That man said, "No, I cannot, for I have promised to make it for the
elephant."
But that lion insisted on the man making him a house first, so that
carpenter put down his load and began making a box like a coffin.
When he had finished it he made a door at one end, and then he said to
the lion, "Enter in, my master, and see if the house suits you."
So the lion walked in, and the man shut the door and cried, "Now do you
know me? I am that creature called man."
Then he took his axe and rained blows on the lion until he had killed
him.
[Illustration: AFRICAN ORYX]
When Bata saw this she flew away, and this was the beginning of her
sitting always on the water, even to sleeping on the water in the middle
of a pool, for fear of man who killed her husband.