African Folktales

by Roger Abrahams

  They were indeed astonished to find how cleverly the crafty Jackal had been caught, and Tortoise was much praised for the capture.

  Jackal was at once condemned to death by Lion, and Hyena was told to execute the sentence. Jackal pleaded hard for mercy, but finding this useless, he made a last request, asking that as Lion always was so fair and just in his dealings, he decree that Jackal not have to suffer a lingering death.

  Lion inquired of him in what manner he wished to die. He asked that his tail be shaved and rubbed with a little fat, and that Hyena then swing him around twice and dash his brains out upon a stone. This was considered fair by Lion, and he ordered the sentence to be carried out in his presence.

  When Jackal’s tail had been shaved and greased, Hyena caught hold of him with great force, but before he could lift him from the ground, cunning Jackal had slipped away from his grasp, and was running for his life, pursued by all the animals, with Lion in the forefront.

  After a long chase, Jackal got under an overhanging precipice, and, standing on his hind legs with his shoulders pressed against the rock, he called loudly to Lion to help him support it, as the rock was falling, and would crush them both. Lion put his shoulders to the rock, and exerted himself to the utmost. After some little time, Jackal proposed that he should creep out carefully and fetch a large pole to prop up the rock, so that Lion could escape and save his life. And so Lion—still believing the rock would fall on him—was left there by Jackal to starve and die.

  —Amalouw or Amakosa

  51

  Stuffing the Hyena

  A story. How does it go?

  A hare and a small buck were friends and agreed to try and be as clever as they could. The hare said, “We’ll go and smoke out the ant-hill holes, for ants are very good to eat,” and the buck agreed. So the hare went inside the ant hill, and the small buck took grass and fire, and placed it in the mouth of the ant hill, and fanned it till he was tired. The hare said, “Are you tired?” and he said, “Yes.” So the hare came out, and said “You go in.” And the small buck went inside, and the hare took grass and stuffed up all the holes, and took fire and placed it, and cut thick grass and fanned it, and the smoke went inside and the small buck died, and the hare took his horns and blew them:

  Pelu, pelu,

  The little horn of the little buck,

  The little horn,

  He has been deceived,

  The little horn of the little buck.

  So the hare went on down the road and met an old woman guarding her field from elephants. He asked her, “Mother, what are you guarding?” She replied, “I am guarding against the elephants who eat the melons.” The hare said, “Bring a large melon right now, and make a hole in it so that I can go inside. Stop up the hole, and then you can go away.” The old woman followed his instructions, and the hare got into the melon with the horns of the small buck. When the elephants came, the mother-of-elephants swallowed the melon, swallowed it whole. Inside, the hare blew the horns:

  Pelu, pelu,

  The little horn of the little buck,

  The little horn,

  He has been deceived,

  The little horn of the little buck, kapembee.

  Then the elephants said, “The mother-of-elephants is crying.” And they conferred with each other about it, asking, “You fellows, should we kill her?” and they all agreed that they should, and they did it. Then they asked the hare, “Now, you hare, can you eat the mother-of-elephants for us and finish her?” All that meat! He said “Yes.” “Eat her now, then.” The hare said “I must first roast the meat, of course, so tie me with rope. I’m going to the forest to cut firewood! Tie me with rope so I can’t get away.” They agreed, and tied him around the waist with a long rope, and he went to the forest, and was seen by a hyena. The hyena looked like he was going to bite. The hare said, “Do not bite me. Just let me tie you with the rope and I will take you where there is a lot of meat.” The hyena consented because he was greedy. The hyena said, “Hare, now is this true?” The hare replied, “When have we ever joked together like we were pals? Of course it’s true,” and he tied him, saying, “Now you shut up, it is I who have the meat who shall speak.” Then the hare shouted to the elephants, “Pull, use your strength.” The elephants pulled, and when they saw the hyena, they said, “You, hyena, you, will you eat the meat for us and finish it?”

  He said, “Yes.” “Will you eat it raw or cooked?” He said, “I will eat it raw, the cooking is in the stomach.” And he ate, and he was absolutely full, and he said, “Take me to the water.” And he went and drank, and he vomited in the middle, and he returned and ate some more. The elephants said to each other, “Today again, let him drink as much as he wants.” And he was taken to the water, and he drank at the side, and he became so full he could not find room even for breath. Then he was told, “Hyena.” “What?” “Cry, as you cry, U-u-u-wa-u.” And he split and died.

  The cunning of the hare.

  —Kiniramba

  52

  Cutting the Elephant’s Hips

  One day, Hare gave a dance and Elephant came to it, and the two danced together, but Hare danced better than Elephant. Hare said to Elephant, “Your movements are too slow, owing to your size; if you would only let me cut off some of the flesh from your hips, you might dance better.” Elephant caught at the suggestion, and said, “You come and cut off the flesh as you think best, so I can become a good dancer.” Hare took a sharp knife and cut off a large quantity of flesh from Elephant, and then he left him.

