hiding-place. He climbed the tree a third time, and took a cup, and
drank two glassfuls. Again he shouted, "I, Kudu, I'm drunk! I, Kudu,
I'm drunk!"
Out on a prairie, Antelope heard the shouting; and he came to
the tree. Seeing Tortoise, he said, "Chum, give me a glass of
wine!" Tortoise directed him, "Climb up! Of what are you afraid?" So,
Antelope went up the tree, and drank.
Soon Tortoise heard Leopard coming, bounding through the forest. And
Tortoise said to Antelope, "Chum! my bowels pain me; I'll soon
return." He descended, and hid his body as before. Leopard arrived as
before. And he spoke to Antelope; and then killed it with another of
his claws. He took its carcass to his town, and bade his wife cook it,
as had been done with the others.
After Leopard had gone from the tree, Tortoise climbed the tree a
fourth time, again he drank; and again he shouted, changing his words
slightly, "I've drank! I've drank!"
In the jungle, Gazelle heard, and came to the base of the tree,
but said nothing. Tortoise spoke first, "O! my nephew! the wine is
finished!" Gazelle asked, "Who owns this tree?" Tortoise answered,
"It's my own, and not another's."
When he came from the jungle, Gazelle had brought with him a bag. As
Gazelle still stood at the foot of the tree, Tortoise said to him,
"Come up here! What do you fear?" So, Gazelle climbed; but went up
only half-way.
While the two were thus apart, and before Gazelle had drunk any of the
wine, Tortoise heard Leopard coming, leaping through the bushes. Then
Tortoise said to Gazelle, "Ah! nephew! let me pass! My stomach hurts
me!" But Gazelle said, "No! uncle, let us stay and drink." Tortoise
heard Leopard nearing the tree; and he said to Gazelle, "Ah! Hurry! Let
me pass! How my stomach hurts!" Gazelle said, "No! uncle, we'll go
down together."
While they were thus talking, Leopard reached the foot of the
tree. Then Gazelle took Tortoise and hid him in the bag. Leopard
exclaimed, "Iheli! who owns this tree?" Gazelle replied, "This
is the palm-wine tree of my uncle." Leopard asked, "Who is your
uncle?" Gazelle answered, "Kudu."
So, Leopard began to prepare to climb the tree, in order to fight
with Gazelle. Then Gazelle put his hand into the bag, and drew out
Tortoise, tightly grasped in his hand. And he flung Tortoise violently
into Leopard's face. Leopard fell to the ground, dazed with the blow,
while Gazelle leaped to the ground, and fled off in the forest.
When Leopard rose from the earth, he found Tortoise sprawling helpless
on its back. Leopard tied a string to him, and went away with him
to town. And he said to his wife, "My wife! this is the person who
drinks at my wine-tree!" So he suspended him by the string, waiting
to kill him next day.
The day began to darken towards night; and they went to their sleep.
Then came the daylight of next morning.
Leopard said to his wife, "I'm going to a palaver (council) at a
place three miles distant. Take Kudu and cook him with udika (gravy
of kernels of wild mango). When I come back, let me find the food
all ready to be eaten at once."
So, Leopard went on his journey. And his wife remained to do
her work. But, she exclaimed, "Ah! I forget what my husband told
me!" Tortoise, overhearing her said, "Your husband said, 'Take the
dried Etoli from the shelf, and cook it with udika; give it to Kudu,
and let him eat it; and then take Kudu and wash him in the water
of the brook.'" The woman gladly listened, and said, "Eh! Kudu! you
remember well what my husband said to me!"
So, she did about the food as Tortoise had reported, and gave it to
him to eat. When Tortoise had finished eating, the woman went with
him to wash him in the water at the edge of the brook. While she was
doing this, Tortoise asked, "Throw me off into the water where it
is deep." The woman did so. And Tortoise shouted, "So! you will die
this day by your husband's hands!" The woman began to see her mistake,
and she begged Tortoise, "Come! let us go back to town." But Tortoise
said, "I shan't come! I'm here safe in my place down in the bottom
of the stream."
