Then he began to hit her with the iron hammer and pinch her with the iron clamps.
Dangbo..o..o Dingbo..o..o.. there was a solitary house on a hill, surrounded by ruins. Many, many years ago an entire village had been devastated by an epidemic and most of the inhabitants had either died or moved away. The vacant houses soon succumbed to the ravages of age and weather and now all that was left were bleak and crumbling ruins. Paydon and her brother lived in that solitary and desolate house. One day the brother had to go on a journey for a few days so he said, “I will not be home for some days. Don’t forget to feed the rooster well and he will be a good companion to you.” The girl fed the rooster every day but one day she forgot to feed it. That evening when it became dark the rooster dipped its wings in water and sprinkled water on the fire and put it out. So Paydon had to go and search for fire.
Paydon walked through the forest for a long time and eventually she saw smoke rising at the far end of the forest. She followed the smoke and at last reached a shed where an old woman with an enormous goiter was sitting beside a flickering fire, spinning wool. Paydon approached the old woman and asked her for some fire. The old woman immediately withdrew a piece of burning wood from the fire and gave it to her. But as Paydon turned to go the old woman slipped a roll of yak-hair yarn into the fold of the sheep skin that Paydon was wearing on her back. The old woman held onto the end of the woolen yarn. Unaware, Paydon walked home and the yarn began to unravel. The old woman waited for a while and then followed the yarn. As she walked on she rolled the yarn into a ball. At the end of the yarn was Paydon’s house.
The old woman reached the house soon after Paydon had prepared her night meal. Pleased with the unusual company Paydon gladly shared her food with the visitor. After the meal she took out some wool and began to card and clean it. But very soon she noticed something very curious about the old woman. The size of the goiter seemed to alter with the intensity of the fire. Every time the fire blazed the goiter grew smaller, and as soon as the fire diminished and flickered the goiter began to swell. Paydon shivered in fear for she had heard of the ghost with the water goiter. Paydon knew that she must not sleep. She would have to feed the fire continuously to save herself. If the fire were to dwindle, the woman’s goiter would swell and burst, splashing out water and in the darkness she would devour her victim. Paydon brought out a big basket of wool and worked on it to keep herself awake. She began to heap up logs of wood on the fire and kept it burning furiously. Soon her stock of wood was exhausted and as the last log burned slowly and shadows played on the walls, the goiter grew bigger and bigger. Poor Paydon thought hopelessly, “It’s going to burst any moment now,” when they were both startled with the sudden call of the rooster, “Cockerico, cockerico, cockerico,” and the old woman left, for she knew that dawn was breaking.
The next day Paydon carried in all the firewood she had and she was well prepared to meet her adversary. She made the evening meal and before she could eat it the old woman was in front of her. She unflinchingly shared her meal with the woman and then she took out a huge container of dried beans and began to shell them. She fed the fire lavishly, so that it crackled and rose high above the stove. The old woman’s goiter never grew bigger than an egg. She sat to the side of the stove irate and resentful watching Paydon with big eyes. When the rooster called she got up abruptly and shuffled out of the house without a word.
Thoroughly distressed, Paydon wondered how she could get enough firewood for the night. At the most she could carry home one load from the forest far away. She anxiously looked at the sun and the shadows for indications of time and as the sun touched the western mountain ranges all she could do was call upon her deities and collect the old bamboo fences around her house. She knew that these would burn brightly for a short while and quickly be reduced to ashes. So when her brother walked into the house a day earlier than he was expected back, she was sure it was her deities who had heeded her calls. She quickly told him all about the ghost with the goiter.
The brother calmly set about preparing to meet the visitor. He found two hammers, one of wood and the other of iron. He sorted out an old leather bag and a new leather bag from among the bags in the house. Finally he found a pair of wooden clamps and a pair of iron clamps. As darkness fell the old woman came into the house resolutely for she had made up her mind to eat Paydon at any cost. On seeing the brother in the house she angrily stormed, “Who has dared to eat before me?”
“I have,” replied the brother.
“Who wishes to challenge me?”
“I dare to challenge you,” quipped the brother.
“How shall we test our powers?” asked the old woman, her voice trembling with passion.
So the brother gave the wooden hammer, the wooden clamps, and the old leather bag to the old woman. But he kept for himself the iron hammer, the iron clamps, and the new leather bag. Then he got into the old bag. “Now you can tie me up in the leather bag. While I am in the bag you can try to kill me with the hammer and the clamps. But if I can get out of the leather bag then I will tie you up in the leather bag and try to kill you,” he explained.
Trembling with rage and frothing at the mouth from continuous incomprehensible mutterings and mumblings, the old woman tied him up in the bag. Then she began to hit him with the hammer and pinch him with the clamps. But as the bag was so old it soon tore and the brother got out.
“Now it’s your turn to get into the bag,” said the brother.
The old woman, full of apprehension, reluctantly got into the bag. The brother tied the mouth of the bag securely. Then he began to hit her with the iron hammer and pinch her with the iron clamps. As the leather bag was new and strong, she could not get out, however hard she struggled. The old woman was not only hurt by the hammering and the pinching but also suffocating in the bag and she cried out hysterically. “Nga pagung di nang la shi gi duo Nga pagung di nang la shi gi du (I am dying in this leather bag. I am dying in this leather bag)” and indeed, she died. The brother and his sister could then live happily and in peace.