Page:George McCall Theal, Ethnography and condition of South Africa before A.D. 1505 (2nd ed, 1919).djvu/158

134 for the tail, which should be kept for the chief. The hare replied: “the one I killed had no tail.” They said: “how can an inkalimeva be without a tail?” They began to search, and at length they found a piece of the tail in the fence. They told the chief that the hare had eaten the tail. He said: “bring him to me.” All the animals ran after the hare, but he fled, and they could not catch him. The hare ran into a hole, at the mouth of which the animals set a snare, and then went away. The hare remained in the hole many days, but at length he managed to get out without being caught.

He went to a place where he found a bushbuck building a hut. There was a pot on the fire with meat in it. He said to the bushbuck: “can I take this little piece of meat?” The bushbuck answered: “you must not do it.” But he took the meat and ate it all. After that he whistled a particular tune, and there fell a storm of hail which killed the bushbuck. Then he took the skin of the bushbuck, and made for himself a mantle.

After this the hare went into the forest to get for himself some weapons to fight with. While he was cutting a stick the monkeys threw leaves upon him. He called to them to come down and beat him. They came down, but he killed them all with his weapons.

Little Jackal one day went out hunting, when he met a Lion. The lion proposed that they should hunt together, on condition that if a small antelope was killed it was to be the jackal's, and if a large one was killed it was to be the lion's. The jackal agreed to this. The first animal killed was a large eland. The lion was very glad, and said to the jackal: “I will continue hunting while you go to my house and call my children to carry the meat home.” The jackal replied: “yes, I agree to that.” The lion went away to hunt. When he had gone, the jackal went to his own house and called his own children to carry away the meat. He said: “lion takes me for a fool if he thinks I will call his children while my own are dying with hunger.” So the jackal's children carried the meat to their home on the top of a high rock. The only way to get to their house was by means of a rope.

The lion caught nothing more, and after a time he went home and asked his wife where the meat was. She told him there was no