the foot of the Tree. He fastened two cords, with which to climb up
to where the Tree was at half its thickness. There he tried to cut
the Tree. But he was unable to cut away even the smallest chip. At
last he exclaimed, "Ah! brother Etoli is justified! I am not able to
cut this tree, because of its hardness."
So, he came down the Tree, and left the axe at the foot, saying, "If
I go back to the house of this Man, he will kill me. No! I am fleeing."
When he arrived at his town, the other people asked him, "Where's
the woman?" He answered, "The woman is a thing easy to marry, but
the Tree was a hard thing to cut."
After waiting awhile for the Forest-Rat, Njambo came to the foot of
the Tree; and, seeing the axe lying, took it, and went with it to
his House.
Then Leopard tried for the woman; and failed in the same way as the
two who preceded him.
Next, Elephant tried, and failed in the same way.
So did Ox in the same way.
And all the other Beasts, one after another, in the same way, wearied
of the task for obtaining this woman.
But, there was left still one Beast, Tortoise, that had not made
the attempt at the marriage. He stood up, and said, "I will go;
and I shall marry that woman at Njambo's town!" Ox heard Tortoise
say that; and struck him, saying, "Why! even more so we; and the
less so you, to attempt to obtain her!" But Elephant said to Ox,
"Let Kudu alone! Let us see him marry the woman!"
So, Tortoise made his journey to Njambo's town, and came there late
in the afternoon. He said to Njambo, "I have come to marry your
child." Njambo replied, "Well! let it be so!"
Tortoise said to Njambo, "First, call your daughter, to see if she
shall like me." When she entered the room, Tortoise asked her, "Do you
love me?" She answered, "Yes! I love you with all my heart." This made
Tortoise glad; for the woman was very beautiful to look upon. Then
Njambo told him, "Kudu, I want no goods for her; only the cutting of
the Tree." Tortoise assented, "Yes! I will try."
So they all went to sleep that night.
And then the next day broke.
An hour after sunrise, Njambo called Tortoise, and, showing him the
axe, said, "This is the axe for the tree." Tortoise took the axe,
and went to the foot of the Tree. He looked at its sides closely,
and saw there was a difference in them. He also looked very steadily
at the top of the tree. Then he took rattan ropes, and mounted to the
middle of the thickness of the Tree. He chose also the side opposite
that at which the others had cut. He found it soft when he began to
cut; and, at once the chips began to fall to the ground. He had begun
the chopping early, and by the middle of the morning, the Tree began
to fall. And it fell to the ground with a great crash, nji-i!
Njambo heard the fall of the tree, and he came to see it. And he
said to Tortoise, "You have done well, because you have cut down
the Tree. But, finish the job by cutting off the top end with its
branches. That will leave the trunk clear." Tortoise asked Njambo,
"What will you do with the log?" Njambo answered him, "To make
a canoe."
So, Tortoise cut off also the end of the Tree with its branches.
Then Njambo told him, "Come on, into the town, to take your wife;
because you have cut down the tree; that is the price I asked." The
two came to the house in the town; and Njambo brought his daughter
to Tortoise, saying, "This is your wife. And I give with the woman
these other things." Those things were only different kinds of food.
Tortoise made his journey with his wife towards his town. He journeyed,
going, going on, until he had reached half of the way. Then he said
to his wife, "What shall I do? For, Njâ is ahead in the way?" The
wife replied, "No! go on! I think Njâ will do nothing to us."
Shortly afterward, they met with Leopard in the path. Leopard said
to Tortoise, "Ah! Chum! this wife is not proper for you to marry,
only with me, Njâ." Tortoise said "No!" But Leopard insisted, "No! I
take this one! I will give you another wife in her place." So, he
snatched the woman from Tortoise, and ran away with her to his town.
Tortoise went on his way, as he went, crying, till he came to his
own village. There Elephant asked him, "Why do you cry as you go? Has
Njambo struck you about the affair of the marriage? For, we had heard
the news that you had cut down the tree, and had taken the woman. What
then is the reason?"
Tortoise answered, "Yes! I married the woman, because I had cut down
the Tree. But Njâ took the woman away."
Then Elephant called all the Beasts together to take counsel. He said
to them, "What shall we do, because Njâ has taken away the wife of
Kudu?" They all replied, "We are all afraid of Njâ. None of us can dare
to say anything to him. For, he kills us people. So, our decision is:
Let Kudu give up his wife to Njâ."
But Tortoise said, "I am unable to leave her. If it be death, I will
die because of my wife."
So, they all dispersed from the house of Tortoise, and went to their
own houses.
