"From time to time the woman looked back over her shoulder to make sure I was coming along all right. 'As you cross the log,' she said, 'Be sure not to look down. It is a long way down to the floor of the valley, and it would not be wise to make yourself dizzy by looking down.'

" 'Thank you.' Since it would not do to hold back, I tried to laugh at my fears and bravely mounted the log. It had notches cut into it, so as long as I was careful about what I was doing, I could walk across it even wearing clogs. Nevertheless, once I got up on the log it seemed to writhe and squirm like a living serpent. I cried out in alarm and fell down astride it.

" 'What a coward you are,' cried the woman. 'It is the clogs that are causing you all that trouble. Here, trade with me, wear my sandals. Come on, do as I say.'

"Somehow I had all along been aware of the tone of authority in this woman's bearing, and for better or for worse I felt compelled to do just as she said. Thus, I obediently changed sandals with her. But listen to what happened next. Wearing the clogs, she took me by the hand and led me up the path. Suddenly my body seemed weightless as I floated along behind her and before I knew it, there we were at the back door of the woman's shack. There we met the old man we had seen earlier.