Then the woman went back to her town; and as she went, she went crying.
Late in the day, Leopard returned from the discussions of the
Council. And he said to his wife, "O! my wife! I'm just dying of
hunger!" She told him, "Ah! my husband! Kudu has run away!" Leopard,
in his anger, flung a claw at her; and she died on the spot.
Tortoise, in the meanwhile, went as fast as he could under the
water of the stream. And he came to the house of Crocodile, and
crept into the doorway. Crocodile, in tears, met him with the words,
"Ah! Kudu! I'm just dying here with grief and crying." Tortoise asked
her, "What is the matter?" She told him, "I've laid a hundred eggs,
but none of them had children in them." Tortoise replied, "That's my
work, the causing of eggs to have children. Shall I do it?" Crocodile
consented, "Yes, I've here three hundred other eggs; you may make
them have children." Tortoise told her, "I'm the only one to do that
thing." So, Crocodile said, "Go into this room, and do it."
Tortoise went into the room, found the eggs there; and said to
Crocodile, "Give me here a kettle, also firewood and water. Give me my
food here. For, I will not go out of this house; I will go out only at
the time when I shall have caused the eggs to have children." Crocodile
agreed, saying, "Yes, I am willing. It is well." And she gave direction
to her people, "Give Kudu all the things he has asked for there."
Then Tortoise locked all the doors, and stayed inside the room. He
began to arrange the fire-wood, and set the kettle and put water in
it. In the afternoon, he took twenty eggs, and cooked, and ate them
with his food.
At night, all went to sleep.
At daybreak, he cooked twenty more eggs, and ate them; at noon he
cooked and ate more; and at evening supper, he cooked and ate some
more. So, he spent about seven days in eating all the eggs. Then he
called out to Crocodile "Do you want to hear the little crocodiles
talk?" Crocodile replied, "Yes! I want to hear!" Tortoise took
two pieces of broken plates, and scraped one across the other,
making a rasping sound. Crocodile and the people of the town heard
the squeaking sounds, and they exclaimed in joy. "So! So, So!" They
replied to Tortoise, "We hear the little ones talking!" Tortoise
also told them, "Tomorrow, then, I will make a Medicine to cause
them to talk loudly." But Crocodile began to have some doubts. And
day darkened to night.
Very early in the next morning, Crocodile's doubts having increased,
she rose up without calling her people. And she went slowly alone to
peep through a crack into the room of Tortoise. She saw only the piles
of egg-shells; and she wondered, "Where are the little ones?" Then
she went softly back to her own room; and she told the townspeople,
"Get up! Let us open the room of Kudu!"
They all got up, and they went to the house. They broke the room
door by force; and they found Tortoise sitting among the scattered
shells of the eggs. The Crocodile exclaimed, "Kudu! have you deceived
me? Your life too ends today!"
They tied Tortoise, and put him in the kettle; and they killed him
there. They divided his flesh onto their plates. And Crocodile and
her people ate Tortoise.
This is the end of the lies of Tortoise.
TALE 13
"DEATH BEGINS BY SOME ONE PERSON": A PROVERB
Persons
Kâ (A Very Big Snail)
Ngâmbi (Igwana)
Kudu (Tortoise)
Lonâni (Birds)
Kema (Monkeys)
A Man
NOTE
Trouble came to all these animals, even to the innocent, through
the noise of some of them. Igwanas are supposed, by the natives,
to be deaf.
Snail, Igwana and Tortoise all lived together in one village. One day,
Tortoise went to roam in the forest. There he found a large tree called
Evenga. He said to himself, "I will stay at the foot of this tree, and
wait for the fruit to fall." During two days, he remained there alone.