At that time, Leopard had eight wives.
Tortoise removed from the Town-of-all-the-Beasts, and built a village
for himself, about one-and-a-half miles away. He built on the public
highway, where passed by all people. He put a very large stone in
front of his door-yard, large enough for one to sit down on it. He
made also a bench near the stone. And he put a plate with water in it
on the ground by the stone. Then he placed a certain magic-medicine
on the seat of the bench. And he uttered a Charm: "Let any one else
who sits on this seat go free from it. But, if it be Njâ, let him
not go from it."
He finished all these things late in the afternoon. The day darkened,
and he went to his house, and slept his sleep.
Soon the day broke.
That day, Elephant said, "I'm going to the forest, and my wives with
me." As he came on his way, he passed by the street of Tortoise's
House. He observed the stone and the bench and the water. He exclaimed,
"Ah! I'll sharpen my machete here!" So, he sat down on the bench,
and sharpened his machete. Then, went on his way into the forest with
his wives.
After a while, Ox came on his journey, and saw the stone and water. He
also sat down on the bench, and sharpened his machete. And then went
on his way into the forest with his wives.
Soon afterward, Leopard journeyed along with all his eight, and the
new one, the ninth, the wife of Tortoise. He came to the house of
Tortoise. Looking into the door-yard, he exclaimed, "Ah! good! and
fine! that Kudu has prepared these things."
Tortoise was in the house; he saw Leopard coming, and he rejoiced,
"Very good! indeed! for the coming of this person." Leopard sat down
on the bench, and sharpened his machete on the stone with the water
of the plate. His women standing by, waited for him to finish the
sharpening. When he had finished, he said, "I will get up, and start
the journey again." But, he stuck fast to the bench. He exclaimed,
"My women! I am unable to rise! What shall I do?"
The "medicine" on the bench began to sting him like bees. And he
cried out, "Ah! I'm dead! For, I am unable to rise!"
Tortoise, coming out into the yard, said to Leopard, "I am the one
who caused you this. You will not move thence until you give me
back my wife. If you do not, you will remain there a whole month,
a whole year."
At this, Leopard felt very much grieved; and he inquired of his women,
"The wife of Kudu is here in this company?" The woman answered,
"Yes! I'm here." Then Leopard said, "Please, Kudu, take your wife,
and remove me from this bench. It hurts me." So, Tortoise took his
wife. And he added, "I want also my food you took from us in the path."
Leopard sent a child back to his town in haste to cut plantains. The
child went; and the plantains were brought. Tortoise took them, and
said, "Njâ! you are done, for your part. I have taken all I owned. But,
if I release you, you will kill me, and take again my wife. You shall
be released only after I have fled."
So, Tortoise fled with his wife and all his goods into a stream of
water. When safely there, he shouted, "Let Njâ remove from that seat!"
At once, Leopard stood up, and was free. And he went back to his town,
giving up his intended journey into the forest.
TALE 16
TORTOISE, DOG, LEOPARD AND THE NJABI FRUIT
Persons
Njâ (Leopard)
Mbwa (Dog)
Kudu (Tortoise)
Inâni (A Bird)
And Other Beasts
Note: Observe the cannibalism of the human-animals.
At first, all Animals were living in one region. Of these, Tortoise and
Dog lived together in one place, and built a town by themselves. But,
all the others, Leopard, Hippopotamus, Elephant, Ox, etc., lived
together in another place.
After some time, a great famine fell on the part of the country where
Tortoise and Dog lived; and they had to seek for any kind of food.
One day Tortoise said to Dog, "I'm going awalking into the forest." So,
early at daybreak, he started off to seek for mushrooms. All those
other Beasts that were living together had a kind of tree called
Bojabi, bearing a very large heavy fruit called Njabi. And they had
all agreed, "There are no other Animals, but our own companies, who
shall eat of the fruit of this Tree." They were accustomed, whenever
they had eaten of this fruit, to go to an adjacent prairie, to play.
So that day, on his journey, Tortoise happened to come to the foot of
that Tree. The ripe fruit were falling from it, and quantities were
lying on the ground. He exclaimed "Eme! (indeed!), Ibele! (splendid),
Eme! Abundance of food!" He gathered, and ate, and stayed a while
gathering others, which he would carry back to his town.
While doing this, a fruit fell from the branch above, and struck him
hard on the back. The blow hurt him; but he only said, "Ah! the back
of an aged person!" (My back feels like that of an aged person.) This
he said because of the pain it gave him; but he made no out-cry.
