On Any Path, Where You See That Osebo, the Leopard, Has Scratched, There Adanko, the Hare, Has (Already) Passed
We do not really mean, we do not really mean, (that what we are going to say is true).
THEY say that a male Leopard and a female Leopard, and a male Hare and a female Hare, once lived in a small village, and a hunger came. Then the female Leopard said she was going to the stream. As she was going (she met) the female Hare grinding corn. The female Leopard said, “Ah, mother, where did you get such a thing?” The female Hare replied, “There is a wide path which stretches behind here, and my husband was following it to go in search of wild yams, and he went and got this corn, so take this (and) go and cook and chew it.” She replied, “Thank you, Aku.” Then the female Leopard took it off home, to go and set it on the fire. And her husband came, and he asked her (where she had got the corn), and she said, “The female Hare gave (it) me, and she said that a wide path lies behind there, and that her husband took it, and brought (some corn) and came with it.” The male Leopard said, “Then to-morrow I shall go there very, very early in the morning.” So he set out. When he went, there was corn in plenty. Then he took his knife and cut some, and he made a palm-leaf basket, gathered up (the corn), and placed (it in it). Now Adanko, the male Hare, was at his house, and he saw that the male Leopard has passed to the farm. At once he, too, set off. He came to the end of the town and he turned into a Duyker. Half of it was rotten; half was not yet rotten. And he went farther on, and turned into an Oyuo (antelope). Half of it was rotten; half of it was not yet rotten. And he went on, and he turned into a Bongo. Half of it was rotten; half of it was not yet rotten. And he went on, and turned into a Buffalo. The whole of it was fresh. Now the Leopard was coming along carrying the basket and corn on his head. He came and met the Buffalo. The Leopard said (to himself), “A famine will come, but it has not yet become (severe), yet these beasts are dying.” And he passed by it, and came upon the Bongo; and he passed by it, and came upon the Oyuo; and he passed by it, and came upon the Duyker. Then he said, “Oh, these beasts are indeed many, so I shall go and collect (them).” He threw down the basket and corn, and set out to go and fetch the animals, beginning from that first one. When he went, they were no longer there. Then he came back, but the basket and corn were (also) gone. He went off home, and sat down in silence. The female Leopard asked him, saying, “Where is the corn?” He said, “I went (there), but could not get any to buy.” Now the female Leopard went off to the stream, and (there) she met the female Hare. The female Leopard said, “All I have to say is that yesterday my husband said that when he went, he did not get any corn to buy.” The female Hare replied, “He is deceiving you, for yesterday, when he went and got (some), my husband beat him and relieved him of it.” The female Leopard set off home. She informed her husband, saying, “Well done! well done! well done! you said you went and didn’t get any corn, while it was that Hare who beat you and took it out of your hands.” The Leopard said, “Who is the Hare? To-morrow I shall go and have a fight with him with sticks.” The male Hare sat at home and he heard (this). He went and said to his wife, “To-morrow, the male Leopard will come here to have a fight with me, therefore I shall go and meet him on the way, for perhaps you will be afraid.” Next morning, when things became visible, the Hare started off. He reached the outskirts of the town, and he turned into an Adowa antelope, and he was vomiting up white clay, charcoal, and blood. He went on in front, and he turned into a Bush-buck, and he was vomiting in the same way. He went on in front, and he turned into a Buffalo. The Leopard was coming along. The Adowa antelope said, “Father Leopard, support me, for I am dying.” The Leopard said, “What is the matter?” The Adowa antelope said, “The Hare and I went to settle a dispute about corn, and he beat me, and I am dying.” The Leopard said, “Let me pass on.” He went on, and he met the Bush-buck. The Bush-buck said, “Leopard, support me, for that Hare is not one with whom to have a corn dispute.” The Leopard said, “What is the matter? ’? The Bush-buck said, “I went and he beat me, that is why I am dying.” The Leopard said, “Let me pass on.” He went on, and came across the Buffalo. The Buffalo said, “Father Osebo, support me, for I am dying.” The Leopard said, “What’s the matter?” The Buffalo said, “I went and had a dispute about corn with the Hare, and he beat me, and I am dying.” Thereupon the Leopard pondered long (and at length said he to himself), “E! I shall turn back, for it is a similar corn case I have to settle with him, and suppose he beat me...” And the Leopard began to flee, kiri! kiri! Immediately the Hare, too, rose up. He chased him, and the Leopard shouted out loudly, “Female Leopard, flee away o!” The Leopard reached his home, and disappeared into his room, and he took his head and knocked one of the walls and passed through, but the Hare caught hold of him by the two hind legs. And the Leopard said, “Father Hare, let me go.” The Hare said, “I will not let you go, I shall beat you.” The Leopard said, “I implore you, don’t beat me, but give me the gods to drink and swear upon that any path you will follow, I shall come and clear it.’ That is why, when you take any path at all, and see that the Leopard has scratched there, (you know) the Hare has passed that way.