On the third day, Igwana said to Snail, "I must go and search for our
Chum Kudu, wherever he is." So, Igwana went; and he found Tortoise in
a hole at the foot of that tree. Igwana said to him, "Chum! for two
days I haven't seen you!" Tortoise replied, "I shan't go back to the
village; I will remain here." Then Igwana said to him, "Well, then;
let us sit here together in the same spot." Tortoise objected, "No!" So
Igwana climbed up the trunk a very short distance, and clung there.
After two days, Snail, who had been left alone, said to himself,
"I must follow my friends, and find where they are."
So, Snail journeyed, and found Tortoise and Igwana there at that
tree. Looking at the tree, he exclaimed, "Ah! what a fine tree under
which to sit!" The others replied, "Yes; stay here!" So Snail said
to Igwana, "I will stay near you, Chum Ngâmbi, where you are." But
Igwana objected, "No!"
There was a vine hanging down from the treetop to the ground, and
Snail climbed up the vine. Thus the three friends were arranged;
Tortoise in the hole at the foot of the tree, Igwana up the trunk a
short way, and Snail on the vine half-way to the top.
Igwana held on where he was, close to the bark of the tree. He was
partly deaf, and did not hear well.
After two days, the tree put forth a great abundance of fruit. The
fruit all ripened. Very many small Birds came to the tree-top to
eat the fruit. And very many small Monkeys too, at the top. Also big
monkeys. And also big birds. All crowded at the top. They all began
to eat the fruit. As they ate, they played, and made a great deal
of noise.
Tortoise hearing this noise, and dreading that it might attract the
notice of some enemy, called to Igwana, "Ngâmbi! tell Kâ to say to
those people there at the top of the tree, to eat quietly, and not
with so much noise."
Tortoise himself did not call to Snail, lest his shout should add to
the noise. He only spoke in a low voice to Igwana. But, to confirm
his words, he quoted a proverb, "Iwedo a yalakendi na moto umbaka"
(death begins by one person). This meant that they all should be
watchful, lest Danger come to them all by the indiscretion of a
few. But Igwana did not hear; and was silent.
Tortoise called again, "Ngâmbi! tell Kâ to tell those people to eat
quietly, and without noise." Igwana was silent, and made no answer. A
third and a fourth time, Tortoise called out thus to Igwana; but he
did not hear. So, Tortoise said to himself, "I won't say any more!"
A man from Njambo's Town had gone out to hunt, having with him bow
and arrow, a machete, and a gun. In his wandering, he happened to
come to that tree. Hearing the noise of voices, he looked up and
saw the many monkeys and birds on the tree. He exclaimed to himself,
"Ah! how very many on one tree, more than I have ever seen!"
He shot his arrow; and three monkeys fell. He fired his gun, and
killed seven birds. Then the Birds and the Monkeys all scattered
and fled in fear. The Man also looked at the foot of the tree, and
saw Tortoise in the hole. He drew him out, and thrust him into his
hunting-bag. Then he looked on the other side of the tree, and saw
Igwana within reach. He rejoiced in his success, "Oh! Igwana here
too!" He struck him with the machete; and Igwana died.
Observing the vine, the Man gave it a pull. And down fell Snail! The
Man exclaimed, "So! this is Snail!"
As the Man started homeward carrying his load of animals, Tortoise
in the bag, mourning over his fate, said to the dead Igwana and the
others, "I told you to call to Kâ to warn Kema and Lonani; and, now
death has come to us all! If you, Kema and Lonani, in the beginning,
on the tree-top, had not made such a noise, Man would not have come
to kill us. This all comes from you."
And Man took all these animals to his town, and divided them among
his people.
TALE 14
TORTOISE AND THE BOJABI TREE
Place
Country of All-The-Beasts
Persons
Mbâmâ (Boa Constrictor)
Kudu (Tortoise)
Etoli (House Rat)
Vyâdu (Antelope)
Njâku (Elephant)
Iheli (Gazelle)
Ngomba (Porcupine)
Nyati (Ox)
And the Bojabi Tree
NOTE
African natives hesitate to eat of an unknown fruit or vegetable,
unless they see it first partaken of by some lower animal.