He had with him a bag, into which he put food on a journey. So,
he filled it with the fruits, and resumed his journey to go back
to his town. On his arrival at his house, his wife said to him,
"Why did you delay so long?" He replied, "I found a Tree belonging
to the Tribes-of-All-the-Beasts. Had they seen me, they would have
killed me." And, he drew the fruits from the bag, and gave his wife
and children, saying, "Eat ye!" But, he added, "While you eat of it,
do not allow Mbwa to see it."
One of the children ran out into the street, with the fruit grasped
in his hand. Just then, Dog happened to meet the child in the street,
and asked him, "Who gave you this fruit, child of Kudu?" The child
answered, "My father came from the forest, and brought this fruit
with him." In the evening, when the day had darkened, Dog came and
said to Tortoise, "My friend! you are a bad fellow; for, we live
together in one place, and you do not share with me! Chum! is it
possible that you eat such good things here? Where did you discover
them?" Tortoise then gave Dog and his children a share. But, he was
not willing to tell the place of that Tree. He evaded, by saying,
"As I went, I forced my way through the jungle of the forest. But,
I did not find any mushrooms; they are about done. Also, we are not
allowed to go to the place where this fruit grows." So it went on
for some time.
On another evening, Tortoise remarked, in conversation with Dog,
that he would be going into the forest next day. Dog said nothing,
but went back to his house, as if to sleep; while Tortoise remained
in his house, and went to bed.
Tortoise had left his hunting-bag hanging in the public
reception-room by his house. At night, Dog arose from his house,
and slowly and stealthily went to the house of Tortoise, clear into
that room. Entering it secretly, and finding the bag, he threw ashes
into its mouth and then, with his knife, made holes in it at the lower
end. For, he said to himself, "When Tortoise shall go out early, then I
will follow him." Then he went back to his house, and laid down again.
When day-light began to break, early in the morning, Tortoise arose,
took the bag, and started on a journey to that forest tree which
belonged to the Beasts. As he went the ashes sifted through the holes
in the bottom of the bag, and fell on the path. He finally arrived
at the tree.
Dog also arose early, and found which way Tortoise had gone, by the
dropping of the ashes; for, as he went, Dog was looking out for the
marks on the way; and, following the signs, they clearly showed him
the route, until he reached the tree, soon after Tortoise had arrived.
Tortoise exclaimed, "Ah! Chum! What have you come here to do? Who
called you, you with your loud howling? Do you know who own this
Tree? Can you endure if one of these fruits should fall down on
you? For, if you cry out in pain, then the owners of this Tree will
catch both you and me. If they seize me, who am Kudu, what shall I
do? For, I, Kudu, do not know how to run rapidly." Then Dog said, "If
they come to seize you, I will come to take you from their hands." At
this, Tortoise laughed out aloud, "Those beasts of strength! When
they seize me, you will come and take me from them? Really?"
Just then while they were thus speaking, two of the fruits fell on
Tortoise's back, at the same time, with a thud, ndu! ndu! Though in
pain, he only unconcernedly remarked, "The hardened skin of an aged
person! Ah! the back of an old man!" and went on eating.
Dog exclaimed, "O! Chum! that big thing struck you, and you were able
to refrain from crying!" Tortoise replied, "Wait till yours also!"
Presently a very small fruit thus fell, and hit Dog on the head. He
howled lustily, "Ow! ow! ow! ow!" Tortoise said to him, "Did I not
tell you so!"
There came down another fruit, and fell on Tortoise; he quietly
disregarded it. Another then fell on Dog with a thump, ngomu! And he
ran off howling, "mwâ! mwâ!"
All this while, Leopard had been up the Tree. It was he who had flung
the fruit at Dog and Tortoise.
When Dog ran, Leopard instantly descended the Tree, and, disregarding
Tortoise, chased Dog; but could not overtake him. Had he caught Dog,
seizing him tightly, he would have killed him with one blow of his paw,
ndi! and would have eaten him on the spot. While Leopard was away,
Tortoise was in fear and did not know what to do, for he knew that he
could not run from Leopard. A Bird whistled, "Pu! pu! pu! Chum Kudu,
Hide! hide!" So Tortoise went into a hole at the base of the tree,
and hid there.
Leopard, on his return, sought for Tortoise, but could not find
him. So, he climbed the Tree again, and gathered his fruits, and
went off towards the town of the Beasts. But, he met those Beasts
coming; for, they had heard the howls of Dog, and had shouted at him,
"He! e. e.! Wait for us! Don't be afraid!"
All those People-of-the-Tree came and gathered about its trunk. They
searched; and presently they saw Tortoise. They exclaimed, "So! you
are the one who eats for us the fruit of this tree! You shall die!"
They tied him, and took him with them to their town. There they
suspended him from the roof of a house, saying, "To-morrow, you will
be eaten!" Off at his town, the wife of Tortoise asked Dog, "Where is
my husband?" Dog answered, "I think that the Tribes-of-all-the-Beasts
have caught him." After a while, Dog, thinking, said to himself,
"I remember my word that I said to Kudu, 'If they seize you, I will
come to take you.'" So, Dog went and gathered shells of a very large
snail named Kâ. He took a large number, pierced each one with a hole,
and strung them all on a string. These he placed about his neck;
and, as he went along, he wriggled his body, and the shells struck
together like little bells. Then said he to himself, "The time is
fulfilled for taking away my friend." So, he went rapidly to where
the Tribes-of-the-Beasts had a spring for their drinking-water. Those
Beasts had sent one of their lads to get water with which to cook
Tortoise. The lad came to the spring. Dog jingled the shells; and,
the lad ran back to town screaming, "There's some Thing at the spring,
which kills!"
Then the Tribes sent a young man stronger than the lad, and said to
him, "Go you, and get water at the spring." When the young man came
near the spring, Dog jingled the shells, as before. And, the young
man fled in fear. So, the people of the town said, "Let us all go to
the spring together; for, that Thing can not hurt us all."
So they came to the spring. Dog seeing that all were coming, left the
spring, and ran around to their town by another path, to take Tortoise
away. Dog found Tortoise suspended by a rope. He bit through the rope,
and, with Tortoise on his back, he ran rapidly to their town.
Those of the Tribes who first arrived at the spring, searched,
inquiring, "Where is It? Where is It? Where is It?" Discovering
nothing, they returned to the town. Then, they could not find
Tortoise. And they said, "Let be! Kudu has slipped away."
One day after this, the wife of Dog and the wife of Tortoise went
into the forest to their gardens to seek for food. And their children
went out on the prairie, to play. Dog and Tortoise both remained
in the town. Notwithstanding that Dog had saved his life, Tortoise
was still angry at him for having spoiled their going to the Njabi
Tree. Tortoise came to Dog's end of the town and said to him, "Let
us shave our foreheads." Dog was pleased, and said, "Kudu, you first
do me; then I will do you."
So Tortoise took the razor, and he shaved away Dog's front locks.
Then Tortoise said to Dog, "Let me shave also your neck." Dog bent
down his head. Tortoise slashed the entire neck, cutting Dog's head
off. And Dog fell down a corpse.
Tortoise cut up the body, and put the pieces in a kettle of water
on the fire. Also, he gathered pepper pods, and ground them for the
seasoning. He looked for salt, and saw it was up on top of a shelf. So,
he took three chairs, putting them on top of one another, by which to
climb up. As he was creeping up, the chairs fell over on the ground. As
they fell, he tumbled also down, almost into the kettle of hot water,
where were boiling the pieces of Dog. But, Tortoise scrambled away,
and went off to his end of the town.
After a while the children of Dog came back from their play, and
not finding their father in his house, they came to the house of his
friend Tortoise, and asked, "Where is our father?" Tortoise replied,
"As for me, where I was, I did not see him. When he went from here,
who sent for him?"
When the two women returned, Dog's wife found, but did not recognize,
the pieces of meat in her kettle. She wailed and mourned for him as
dead. When, by the next day, the people of Dog did not find him,
they said, "He is dead." But they suspected Tortoise. The wife of
Tortoise also doubted him, and deserting him, returned to the house
of her father. So, Tortoise left them all, and went to another place,
fearing they would charge him with the death of Dog.
TALE 17
A JOURNEY FOR SALT
Persons
Njâbu (Civet)
Mbâmâ (Boa)
Ngweya (Hog)
Kudu (Tortoise)
A Man, and Hunters
NOTE
Interior tribes formerly obtained their salt from sea-water evaporated
by the coast tribes in large shallow brass pans, called "neptunes,"
imported by foreign traders.
All these four Beasts were neighbors, living together in one town.
One time, in the evening, about an hour after the regular six
o'clock sunset, they all, were sitting conversing in the street. Then
Tortoise said to the others, "Here! I have something to say! I wish
to talk with you. Tomorrow, let us go on a journey, to take a walk
through the forest down to the Sea, to buy salt." They all assented,
"Yes! so let it be!"
Late at night, they dispersed to their houses, to lie down for sleep.
After awhile, the day began to break.
Early in the morning, they prepared for their journey. And Tortoise
said to them, "I have here another thing to say; my last word. That
is: As we go, no one of us is to start any new affair on the way; only
steadily down to the Seacoast." They all said, "Yes! we are agreed."