  This made Elephant very ill, and he called in Bushbuck to help him. He said, “Go to Hare and ask him to send back my flesh, because I shall die without it.” So Bushbuck went to Hare and asked him for Elephant’s flesh. Hare said, “Won’t you eat first?” Bushbuck said he would, so Hare gave him some of the meat from Elephant to eat. Bushbuck said, “This is very good meat, where did you get it?” Hare said, “It comes from the hill, from a place frequented by this kind of animal.” Bushbuck said, “Let us go and hunt them.”

  Hare agreed, and they went to a place in the bush. Hare said, “You stop and catch them here, and I will go further on. When you hear a little rumbling noise keep your head in, but when it is loud, put your head out.” Bushbuck did so. When there was a little noise, he kept his head well in, but when it got louder, he looked out, and was struck by a rolling stone, which killed him.

  Hare then came along, saying, “My friend, where are you?” Why do you hide?” When he reached the place, he saw that Bushbuck was dead, so he lifted up the body, took it home, cooked, and ate it.

  In this very same way, Hare tricked all the messengers sent by Elephant, until the day Elephant sent Leopard. Hare made the same proposals to him as to the others, but Leopard was far too shrewd to be as easily caught, and when he heard the loud noise of the rolling stone, he kept his head well in, and it rolled past him. He then pretended to be dead. Hare came round and said, “My friend, what has killed you?” and thinking the leopard was dead, he took it up and carried it home.

  When he was about to begin cutting it up, Leopard sprang to his feet, and said, “This is what you do every day, is it? You kill all the foolish animals?” Hare ran away as fast as he could and Leopard chased him, but couldn’t catch him.

  Hare crossed a river, and then turned back immediately and recrossed it. He met Leopard coming the other way. Leopard didn’t recognize Hare, because he was so wet, and asked him, “Did you meet Hare on the other side?” He replied, “No, we have been hunting the King’s leopards from early morning and have caught ten, and only you have escaped.” When Leopard heard this he ran back to Elephant, but only to find him dead.

  —Baganda

  53

  The Clever Wakasanke

  A lioness and a cow lived near each other, though not in the same house; the lioness gave birth to a female lion, and the cow gave birth to a bull calf. When the two children grew up, the cow’s son was a mischievous child, while the lioness’s daughter was
gentle and meek. After a time, the cow and the lioness dug a well, and got it into splendid shape. The lioness said to the cow: “We have an excellent well, but you know how full of mischief your son is, so please warn him lest he come and spoil our well, and cause us to quarrel and end our friendship.” The cow readily agreed to do so.

  Soon after this, the lioness went to buy food, and asked the cow to look after her child while she was away. The cow consented, and the two children played together near the house for some time, but after a while they wandered off and came to the well. First the calf knocked some dirt into it, and after more mischief, pushed the baby lioness into it, and she drowned.

  The calf ran home to his mother, and said his companion had fallen into the well and died. The cow said: “The lioness will surely kill me for this. We better run away.” So they packed hastily, and ran away to the bushbuck to hide with him. The bushbuck made them welcome, and promised to butt the lioness and drive her away if she should come.

  When the lioness returned from her shopping, she found her house empty, and went on to the cow’s house, but that was empty, too. She looked about and called, but got no reply. Eventually, after searching and searching, she discovered the body of her child in the well, and wept long and bitterly, bemoaning her loss. Then, she went hunting for the cow and at length came to the bushbuck, calling, “Whose, whose?” To this the bushbuck answered: “Yours, yours.” And then he said to the cow: “You better run away, or I will get killed, too. You must run away to the antelope.” So the cow and the calf did as he said, and hid with the antelope for a time. But when the lioness came to the antelope and asked for the cow, the antelope, too, said: “You better go away from here, or I will get into trouble and it will be my death.”

  Then the cow fled to the elephant and hid with him, but when the lioness came and discovered her and roared, the elephant said, “You better leave, or I’ll have troubles because of you.” So again she had to take flight.

  It thus came about that the cow had constantly to run away from the lioness, and was always in fear. One day, as she was fleeing, she met a wakasanke bird who asked her why she was always running in this manner? The cow answered: “Because my child killed the lioness’s child, and now she wants to kill me. So I am looking for a place where I can be safe from her anger.” Wakasanke replied: “You can stay here with me. I will frighten the lioness and drive her away.” The cow gladly agreed to remain.

  Wakasanke made preparations for the lioness’s onslaught. He first brought a flower of the plantain, which is shaped like the heart of an animal and is of a reddish-brown colour. Then he put some milk into a pot and placed it by the flower. Next he drew a pot of blood from the cow and put it near the other things. When all his preparations were made, he waited.

  After a time, the lioness came, and cried: “Whose, whose?” Wakasanke answered: “Mine, mine.” He took the pot of blood and dashed it on the lioness’s breast, saying, “I have killed you. Isn’t this your blood?” He struck the lioness with the flower, shouting, “Isn’t that your heart? I have killed you.” He then took the pot of milk and dashed it with all his might upon the lioness’s head, saying, “Let me crush in your head and brains, and finish you off.” In this way, he so terrified the lioness that she really thought it was her blood, heart and brains, and she rushed away leaving the cow in peace. Thus did Wakasanke prove too skillful for the lioness. Ever since that time, the wakasanke birds have lived near cows, and every herdsman, when he goes to his milking, first lets a few drops fall on the ground to commemorate the wakansanke saction. And to this day whenever a lion meets a cow, it tries to kill it.