All the tribes of Beasts were living in one region, except one
beast, which was staying in its separate place. Its name was Boa
Constrictor. His place was about thirty miles away from the others.
In the region of all those Beasts, there was a very large tree. Its
name was Bojabi. But none of those beasts knew that that was its name.
There fell a great famine on that Country-of-all-the-Beasts. In their
search for food, they looked at that tree; and they said, "This tree
has fine-looking fruit; but, we do not know its name. How then shall we
know whether it is fit to be eaten?" After some discussion, they said,
"We think our Father Mbâmâ will be able to know this tree's name." So
they agreed, "Let us send a person to Mbâmâ to cause us to know the
name of the tree." They selected Rat, and said to him, "You, Etoli,
are young; go you, and inquire." They also decided that, "Whoever goes
shall not go by land along the beach, but by sea." (This they said,
in order to prove the messenger's strength and perseverance; whether
he would dally by the way ashore, or paddle steadily by sea.) Also,
they told Rat that, in going, he should take one of the fruits of the
tree in his hand, so that Boa might know it. So, Rat took the Bojabi
fruit, stepped into a canoe, and began to paddle. He started about
sun-rise in the morning. In the middle of the afternoon, he arrived
at his journey's end.
He entered into the reception-room of Boa's house, and found him
sitting there. Boa welcomed him, and said to his wife, "Prepare food
for our guest, Etoli!" And he said to Rat, "Stranger! eat! And then
you will tell me what is the message you have brought."
Rat ate and finished, and began to tell his message thus:--He said,
"In our country we have nothing there but hunger. But there is there
a tree, and this is its fruit. Whether it is fit to be eaten or not,
you will tell us." Boa replied, "That tree is Bojabi; this fruit is
Njabi; and it is to be eaten."
Then the day darkened to night. And they slept their sleep.
And then the next day broke.
And Boa said to Rat, "Begin your journey, Etoli! The name of the tree
is Bojabi. Do not forget it!"
Rat stepped into his canoe, and began to paddle. He reached his country
late in the afternoon. He landed. And he remained a little while on the
beach, dragging the canoe ashore. So occupied was he in doing this,
that he forgot the tree's name. Then he went up into the town. The
tribes of All-the-Beasts met him, exclaiming, "Tell us! tell us!" Rat
confessed, "I have forgotten the name just this very now." Then,
in their disappointment, they all beat him.
On another day, they said to Porcupine, "Ngomba! go you!" But they
warned Rat, "If Ngomba brings the name, you, Etoli, shall not eat of
the fruit."
Porcupine made his journey also by sea, and came to the town of
Boa. When Porcupine had stated his errand, Boa told him, "The tree's
name is Bojabi. Now, go!"
Porcupine returned by sea, and kept the name in his memory, until he
was actually entering the town of his home; and, then, he suddenly
forgot it. The tribes of All-the-Beasts called out to him, as they
saw him coming, "Ngomba! tell us! tell us!" When he informed them
that he had forgotten it, they beat him, as they had done to Rat.
They had also in that country, another plant which was thought not
proper to be eaten. They did not know that its leaves were really
good for food.
On another day, they said to Antelope, "Go you; and tell Mbâmâ, and
ask him which shall we eat, this fruit or these leaves. What shall
we Beasts do?"
Antelope went by sea; and came to Boa's town. And he asked Boa,
"What do you here eat? Tell us." Boa replied, "I eat leaves of the
plants, and I drink water; that is all I do. And the name of the tree
that bears that fruit is Bojabi. You, all the Beasts, what are you
to eat? I have told you."