So, they started through the forest, going on their journey. They
went, and they went, on and on, expecting to go a long way, until
they should by evening come to their camping-place for the night. But,
on the way, Civet began to say, "Ah! my stomach aches! Ah! my stomach
aches!" Tortoise asked, "What do you mean by 'stomach-ache?'" Civet
answered, "'Stomach-ache' means that my bowels trouble me, and that
I need to go."
Tortoise said, "Well! go! step aside from the path into the bushes,
and we will wait for you here." But Civet said, "No! not in the
bushes; for, I must go back to the kitchen-garden of my mother in our
town." Tortoise exclaimed, "By no means! When we arranged for this
journey, what did I say in the town?" They all admitted, "You said that
none of us should start any affair on the way." Therefore Tortoise
said, "But, you, Njâbu, have begun a new matter on the way. If so,
this journey is going to end in trouble!"
Nevertheless, Civet ran rapidly back before night to his mother's
kitchen-garden in his town, at the place where he usually went, while
the three others sat down in the path to await his return. After a
long time, Civet, having relieved himself, came again by night to
his companions, saying, "I am feeling very well."
The next day, they all rose, saying, "Now! Let us resume our
journey!" and they started again.
They walked, and they walked, until Boa cried, "O! my stomach! O! my
stomach aches!" Then Tortoise asked him, "What is 'stomach ache'?" Boa
replied, "It means that hunger has seized me." So Tortoise said, "Yes,
that's right. We have with us food for the journey ready. So, come, all
of you, let us all eat." But Boa said, "No! not this food. I must go
and seek other food." Tortoise inquired, "What other kind of food?" Boa
said, "Let me go over yonder a little way; and I shall return."
As he was going, he came in sight of a red Antelope. Boa curled his
body in folds, according to his manner of crushing his prey. The
Antelope happened along; and Boa seized and killed it. He covered it
with saliva very much, as is its manner in swallowing its prey. And,
carrying it to their camp, Boa lay down with it. Tortoise said, "We
will all eat together of it." But Boa replied, "We do not give each
other in the town; shall we give each other on the journey?" Then he
swallowed the entire carcass. Presently he called the other three;
and they went to him. And he said to them, "I have finished eating,
and I am satisfied."
So, Tortoise said, "Come on, then; let us continue our journey." But
Boa said, "No! I shall leave this place only when this Beast I have
eaten dissolves." Tortoise expostulated, "Indeed! Chum! I said in
the town, 'Let no one begin any matter on the way,' yet, first Njâbu
began his affair; and now you, Mbâmâ, begin yours!"
However, they all sat down, and waited for Boa's food to digest. For
an entire month they waited there, delaying while that food was
being digested. Finally, Boa said, "Now, we will journey, but first I
will go to the river to drink." He drank a very great deal of water,
which acted as a purgative to relieve his bowels of the bones of the
Antelope. Then he reported to the others, "I am feeling very well. Let
us go."
They went, and they went. And they came to a large tree so recently
fallen across the path that its leaves were still green. Hog jumped
over to the other side of it. Also, Boa crawled over it. And Civet
leaped over it. They called to Tortoise, who was vainly trying to
climb over it, "Come on! Let us go ahead! Jump!"
But, Tortoise being vexed, said, "No! I won't go! You know I have no
long legs. What can I do! So, I shall leave this spot only when this
tree has rotted through, giving me an open way!" They all wondered, and
said, "No! this tree is new and fresh. It will rot in how many days?"
Tortoise replied, "Not me! you! For, had not you two, Njâbu and Mbâmâ,
delayed us, we would already have passed this spot long before this
tree fell. You, Njâbu, first began a matter; soon, you, Mbâmâ,
began your matter; now, this is my matter. Now wait for me." So,
they waited and waited.
But, while waiting, the other three went out sometimes by early
daylight in the morning to an adjacent plantation, and found there
corn, yams, plantains, and all kinds of food. Civet and Hog said,
"We must eat!" They ate up the corn, and finished the plantains.
One day, a Man of another town, was wandering in the forest. As he
journeyed, he was looking from side to side on the way, peering for
what he might find. And he saw many tracks of Beasts. Examining them
closely, he said, "This track looks like that of a tortoise! Yes,
and this like a hog's! And, here, O! this other is of a civet! And,
ha! ha! a trail of a boa is this!" He exclaimed, "How many Beasts this
place has! I will call the townspeople to come and kill these Beasts;
for, there must be many." So, he hurried rapidly back, and arrived
at the town.