SIRONGA FOLKLORE. 385 



So 1)6 went just behind the hare when he went to the pond to 

 wash the meat. When he came into the path he saw the hare's 

 grandmother, and he thought, "On, the hare is always deceiving 

 me, saying that the birds of prey take the flesh away from him; 

 He gives it to his grandmother." Then the lion killed the hare's 

 grandmother, and hung her body upon a piece of wood, while the" 

 hare was going to the pond. Then he went back again to his 

 kraal. 



Soon the hare came and found his grandmother. It seemed 

 as if she was laughing, for her mouth was open, showing her 

 teeth. He said, " Oh! grandmother, why are you laughing? " 

 He did not know that his grandmother was dead, but when he 

 came close to her he saw that she was dead. So he took her 

 and buried her, and went back to the lion's place. 



The lion said, "Oh, to-day you did not find those birds of 

 prey, for you bring back all the meat." 



The hare said, " No, I d-id not go to the place where I used 

 to go. I found another little place, and I went there to wash the 

 meat." But he knew in his mind that it was the lion that had 

 killed his grandmother, and when he saw the lion the tears came 

 into his eyes. He did not like the lion to know that he was cry- 

 ing for his grandmother, so he went to the side of the fire where 

 the smoke was, and stood in the' smoke. 



Then the lion said, " Why do you stay in the smoke? " 

 The hare said, " Oh, 1 just want to sit here." And the smoke 

 came into his eyes, and the tears ran down his nose. He did this 

 because he did not want the lion to know that he was crying for 

 his grandmother. 



One day after this, he came to .the lion and said, " Well, Mr. 

 Lion, my master, I saw a good place down there where there 

 are a lot of monkey-nuts. If you will go with me I can show 

 you a lot of monkey-nuts, so that you can have some." 



Then the lion went with the hare to that piece of ground 

 where the monkey-nuts were. They came there and the hare 

 said, " Oh, let rne make a heap of grass so that we may bum it 

 and have the ashes to cook the monkey-nuts in. You can just sit 

 here in the shade. I am your servant; I will do all the work and 

 will bring you the monkey-nuts when they are ready for eating." 



By and bye the hare said, " Now they have to stay there a 

 long time till they are cooked." Then, when the lion was asleep 

 in the shade, the hare went behind him and dug a hole in the 

 ground just behind the lion, and in the hole he found a big 

 root. So he took the lion's tail and tied it to the root with a 

 piece of cord, and the lion did not know what was done. The 

 hare filled up the hole again. 



Then he went back and took just a handful of the monkey- 

 nuts and gave them to the lion. The lion did not know what had 

 been done to him, and said, " I like these monkey-nuts, bring 

 them all here," But the hare said, " Oh, no; I just gave you 

 those to let you taste them. You may as well come here and 

 eat in this place." 



