I am so big that I can only hide in Pusat Tasek , and if I go anywhere else , all soft as I am now , the sharks and the dogfish will eat me . And if I go to Pusat Tasek , all soft as I am now , though I may be safe , I can never stir out to get my food , and so I shall die . ' Then he waved his legs and lamented . ` Listen , Pau Amma , ' said the Eldest Magician . ' I can not make you play the play you were meant to play , because you escaped me at the Very Beginning ; but if you choose , I can make every stone and every hole and every bunch of weed in all the seas a safe Pusat Tasek for you and your children for always . ' Then Pau Amma said , ` That is good , but I do not choose yet . Look ! there is that Man who talked to you at the Very Beginning . If he had not taken up your attention I should not have grown tired of waiting and run away , and all this would never have happened . What will he do for me ? ' And the Man said , ` If you choose , I will make a Magic , so that both the deep water and the dry ground will be a home for you and your children -- so that you shall be able to hide both on the land and in the sea . ' And Pau Amma said , ' I do not choose yet . Look ! there is that girl who saw me running away at the Very Beginning . If she had spoken then , the Eldest Magician would have called me back , and all this would never have happened . What will she do for me ? ' And the little girl-daughter said , ` This is a good nut that I am eating . If you choose , I will make a Magic and I will give you this pair of scissors , very sharp and strong , so that you and your children can eat cocoa-nuts like this all day long when you come up from the Sea to the land ; or you can dig a Pusat Tasek for yourself with the scissors that belong to you when there is no stone or hole near by ; and when the earth is too hard , by the help of these same scissors you can run up a tree . ' And Pau Amma said , ' I do not choose yet , for , all soft as I am , these gifts would not help me . Give me back my shell , O Eldest Magician , and then I will play your play . '
And the Eldest Magician said , ' I will give it back , Pau Amma , for eleven months of the year ; but on the twelfth month of every year it shall grow soft again , to remind you and all your children that I can make magics , and to keep you humble , Pau XXXXX ; for I see that if you can run both under the water and on land , you will grow too bold ; and if you can climb trees and crack nuts and dig holes with your scissors , you will grow too greedy , Pau Amma . '
Amma Magician Man Tasek cocoa-nuts day dogfish gifts girl-daughter nut