[Illustration]AFRICAN ELAND
[Illustration]
AFRICAN ELAND
After that she travelled on till she came to a big river, and she swam up and up the river till she came to a cave. She looked into the cave and there she saw a lion. The lion asked, "Who are you?"
She replied, "I am Bata the Duck."
Then the lion asked her, "Why are you trembling?"
She answered, "I am trembling to think of man."
The lion asked, "What is this man?"
Bata said, "He is a creature of great cunning, who is even able to kill you."
The lion said, "Then this man must be very big and strong."
"No," said Bata, "he is neither big nor strong, but his guile is great."
Just then a dikdik came running past. When it saw the lion it stopped and greeted him. The lion asked, "What are you running from?"
The dikdik said, "I am running away from man."
"What is this man like?" said the lion.
"Oh, he is very cunning," answered the dikdik, and scampered off.
Presently a bushbuck came running up. When it saw the lion it stopped and greeted him. Then the lion asked, "What are you running from?"
The bushbuck said, "I am running from man."
"What is he like?" said the lion.
"Oh, he is very cunning," answered the bushbuck, and ran off.
[Illustration]AFRICAN ORYX
[Illustration]
AFRICAN ORYX
Next an eland came galloping up, and when he saw the lion he stopped and greeted him. The lion asked, "And whom are you running away from? Is it also this creature called man?"
The eland answered, "Yes, I am running from man."
The lion said, "This man must be a very big animal, that one of your size should be afraid of him."
"No, he is not big," said the eland, "but his guile is very great."
The eland galloped off, and presently a buffalo came tearing past. When he saw the lion he drew up and greeted him. The lion asked, "And are you also running away from this creature called man?"
The buffalo said, "Yes, it is indeed he from whom I am running."
Then said the lion, "This man must be a great and powerful creature, that one of such a terrifying appearance as you are runs from him."
The buffalo said, "No, he is small, but his guile is exceedingly great."
Then the buffalo rushed off, and presently therecame forth a man. Now that man was a carpenter, and he carried planks under his arm and his bag of tools over his shoulder. Suddenly he looked up and saw the lion, and he said to himself, "Now I am indeed lost, for there is a lion, and I have no weapons."
That lion, when he saw the man, asked him, "Who are you who are walking so slowly and carefully? All the animals who have passed here were running away from the creature called man. How is it that you are not afraid of him, that you do not make haste to escape?"
Then that man saw that the lion did not recognise him for a man, so he took heart, and said, "No, it is not man, but the elephant I am afraid of, for I am the servant of the elephant, and he has called me to make a house for him. For the elephant fears this man whom you speak of, so I now go to make him a house, so that when he goes inside it man cannot get him."
The lion said, "First you must make such a house for me."
That man said, "No, I cannot, for I have promised to make it for the elephant."
But that lion insisted on the man making hima house first, so that carpenter put down his load and began making a box like a coffin.
When he had finished it he made a door at one end, and then he said to the lion, "Enter in, my master, and see if the house suits you."
So the lion walked in, and the man shut the door and cried, "Now do you know me? I am that creature called man."
Then he took his axe and rained blows on the lion until he had killed him.
When Bata saw this she flew away, and this was the beginning of her sitting always on the water, even to sleeping on the water in the middle of a pool, for fear of man who killed her husband.
[Illustration: The Sultan's daughter]
[Illustration: The Sultan's daughter]
LONGago in olden times there was a Sultan, and he had a daughter beautiful as the moon at its fulness.
This Sultan said that he would only marry his daughter to a man of wisdom. So to all who came to seek his daughter's hand he asked three questions.
The first was, "When famine comes to a place and leaves it again, where does it go?"
The second was, "When sickness comes to a place and leaves it again, where does it go?"
And the third was, "When war comes to a place and leaves it again, where does it go?"
No one was able to answer these questions for many months and many years, till at last therecame a man who said, "I will answer your questions, oh Sultan."
The Sultan replied, "Speak on, stranger."
So that man said, "When famine comes to a country and leaves it again it goes to the idle, for they make no profit and sit always with hunger for a cup-fellow.
"When sickness comes to a country and leaves it again it goes to the aged, for they sit always with sickness and death for a companion.
"When war comes to a country and leaves it again it goes to those men who have more than one wife, for in their houses quarrels never cease."
When the Sultan heard these words he was very pleased, and gave his daughter to the stranger.
[Illustration: Spotted hyaena][Illustration: Lion and hare]
[Illustration: Spotted hyaena]
[Illustration: Lion and hare]
ONCEit happened that a lion, a hyaena and a hare set out on a journey together.
The way was long, and they suffered much from hunger. Till one day, when they were as yet far distant from the end of the journey, they were so sorely pressed by hunger that they gave up all hope of getting any further. Then they took counsel together and said, "Now we shall all die, and not one of us will escape. It werebetter that we eat one of our number, so that the other two may get the strength to proceed."
So they all agreed that this must be done, but they could not agree as to who should be eaten and who should be saved. At last it was decided that the youngest amongst them should be eaten by the other two.
Then said the lion to the hare, "Now tell us your age, that we may know."
The hare replied, "Am I not the smallest and weakest here? It would not be fitting for me to speak before the great ones. You, my masters, tell your ages first, and then I will speak."
So the lion turned to the hyaena and said, "You must then speak first."
The hyaena thought awhile and then said, "My age is five hundred years old."
The lion then said to the hare, "You have heard the hyaena, now you must speak."
But the hare said, "How can I speak before you, my lord, have spoken?"
The lion thought and then said, "I am two thousand years old."
When the hare heard these words he wept. The other two asked him why he wept, and hesaid, "Oh, my friends, I weep to think of my eldest son, my first born, for it was on a day just two thousand years ago that he died."
So the lion killed the hyaena, and when he and the hare had eaten him they were able to get strength to go on, and they finished their journey in safety.
[Illustration: Lion]
[Illustration: Lion]
RICHARDCLAY& SONS, LIMITED,BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E.AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
RICHARDCLAY& SONS, LIMITED,BRUNSWICK STREET, STAMFORD STREET, S.E.AND BUNGAY, SUFFOLK
Transcriber's Note: The story "Kajikarangi" is mentioned in the Foreword but not included here. In theTable of Contents, original short entries, e.g. "KIBARAKA" were expanded to the full story title, e.g. "THE STORY OF KIBARAKA AND THE BIRD." Original spelling variations have not been standardized.
Transcriber's Note: The story "Kajikarangi" is mentioned in the Foreword but not included here. In theTable of Contents, original short entries, e.g. "KIBARAKA" were expanded to the full story title, e.g. "THE STORY OF KIBARAKA AND THE BIRD." Original spelling variations have not been standardized.