Antelope slept there that night. And the next day, he started on
his return journey. At his journey's end, as he was about to land on
the beach, a wave upset the canoe, and he fell into the sea. In the
excitement, he forgot the name. The anxious tribes of All-the-Beasts
had come down to the beach to meet him, and were asking, "What is the
name? Tell us!" He replied, "Had I not fallen into the water, I would
not have forgotten the name." Then, in their anger, they beat him.
Almost all the beasts were thus tried for that journey; and they all
failed in the same way, with the name forgotten, even the big beasts
like Ox and Elephant. There was no one of them who had succeeded in
bringing home the name.
But there was left still, one who had not been tried. That was
Tortoise. So, he said, "Let me try to go." They were all vexed with
him, at what they thought his audacity and presumption. They began to
beat him, saying, "Even the less for us, and more so for you! You will
not be able!" But Gazelle interposed, saying, "Let Kudu alone! Why
do you beat him? Let him go on the errand. We all have failed; and
it is well that he should fail too."
Tortoise went to his mother's hut, and said to her, "I'm going! How
shall I do it?" His mother told him, "In your going on this journey,
do not drink any water while at sea, only while ashore. Also, do not
eat any food on the way, but only in the town. Do not perform any call
of Nature at sea, only ashore. For, if you do any of these things on
the way, you will be unable to return with the name. For, all those who
did these things on the way, forgot the name." So Tortoise promised,
"Yes, my mother, I shall not do them."
On another day, Tortoise began his journey to Boa, early. He paddled
and he paddled, not stopping to eat or drink, until he had gone
about two-thirds of the way. Then hunger and thirst and calls of
Nature seized him. But he restrained himself, and went on paddling
harder and faster. These feelings had seized him about noon; and
they ceased an hour later. He continued the journey; and, before
four o'clock in the afternoon, had arrived at Boa's. There Tortoise
entered Boa's house, and found him sitting. Boa saluted, and said,
"Legs rest; but the mouth will not. Wife! bring food for Kudu!" The
wife brought food, and Tortoise ate.
Then Boa said to Tortoise, "Tell me what the journey is
about." Tortoise told him, "A great hunger is in our place. There also
we have two plants; the one,--this is its fruit; and this grass,--the
leaves. Are they eaten?" Boa replied, "The tree of this fruit, its
name is Bojabi; and it is eaten. But, I, Mbâmâ, here, I eat leaves
and drink water; and that is enough for me. These things are the food
for All-us Beasts. We have no other food. Go and tell All-the-Beasts
so." Tortoise replied, "Yes; it is well."
Then the day darkened, and they slept.
And another day came. And Tortoise began his journey of return
to his home. As he went, he sang this song, to help remember the
name:--"Njâku! Jaka Njabi. De! De! De!" (Elephant! eat the Bojabi
fruit. Straight! Straight! Straight!) The chorus was "Bojabi," And,
in each repetition of the line, he changed the name of the animal,
thus:--"Nyati! jaka njabi. De! De! De. Bojabi" (Ox! eat the Bojabi
fruit. Straight! straight! straight! Bojabi!)
He thus nerved himself to keep straight on in his journey. And,
as he went, he kept repeating the chorus. "Bojabi, bojabi! bojabi!"
He had gone about one-third of the way, when a large wave came and
upset the canoe, and threw him, pwim! into the water. He clung to the
canoe, and the wave carried it and him clear ashore, he still repeating
the word, "Bojabi! bojabi!" Ashore, he began to mend the canoe; but,
all the while, he continued singing, "Bojabi!" When he had repaired
the canoe, he started the journey again, and went on his way, still
crying out, "Bojabi!"
