How the Civet and the Tortoise lost their Friendship for each other
The Tortoise and the Civet, although they lived in separate towns, had a
great friendship for each other. Their kindness to one another was known
to all the neighbours, for they never refused to help one another in
sickness and trouble.
One day the Civet heard that her friend the Tortoise had given birth to
a child, so at once she got ready to pay the usual visit. On arriving at
the cross-road leading to her friend’s town, she met a Monkey, who asked
her where she was going.
The Civet said: “I am going to visit my friend the Tortoise, who has
given birth to a child.”
Monkey said: "Don’t you go. Her child is very ill, and the “medicine
man” says that he must have the tip of your tail with which to make a
charm to cure the child, and it won’t be better until he has it. Of
course, if you go it is your own affair."
When the Civet heard this she became very angry at the insult, and
returned at once to her own house. The Tortoise was very indignant at
the neglect of her friend the Civet, because from the commencement of
her illness she never received a visit from her. For a very long time
they never visited each other.
By and by the Tortoise heard that her friend the Civet had given birth
to a child. The Tortoise said: “Although the Civet never visited me, I
will not treat her in the same way, for I will go to see her.”
She started on her journey, and on reaching the cross-roads she met
Monkey there, who asked her where she was going. On hearing she was on
the way to visit the Civet, Monkey said: "You are truly very stupid. The
Civet’s baby is very ill, and she has sent for the “medicine man,” who
says he cannot possibly cure the child unless he has the shell of the
Tortoise for a charm."
On hearing this the Tortoise was dumbfounded and filled with fear, so
she returned home at once.
After a very long time the Civet and the Tortoise met at the funeral
festivities of a friend, and they frowned at each other and would not
speak. Towards the close of the festivities, the Civet and the Tortoise
told the chief and the elders all about their former love for one
another, and how the friendship had been broken by each hearing what the
other wanted as a charm to cure her child.
The elders restored the love they had for each other, and told the Civet
and the Tortoise that in future they were not to listen to any tales,
but if one did hear anything against the other she was to go and ask her
friend about it, and not keep it in her heart. From that time they
remained fast and true friends.
XIV
The Water-Fairies save a Child
Pedro was a trader in birds, and travelled long distances to buy and
sell them, and as he often had some left he carried them home to keep
until next market day. Pedro had six children, one of whom was a boy
named Yakob, and the others were all girls. When Pedro was leaving the
town one day for a trading journey to a very distant market, he said to
his people: “There are some birds in that house, and if any one lets
them out and loses them I will kill him.”
Soon after his father was gone Yakob thought he would like to look at
the birds, so went and pushed open the door to peep in, and as he did so
the birds flew out and escaped to the forest. Yakob went crying to his
mother, and told her what he had done. His mother chided him for
disobeying his father’s orders.
By and by Pedro returned from his journey, and, going to the house where
he had left his birds, he found they were gone. He was very angry, and
wanted to know who had let his birds out of the house, and on being told
it was Yakob, he took the boy, killed him, and threw his body in the
river. Some Water-fairies found the body and restored it to life, and
nursed the boy, fed him, and kept him with them until he grew to be a
young man.
One day the Water-fairies said to him: “Yakob, you had better go for a
walk and see the country.” So he took his _biti_[71] and went walking
and playing his instrument. He met his sisters, and began to sing: “That
which the father had cut and thought he had killed, stand out of the
way, girls, and let him pass.” But the sisters did not recognize
him--they simply smiled at him for his song. He told them who he was,
and they returned to their town and told their mother and father that
they had seen and spoken with their brother, but their father said: “Oh,
no, it was not your brother, it was only a passer by.”
Footnote 71:
Musical instrument like a _marimba_.
Yakob went back to his fairy mothers, and told them that he had seen his
sisters, and then he gathered his things together and asked permission
to return to his own people. They gave him some fine cloths to wear, and
various bells, which they tied on him, so that when he walked the bells
tinkled and made a pleasant sound; then they gave him a cane, and said:
“When you reach the stream you hit that place and the other place.”
Yakob said: “I thank you with all my heart.” So, bidding them good-bye,
he started for his town with only three servants.
When Yakob reached the stream he did as he was told, and on beating one
place, out came a band of trumpeters with ivory and brass trumpets. He
hit the other place, and out came a fine hammock and carriers. He got
into the hammock and sent messengers to tell the chief that he was
approaching.
The chief spread his carpet and sat in his chair amid the clapping of
his people, and in a short time the sound of the trumpet was heard and
the carriers trotted up with Yakob’s hammock, spread his carpet and
arranged his chair, and then Yakob alighted from his hammock and sat
down amid the shouting, drumming, and clapping of the people.
On taking his seat, Yakob said: "I am your son whom you killed. What you
threw away the Water-fairies picked up, and they have nursed me and kept
me until this day. There is a proverb which says: ‘If the Leopard gives
birth to a palm-rat he does not eat it.’ You should have punished me for
breaking your law, but you should not have killed me." The father was
astonished, and went and kneeled crying before his son, and said: “My
child, forgive me, for I have done wrong.”
Yakob’s mother was glad to see her son again; he dressed her in fine
cloth, and built his own village close by his parents’.
XV
How the Squirrel repaid a Kindness
There was once a man named Tunga who had a house, a wife, and a nice
little baby. Tunga used to catch partridges, guinea-fowls, palm-rats and
squirrels in his traps, and sometime he would trap three and four of
these at once. One day he caught as many as fifteen partridges, and when
he took them home his wife said: “We will save some of these for another
day, so that our child may not be hungry should you not catch any.” But
Tunga said: “No, we will eat them all now, for I am sure to catch plenty
of meat every day.”
Some time after Tunga went to look at his traps, and found only one
Squirrel in them, and this Squirrel had some bells round its neck, and
just as Tunga was going to kill it, the Squirrel said: “Oh, please don’t
kill me, and I will help you another day.”
Tunga laughed and said: “How can a little thing like you help me?”
But the Squirrel pleaded for his life and promised to help the man
whenever he was in trouble, so at last Tunga let the Squirrel go. He
then plucked some leaves and went home to his wife and told her what he
had done. She was very angry, and quarrelled so much about there being
no food for the baby to eat, that she picked up the child and went off
to her own family, which lived in a distant town.
The man waited some days until he thought his wife’s anger had passed
away, and then he took a large calabash of palm-wine and started for his
wife’s town. On arriving at the cross roads Tunga met an Imp that had
neither arms, legs, nor body, but was all head, like a ball. The Imp
said: “Let me carry your calabash for you. You are a great man and
should not carry it yourself.”
“How can you carry it, when you are all head and no body?” asked Tunga.
“Oh, you will see,” said the Imp, as he took the calabash, balanced it
on his head, and went bounding off along the road in front of Tunga.
After travelling a long way Tunga became very tired, so they sat down
under a tree to rest, and while they were sitting there a Leopard came
up, and noticing the palm-wine, asked for a drink, and the man was too
much afraid to refuse it. When Tunga was going to pour out some of the
palm-wine into a glass, the Leopard said: “I drink out of my own mug,
not yours,” and he brought out of his bag the skull of a man, and said:
“Here is a mug. I have already eaten nine men and you will be the
tenth.”
Poor Tunga was so filled with fear that he did not know what to do; but
by and by a Squirrel arrived, and after exchanging greetings he asked
for some of the palm-wine, and as Tunga was going to pour it out the
Squirrel said: “What! Have you no respect for me? I carry my own mug,”
and putting his hand into his bag, he brought out the head of a Leopard,
and said: “There, I have eaten nine Leopards, and this one here will be
the tenth,” and as he repeated the words again and again very fiercely
the Leopard began to tremble, and go backwards until he was in the road,
and then he turned tail and fled with the Squirrel after him.
Tunga waited, and at last he and the Imp started again on their journey.
He was now glad that he had been kind to the Squirrel and had saved his
life.
On reaching the town, Tunga and the Imp were welcomed by the people, a
good house was given to them, and they were well feasted. After resting
there some days, Tunga and his wife started on their return journey
home, but before leaving the town Mrs. Tunga’s family gave them a goat
as a parting present.
When they reached the cross-roads Tunga said to the Imp: “I will kill
the goat here, and give you your half.”
“All right,” said the Imp; “but you must also give me half of the
woman.”
“No,” replied Tunga; “the woman is my wife, but you shall have half the
goat.”
The Imp became very angry and called to his friends, and a great crowd
of Imps came to fight Tunga.
While they were wrangling, the Squirrel arrived and asked what was the
cause of the row. They told him, and he said: “If we divide the goat and
the woman, how are you going to cook them? You have neither firewood nor
water. Some of you fetch water, and others go for firewood.”
He opened his box and gave to some of them a calabash in which to fetch
water, but while the water was running into the calabash it sung such a
magic tune that the Imps began to dance, and could not stop dancing.
Then the Squirrel opened his box again and let loose a swarm of bees
that stung the other Imps so badly that they all bounded away and never
returned again to trouble Tunga. Then the Squirrel said to Tunga: “You
now see that if you had not been merciful to me I should not have been
able to save you from the Leopard and the Imps. Your kindness to me has
saved your own life and your wife’s.” Tunga thanked him for his help and
went his way home.
XVI
The Kingfisher deceives the Owl
One day the Owl and the Kingfisher had a long discussion as to which of
them could go longest without food. The Owl proposed that they should
try for ten days, and the Kingfisher agreed to it.
They tied a rope across a stream, and both birds sat on the middle of it
looking down into the water. On the third day the Kingfisher began to
feel hungry, and observing a fish in the water just below him, he
pretended to fall, caught and gobbled the fish, but as he came up to the
surface of the water he cried out: “Oh, Uncle Owl, my head turned giddy,
and I fell into the stream.”
The Owl replied: “Never mind, let us persevere with our contest.”
But the Kingfisher continued to have these giddy fits just as fish came
under the perch, and the Owl with his sleepy eyes did not notice the
fish. Before many days had passed the Owl’s body became thin, he lost
his strength, fell into the stream and was drowned; but as for the
Kingfisher he flew away, leaving his dead and cheated rival in the
water.
XVII
How the Tortoise was punished for his Deceit
The Tortoise set his trap, and soon afterwards caught an antelope in it,
whereupon he sat down and began to cry with a loud voice. The Jackal,
hearing his cries, came and asked him what was the matter, and the
Tortoise said: “There is an animal killed in my trap, and I have no one
to take it out.”
The Jackal said: “Never mind, I’ll remove it for you.” So he took out
the animal and set the trap again.
The Tortoise said to him: “Go and get some leaves upon which we can cut
up the meat.” But while the Jackal went for the leaves the Tortoise ran
away with the meat to his hole in the rock.
The Jackal, on his return, called out: “Uncle Tortoise, here are the
leaves;” but the Tortoise rudely cut him short by asking him: “Am I a
relative on your mother’s side or your father’s?”
The Jackal, angry at this insult, cried out: “I will let off your trap;”
and the Tortoise replied: “Touch the spring with your head, for if you
put in either your arm or your leg you will die.”
So the stupid Jackal put his head into the trap and was caught, and when
he cried out with pain the Tortoise took his gun and shot him. In this
way the Civet-cat, the Fox, the rock Rabbit, and the Palm-rat were all
caught and killed by the Tortoise.
One day the Gazelle heard the Tortoise crying, and went and asked him
why he was crying, and the Tortoise said: “Since early morning an animal
has been lying dead in my trap because I have no one to take it out for
me.”
“But who set your trap for you?” asked the Gazelle.
He replied: “A passer-by set it for me.”
“All right,” kindly said the Gazelle, “I’ll take it out for you”; which
he did at once, and setting the trap again he dragged the animal to the
Tortoise.
“Get some plantain leaves that we may divide the meat,” said the
Tortoise; but while he was gone the Tortoise took all the meat to his
hole.
The Gazelle, on returning, called out: “Uncle Tortoise, here are the
leaves,” but the Tortoise laughingly asked him: “Is the Tortoise a
relative on your mother’s side, or your father’s?”
The Gazelle was angry at this insult, and said: “I’ll unset your trap.”
“Very well,” shouted the Tortoise, “only do it with your head, and not
with your hands or your feet, or you will die.”
The Gazelle, however, poked in a stick, and snap went the spring, and
out loudly screamed the Gazelle, so the Tortoise thought he was caught,
and came out of his hole with his gun to shoot him, but the Gazelle
sprang on the Tortoise, took away his gun and killed him, and then,
gathering up the meat, he went off to his own town. The Biter is
eventually bit, and he who deceives others will himself be deceived.
XVIII
How the Frog collected his Debt from the Hawk
The Hawk lived in sky-land and the Frog lived on the earth. One day the
Hawk paid a visit to the Frog, and said to him: “Friend Frog, will you
kindly lend me a thousand brass rods, for I am in difficulty for want of
money?”
The Frog replied: “Your town is up in the sky, and I cannot fly up there
for I have neither feathers nor wings.”
“Oh, you will not need to call for your money, for I will surely bring
it to you down here, so please lend me the brass rods.” The Frog counted
out the thousand rods and handed them to the Hawk.
For six months the Frog heard nothing from the Hawk, neither was any
part of the debt paid, so one day, seeing the Hawk on a low branch he
went to ask for his money, but the Hawk flew away as fast as his wings
would carry him.
Then the Frog heard that the Hawk went every _Nkandu_[72] and
_Nkenge_[72] to market to buy saucepans, so on the following _Nkandu_
the Frog
Footnote 72:
Names of market days.
started at dawn for the market-place. He hopped and jumped over the
ground and swam the rivers, and, reaching the market early, he hid
himself and waited for the arrival of the Hawk.
In a little time the Hawk alighted on the market, and, putting down his
satchel, he went about buying saucepans. When he had bought a few the
Frog went and hid himself in one of them, and by and by the Hawk,
returning to his town in sky-land, picked up his saucepans, and thus
took the Frog with him.
The Hawk, on arriving home, put his saucepans in the corner of his
house, and when all was quiet and dark the Frog came out of his
hiding-place, and next morning met the Hawk in a casual way and asked
him for his money. The Hawk was so surprised that at first he could not
say a word, but at last he exclaimed: “Friend Frog, how did you get
here, for you have neither feathers nor wings?”
“Never mind how I came,” replied the Frog; “but I want my money.”
The Hawk began to make excuses, and was so sorry because “he really had
not the money just then.”
But the Frog said: “Very well, I shall stay here in your house until you
pay me.”
Then the Hawk remembered that he had just enough to pay him, because he
wanted to get the Frog out of his house.[73]
The Frog, on receiving his money, wondered how he was to return to
earth. He decided to wait until next market-day, and then, creeping into
the Hawk’s satchel, was carried off to the market-place, and on arrival
he hopped out of the satchel and took a walk round the market, and thus
came face to face with the Hawk: “How did you get here?” asked the Hawk
in surprise.
The Frog blinked at him, and said: “Well, I came by the road by which I
travelled.”
“Did you now?” said the Hawk; and then he went on to say: “I borrowed
money of you because, having no feathers and no wings, I thought you
would not worry me for payment, yet you have followed and bothered me,
and I will never borrow of you again.”
The Hawk ruffled his feathers and went, and as the Frog jumped off, he
muttered: “I will never again lend to folk bigger than myself, for if
you ask them for the money they are angry with you, and if you don’t ask
for it they think you silly and laugh at you.”
Footnote 73:
The creditor would live at the expense of the debtor, hence the Hawk’s
desire to get rid of the Frog.
XIX
How a Child saved his Mother’s Life
A man, once upon a time, cleared a large piece of bush, and then sent
his wife to plant it with cassava. When the cassava was ready to pull,
the bush-pigs and other animals visited the farm and destroyed the
roots, and it seemed as though the woman would have her trouble for
nothing. The wife complained about it to her husband, and he went to dig
a large pit in which to trap the wild animals that came stealing in
their farm.
