After the tortoise heard their names, they started crying and begging for mercy from their father, and the father vowed that the tortoise would marry them, although they were not willing because Mr. Tortoise was very ugly.

As you may remember, the seven girls had refused many men’s proposals because the men did not know their names.

After every one else had tried and failed, tortoise announced one day that he intended to find out a girls’ names. Every body laughed at him, but tortoise was very clever, and soon made a plan.

The sisters usually took a certain road when they were out in to the forest play. Tortoise killed an old bearded he-goat, took off the beard, and stuck it on the axe with gum from a gum tree.

He put the axe in the path leading to the forest where the girls used to pass as they went to play, and then hid in the bush near the path.

When the eldest sister who came first saw the axe, she was terrified and called out to the next sister by her name, "Ola, I have seen something strange”, she called onto the third sister, who in turn called the fourth by her name, the sixth until the seventh.

By this time tortoise had mastered all their names, and went to the girls’ father and said that he had come to claim the sisters as his wives, because he knew their names.

When the sisters who had refused to marry many fine men, saw this very ugly man, they laughed scornfully; but it turned out that by the time Mr. Tortoise had finished mentioning their names, they were almost in tears.

They begged their father not to hand them over to such an ugly husband, but he replied that they had foolishly said that they would only marry the man who knew their names. With great weeping the seven sisters went to live with their new husband.

Ends