Once upon a time there was a hare who was cunning with great guile. That
hare went to the jackal and said, "I want to make friends with you,
jackal. Our friendship will be that we walk about together and agree in
every matter. Everything that I do you must do also, and everything that
you do I must also do."
[Illustration: The Jackal, the Hare and the Cock]
When the jackal heard those words of the hare he was very pleased, and
he thought, "This will be very good to have the hare for a brother, for
he is very clever."
So the jackal agreed to make friends with the hare, and they walked
about together. Till one day the hare said to the jackal, "To-day, my
brother, we will each take a knife and a spear, and we will go and kill
our mothers. I will go and kill mine, and you, jackal, must go and kill
yours."
So they each took a spear and a knife and went their ways to kill their
mothers. The hare went to his mother and took her and hid her in a cave.
Then he went to a tree which is called Mtumbati and smeared his knife
and spear with the sap of that tree, which is red. Then he returned to
the place at which he had agreed to meet the jackal.
Now the jackal was very grieved when he was told that he must kill his
mother, and being without guile he said to himself, "I will stay away
for a little while, and then say to my brother, the hare, that I have
killed my mother."
So he went off, and returned again to the place of meeting, and there
met the hare. The hare asked him, "Have you killed your mother, my
brother?"