Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 15, 1904.djvu/373

Rh Mouya's story is as follows:

"The Rabbit took wild fruits (mpinjimpinji) and put them into his bag; and he came to [a man who was] eating earth; and he said, 'Do not eat earth—eat my mpinjimpmji.' [And he gave him some. And when the man had eaten them, he said], 'Give me other things [in exchange].' And he gave him a weaving-stick (panga). [And he went on and] found a man weaving cloth and beating it on the ground, and he gave him a weaving-stick. He said, 'Give me something else, [since] you have taken my weaving-stick.' And he gave him hoes (makasu). [And he went on and] found [people digging with pointed sticks (nchokoti). He said, 'Hoe with these hoes'; and his companions hoed. He said, 'You have hoed with my hoe, [give me something instead of it].' And they gave him arrows (mibvi). [And he went on and] found people shooting with small arrows (nsewe), and he said, 'Shoot with these [proper] arrows,' [And they did so, and] he said, 'You have taken my arrows,' [give me something instead]? And they gave him mapira (millet). [And he went on and] came to some guinea-fowl eating sand, and he said] 'Eat mapira. And the guinea-fowl left off eating sand [and ate the mapira, and he said,] 'You have eaten my mapira. And they gave him some red clay (chikule). [And he went on] and found some frogs anointing themselves with mud. He said, 'Anoint yourselves with this red clay.' The frogs anointed themselves. He said, 'Give me my red clay.' The frogs said  The rabbit just went away. The frogs went into the water."

In Dr. Elmslie's story it is a man who is the hero. He starts similarly, by finding wild fruit (this time figs) in the bush. He gives them to a man eating grass and gets in return (after having vainly demanded back his figs) a fishing-net. The remaining steps in the series are as follows: