Page:Folklore1919.djvu/596

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230
Thirty-Two Folk-Tales of Nigeria.

and sent them to get wood. But a small tortoise came and took the bags and the man and all his sons came out. Then the tortoise told him to go away with all the meat; so he did and the tortoise put stones in the bags and a round calabash that was not dry.

So E. made a fire and put the bags on and sat on a rock to watch. He saw the bags burn and the round calabash burst; so he laughed and said: “The boy has burst”, then he sent his eldest son to see if the meat was done. Now E. has big teeth, and if he bites a stone he dies; so the boy bit a stone and died; and there were six left. And so it happened with all of them till the last one; he bit the calabash and said, “It’s done, but it’s bitter.” So E. came, put his teeth in a stone and died. But the last child left all and fled to another town.