  —Baganda

  54

  The Tricksters’ Encounter

  Hare and Spider were once great friends and used to pay alternate visits to each other. One day, Spider decided he wanted to marry. His fiancée lived in one of the heavenly bodies and he asked his friend Hare to accompany him on a trip to see his future parents-in-law. Hare accepted, without knowing that the journey was to the heavens.

  At the appointed time, Hare dressed up and went to the home of Spider, who then revealed their destination. Hare told Spider that he could not go, after all, because he was unable to fly. It had always been Hare’s habit to say that he could do whatever Spider did, and in many cases he succeeded by cunning. This time, however, he had to admit defeat, and Spider was very pleased to learn that at last his clever friend had to recognize his own great intelligence. He told Hare that he would devise a means for him to go, knowing that Hare would never rest until he found out how it was done. He, therefore, prepared food for Hare, and while Hare was eating, Spider said that he was going to take a bath. He then spun a web reaching to the heavenly body, and as soon as he had done this, he went into the bath so that Hare might not suspect him.

  When Spider had bathed, and Hare had eaten, they set off. Spider tied Hare on his back and started climbing the narrow cobweb he had made. Hare was amazed and he greatly praised the cleverness of Spider, trying all the time to induce him to reveal his secret. This Spider re-refused to do. Hare then began to play his usual tricks. He told Spider that since they were respectable visitors, they ought to make a vow not to interfere with each other. When Spider asked him what he meant by this, Hare said that they should agree that whatever was given them in the name of the son-in-law should automatically belong to Spider—and Hare must not touch it—and whatever was given them in the name of the visitor should belong to Hare—and Spider must not touch it. Spider, not knowing that it was contrary to tradition on the heavenly body to use the name “son-in-law,” accepted this quite happily. He thought that Hare was on the losing side.

  When they arrived, they were welcomed warmly, and the mother-in-law of Spider called on her daughter to bring chairs for the visitors. Hare then said to Spider, “Have you not heard that the chairs are for the visitors? They must then be mine.” Spider conceded. This went on for most of their stay—Spider didn’t even get anything to eat. Finally, he became annoyed with his friend. He told Hare that he wanted to go outside to have a confidential talk with his girl friend. Hare accepted this and remained in the house. Outside, Spider told his girl friend that Hare was not a good person, and he told her, also, how he had been starving. She explained this to her parents, and from then on they only used “son-in-law.” And so it went for a considerable time. Hare, however, couldn’t keep up his end of the bargain and, broke his promise eventually, not to interfere. He made many unpleasant remarks about Spider. He remarked of his table manners, that it was the first time he had seen a greedy person who used his feet as well as his hands when eating. Hare said this in the presence of his fiancée in order to embarrass Spider, so Spider decided to punish his friend by leaving him behind. When, at last, his girl friend had become his wife, and was free to go with him, the three of them set off to the place where he and Hare had originally landed—but only Spider knew where it was. On the way, Spider asked Hare to go on ahead since he and his wife had family matters to discuss, and when Spider was out of sight, they went in the opposite direction, for that was where the web between earth and the heavenly body really lay.

  Hare was now in a dilemma. He could neither live in that world nor leave it. He tried everything, but in vain. Then he decided to jump down. When he landed, he was unconscious. A woman and her son came by. Thinking he was dead, she picked him up and put him in her basket, in which she had some food for her son and the boy’s shoes. As they walked, the boy, lagging behind, noticed that Hare was eating his food. But when he told his mother, she said not to be so silly for “How can a dead thing eat?” The boy kept quiet and so did Hare, who was pretending to be dead. But by and by, the boy saw Hare wearing his shoes, and again told his mother. The woman now grew suspicious and put the basket down in order to check. Hare immediately jumped out and ran away wearing the boy’s shoes. The mother lamented this sorely.

  Continuing on, Hare met Elephant, who asked him where he had bought the shoes. He said that he
had made them. Elephant asked Hare to make some for him, but he refused, saying that as Elephant’s feet were so big, the shoes would be very difficult to make, and it would take a long time. But Elephant was persistent, so Hare finally agreed, and asked him to go and dig four holes deep enough to stand in, and gather four piles of firewood. Elephant did this at once and then called Hare to start to make the shoes. Hare came and told Elephant to stand in the holes. He then arranged the firewood around Elephant’s feet and set fire to it. Elephant endured the heat for a while and then started to complain that he was burning. Hare told him to have courage. “You are bigger and stronger than I am and yet you complain before one shoe is made. Your great size is useless. It is mere flesh without energy and resistance. You lack determination.” Elephant persevered a little, but it was too late. His feet had burnt, and when Hare told him to come out, he simply fell down and died. Hare then rejoiced and said, “You pretend to be big and clever for nothing. I will now be able to enjoy your meat. Put on your shoes!” He then went into the dead animal and took out the fat part, which he took to his sister for making food.

  —Luo