Page:Where Animals Talk (West African folk lore tales).djvu/146



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 "Emĕ! (indeed!), Ibĕlĕ! (splendid), Emĕ! 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