Where Animals Talk; West African Folk Lore Tales/Part 2/Tale 19
The Deceptions of Tortoise
Persons
| Njâ (Leopard) | Mbâmâ (Boa) |
| Kudu (Tortoise) | Ngando (Crocodile) |
| Ngâmbi (Igwana) | With Men, A Woman, and Child |
NOTE
A portion of this Tale seems to be a version of No. 12.
Leopard and Tortoise built together a large town. Leopard said to Tortoise, "I will live with you, but I shall not be able to eat with you; for, I am a great man, and I eat alone."
Some time after this, Tortoise went away, and married a wife. One day, his wife being hungry, he went off into the forest to seek food for her. And he found mushrooms. He gathered them; took them and returned with them to the town. There he said to his wife, "Eat!" and she ate.
Some time after this, the woman was about to become a mother. And, on another day. Tortoise went again into the forest to find food for his wife. As before, he gathered mushrooms. But, when he brought them to his wife, she said to him, "I don't like these things; the same every day!"
So, Tortoise went off again to seek food in the forest. He came near a strange town, and heard voices of Mankind talking. In fear, he hid himself, and watched what would happen. He observed that there were Men going off into the forest, with implements of search for wild animals. He saw them, but kept himself closely hidden.
When they had gone, he came out of his hiding, and went into one of these houses of Men, and sat down there. Then he walked into the rooms. On the shelves of the kitchen, he saw a large quantity of wild meat drying. He took of that meat, and went away with it to his own town.
He found on his arrival that his wife had already borne her child, the little tortoise. When Tortoise showed her the meat, she asked him, "Where did you get all this meat?" He replied evasively, "You told me to get you meat; so I went; and I have come with it." The woman was glad, and said, "Do so every day!"
So, another time. Tortoise again went off into the forest. And he came to the town of those Men. They were not there; for, they had gone off on their hunting. He went again into their house; took of their meat, and returned to his place. On giving the food to his wife, he said to her, "Do not show Njâ this meat!"
After this, little Tortoise grew, and began to go by itself, walking about the town. Tortoise told the child, "Do not show Njâ the things you eat." But, the child did not obey. One day, it went off toward Leopard's house, having in its hand the flesh of the wild animal it was eating. Tortoise saw his child going and called him back, but, he ran rapidly away to Leopard's; who, seeing the child with food in its hand, cried out, "Come here!" Leopard took hold of the child's hand to see what meat he was eating, and said to him, "Your father has no gun; where does he get all this meat?" The child was silent, not knowing whence the meat came, and did not answer; and he returned to his father's house.
So, Leopard said to himself, "Kudu and I must have a talk." He told his wife to make ready their food. She did so. Then he told one of his children, "Go! call Kudu to come and eat with me." The child went and told as he was bidden. Tortoise sent word, "I can't come." His wife, however, said to him, "Go!" Tortoise objected to her, saying, "I'm afraid of that man!" Still his wife said to him, "Go!" So, he went.
Leopard set out the food that had been prepared. Then he asked Tortoise, "Where did you get the meat which I saw with your child?" Tortoise replied, "I picked it up." Leopard said, "No! don't tell lies!" They changed the conversation, and went on eating. When they were done, Tortoise went back to his house.
Next day, Leopard said to his people, "I'm going to visit Kudu." So he went, and entered into the house of the wife of Tortoise. There he saw much dried wild meat. He exclaimed, "O! Kudu! you told me falsely! You and I living in the same town, can't you let me know what happens?"
Then Leopard went back to his house. That evening he said to his children, "Go to the house of Kudu. If you see a hunting-bag hanging there, take hold of it; with a knife pierce holes in the bottom; and fill the bag with ashes." They did so, putting in much ashes. They returned to their father, and told him what they had done. He replied, "Very good!"
That night. Tortoise said to his wife, "Tomorrow, I shall not go out hunting." But, she said, "Yes! Go! and kill me some animal." So, he consented.
Then day began to break. Tortoise went into the entrance-room; thence he took his hunting-bag; but, in the dark of the morning, he saw nothing wrong about it. And he went on his way.
Soon, also, Leopard came out of his house; and, going to the house of Tortoise, he inquired, "Kudu is in the house?" The wife of Tortoise from her bed-room, replied, "Kudu is not here." Then Leopard went into the entrance-room of Tortoise; and looking about, he saw that the bag was not there. So, he followed after Tortoise; and, as he walked, he looked out for marks of the ashes. He followed, and he followed; and finally overtook Tortoise.
Tortoise, as soon as he saw Leopard coming, said to him, "I'm going back to town!" Leopard asked, "Why? Don't go! Why do you go?" Tortoise, remembering his having said he was "a great man," answered, "Because you are proud." But, Leopard insisted, "No! go on where you were going." So, Tortoise consented, "Well, let us go!"
They went, and came to the town of Men. And they found that the men were gone off into the forest. Tortoise observed that the house was closed and locked. Leopard said to him, "Open the house!" But Tortoise replied, "You, Njâ you open the house!" But, Leopard said, "I am a stranger here; you travel here continually; you know the way!" So, Tortoise opened the house; and they both entered.
Leopard saw the bodies of many wild animals drying in the house. Tortoise said to him, "Carry the meat, and let us go!" But, Leopard said, "No! I'm staying here, and will cook some meat here." Tortoise objected, "No! take the meat and let us go. For, here are great Men who kill us people."
