and they came to the Mouse's hole and told him all about it. Master Mouse set out to the rescue, and came to the place and saw Sister Nazi lying at the bottom of a pit. "Give me your hand," said he. - "You mustn't break my arm." "Give me your leg, then," said he. - "You mustn't break my leg."

"Very well," said he, "then catch hold of my tail with your hand and climb up to the top." She did so, and he said to her: "Get up and ride on my tail." She mounted his tail and they went on towards Hamadan.

"Now wait here, my dear," said Master Mouse, "while I go on to find some food and bring it back, so that we may have something to live on." "Off with you," said she. But Master Mouse remained away for several days. Now Mistress Ant was in that neighbourhood, and he said to her: "O Ant, won't you marry me?" "No," said she. Somehow or other, however, he got her consent at last, and took her as his wife. Then he said: "Wife, you just stay here where you are till I come back." "Very well," said she.

When he came home again, Mistress Beetle got very angry. She said: "You went off and married a wife." But he took oath, saying: "If I have married a wife may this head of mine be pulled off, and may a dog eat you!" For all he could say, however, she wouldn't believe him, and she went off and flung herself into a puddle of water and drowned herself.

When Master Mouse came back he saw that Sister Nazi, onion-veil, webbing-locks, forty-plaits had thrown herself into a water-hole and was drowned. Then he went off to keep his appointment with Mistress Ant. He took some sheep's trotters with him, and brought them and put them in a big pot on the fire, and said: "Wife, Companion of my Nights and Days, don't take the lid off this pot till I come back." With that he went off and was a long time in returning.

Mistress Ant, seeing that her husband hadn't come, went and lifted the lid off the pot, but then as she was trying to take out the trotters she herself fell in and was drowned, and her body was swollen up with the water. Master Mouse came back presently, and not seeing his wife, said: "Mistress Ant isn't here. I'll just take out my share of the trotters and eat it." Then he went to the pot, and there he found Mistress Ant all swollen up with the water.

He beat his head and said: "Dust on the head of the Mouse! The water has killed Mistress Ant." Then he went off and came under a tree. "What's the matter with you?" said the tree, and he replied:

"Dust on the head of the Mouse, The water has killed Mistress Ant."

Thereupon the tree shed its leaves. A crow came and alighted on the tree, and said: "O tree, what's the matter with you?" The tree replied:

"The tree has shed its leaves, Dust on the head of the Mouse, The water has killed Mistress Ant."

Thereupon the crow moulted all his feathers and went to a spring to drink water. The spring inquired: "O crow, every day you have come here with feathers on, what's the matter with you to-day?" The crow replied:

"The crow has moulted, The tree has shed its leaves, Dust on the head of the Mouse, The water has killed Mistress Ant."

Then the spring became all bloody. Some ibex came to the spring and saw that it was all red. "O spring," they asked, "what is the matter with you? We have come here every day, and you have been nice and clear, but to-day we see that you have become all bloody." The spring replied:

"The spring has become all bloody,

The crow has moulted,

The tree has shed its leaves,

Dust on the head of the Mouse,

The water has killed Mistress Ant."

The ibex did not drink the water; they each dropped one horn and then went off to graze and came to Master Hare. "Why have you become like this?" asked he, and they replied:

"The ibex have each dropped a horn, The spring has become all bloody, The crow has moulted, The tree has shed its leaves, Dust on the head of the Mouse, The water has killed Mistress Ant."

Then the hare cut off his tail and went and lay down among the corn. An old man came up and saw the hare with his tail cut off. "Master Hare," said he, "every day when you came among the corn you had a tail. To-day I see you have none; what has happened?" The hare replied:

"The hare has cut off his tail, The ibex have each dropped a horn, The spring has become all bloody, The crow has moulted,

The tree has shed its leaves, Dust on the head of the Mouse, The water has killed Mistress Ant."

The old man stuck a spade through his body and went off to his house. His wife was going along the road to get a griddle from her neighbours, and she saw the old man coming towards her. "Grandfather," said she, "what on earth's the meaning of this? What game are you playing at? Why have you stuck the spade through your body?" He replied:

"Grandpa has stuck a spade through his body,

The hare has cut off his tail,

The ibex have each dropped a horn,

The spring has become all bloody,

The crow has moulted,

The tree has shed its leaves,

Dust on the head of the Mouse,

The water has killed Mistress Ant."

Then the wife threw the griddle round her neck and went into the house. The people in the house said: "Woman, have you gone mad? Why have you thrown the griddle round your neck?" She replied:

"Auntie has thrown the griddle round her neck,

Grandpa has stuck a spade through his body,

The hare has cut off his tail,

The ibex have each dropped a horn,

The spring has become all bloody,

The crow has moulted,

The tree has shed its leaves,

Dust on the head of the Mouse,

The water has killed Mistress Ant."

Then these people too got up and they pulled down the house and ran away, and they came to see the corpse of Mistress Ant, and raised great mourning and lamentation, and they buried her to the sound of music and of drums.

Then every one went straight off on his own way, and they became wanderers on the face of the earth out of grief for Mistress Ant.