Where Animals Talk; West African Folk Lore Tales/Part 2/Tale 16
Tortoise, Dog, Leopard and the Njabi Fruit
Persons
| Njâ (Leopard) | Kudu (Tortoise) |
| Mbwa (Dog) | Inâni (A Bird) |
| And other Beasts | |
Note: Observe the cannibalism of the human-animals.
At first, all Animals were living in one region. Of these, Tortoise and Dog lived together in one place, and built a town by themselves. But, all the others, Leopard, Hippopotamus, Elephant, Ox, etc., lived together in another place.
After some time, a great famine fell on the part of the country where Tortoise and Dog lived; and they had to seek for any kind of food.
One day Tortoise said to Dog, "I'm going awalking into the forest." So, early at daybreak, he started off to seek for mushrooms. All those other Beasts that were living together had a kind of tree called Bojabi, bearing a very large heavy fruit called Njabi. And they had all agreed, "There are no other Animals, but our own companies, who shall eat of the fruit of this Tree." They were accustomed, whenever they had eaten of this fruit, to go to an adjacent prairie, to play.
So that day, on his journey, Tortoise happened to come to the foot of that Tree. The ripe fruit were falling from it, and quantities were lying on the ground. He exclaimed "Emĕ! (indeed!), Ibĕlĕ! (splendid), Emĕ! Abundance of food!" He gathered, and ate, and stayed a while gathering others, which he would carry back to his town.
While doing this, a fruit fell from the branch above, and struck him hard on the back. The blow hurt him; but he only said, "Ah! the back of an aged person!" (My back feels like that of an aged person.) This he said because of the pain it gave him; but he made no out-cry.
He had with him a bag, into which he put food on a journey. So, he filled it with the fruits, and resumed his journey to go back to his town. On his arrival at his house, his wife said to him, "Why did you delay so long?" He replied, "I found a Tree belonging to the Tribes-of-All-the-Beasts. Had they seen me, they would have killed me." And, he drew the fruits from the bag, and gave his wife and children, saying, "Eat ye!" But, he added, "While you eat of it, do not allow Mbwa to see it."
One of the children ran out into the street, with the fruit grasped in his hand. Just then, Dog happened to meet the child in the street, and asked him, "Who gave you this fruit, child of Kudu?" The child answered, "My father came from the forest, and brought this fruit with him." In the evening, when the day had darkened, Dog came and said to Tortoise, "My friend! you are a bad fellow; for, we live together in one place, and you do not share with me! Chum! is it possible that you eat such good things here? Where did you discover them?" Tortoise then gave Dog and his children a share. But, he was not willing to tell the place of that Tree. He evaded, by saying, "As I went, I forced my way through the jungle of the forest. But, I did not find any mushrooms; they are about done. Also, we are not allowed to go to the place where this fruit grows." So it went on for some time.
On another evening, Tortoise remarked, in conversation with Dog, that he would be going into the forest next day. Dog said nothing, but went back to his house, as if to sleep; while Tortoise remained in his house, and went to bed.
Tortoise had left his hunting-bag hanging in the public reception-room by his house. At night, Dog arose from his house, and slowly and stealthily went to the house of Tortoise, clear into that room. Entering it secretly, and finding the bag, he threw ashes into its mouth and then, with his knife, made holes in it at the lower end. For, he said to himself, "When Tortoise shall go out early, then I will follow him." Then he went back to his house, and laid down again.
When day-light began to break, early in the morning. Tortoise arose, took the bag, and started on a journey to that forest tree which belonged to the Beasts. As he went the ashes sifted through the holes in the bottom of the bag, and fell on the path. He finally arrived at the tree.
Dog also arose early, and found which way Tortoise had gone, by the dropping of the ashes; for, as he went, Dog was looking out for the marks on the way; and, following the signs, they clearly showed him the route, until he reached the tree, soon after Tortoise had arrived.
Tortoise exclaimed, "Ah! Chum! What have you come here to do? Who called you, you with your loud howling? Do you know who own this Tree? Can you endure if one of these fruits should fall down on you? For, if you cry out in pain, then the owners of this Tree will catch both you and me. If they seize me, who am Kudu, what shall I do? For, I, Kudu, do not know how to run rapidly." Then Dog said, "If they come to seize you, I will come to take you from their hands." At this, Tortoise laughed out aloud, "Those beasts of strength! When they seize me, you will come and take me from them? Really?"
Just then while they were thus speaking, two of the fruits fell on Tortoise's back, at the same time, with a thud, ndu! ndu! Though in pain, he only unconcernedly remarked, "The hardened skin of an aged person! Ah! the back of an old man!" and went on eating.
Dog exclaimed, "O! Chum! that big thing struck you, and you were able to refrain from crying!" Tortoise replied, "Wait till yours also!"
