Skeleton Woman

A woman is driven into the sea by her village, and she drowns. The fish eat her flesh away, and the water washes her to and fro, until she is nothing but a bunch of polished bones, a skeleton turned over and over in the currents.

One day, a fisherman casts his net out in the water, waits a while, then pulls up a catch of seaweed and flotsam, some fish, and a bunch of bones. Seeing them, he gets frightened and runs back to his home. In his haste, he doesn't notice that the net is caught around him, and he's dragging the whole kit and kaboodle home with him.

Once he gets home to his fire, he calms down a bit and even feels a little foolish. He sorts out the fish he's caught in the net and places the bones in a pile. After awhile, he organizes the bones and sees he's got a whole skeleton there, so he puts it all together, chanting like a mother to a child, "Oh, na, na, na." (This is one of the places you beat the drum.)

As soon as she's together, however, the Skeleton Woman demands that he put a blanket over her, because she's very cold. He says, "I don't have to do any such thing! I could just throw you back in the sea!"

But after a bit, he gets her a blanket.

The she demands something to eat. He says, "I could just throw you back in the sea!" But, after a bit, he gets her something to eat.

Night falls, and he gets into his bed and falls asleep. Deep in the night, he dreams, and a single tear peeps out from the corner of his eye. The Skeleton Woman sees the tear and drags herself over to his bed. She drinks the tear (drink! drink! drink!).

In the morning, the fisherman wakes up, and there in his home is a lovely young woman, and they live together after that.

There's an animated version of this story here. For more versions, just Google it.