Songs and Stories

I am now as old as the days Of grandma's stories. But I remember the tales as the boy Who heard them. There were songs too, In ancient tongues. Grandma sang - O my old man! You who ate taro root And died, Eat pumpkin and come back. King's horse has a stiff tail. Are you riding a white horse? And she told me a story. A thief sneaked into her home, While she was weaving a loin-cloth For grandpa. It was late in the night and she was alone. Grandpa had prowled out at sundown To handle safety of the village, for He was the tiger-man of the hamlet. The thief was hiding behind the oil lamp, And grandma began telling the lamp about Grandpa's mighty paws and battles he won. And she continued her thread-work fearlessly. Listening to grandma, The intruder's heart began to pound in fear. He cursed his luck, silently, for his mistaken selection, A tiger's house. He tiptoed backward, and darted out, Leaping over my ancestral threshold like a fox Frightened by ghostly imaginations. Grandma smiled wisely, and began singing Another song, When she heard a tender roar approaching.