Page:Where Animals Talk (West African folk lore tales).djvu/217

 flame ignited them; and the surrounding forest burned to ashes with all the trees. And the Ants were all burned too.

Then he brought his sisters to life, by taking that ashes, and throwing it over them, and down their throats into their stomachs.

When the day darkened, he said, "Ngalo! a house!" A tent at once appeared, with a table, and tumblers, and water, and all food. They sat there and ate. When they finished eating, they set tea on the table. They drank; they talked of their experiences. When they ended, they said, "Let us lie down together." So they lay down for the night.

As the next day was coming, a Partridge gave forth its voice, "Rise! tyâtyâ lâ! tyâtyâ lâ!" And the day broke also. They wash their faces; they set tea on the table, and drank it. They folded the tent-house, and swallowed it, (as a mode of carrying it). They started with their journey, and went conversing on the way.

As they came along. Something was heard ahead. They listened, and heard a song. "Gribâmbâ! eh! Gribâmbâ! eh!" Mbuma-tyĕtyĕ and his mother and sisters kept on going toward the sound, which continued, "Dingâlâ! eh! A person will not pass! No doubt about it! Dingâlâ! eh! Wherever he comes from, he can pass here only by coming from above."

The man and his company approached the source of the song, and exclaimed, "There it is!" They went on and found the entire tribe of Snails filling the road hither and yonder. He said to his mother, "What shall we do with the Kâ Tribe?" They sat down to consider. They decided, "A fight! this very day!" They sat still, and rested for a while. Then he went ahead and shouted to his younger sister, "Come!" She called out, "Ngalo! a short sword!" It appeared. She called again, "A strong cloth!" It appeared, and she dressed herself with it.

As she approached the Snails, one of them fell on her head with a thud, ndi! She took the sword, and struck it, ko! The Snails shouted, "We're nearing you!" A crowd of them came rapidly, one after another; in a heap, they entirely covered her, vyâ! And she lay a corpse! The Snails swarmed over her, and taking her, threw her behind them. They shouted in victory, "Tâkâ! Dingâlâ! eh!"