Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 21, 1910.djvu/537

 Collectanea. 495

24. The Old Woman, the Hycena, and the Monkey. (B. G.) This is about a Monkey. The Hyaena went to the forest and found a suitable spot, and she said she would build a house (there). Then the Monkey came, and he also said that the spot was good for building a house in. He cleared the ground (place). Then the Hyaena came and said, — "Who is so fond of me (my lover) that he clears the ground for my house ? " Then she built a house. The Monkey came and said, — " Who is it who is so fond of me that he makes me a house ? " Then he made a roof. When night came, a certain old woman, — (old shrivelled one, your fat is only on your knee, your bones (would fill) a basket, your fat (only) a fist), — came and entered the house. Now this was the road to the market. The Monkey when he came picked some ground-nuts and entered the house. He did not know that the old woman was there. Then the Hyaena also found the dead body of a horse and entered. She did not know that the Monkey was there. She did not know that the old woman was there. As for the old woman, she knew they were there, for she saw them. Now, the Monkey, when he had cracked and eaten two ground- nuts, reached out his hand to put (the rest) in the corner, and the old woman got them. The Hyaena also thought she would hide the rest of the horseflesh, but the Monkey got it. When the Monkey had taken it, he put it in the corner and the old woman got it. Now the old woman, the senseless old thing, said, — "These young people are giving me presents, what shall I give them, let me give them something from the market." They did not know she was there. So she stretched out (her hand), and put a giginnia seed in the hollow of the Monkey's eye. Then the Monkey rushed outside, — "booboop," — with a run. Then the Hyaena rushed outside, — "booboop," — with a run. Then they saw each other, and they said, — " Now, let us make an alliance against (upon) the thing which is in the house." So they allied themselves with the Elephant, with the Buffalo, with the Lion, with the Duiker, with the Hare, with the Jerboa, with the Ostrich. Then the Hyaena said, — " Whoever finds out what is in this house, I will give him a hundred thousand (cowries)." The Monkey also said (that), whoever found out what was in the house, he would give him a hundred thousand (cowries). So they said, — " Whom