While the man was digging the hole an Imp came out of the forest near by
and asked him what he was doing. Upon hearing he was digging a trap for
animals, the Imp said: “Let me help you.” The man, fearing the Imp would
kill him if he refused, accepted his offer. Thereupon the Imp said: “Let
us make a bargain. All the male animals that fall into the trap are
yours, but all the female ones are mine.” The man agreed to this, and
they then finished the hole together, after which they returned to their
places.
Next morning they went to look at the hole and found one male pig in it,
which the man took according to their agreement. Every morning they went
and it was the same--male pigs, antelopes and buffaloes were in the
trap, never any female ones, sometimes there were two males and
sometimes there were five males. The man laughed, and said to the Imp:
“You were foolish to make such a bargain, for did you not know that only
male animals go about in search of food? You are very foolish.”
The man took the animals to his town, and all the way home he was
ridiculing the stupid Imp. The wife said: “Now we have plenty of meat,
but no cassava bread to eat with it. Tomorrow I will go and dig up some
roots in the farm with which to make some bread.”
Early next morning the woman took her basket and her hoe, and went to
the farm, leaving her husband at home to look after their little boy.
When the woman had been gone some time the boy began to cry, so the man
picked him up and followed his wife to the farm to give the child to
her. As he drew near the farm he heard the Imp gleefully singing: “O my,
O my, at last I have a female animal in the trap.”
On reaching the trap the man asked the Imp why he was jumping, dancing
and singing in that joyful fashion, and when he heard that it was
because there was one female animal in the trap, the man laughed at the
Imp for making so much fuss over _one_ animal; but looking into the pit,
and seeing his wife there he began to cry, and contended that the Imp
was cheating him as a woman was not an animal.
They became very angry in their discussion as to whether the woman was
an animal or not, that at last the boy said: “Father, you agreed to the
bargain that you were to have all the male animals, and he was to have
all the female ones that fell into the trap; we have had plenty of
animals out of the hole, but he has not had a single one. Let him take
this one.”
The Imp, admiringly, said: “Is this wise judge only a boy?” and with
that he jumped into the trap to get out his prize, but no sooner had he
done so than the boy called out: “Look, father, there is a male animal
in the trap and it is yours.”
On dropping down into the trap the Imp had become, according to his own
statement, an animal, and consequently belonged to the man. The Imp, to
save himself, had to give up all claim to the woman, and thus the child
by his smartness saved his mother’s life. Never again did the man enter
into an agreement until he properly understood all about the conditions.
XX
How the Gazelle won his Wife
Once upon a time there was a Gazelle that went in search of a wife.
While journeying he met a beautiful girl, and stopped, and said to her:
“Miss So-and-so, have you any water?--if so, please give me a drink, for
I am very thirsty.”
The girl replied: “Yes, sir,” and taking a calabash well ornamented with
rows of brass nails she gave it to him full of water. He drank eagerly,
and as he handed the calabash back, he said: “The water is as nice to
drink as the girl is beautiful.”
The Gazelle inquired of her, and finding she was not married, asked her:
“Will you marry me?”
She answered: “I don’t know, I must ask my mother.”
So together they went to seek the mother’s consent. When she heard all
about the affair, she said: “If you want to marry my daughter you must
first bring me the dried flesh of every animal and bird in the forest.”
The Gazelle was at first disconcerted by such a difficult task, but
said: “All right, I will do it,” and went his way to think out a plan by
which he could win his wife.
The Gazelle thought of first one way and then another, and at last he
sought for and found a shell and filled it with various powerful
“medicines,” and thus, having made a strong fetish, he started for the
forest.
He had not walked very far before a Dove came to him, and said: “Behold,
there are ten animals down there; I fired at them, but did not kill a
single one; if therefore you have a hunting-fetish, teach me how to use
it.”
“Yes, I have the kind of fetish you want,” replied the Gazelle; “but
before you can learn how to use it you must be killed, roasted and
dried, and then I will restore you to life and teach you how to use the
fetish.”
“Very well,” said the Dove, “I am ready to be roasted.” So the Gazelle
killed, roasted and dried the silly Dove and took the flesh to his
store-room, as the first part of the dried meat he had to give to his
future mother-in-law.
Soon after returning to the forest an Antelope came running up to him,
and said: “We hear you have a strong fetish to help hunters to kill
animals. Teach me how to use it, for I have had no success in hunting
for a long time.”
“Well, I have such a fetish,” answered the Gazelle; “but before you can
learn about it I must kill, roast and dry you. Then I bring you to life
again and teach you the use of the fetish.”
“Do with me whatever you like,” said the Antelope, “so long as I get a
fetish with which to kill plenty game.”
The Gazelle drew his knife and told the Antelope to lie down on the
ground.
“What are you going to do with that knife?” cried the Antelope.
“How can you be roasted and dried unless you are first killed?” quietly
asked the Gazelle. So the Antelope stretched himself out, and was soon
killed, dried and carried to the store.
“Well,” ruminated the Gazelle, “I have found a way to win my wife, for
these animals will believe any foolish thing so as to possess power to
kill others. I must now try a big beast.”
Again he went to the forest, but he had not gone very far into it before
he met a Buffalo running. “Where are you going?” asked the Gazelle.
“I am off to look after my farm, for I have no luck in hunting,” replied
the Buffalo.
“I have a strong hunting-fetish,” said the Gazelle; “but before you can
use it I must cut out your heart, and roast and dry you; after that I
call you back to life and teach you my fetish, which will give you
plenty of hunting skill.”
“All right,” said the Buffalo; “but I am a big person and your knife
will not enter my body.” With that he fell on the ground, but directly
the Gazelle had thrust his knife into the body the Buffalo cried out:
“Please stop! do stop!” but the Gazelle said: “Just wait a moment only,”
and he pushed in the knife, and the Buffalo died. In a very short time
the Buffalo’s flesh was roasted, dried and carried to the store.
In this way the Gazelle caught and roasted the Lion, the Leopard, the
Elephant and all the other animals and birds of the forest. By and by he
carried all the dried meat to the mother of the beautiful girl, and said
to her: “My respected mother-in-law, do not be angry because I have been
a long time doing the task you set me. You know all about hunting, and
that it is very slow and laborious work. Sometimes one shoots and does
not kill; however, here is the meat for which you sent me.” The old
woman answered: “I thank you, and now you can take your wife and go your
way.”
XXI
The Gazelle is at last Punished
The Leopard and the Gazelle made a large farm together, and planted
maize, sugarcane, cassava and various other things. To celebrate the
finishing of their big farm they desired to make a feast. The Leopard
wished to buy a goat, but the Gazelle said: “A goat is not big enough,
let us buy a pig.” A large pig was bought, and when it was cooked the
Gazelle said: “Friend Leopard, let us go and bathe first in the river,
and then return to eat our feast slowly and enjoy it.” To this the
Leopard agreed.
When they reached the river’s bank each wanted the other to dive in
first, but at last the Leopard jumped into the water and quickly came
out again.
“You don’t know how to dive,” laughed the Gazelle.
“Very well,” replied the Leopard, “you dive now and show me the way.”
The Gazelle dived into the water, ran along the bottom of the river,
came out near the town, and went quickly and ate up all the boiled pig;
and then, returning to the river, came puffing and blowing out of the
water at the feet of his friend the Leopard. “There,” said the Gazelle,
“that is the way to dive.”
Then they returned together to the town, but when they reached the
Leopard’s house they found the saucepan empty. The Leopard felt very
much ashamed, because the food had been left in his house. He began to
beat his wife for not looking properly after it. Then, turning to the
Gazelle, he said: “Uncle Gazelle, I am very much ashamed because the
cooked meat has been eaten in my house; let us now buy a goat.”
But the Gazelle said: “You must pay for the goat yourself, for the pig
was eaten in your house.”
The Leopard took one of his own goats, and when it was cooked, he said:
“This time let us eat first and bathe afterwards.” But the Gazelle
objected, and would bathe before eating, so the Leopard agreed, and they
went together to the river. The Gazelle played the same trick on the
Leopard, and this he did several times, and each time poor Mrs. Leopard
received a thrashing, and the Leopard killed another goat.