However, Leopard insisted, "No! first let me eat." So, Tortoise said, "Very well! I'll carry away my share; for, I'm going." But Leopard still insisted, "No! wait for me." So, Tortoise yielded, and waited for him in the house.
Leopard cooked his meat. While the pot was on the fire-place, and before he had eaten, suddenly the Men returned. Tortoise exclaimed, "The Men of the Town have returned! What shall we do?" For himself. Tortoise said, "I'm going to hide in the bedroom!" But, Leopard said, "No! I'm the elder; the bedroom is the place for me." He went into the bedroom. Tortoise remained in the reception-room, and hid himself in a pile of the women's cassava leaves.
Soon afterward, the Men also came into that room. And a woman said, "I left those leaves here when I was cooking. I must throw them into the back yard." So, she swept the leaves (with Tortoise unseen among them) in a heap, and threw them out doors.
In the bedroom, where Leopard had hidden, there was a child of this woman, sick with a skin-disease. The woman called out to her child, "My child! are you there.?" The child replied, "Yes!" The Men in the entrance-room, observing the pot on the fire, asked the woman, "While we were away, did you leave a kettle on the fire-place?" The woman, thinking the pot belonged to someone else who had been cooking, answered, "No." The Men then directed her, "Make food for us!" So, she made them food in that pot which Leopard had left, adding other meat to it.
The child in the bedroom, smelling the odor of cooking, called out, "Mother! I want to eat!" So, the mother made food for him. And she took the plate to him, setting it down in the doorway, (but did not enter the room, and so did not see Leopard).
Leopard took the child's food. The child, in terror, made no out-cry. Leopard ate up all the food. Then the child began to weep. The mother, hearing, asked, "Why do you cry?" The child answered, "For hunger."
She wondered that that plateful had not been sufficient; but, she made him more food. And she brought it to him into the room, but she did not see the Leopard; nor did the child tell her. She left the food there, and went out. The child was about to take the food to eat it, when Leopard again snatched it away. But, even then, the child, in fear, did not scream out. And Leopard ate all the food.
Then the child began to weep out aloud. The mother again asked, "What do you want?" The child answered, "I want food." The mother wondered much, and, hastening into the bedroom, she saw Leopard. Then she shouted, "Men! Here's Njâ!" The men came, and they killed Leopard.
All this while. Tortoise remained hidden in the bushes outside; and he heard all that was happening. He said to himself, "I'm going to town to tell the children of Njâ that he is dead." So, he went back to his town. At first, he told only his wife, "Men have killed Njâ." Then he said, "I must now call the children of Njâ."
So, he called all the people of Leopard. And he said to them, "I will tell you something; but, don't kill me for my evil news. So, I tell you, Njâ is dead!" They all laughed in derision, as if it was not possible, "We will know about that matter tomorrow!"
And that day darkened. In the evening. Tortoise told his wife and children, "We must flee to another place." For, he feared that Leopard's people would charge him with their father's death. So, that night they fled. And they built their town far away at another place.
When the children of Leopard saw that Tortoise had fled, they believed him guilty; and they said, "The day we shall see Kudu, we will kill him."
Tortoise and his family had been living at their new place only about a month, when, one day, he said to his family, "I'm going on a journey to the town of Mbâmâ." So he went to that town. He stayed there visiting about a week. While there, he said to Boa, "If a child of Njâ comes here, hide me." Shortly afterward, a child of Leopard did come. Boa took Tortoise, and set him for safety on a rock in the middle of the river. Tortoise sat there a long time; and, while there, he laid what looked like an egg. Surprised, he threw it into the water; and it floated away. Finally it came ashore at the landing-place of Crocodile's town.
Crocodile saw it, and said, "Go, and seek the person who made this thing." His children went to seek. They journeyed, and found Tortoise, and took him. They brought him to their father, and told him, "This is the person." Crocodile asked Tortoise, "You made this Thing?" Tortoise said "Yes!" Then Crocodile told him, "Make me many of these Things." So Tortoise told him, "Bring me here a great many plantains; and arrange the house in order." Crocodile arranged all the house nicely. Tortoise entered it, and was given an inside room. He remained there in that room all by himself with the plantains.
At last, one day he emerged. And he said to Crocodile, "Send me in company with one of your people across the river." Crocodile told him, "You yourself name the person who shall go with you." Tortoise said he wanted Crocodile's cousin Igwana, who was living there with Crocodile's people.
So Igwana and Tortoise got into a canoe, and started to cross the river. Crocodile then entered the room where Tortoise had been. Searching there, he did not find any of the Things which Tortoise had promised to make. So Crocodile shouted after Tortoise, whose canoe had not yet crossed the river, to come back. Tortoise heard; and he asked Igwana, "Do you hear how Crocodile is calling to you?" Don't you know what he is saying?" (Natives believe the Igwana to be deaf.) Igwana answered, "No! what does he say?" Tortoise said, "He tells you to paddle faster! Don't be so slow!" So, Igwana paddled rapidly; and soon his work was finished; and they reached the other side. There, Tortoise got out of the canoe; and he told Igwana to go back. Igwana did so. And Tortoise went on his way.
After a while, a child of Leopard met with Tortoise on the path. The child asked him, "Is not this Kudu?" Tortoise replied, "Yes, I am he." Then the child of Leopard said to him, "You killed my father! I shall also kill you!" So, he killed Tortoise.