This, my story, which I have related, if it be sweet, (or) if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and let some come back to me.
How It Came About That ’Kraman, the Dog, Can Never Be Cured of His Thieving (Ways)
We do not really mean, we do not really mean, (that what we are going to say is true).
THERE once was a Dog, and because of thieving habits, he could not get a woman (of his own village) to marry him. So he set out for a certain town to go and get a female to mate with him. (He married, and returned with her to his village.) He and his wife lived there (for a time), when she set out, and went back to her village. After a time, her husband sent a message, saying he was coming there. His father-in-law took his gun and went off to the bush to kill an antelope in preparation for the Dog’s arrival. About three days later, the Dog went there, and when he went, he saw that the flesh of an antelope was on the fire, in the courtyard. When night came, he and his wife went to rest. The Dog was about to step outside to make water, when he saw the meat with the fat dripping into the fire. The Dog returned and went and lay down, and he put his head upon the pillow (and lay) and gazed long at the meat. Now the scent of the meat reached him; he tried to bear it, but he could not. Oh! up he rose and went to where the meat was; he chewed it all up, and returned and lay down. Early next day, when things became visible, when his wife was going to sweep, she looked for the meat, not even one piece lay there. His wife said, “Oh, mother! oh, mother! some one has chewed up all the meat.” When the Dog heard this, his eyes died (i. e. he was ashamed), and he took his cloth and covered his head, and lay there silent. Then all at once he rose up and set out on the path; he fled to his own village, and told the news, how he had gone and chewed his father-in-law’s meat, and how his eyes had died for shame, and how, because of that, he was going in search of some one who possessed an antidote for thieving, that he might be given some. The people said, “Adanko, the Hare, has some very, very, very powerful (medicine).” The Dog set out, and with speed he reached the Hare’s village. He said, “Father Hare, I run to you for help; I am a thief, a thief, a thief, and they say that you have medicine (that is a cure) for that, so I implore you, give me some, and whatever is the cost, I shall pay it.” The Hare replied, “It is true I have some, so go and bring me some pig’s meat.” The Dog set out and went to a certain village and got one hind leg for a domafa’s weight of gold dust (i. e. 3s. 6d.) and came with it. The Hare cooked it, and cut it up, and spitted it on little wooden skewers, and he ground down peppers, and salt, and onions, and rubbed it into the meat, and placed it on the fire. When the fire touched it, after a time, he (the Dog) heard it sizzling, hyee, e e e! The Dog watched it for a long time. Now the Hare said, “Dog, you go and sleep in one of the rooms, and I, too, shall go and sleep in another, and to-morrow early, I shall take this meat off (the fire) and make medicine with it for you.” The Dog went off to sleep. The Hare, too, went off to sleep. Now the Dog lay on and lay on (but he could not sleep), and the scent of the meat came upon him through his nose, but he did not speak. Now he smelt it again. He said, “Father Hare.” The Hare replied, “Yes!” He said, “There are mice in your village, so I am going to fetch the meat, and put it beside me.” The Hare said, “Go and get it; as for me, all I care about is that I lay my hands on it to-morrow, in order that I may make medicine with it for you.” So the Dog went and fetched it. Now the Dog lay there. He said, “Father Hare.” He replied, “Yes!” He said, “The mice will chew it, so I am going to put it under my pillow, and go to sleep.” The Hare said, “All I care about is that to-morrow, when things become clear, I will make medicine with it for you.” The Dog lay down once more; try as he would, he could not contain himself. He said, “Father Hare, these mice have come under my pillow, so I shall take the meat and place it on my head, and there I will stand until things become visible.” The Hare replied, “Oh, I keep saying, all that concerns me is that I get (the meat) to-morrow to make medicine for you.” The Dog took the meat and set it on his head, and there he stood. Then a little of the gravy trickled down his face, and he licked it. He said, “Oh, Father Hare, as for this meat, those mice have climbed up upon me, and come on my head, so I am going to hold (the meat) in my mouth.” The Hare replied, “Oho o! I keep saying that to-morrow, when things become visible, I shall make medicine with it for you.” Now it was fast in his mouth, and he wandered round and round the room there; he wagged his tail (with a switching sound), fre! fre! fre! He said, “Father Hare, let me be in debt to you for this meat.” The Hare said, “What do you want to be in debt about it for?” The Dog replied, ‘I mean, rather than these mice should eat it, let me pay you for it.’ The Hare said, “Oh no! let the morrow’s dawn come.” Oh! but now the Dog let (the meat) go (down his throat). Then he fell down and slept. Next morning, very, very early, the Hare said, “Dog, bring that meat.” The Dog replied, “Ho, Father Hare, why, did you not hear what I said to you yesterday, that I should be in your debt (for the meat)?” The Hare replied, “So you have eaten it? ’? The Dog said, “Yes! I ate it, for I bought it.” The Hare said, “You, Dog, theft that is called ‘theft ’ will never pass you by.”
This, my story, which I have related, if it be sweet, (or) if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and let some come back to me.