By and by the Leopard bought a fetish called _nkondi_, and hid it in his
house. When the Gazelle arrived next time he found the door fastened,
and on trying to open it the _nkondi_ said: “Oh, you are the rascal who
comes to eat my master’s goat, you thief, get away quickly.”
The Gazelle shouted: “Come out and I’ll hit you.”
The _nkondi_ began to abuse him, saying: “Come into the house, if you
can, you thin-legged one.”
The Gazelle became so angry that he broke open the door, and hit the
_nkondi_ and his hand stuck; he hit him again, and the other hand stuck;
he then kicked him and both his legs stuck fast, and he thereupon butted
him with his head and that also stuck.
The Leopard waited a long time for the Gazelle, and then, thinking he
was drowned, he returned to the town. On drawing near to the house he
heard a great noise, and as he ran he shouted out: “Hold the thief
tightly until I come.”
What was his surprise to find the Gazelle held fast by the _nkondi_.
“Oh, you are the thief, no wonder you wanted to bathe first!” said the
Leopard, as he hit him.
“Unfasten me, Uncle Leopard,” begged the Gazelle.
“No, I am going to eat first and undo you afterwards,” laughed the
Leopard. So he sat down and ate and chuckled, and chuckled and ate,
until all the goat was finished; then he unstuck the Gazelle, and gave
him a good sound thrashing for the tricks he had played on him, and let
him go covered with aches, pains and bruises.
XXII
The Leopard pays Homage to the Goat
The natives say that there was a time when the Leopard paid homage to
the Goat because of his beard and horns, but he discovered the Goat’s
weakness in the following manner--
One day, while the Leopard was cutting a palm-tree for wine, a
Billy-goat arrived at the wine-booth and bleated loudly: “Be--e,
Leopard!”
The Leopard listened, and said, “What great chief is that calling me?”
“Be--e, Leopard,” again cried the Goat.
“Yes, sir,” answered the Leopard, and descending the palm-tree he went
softly and meekly to his wine-booth and found a person there with a long
beard and large horns.
“Pour me out some wine,” said the Goat. This the Leopard did at once.
Pouring the wine into a glass, he knelt and offered it to the Goat, who
drank it off glass after glass as the Leopard crouched in a humble
position before him. This happened several days running--the Goat
ordering the palm-wine and the Leopard offering it on his knees as to a
great chief.
One day, while the Leopard was paying homage in this way to the Goat, a
Gazelle arrived and stared in surprise at what he saw, and after the
Goat had gone, he said to the Leopard: “Uncle Leopard, do you know who
that is?”
“No,” replied the Leopard; “I do not know in the least who it is, but he
has a long beard and big horns.”
“Oh! oh!” laughed the Gazelle; “that is foolish. Do you not see that you
are paying homage to empty size? He has no strong teeth for biting hard
things and for fighting. If you do not believe me, try him to-morrow.”
Next day the Goat came as usual, and demanded his palm-wine. He found
the Leopard and the Gazelle already there in the booth. The Gazelle took
from his bag a kola nut, and, breaking it, he gave one section to the
Goat, another to the Leopard, and took one himself. The Leopard crunched
his section at once with his powerful teeth, and the Gazelle bit his
part to pieces, but the poor Goat, having no strong teeth, turned his
section of the nut over and over in his mouth, first one side and then
the other.
The Gazelle made a sign with his lips to the Leopard, as much as to say:
“Do you see, he has no teeth. I told you so.” The Leopard thereupon
jumped on the Goat and killed him without a struggle, and from that time
the Leopard has never again been afraid of the Goat’s long beard and big
horns. A beard and horns do not make a strong animal, but a powerful
mouth is necessary. Pomposity without real authority will not be
respected for very long.
XXIII
Why the Owls and the Fowls never speak to each other
A Fowl and an Owl became friends, but they built their houses at some
distance from each other. One day the Owl heard that his friend was very
sick, so he gathered some money together and went to pay a visit to the
Fowl. When he arrived he inquired after the health of his friend, and
finding he was still very ill he sent for a “medicine man,” and in due
time his friend the Fowl recovered, and the Owl returned to his town.
By and by the Owl fell ill with a very bad illness, and the news reached
the Fowl that his friend was on the point of death. He gathered some
money and went to visit his friend and give him the best advice about
getting better. He said to the wives of the Owl: “Get ready some very
hot water, and pound up some red peppers.”
The wives did as they were told, and then the Fowl said to the Owl:
“Take off your clothes and get into the saucepan.”
“Won’t it burn me?” asked the Owl.
“No, my friend, it will not hurt you,” deceivingly replied the Fowl.
So he did as his friend bade him, and put himself carefully into the
saucepan of hot water. In a short time the Fowl said to the Owl’s wives:
“Take him out, and pluck his feathers, rub him well with the red pepper,
and put him on a line to dry, and be sure and not take him down until he
is thoroughly dry.” Leaving these directions with them, the Fowl went
home. After he had left, the Owl died, and the family was so angry at
the outrage the Fowl had committed that they desired to punish him.
The family sent word to the Fowl that on a certain day the funeral would
take place, and they invited him to attend it. On the appointed day the
Fowl went with his band and his followers, who were the Leopard, the
Lion, the Dog and the Shrew-mole.
Now the Owl’s family had collected some strong followers who were called
the Fox, the Viper, the Boa, the Elephant, the Antelope, and the
Palm-rat, all of whom were friends of the Owl. By and by they heard the
Fowl’s band playing “The tail of the Owl is very powerful.” This insult
to his dead friend made the Owl’s family very angry, so they arranged
their followers in ambush, and told them to be sure and “catch that
rascal the Fowl.”
As the Fowl’s party drew near to the town, out came the Boa from his
hiding-place to catch the Fowl, but the Shrew-mole squeaked, and the Boa
split all down one side and had to retreat; then came the Fox, but the
Dog fought him and made him run away; then came the Elephant, but the
Lion bit his trunk, and he fled; and the Antelope caught sight of the
Leopard’s marks and bolted. The Fowl at last arrived in the town, and
played at the funeral of the Owl “The tail of the Owl is very powerful,”
and after ridiculing his late friend in this manner, he returned home
with his band and followers. The Owls never speak now to the Fowls.
XXIV
How the Elephant punished the Leopard
The Elephant and the Leopard lived in the same town and married their
wives about the same time. By and by the Leopard’s wife gave birth to
two children, and the Elephant’s wife gave birth to one. Some time after
this happened the Elephant had to go on a trading journey into a distant
country, so he left his son in the care of the Leopard.
One day the Leopard, his sons, and the young Elephant all went hunting
in the big bush. The Leopard showed his sons the animals’ tracks, taught
them where to stand and what to do; but as for the Elephant’s son he
took no notice of him, did not instruct him, and left him to do what he
could.
In a little time an antelope started up, and the Leopard’s first son
fired and missed, and the second son fired and also missed. Then the
antelope ran by where the young Elephant happened to be, and he shot it.
Thereupon the Leopard and his sons ran up and claimed the antelope as
theirs, and as the Elephant had no one to take his side he had to give
way. This occurred three times, and then the young Elephant would not
hunt with them any more.
After some months the old Elephant returned from his long trading
expedition, and his son told him all that had happened to him, and how
he had been cheated by his guardian. When the Elephant heard it he was
very angry, and said: “All right, I will punish the Leopard for
defrauding you.” They then dug a large hole in their house, put some
twigs and branches over it, and spread a mat over the whole. Then they
put the saucepans on the fire, and the Elephant bought some palm-wine
and asked the Leopard to come and drink with him, which invitation he at
once accepted.
When the Leopard arrived they told him to sit on the mat, and as he sat
down the mat gave way under him, and he fell into the deep hole
underneath. The Elephant said: “I left my son with you, and instead of
taking care of him you cheated him every time he went hunting with you,”
and he followed his words by pouring the boiling water over the Leopard.
Thus died the Leopard for being false to his trust.
XXV
How the Leopard tried to deceive the Gazelle
Once the Leopard and the Gazelle had a very bad quarrel, and ever since
then the Leopard has been trying to catch and kill the Gazelle, but has
failed in every attempt.
