Page:Where Animals Talk (West African folk lore tales).djvu/112

 young igwanas answered, "Yes! they saw!" Then Igwana said, "Be on your guard! For, Njâ will be angry with me."

Also, the young leopards said to their father, "Paia! so it is that Ngâmbi killed our brothers. We saw their skins in his bedroom." Leopard asked, "Truly?" They answered, "Yes! we saw!" He said only, "Well, let it be."

On another day, Leopard said, "This night I will go to Ngâmbi to kill him and all his children." The wife of Igwana heard this, and told him, "Tonight, Njâ will come to kill you and our children." At this, Igwana said to himself "But! we must flee, I, and my children, and my wives!" So, they all went and hid in the water of a small stream.

Leopard came, in the dark of the morning, to Igwana's house, and entered it; but he saw no people, only the skins of his children. So he exclaimed, "At whatever place I shall see Ngâmbi, I will kill and eat him. We, he and I, have no more friendship!"

Dog and squirrel were of the same age, and they met with the same end. They each had an object of their special liking, the excessive use of which finally was the cause of their death.

Dog, Squirrel, Tortoise and others were living in one town. They all, at that time, ate of the same kind of food. But,