Next morning she went as usual to the cave , and sang her little song , but no Djulung came to answer it ; twice and thrice she sang , then threw herself on her knees by the edge , and peered into the dark water , but the trees cast such a deep shadow that her eyes could not pierce it . ` Djulung can not be dead , or his body would be floating on the surface , ' she said to herself , and rising to her feet she set out homewards , feeling all of a sudden strangely tired . ` What is the matter with me ? ' she thought , but somehow or other she managed to reach the hut , and threw herself down in a corner , where she slept so soundly that for days no one was able to wake her . At length , one morning early , a cock began to crow so loud that she could sleep no longer and as he continued to crow she seemed to understand what he was saying , and that he was telling her that Djulung was dead , killed and eaten by her sisters , and that his bones lay buried under the kitchen fire . Very softly she got up , and took up the large stone under the fire , and creeping out carried the bones to the cave by the fountain , where she dug a hole and buried them anew . And as she scooped out the hole with a stick she sang a song , bidding the bones grow till they became a tree -- a tree that reached up so high into the heavens that its leaves would fall across the sea into another island , whose king would pick them up . As there was no Djulung to give her rice to , the girl soon became fat again , and as she was able to do her work as of old , her sisters did not trouble about her . They never guessed that when she went into the forest to gather her sticks , she never failed to pay a visit to the tree , which grew taller and more wonderful day by day . Never was such a tree seen before . Its trunk was of iron , its leaves were of silk , its flowers of gold , and its fruit of diamonds , and one evening , though the girl did not know it , a soft breeze took one of the leaves , and blew it across the sea to the feet of one of the king 's attendants . ` What a curious leaf ! I have never beheld one like it before . I must show it to the king , ' he said , and when the king saw it he declared he would never rest until he had found the tree which bore it , even if he had to spend the rest of his life in visiting the islands that lay all round . Happily for him , he began with the island that was nearest , and here in the forest he suddenly saw standing before him the iron tree , its boughs covered with shining leaves like the one he carried about him . ` But what sort of a tree is it , and how did it get here ? ' he asked of the attendants he had with him . No one could answer him , but as they were about to pass out of the forest a little boy went by , and the king stopped and inquired if there was anyone living in the neighbourhood whom he might question . ` Seven girls live in a hut down there , ' replied the boy , pointing with his finger to where the sun was setting . ` Then go and bring them here , and I will wait , ' said the king , and the boy ran off and told the sisters that a great chief , with strings of jewels round his neck , had sent for them .
Pleased and excited the six elder sisters at once followed the boy , but the youngest , who was busy , and who did not care about strangers , stayed behind , XXXXX finish the work she was doing .
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