The Leopard, having tried many other ways of entrapping the Gazelle, at
last pretended to be sick. He rubbed some powdered ironstone on his face
and instructed his wives to send messengers for the Palm-rat, the
Mongoose, and all the other animals, and also for the Gazelle. When they
were all gathered except the Gazelle they went in one by one to see the
Leopard, and he killed them; but he thought that he had all the trouble
for nothing as the Gazelle had not arrived, so he asked his wives what
they were to do now to catch the Gazelle. They advised him to send for a
“medicine man,” and then the Gazelle would be sure to think he was
really ill. While they were searching for a “medicine man” the Gazelle
arrived, but he would not enter the house.
The “medicine man” arrived with his charms, and while he made “medicine”
he sang--
/* “O Gazelle, come where the sick one is, It is your own uncle who is
ill.” */
When the Gazelle heard this he answered by a song--
/* “O uncle, come out of the house, Come out into the daylight now.” */
They tried by every means to persuade the Gazelle to enter the house,
but he remained firm, and refused to listen to all their nice talk, and
at last the Leopard, losing all patience, jumped up and rushed out of
the house; but the Gazelle, noticing his anger, sprang away into the
forest and escaped; but as for all the other silly ones who had been
deceived by the Leopard, they were eaten by him.
The invitations and persuasions of enemies are to be received with
caution.
XXVI
The Story of two Young Women
Once there were two girls whose uncle told them: “You are now old enough
to marry, so you may look out for two young men.” Their hearts were glad
when they received this permission, and very soon they found two lovers.
The elder became engaged to a poor man, and the younger to a rich one.
One day the elder girl paid a visit to her betrothed, and as he was poor
he could only give her a common fish to eat and a mat to lie on for a
bed; but when the younger went to see her rich lover he killed a goat
for her supper, gave her a fine bed spread with blankets, and in the
morning killed a pig for her breakfast; and when she was leaving to
return to her home he gave her a shawl, a fine piece of blue and white
cloth, a necklace of beads, and a looking-glass.
The two sisters happened to meet at the crossroads, and they asked each
other what presents they had received, and when the younger girl saw the
poor gift received by the other, she showed her presents with much
vanity, and laughed at her sister for having such a poor lover. This
occurred every time they visited their young men--the younger sister
laughed to scorn the poverty of the elder sister’s suitor.
After due time the day of their marriage arrived, and the rich man told
all his pedigree, gave a great, fat pig for the feast, and sent his
bride a piece of velvet, a piece of white cloth, and a piece of satin;
but the poor man could only send some fowls for the feast and give his
bride one piece of ordinary cloth. After the marriage festivities were
over the new wives went to live in the houses of their husbands.
Before many days had passed the younger bride committed a small fault,
and her husband in his anger cut off her ears. She cried out for help,
but her family could not help her, as they had consented to the
marriage. In a week he was angry about some other small matter, and he
cut off her nose, and the next time she vexed him with some small
mistake he cut off her head. Thus she did not live long to enjoy her
fine things. As for the poor husband, he said to his wife: “It is not
until death comes to me that we shall separate.” Riches do not always
bring with them happiness and contentment.
XXVII
Why the Chameleon cut off his own Head
One day the Frog, on going to work in her farm, left her two children in
the house with plenty of food to eat. She had not been gone very long
when a Chameleon arrived, and took possession of the house and the
children. She dressed them with knives and bells, and made them dance.
The Frog, returning from her work, found the Chameleon in her house, and
when she attempted to enter, the Chameleon threatened to tread her into
a pulp. The Frog went crying to the Elephant, and he, on hearing her
story, promised to get the Chameleon out of the house with his large
trunk, but when he went to the door of the house, the Chameleon snarled
at him, and he turned and fled.
The Frog then went to the Leopard and told him of her trouble, and he
said: “Don’t worry, I will quickly have her out of the house.” But no
sooner did he show himself at the door than the Chameleon snarled at
him, and he ran away. Thus it was with all the animals. They all boasted
of what they would do, but were all afraid to do it.
As the Frog went crying she met a flock of Sparrows, and said to them:
“Friend Sparrows, go and drive the Chameleon out of my house.” The
Sparrows went in front of the Frog’s house, dried their drums at the
fire, and as they began to dance they chanted a chorus: “Sparrows, when
you dance, don’t dance with your heads on.” Some of the Sparrows then
went forward, and having put their heads under their wings, they began
to dance. The Chameleon, looking out of the door, saw this wonderful
sight, and seeing the Sparrows dancing very nicely without any heads,
she thought they had cut them off, and as she was a great dancer,[74]
and wanted to imitate the Sparrows in their marvellous dance, she cut
off her own head, and fell dead. The Frog thanked the Sparrows for their
help, and went into the house to nurse her children. What the big
animals could not do with all their strength the Sparrows did by their
cleverness.
Footnote 74:
The natives regard the Chameleon as a great dancer, because while
standing still it has a peculiar movement, something like a native
dancing.
XXVIII
Why the Congo Robin has a Red Breast
“Kinsidikiti” is a small bird with red round its mouth and red spots on
its breast. The female has no red spots on the breast, and the following
is the legend accounting for the difference--
One day the Robin and his wife found that they had no red-camwood
powder[75] with which to beautify themselves, so the husband made
preparations for a journey to Stanley Pool to buy some redwood from
those who brought it from the Upper Congo towns to sell at the Pool
markets.
He was a long time on the road, but at last reached the place only to
find that all the redwood for making the powder had been sold to others,
who were before him. He tried one trader after another with no success,
for all had sold out, but
Footnote 75:
The powder is made by grinding two pieces of the camwood together. The
red paste resulting from the friction is dried, pounded and put into a
cloth, and after a person has bathed, and rubbed himself (or herself)
with oil the cloth is dabbed on the body, and the fine dust comes out
and over the body. The camwood powder is greatly valued as a cosmetic.
one said: “I have none to sell, but I can give you a small piece, enough
for yourself.”
He gave him a small piece, and for safety the Robin put it in his
throat, as he wanted to take it home to his wife. As he travelled
homeward the redwood melted in his mouth and throat, and came out round
his beak and through his chest to his feathers, and ever since then he
has had a red mouth and breast.
XXIX
The Leopard tries to steal the Gazelle’s Wife
The Leopard had many wives, but his friend the Gazelle had only one, and
the Leopard desired to procure that one, and very often said to himself:
“I must kill the Gazelle and take his wife for myself.” So he sent a
messenger to call the Gazelle, but he was too wise to go, and sent an
excuse, saying: “You tell the Leopard that I am going to market, and
cannot visit him now.”
In a very short time another messenger arrived and said: “Go to the
Leopard, for he is dead.”
“Oh! oh! that is very strange,” replied the Gazelle, “that you who are a
mourner should be travelling about, but perhaps you are going to buy
pigs for the funeral feast?”
Before he had finished speaking another messenger came and said:
“Gazelle, your uncle the Leopard is dead, go and wrap the cloth round
his body.”
“Yes,” answered the Gazelle, “I will come and bind up the body, but
first I will go and buy some pigs for the funeral festivities.”
When the Leopard heard these answers he rushed after the Gazelle that he
might kill him, but on turning a corner in the road the Leopard met a
beautiful girl; but he did not know that it was the Gazelle who had
changed himself into that form. Of her the Leopard inquired: “Did you
see a Gazelle pass this way?”
“Yes, my lord Leopard, I did,” she replied.
The Leopard then said to her: “Would you like to marry me?”
“Yes,” she said, “I would like to marry you, but you have such sharp
teeth and claws.”
“Very well,” replied the Leopard, “cut them all off.”
So she at once cut off all his claws, and pulled out his teeth.
“Will you marry me now?” asked the Leopard.
“I would like to,” repeated the girl, “but for the marks on your chest
and neck.”
“Oh, all right,” he said; “cut them all out.”
And she cut them away, spot after spot, and mark after mark, and the
Leopard died. The Gazelle changed back to his proper form, and as he
went off he said: “The Leopard tried to rob me of my one wife, but he
has lost his life through his covetousness.”