By that time, All-the-Beasts had gathered on the beach to wait
the coming of Tortoise. He came on and on, through the surf near
to the landing-place of the town. As he was about to land, a great
wave caught him, njim! and the canoe. But, he still was shouting,
"Bojabi!" Though All-the-Beasts heard the word, they did not know
what it meant, or why Tortoise was saying it. They ran into the
surf, and carried the canoe and Tortoise himself up to the top of
the beach. And they, all in a hurry, begged, "Tell us!" He replied,
"I will tell you only when in the town." In gladness, they carried
him on their shoulders up into the town. Then he said, "Before I
tell you, let me take my share of these fruits lying out there in the
yard." They agreed; and he carried a large number, hundreds of them,
into his house. Then he stated, "Mbâmâ said, 'Its name is Bojabi.'" And
All-the-Beasts shouted in unison, "Yes! Bojabi!"
Then they all began to scramble with each other in gathering the fruit;
so that Tortoise would have been unable to get any, had he not first
taken his share to his mother, whose advice had brought him success.
He also reported to them, "Mbâmâ told me to tell you that himself
eats leaves and grass, and drinks water, and is satisfied. For,
that is the food of All-the-Beasts."
Had it not been for Boa, the Beasts would not have known about
eating leaves. But, though that is so, the diligence and skill,
in this affair, was of Tortoise.
So, All-the-Beasts agreed:--"We shall have two Kings, Kudu and Mbâmâ,
each at his end of the country. For, the one with his wisdom told what
was fit to be eaten; and, the other, with his skill, brought the news."
TALE 15
THE SUITORS OF NJAMBO'S DAUGHTER
Place
In Njambo's Town
Persons
Njambo and His Daughter Ndenga
Etoli (House Rat)
Njâ (Leopard)
Ko (Forest Rat)
Nyati (Ox)
Kudu (Tortoise)
Njâku (Elephant)
NOTE
Africans cut down trees, not at the base, but some 12 or 20 feet up
where the diameter is less. They sit in the circle of a rope enclosing
the tree and their own body, the rope resting against their backbone
at the loins, and their feet braced against the tree trunk.
The reason why Tortoise lives in brooks is his fear of Leopard.
All the Beasts were living long ago in one place, separate from
the towns of Mankind; but they had friendship for and married with
each other.
Among the towns of Mankind was living a man named Njambo. There was
born to him a female child named Ndenga. In the town, at one end of
it, there was a very large tree.
Njambo said of his daughter, "This child shall be married only with
Beasts." So when the Beasts heard of that one of them, House-Rat,
said, "I'm going to marry that woman!" So he went to the father to
arrange what things he should pay on the dowry. Njambo said to him,
"I do not want goods. But, if any one shall be able to hew down this
tree, he shall marry my child."
At once, Rat took the axe that Njambo handed him, and began to hack at
the Tree. He tried and tried, but was not able to make the axe enter
at all. At last, he wearied of trying and stopped. He said to himself,
"If I go to Njambo, and tell him I am unable to do the task, he will
kill me." So, he left the axe, at the foot of the tree, and fled to
his town.
Njambo waited a while, but seeing no signs of Rat's coming to him to
report, himself came to the Tree, and found only the axe, but saw no
person. He took up the axe, and went with it back to his house.
Off in the Forest, all-Beasts saw Rat returning, and were surprised
that he came alone. They asked him, "Where is the woman?" Rat answered,
"I wearied of trying to get the woman, by reason of the greatness of
the task of cutting down a tree. So, I gave up the work, and fled,
and have come home."
Then all the Beasts derided him, saying, "You like to live in another
person's house, and scramble around, and nibble at other people's food,
but you are not able to marry a wife!"
Then Forest-Rat said, "I will marry that woman!" So he went to
Njambo for the marriage, and came to the town. Njambo said to him,
"I do not object to anybody for the marriage, but, I will only test
you by that Tree off yonder. If you are willing to hew the Tree,
you may marry this woman!"
This Forest-Rat replied, "Yes! I shall wait here today; and will
cut down the Tree early tomorrow morning." That day darkened. And
Njambo's people cooked food for Forest-Rat as their guest. They all
ate; and then they went to lie down to sleep.
Then after awhile, the light of another day began to break.