Presently a very small fruit thus fell, and hit Dog on the head. He howled lustily, "Ow! ow! ow! ow!" Tortoise said to him, "Did I not tell you so!"
There came down another fruit, and fell on Tortoise; he quietly disregarded it. Another then fell on Dog with a thump, ngomu! And he ran off howling, "mwâ! mwâ!"
All this while, Leopard had been up the Tree. It was he who had flung the fruit at Dog and Tortoise.
When Dog ran, Leopard instantly descended the Tree, and, disregarding Tortoise, chased Dog; but could not overtake him. Had he caught Dog, seizing him tightly, he would have killed him with one blow of his paw, ndi! and would have eaten him on the spot. While Leopard was away, Tortoise was in fear and did not know what to do, for he knew that he could not run from Leopard. A Bird whistled, "Pu! pu! pu! Chum Kudu, Hide! hide!" So Tortoise went into a hole at the base of the tree, and hid there.
Leopard, on his return, sought for Tortoise, but could not find him. So, he climbed the Tree again, and gathered his fruits, and went off towards the town of the Beasts. But, he met those Beasts coming; for, they had heard the howls of Dog, and had shouted at him, "He! e. e.! Wait for us! Don't be afraid!"
All those People-of-the-Tree came and gathered about its trunk. They searched; and presently they saw Tortoise. They exclaimed, "So! you are the one who eats for us the fruit of this tree! You shall die!"
They tied him, and took him with them to their town. There they suspended him from the roof of a house, saying, "To-morrow, you will be eaten!" Off at his town, the wife of Tortoise asked Dog, "Where is my husband?" Dog answered, "I think that the Tribes-of-all-the-Beasts have caught him." After a while, Dog, thinking, said to himself, "I remember my word that I said to Kudu, 'If they seize you, I will come to take you.'" So, Dog went and gathered shells of a very large snail named Kâ. He took a large number, pierced each one with a hole, and strung them all on a string. These he placed about his neck; and, as he went along, he wriggled his body, and the shells struck together like little bells. Then said he to himself, "The time is fulfilled for taking away my friend." So, he went rapidly to where the Tribes-of-the-Beasts had a spring for their drinking-water. Those Beasts had sent one of their lads to get water with which to cook Tortoise. The lad came to the spring. Dog jingled the shells; and, the lad ran back to town screaming, "There's some Thing at the spring, which kills!"
Then the Tribes sent a young man stronger than the lad, and said to him, "Go you, and get water at the spring." When the young man came near the spring, Dog jingled the shells, as before. And, the young man fled in fear. So, the people of the town said, "Let us all go to the spring together; for, that Thing can not hurt us all."
So they came to the spring. Dog seeing that all were coming, left the spring, and ran around to their town by another path, to take Tortoise away. Dog found Tortoise suspended by a rope. He bit through the rope, and, with Tortoise on his back, he ran rapidly to their town.
Those of the Tribes who first arrived at the spring, searched, inquiring, "Where is It? Where is It? Where is It?" Discovering nothing, they returned to the town. Then, they could not find Tortoise, And they said, "Let be! Kudu has slipped away."
One day after this, the wife of Dog and the wife of Tortoise went into the forest to their gardens to seek for food. And their children went out on the prairie, to play. Dog and Tortoise both remained in the town. Notwithstanding that Dog had saved his life, Tortoise was still angry at him for having spoiled their going to the Njabi Tree. Tortoise came to Dog's end of the town and said to him, "Let us shave our foreheads." Dog was pleased, and said, "Kudu, you first do me; then I will do you."
So Tortoise took the razor, and he shaved away Dog's front locks.
Then Tortoise said to Dog, "Let me shave also your neck." Dog bent down his head. Tortoise slashed the entire neck, cutting Dog's head off. And Dog fell down a corpse.
Tortoise cut up the body, and put the pieces in a kettle of water on the fire. Also, he gathered pepper pods, and ground them for the seasoning. He looked for salt, and saw it was up on top of a shelf. So, he took three chairs, putting them on top of one another, by which to climb up. As he was creeping up, the chairs fell over on the ground. As they fell, he tumbled also down, almost into the kettle of hot water, where were boiling the pieces of Dog. But, Tortoise scrambled away, and went off to his end of the town.
After a while the children of Dog came back from their play, and not finding their father in his house, they came to the house of his friend Tortoise, and asked, "Where is our father?" Tortoise replied, "As for me, where I was, I did not see him. When he went from here, who sent for him?"
When the two women returned, Dog's wife found, but did not recognize, the pieces of meat in her kettle. She wailed and mourned for him as dead. When, by the next day, the people of Dog did not find him, they said, "He is dead." But they suspected Tortoise. The wife of Tortoise also doubted him, and deserting him, returned to the house of her father. So, Tortoise left them all, and went to another place, fearing they would charge him with the death of Dog.