XXX
The Gazelle kills the Flies and Mosquitoes, and outwits the Leopard
The Leopard, once upon a time, went cutting the palm-tree for wine, and
started a palm-wine booth in a place infested with mosquitoes and biting
flies of various kinds; and he made a law that any one who brushed the
flies and mosquitoes off their bodies while in his booth should at once
be killed.
The Antelope called at the booth one day and asked for a drink of
palm-wine; but no sooner had he begun to drink it than the mosquitoes
and flies so swarmed round him and irritated him with their bites, that
in brushing them off he killed many of them. When the Leopard saw that,
he became very angry, and said: “I made a law that whoever came to drink
in my booth should not brush the flies and mosquitoes away. You have
broken my law, and killed many of my insects, so now you must die,” and
he jumped on the Antelope and killed him. In this way the Leopard killed
many of the animals.
One morning the Gazelle said to himself: “I must visit my Uncle Leopard,
and ask him for a drink of his palm-wine.” So he started for the booth,
and on his arrival the Leopard greeted him, saying: “How do you do,
Uncle Gazelle?”
“I am quite well,” replied the Gazelle.
“Where are you going?” asked the Leopard.
“Oh, I came to have a drink of your palm-wine,” said the Gazelle.
They at once sat down and began to drink together, but very soon the
flies and mosquitoes came about the Gazelle and sorely worried him; but
the Gazelle remembered the Leopard’s law, and wondered how he could
drive the flies away and not break the law of the booth. After thinking
a little while, he told the Leopard about a fight that had taken place a
few days before. He said: “The other day we went to fight, and we were
all wounded, some in the head,” and he rubbed his hands over his head
and face, “some in the arms,” and he brushed his hands down his arms,
“some in the legs,” and he passed his hands down his legs, and so over
the whole of his body until he had either driven the flies and
mosquitoes away, or had killed them; but he said, as he slapped his
sides: “not one of us was killed.”
In a short time he was again covered with mosquitoes and flies, and
again he told the Leopard of the great fight, and as he did so he
brushed off the irritating flies. The Leopard glared at him, and as he
sprang on him he cried in rage: “You are breaking my law and killing my
insects.”
But as the Gazelle darted away he shouted: “Oh no, I was only telling
you where the people were wounded.”
XXXI
The Leopard is Badly Tricked by the
Gazelle, Rat and Frog
The Leopard owned a fine plum-tree,[76] and the Gazelle, while out
walking one day, discovered it, and, noticing the fruit was ripe, he
threw up a rope which caught on one of the main branches, and was soon
among the plums. He put some in a bag, and as he turned to descend he
saw a Squirrel and her nest on one of the forks of the tree. The
Squirrel observed the Gazelle, and as she was the Leopard’s watchman she
told the Leopard all about the theft.
Footnote 76:
The tree in the story is the nsafu (_canuniensis_) the fruit of which
is date shape, but the tree is like a plum in shape, etc.
As the Gazelle was returning home he saw a Palm-rat weaving, and,
throwing a plum at him, it broke the web, whereupon the Palm-rat turned
angrily on the Gazelle; but on receiving some plums and tasting them his
anger passed away, and he asked where he could procure some more. The
Gazelle told him to make a bag without any bottom to it, and in the
morning he was to come directly he heard his whistle.
The next morning, directly he heard the Gazelle’s whistle, the Palm-rat
picked up his bottomless bag and joined the Gazelle. After a short walk
they reached the plum-tree, and the Gazelle said: “Shut your eyes while
I climb.” The Palm-rat obeyed the order, and the Gazelle went to his
rope and climbed the tree.
The Palm-rat asked: “How am I to climb the tree?”
“Oh, knock your head against the tree, and you will soon be up,” replied
the Gazelle.
So the Palm-rat put his claws into the tree and knocked his head against
it (that is why he has a swollen head), and at last reached the
branches.
The Gazelle told him to pull all the green plums, which he stupidly did,
and when he put them in his bag they fell through to the ground. When
the Gazelle had plucked all the ripe plums he wanted, he said to the
Palm-rat: “Look and see if the Squirrel is on that fork of the tree.”
The Palm-rat saw the Squirrel, and while he was looking the Gazelle
threw a plum at her, and she cried out: “Oh, Leopard, come quickly, the
Gazelle is pulling all your plums!”
When the Leopard heard this he came running to the tree, and called out:
“Come down, and I’ll cure you of your sickness.”
“Thank you,” replied the Gazelle; “my mother has every kind of medicine
in her house.”
“Come down,” shouted the Leopard, “and I’ll cure you of the shakes.”
“My mother has a remedy for that complaint,” responded the Gazelle, but
he continued, “I’ll come down, and when you hear a thud you will know I
have alighted on the ground, but when you hear a patter you will know it
is my bag.”
The Gazelle threw his bag, and it fell with a thud, and the Leopard,
thinking it was the Gazelle, rushed out to find only the bag, while the
Gazelle jumped down the other side and got away.
The Palm-rat tried to follow the tricky example of the Gazelle, but not
being clever threw himself down with a thud, and was caught and punished
by the Leopard. The Gazelle played off this trick on several other
animals, who were caught one by one by the Leopard and punished for
stealing his plums.
One day the Gazelle took the Nkumbi[77] with him to rob the plum-tree.
On reaching it he told the Nkumbi to shut his eyes while he climbed the
tree, but the Nkumbi only pretended to do so, and, seeing the means by
which the Gazelle mounted the tree, he followed in the same way by the
hanging rope.
Footnote 77:
A very large and clever rat.
The Gazelle tied up the bottom of his bag, the Nkumbi did the same; the
Gazelle plucked the ripe plums, so did the Nkumbi. The ’cuteness of the
Nkumbi was equal to the smartness of the Gazelle.
Says the Gazelle: “Let us throw some plums into that nest.” They did so,
and roused the Squirrel, who cried out to the Leopard. The Leopard came
quickly. “Come down here, and I’ll teach you,” he shouted.
“Oh no,” said the Gazelle, “my mother is able to teach me; but if you
hear a thud, you will know it is I, and if a patter, it is my bag.”
Again the Gazelle escaped by this ruse, leaving the Nkumbi in the
plum-tree. The Nkumbi, however, deceived the Leopard by the same trick,
and got safely out of the tree to the ground; but the Leopard chased him
to the mouth of his hole, and then began to dig the Nkumbi out with his
claws, but was not able to do so; and seeing a Frog he said: “You are
very strong, are you not?”
“Oh yes,” replied the Frog; “I am a very strong person.”
“Very well,” said the Leopard; “just watch this hole, and, whatever you
do, you must not let the Nkumbi get out while I go home for a hoe to dig
him out of his run.”
The Leopard went off, and the Frog sat down on his haunches to watch the
hole. By and by the Nkumbi came to the mouth of the hole eating some
peanuts. “Uncle Nkumbi,” said the Frog, “give me some of what you are
eating.”
“Open your eyes wide, and come close,” replied the Nkumbi, and at once
he changed the peanuts in his mouth for some pepper, and when the Frog
came near enough, he blew the chewed pepper right into his eyes. The
Frog fell over with the pain, and then ran straight to a stream to wash
the pepper-juice out of his eyes.
The Nkumbi took the opportunity to escape from his hole into the forest.
When the Frog had washed the pepper out of his eyes he returned to watch
the empty hole, and shortly after the Leopard arrived with the hoe, and
asked the Frog: “Is he still in there?”
“Yes,” answered the Frog, “but I had a lot of trouble with him, and,
being very strong, I was able to put him back into the hole.”
The Leopard began to dig the hole, and the Frog drew off a little way on
the side nearest the stream. “Here is an opening,” said the Frog.
“Stop it up,” growled the Leopard.
The Frog shifted nearer the water. “Here is another outlet,” said the
Frog.
“Stop that up also,” replied the Leopard.
The Frog jumped nearer still to the stream. “Oh, here is another hole,”
he said, and with that he sprang flop into the water, and cried out: “I
watched the hole, but the Nkumbi blew some pepper into my eyes, and
while I was washing it out of them he escaped.”
