Page:Where Animals Talk (West African folk lore tales).djvu/62

 came, and Njambi said to her, "You are the wife of Ngwanyâni, how do you talk?" The wife replied, "I say, 'So-o-we! So-o-we! So-o-we!'" Ra-Njambi said to Eagle, "Indeed! you and your wife speak the same kind of language." Eagle answered, "Yes; I and my wife, we speak alike." They were ordered, "Sit you aside."

Then Ra-Njambi directed, "Bring me here Ngozo." And he asked, "Ngozo, how do you talk? What is your way of speaking?" Parrot squawked, "I say, 'Ko-do-ko!'" Ra-Njambi ordered, "Well, call me your wife!" She came; and he asked her, "How do you talk? Talk now!" The wife replied, "I say, 'Ko-do-ko!'" Njambi asked Parrot, "So! your wife says, 'Ko-do-ko?'" Parrot answered "Yes; my wife and I both say, 'Ko-do-ko.'"

Njambi then ordered, "Call me here, Ugulungu." He came, and was asked, "And how do you talk?" He shouted, "I say, 'Mbru-kâ-kâ! mbru-kâ-kâ! mbru!'" Njambi told him," Call me your wife! "She came, and, when asked, spoke in the same way as her husband. Njambi dismissed them, "Good! you and your wife say the same thing. Good!"

So, all the Birds, in succession, were summoned; and they all, husband and wife, had the same mode of speaking, except one who had not hitherto been called.

Njambi finally said, "Call Njâgâni here!" The Cock stood up, and strutted forward. Njambi asked him, "What is your speech? Show me your mode of talking!" Cock threw up his head, stretched his throat, and crowed, "Kâ-kâ-re-kââ. "Njambi said, "Good! summon your wife hither." The wife came; and, of her, Njambi asked, "And, what do you say?" She demurely replied, "My husband told me that I might talk only if I bore children. So, when I lay an egg, I say 'Kwa-ka! Kwa-ka!'" Njambi exclaimed, "So! you don't say, 'Kâ-kâ-re-kââ,' like your husband?" She replied, "No, I do not talk as he."

Then Njambi said to Cock, "For what reason do you not allow your wife to say, 'Kâ-kâ-re-kââ?'" Cock replied, "I am Njâgâni, I respect myself. I jeer at all these other birds. Their wives and themselves speak only in the same way. A visitor, if he comes to their towns, is not able to know, when one of them speaks, which is husband and which is wife, because they both speak alike. But I, Njâgâni, as to my wife, she is unable to speak as I do. I do not allow it. A