house, one cub caught hold of the hair, and said,—"Father, see him." They struggled until they seized the beard and pulled (it). Then the Hyæna herself pulled the hair, and pulled the son of the she-goat right out. Then the Goat[1] cried out loudly, and the Dog barked (made his crying) inside the store, and said,—"Seize the big one, seize the big one." Then the Hyæna fled to the bush. She was dropping. So the son of the she-goat put the Dog in the house, and said,—"This is your house," and then he, the son of the she-goat, went home. So the Dog obtained a house, he inherited (it). As for the Hyæna she did not again return to the house. That was the beginning of the enmity between the Dog and the Hyæna.
When the Hyaena comes at night, she cries thus: "See the pot of honey, see the pot of honey."
Then the puppies reply,—"Where? where? where? where?"
The Hyaena says,—"The Dog is my cousin, the Dog is my cousin."
But the father Dog replies,—"Get out (there), Get out; Get out. Get out."[2]
34. The Beginning of the enmity between Mouse and Man. (U. G.)
This is about a certain householder. In the middle of the night he got up and (began) cooking meat. Then the smell of the meat filled the hut. Thus the Mouse came from the thatch, (and) when he had come he espied [two toes] of the householder. The householder was there. He was cooking his meat. The Mouse was saying perhaps that is the meat. When he (Mouse) came, he snatched away the [two toes], and took them to his hole. He whose [toes] had been pulled off did not know (it). Then he took his meat off (the fire) and ate it. When he had finished eating his meat, he got on his bed to sleep, when he saw blood. . . . Then he saw he had [lost two toes], and said,—"What has done this?" So he lit a torch (and) searched, (and) saw the
- ↑ Hausa carelessness. The animal is called a he-goat, son of a she-goat, now goat. The pronouns also are wrong.
- ↑ The voice is made to rise and fall, and a good narrator can make the words sound very much like laughing and barking.
E