When the Leopard heard that he was so angry that he tried to block up
the stream so as to catch the Frog, but the Frog was too quick for him,
and as he escaped down-stream he cried out: “Oh, he threw pepper into my
eyes, and ran off into the forest.”
The big Leopard was fooled all round by the little animals--the Gazelle,
Nkumbi, and Frog. From that day the Frog’s eyes have bulged out, and he
is always trying to wash the pepper out of them in the streams and
rivulets.
XXXII
Why the Small-ants live in the Houses
There are many species of ants in Congo, but there are two kinds--the
Small-ant and the Driver-ant--that have most to do with the people; the
former are to be found in the houses, and it is difficult to keep food
free of them, and the latter are the scavengers that scour the country
in search of carrion; their bite is fierce and tenacious, and is dreaded
by all who come into contact with them. The characteristics of the two
species of ants are turned to account in the story.
One day the Driver-ants and the Small-ants were assembled together, and
the former said: “We will govern the country as chiefs.” But the
Small-ants objected to this arrangement, and asserted that they were
quite able to rule the land. The Driver-ants laughed at them for having
no strength, and while they were discussing the matter an Elder came
along and inquired into the matter, and on being told the whole affair,
he said: “You Driver-ants, and you Small-ants, go, and the first who
brings a piece of the skin of a man shall rule over the country.”
The Driver-ants went off and waited at a crossroad, and directly they
saw a person coming they crowded out and bit his legs. When the man felt
the bites he ran off a little way and pulled the Driver-ants off his
legs and killed them, and consequently they were not able to procure a
piece of skin, although many died in the attempt.
The Small-ants went into a person’s house and sat there quietly waiting;
and by and by a man arrived who, while returning from his work, had hit
his foot against a stone and raised the skin. He took a knife from the
wall and sat down and cut off the loose skin, which he threw away. The
watching Ants soon found the piece of skin, and carried it to the place
where they had held the discussion with the Driver-ants, and gave it to
the Elder as a proof of their wisdom and strength. The Elder gave the
decision in their favour, and told them that they were the rulers of the
land. This is the reason why the Small-ants live in houses, while the
Driver-ants have to live in the bush.
XXXIII
The Son who tried to outwit his Father
A son said to his father one day: “I will hide, and you will not be able
to find me.” The father replied: “Hide wherever you like,” and then he
went into his house to rest.
The son saw a three-kernel peanut, and changed himself into one of the
kernels; a fowl coming along picked up the peanut and swallowed it; and
a wild bush-cat caught and ate the fowl; and a dog met, chased, and ate
the bush-cat. After a little time the dog was swallowed by a python,
that, having eaten its meal, went to the river and was snared in a
fish-trap.
The father searched for his son, and, not seeing him, went to look at
his fish-trap. On pulling it to the riverside he found a large python in
it. He opened it and saw a dog inside, in which he found a bush-cat, and
on opening that he discovered a fowl, from which he took the peanut, and
breaking its shell he there revealed his son. The son was so dumbfounded
that he never tried again to outwit his father.
INDEX
(TO PART I)
A
Alphabet, native learning the, 254
Attempts by natives to rid themselves of sickness and death, 283, 284
Attendants on the King, 145
B
Bakula takes a fancy to me, 25;
his character, 25;
his charms, 35;
tells good stories, 39;
questions the visitors, 59;
strikes at the white man, 65;
goes with Satu on a visit, 74;
is cut in a drunken row, 99;
wound dressed by white teacher, 100;
belauds the chief, 105;
shakes hands with the teacher, 107;
tells his name to his white friend, 111;
is astonished at the teaching, 112;
accompanies an embassy, 131;
goes to see the white man, 133;
sees the King of Congo, 137;
learns about the King’s Court, 145;
sees the station at work, 148;
afraid to go into school, 152;
sees a witch-doctor performing, 158;
attends the white teacher during the Sunday work, 162;
exposure of a witch-doctor, 166;
returns to his town, 171;
begins to lose faith in fetishes, 197;
charged with stealing, 241;
repudiates charms and “medicine men,” 241;
cloth found in his house, 243;
refuses to bribe the nganga, 246;
is burnt by the boiling oil, 248;
runs away to mission station, 250;
learns the alphabet, 254;
turned out of a town, 258;
prays for the people, 259;
convicted of sin, 260;
joins the Church, 264;
returns to his town, 265;
starts a school, 268;
school-house destroyed, 272;
accused of witchcraft, 289;
is guarded through the night, 290;
takes the ordeal, 291;
murdered, 291;
is buried by Tumbu, 292
Baobab bark juice rubbed on by witch-doctor, 248
Baptismal service, 331
Bartering for native produce, 235
Betrothal bonds, releasing from, 179;
customs connected with, 186
Brass rod, made in factory, 1;
shipped to Congo, 2;
travels up river, 6;
sold for rubber and ivory, 12;
travels overland, 13;
Bakula takes a fancy to it, 25;
Tumbu takes it from Bakula’s corpse, 293;
Tumbu buries it, 294;
Mikula discovers and wears it, 295
Burial, christian, 201
Bush-burning, 194;
guarding a town before the bush is burnt, 195;
laws relating to, 203;
Dimbula breaks the law, 203
C
Candidates for membership, 319, 321, 329
Charms, sacrifices to, 26, 36, 70;
various purposes of, 35
Chief’s house, 22
Chief dies, 23;
orgy at funeral of, 24;
bearers struggle with corpse, 31;
buried at sunset, 31;
barbarity of a, 163;
way of dealing with a, 273
Christianity a blessing to women, 310
Christmas festival, 327
Church accounts, 334, 336;
membership, not easily admitted to, 319, 321, 329;
roll, 318, 334, 336
Collections at services, 299, 309, 312, 316
Communion services, 298, 300, 338
Comparisons--old life and new, 297, 301, 310, 316, 317
Congo River, its width, 7;
its current, 7, 11;
fishing in the, 8
Conservatism of the Congo people, 267
Conundrums, various, 9, 124, 125
Corpse, fighting for, 218
D
Dance called Sala, 103
Dangers of the road, 229, 231, 317
Deacons, election of, 332;
native, 298, 332, 334, 339
Death, natives attempt to free themselves of, 283, 284
Deficit wiped out, 334
Devil’s Cauldron, 11
Diagnosing by native “doctor,” 275
Dimbula breaks the rules about bush-burning, 203;
insults Satu, 204;
is boastful, 205;
accepts the bullet, 213;
sues for peace, 220;
pays indemnity, 221
Drums, electrical effect of, 103
Drunken bouts, 30, 99
F
Fighting, mode of, 217
Fines imposed are shared, 226
Forest town of spirits, 31, 32
Funeral orgy, 30
G
Games, native, “Antelope” game, 76;
with the drum Sala, 103;
make-believe games, 114;
“Biti” and needle, 115;
with canna seeds, 116;
hoop, 118;
mbele (or knife), 119;
various, 121
Generosity of native Christians, 316, 334, 336
Gifts at a funeral, 27
Gin and rum, 13
Goat! Goat! or redeeming a slave, 191
Governing, 223;
making a new law, 224
Greetings, 232
H
Harvest home! 338
Harvest thanksgiving, 309, 312
Houses, 34
Hunters take blood of Antelope to the great hunter, 207
Hunting, 194;
charm for, 197;
visit to great hunter, 198
I
Interpreter to Trader, 235
J
Journey begins, my overland, 12
K
King of Congo murders his mother, 106
King of Congo, 131;
calls the embassy, 134;
his courtyard, 135;
his palace, 136;
is pleased with the presents, 137;
his name, 137;
size of, 138;
goes to dinner with the white man, 139;
eats a large dinner, 141;
sees magic lantern, 143;
his Majesty’s Court, 145;
told to go to St. Catherine, 167
Kroo boys, their work on steamer, 3;
their curious names, 4;
give white men names, 4, 7;
boy tries to steal me, 5;
carries me out of the store, 5
L
Law, making a new, 224;
peculiarity of native laws, 225;
fines imposed for breaking a law are shared, 226
Leopard, ceremony after killing a, 176
Life, petty and mean native, 58
M
Markets, 227;
risks of attending, 229
Marriage, Christian, 307;
releasing a niece from, 179;
sham struggle at, 189;
money, paying, 182, 187;
feast at, 189;
promises, 189
Martyrs for the cause, 305, 306
Mavakala, accused of witchcraft, 52;
denies his guilt, 52;
reason of the false charge, 53;
takes the ordeal, 55;
vomits it, 56;
other tests forced on him, 56;
is murdered, 57;
carcass left on hilltop, 57
“Medicine man,” makes fetish for white man, 13;
visited by Satu, 20;
makes a charm for Satu, 21;
fails to cure Satu’s brother, 22;
searches for the witch, 49;
mode of procedure, 51;
accuses Mavakala of witchcraft, 52;
makes a luck fetish, 69;
rubs out evil spirits, 158;
exposure of, 166;
makes a hunting charm, 197;
makes a war fetish and charms, 214;
performs peace rites, 221;
makes trading charm, 251;
asks Bakula for a bribe, 247;
is fooled by school-boys, 263;
models of diagnosing, 275;
various kinds of, 274, 277, 280, 281
Mikula finds the brass rod, 275;
takes services, 297;
conducts a funeral, 201;
his marriage, 307;
receives the gifts, 309;
talks to an inquirer, 320.
Mission station, working of, 148;
buying food, 149;
best way of bartering for goods, 150;
school, 151;
repairing, 153;
boys’ work in the garden, 154;
rules on a, 155;
talk with the boys, 156;
Saturday’s work, 157;
Sunday’s work--Sunday school, 159;
service, 161;
visit to a town, 162;
talk with the King, 164;
employments, 257
Missionary meeting, native, 335
Missionary, their talk about, 17;
is coming, 60;
driven from the town, 66;
is defended by Tonzeka, 93-97;
dresses the wounds, 100;
converses with Satu and his followers, 107-110;
native name for, 90;
visits Bakula, 270
Mother of Bakula falls ill, 274
N
Names given to Kroo boys, 4;
white men, 4;
missionaries, 90
Ndoki, an evil bewitching spirit, 22, 23, 278, 281, 282, 283
Nkwiya, spirit that can leave a person and travel without the body,
232, 281
O
Omens, kicking the foot, 19, 85;
snake on the road, 74;
cutting ordeal bark, 55
Out-station work, 296;
Sunday at an, 297;
Communion at an, 298
P
Pawn, redeeming a, 178
Peace, ceremony of making, 220
Pictures, native learns to look at, 255
Plaited-Beard warns my companions against white men, 16;
angers the people against the coming white man, 60;
abuses a visitor, 62;
accompanies Satu, 74;
kicks his foot and returns to his town, 85;
is sent on an embassy, 131;
refuses to meet the white man, 172;
is not successful in hunting, 208;
accuses Bakula, 208;
reinvigorates his charm, 210;
is made Nenkondo, 224;
his crockery is broken, 239;
charges Bakula with stealing, 241;
submits to the ordeal, 247;
guards Bakula during the night, 290
Prohibition of luck-giver, 71
Proverbs, 33, 39
Pudding, way to eat, 38
R
Redeeming a pawn, 178;
a slave, 191
Riddles, various, 9, 124, 125
Ridge-pole, taking of chief’s, 219
Road, dangers of the, 229, 231, 316
Rules of the road, 234
S
Sacrifices to charms, 26, 36, 70
St. Catherine fails to help the King, 167
Satu knocks his toes, 19;
bad omen, 20;
visits “medicine man,” 20;
arrives just in time to see his dying brother, 22;
arranges burial of his brother, 23;
receives the mourners, 26,
and their gifts, 27;
stops a serious quarrel, 63;
orders a luck fetish, 69;
goes to visit a chief, 73;
his toilet and dress, 86;
visits the white man, 106;
a long talk, 107-110;
afraid of witchcraft, 111;
a title falls to him, 131;
sends embassy to King, 131;
receives his title, 173;
redeems his brother, 178;
releases his niece from a hateful marriage, 179;
his quarrel with Dimbula, 203;
demands an apology, 205;
goes to war, 212;
accused of bewitching a slave, 219;
helps Bakula, 242
Selfishness, heathen, 317
Sickness, attempt to clear country of, 283, 284
Smoking a chief, 273
Superstitions about white men:
buying bodies, 16;
get cloth from the sea, 17;
wickedness of white teachers, 17, 18;
a luck-fowl dies, 271
T
Teachers, need for native, 300;
teaching, 303
Title falls to Satu, 131;
ceremony of giving the, 174
Titles of King’s attendants, 145
Toilet before meals, 28;
before entering a town, 86
Tolls for bridges, 234
Tonzeka receives Satu, 87;
gives him good entertainment, 90;
how to settle a palaver, 91;
defends the white teacher, 93-97;
is disturbed by the teaching, 95;
takes Satu to the white teacher, 106
Trade goods taken for rubber, ivory, etc., 13
Trading, 230;
fetish for helping, 231;
arrival of traders, 234
Treatment of native chief, 273
Tumbu sold for food, 43;
tells a story, 43;
wounded, 217;
witnesses for Bakula, 244;
tries to comfort Bakula, 249;
buries Bakula, 292;
takes me from his friend’s body, 293
V
Visitors arrive, 59;
abused by Plaited-Beard, 62
W
War fetish is made, 214
Wardrobes, variegated, 87
Welcomed to the station, 303, 311
White men, native talk about, 13
White man’s fetish, 13;
puts weight under scale, 14;
buys banana for rubber, 14;
cheats in paying out beads, 14;
is rubbed with cow-itch, 15;
wants to steal ivory trumpets but is shaved, 32;
accused of being dirty, 62;
why they live under the sea, 108;
will steal our country, 172
White woman take services, 314
Witch-doctors, names of--
Kimbaji-mbaji = to-morrow, 21
Ngang’a Ngombo = witch-finder, 50, 288
Ngol’a nkasa = giver of the ordeal, 55;
ngang’a zumbi = luck-giver, 69;
ngang’a nkongo = giver of hunting skill, 194, 210
Kimpovela, one who speaks on behalf of others, 198
prayer of, 199, 207
Nganga of war, 214
Nganga of peace, 221
Ngang’a mpungu = giver of trading and general good luck, 231
Nganga who gives oil ordeal, 246
Nganga to destroy evil spirit, 363
Nganga a wuka = healer, 274
Nganga a moko, 277
Nganga with traps, 280
Nganga a bitodi who spoke to spirits, 281
Nganga various, 284
Women regarded as inferior, 30, 38;
condition bettered by Christianity, 310;
white woman takes services, 314
_Richard Clay & Sons, Limited, London and Bungay._
------------------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
==JAMES CHALMERS==
==His Autobiography and Letters.==
By the late RICHARD LOVETT, M.A.,
Author of “James Gilmour of Mongolia,” etc.
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when the enthusiasm of humanity wanes, and we are tempted to let
fireside heroics take the place of action."--_The Daily News._
==GRIFFITH JOHN==
==The Story of Fifty Years in China.==
By R. WARDLAW THOMPSON, D.D.
(Foreign Secretary of the London Missionary Society).
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==W. HOLMAN BENTLEY==
==The Life and Labours of a Congo Pioneer.==
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==TAMATE==
==The Life and Adventures of a Christian Hero.==
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==PIONEERING IN NEW GUINEA==
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==Saint and Scholar.==
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==THE CROSS IN THE LAND OF THE
TRIDENT.==
==Or, India from a Missionary Point of View.==
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LONDON: THE RELIGIOUS TRACT SOCIETY.
Transcriber’s Note
Endnote 24, which merely cross-references endnote 19, is not
referred to directly anywhere in the text.
Errors deemed most likely to be the printer’s have been corrected,
and are noted here. The references are to the page and line in the
original.
82.26 [“]Next morning the Wine-gatherer Added.
163 Mbumb[u/a]’s record Replaced.
395.6 [“]and you will be the tenth.” Added.
396.8 [“]but where is the money?” Added.
466.3 models of diagno[s]ing Inserted.
467.27 takes [me] from his friend’s body _sic_