BANTU NEGROES 603 



greediness, and immediately you want to bsgin eating. Keep quiet, bs patient." 

 The sheep was cut up, and the nice fat tail tied round the hyena's neck. A water- 

 jar having been given him, he was told to fetch water in which to cook the tail 

 for the medicine. On the way he said to a friend who had gone with him, " Why 

 should I carry this tail which smells so nice ? Come, let us eat it." " Nonsense ! " 

 said the friend. "You must be cured." Again the scent of the meat overcame him, 

 and again the friend said, " No ; you must be cured." " Hang the cure ! " said the 

 hyc-ena, and, bursting the cord which held the tail, promptly demolished the meat. 

 Until this day the hyaena is still possessed with the disease of greediness. 



(2) The Leopard.— In olden times leopards never caught their victims by the 

 throat, always by the arm. One day a man, on being caught by the arm, and 

 having the good fortune to escape, boasted publicly of his great luck, saying, 

 " What a foolish beast the leopard is ! If with its enormous strength it caught by the 

 throat, it would be sure of every victim, whereas now what harm is done when it 

 only catches the arm 1 " The leopard, Avho happened to be passing, heard the 

 boast, and in its turn said, " What a fool is man to teach his enemies how to kill 

 him : " From that day the leopard has caught its victims by the throat. 



(3) The Hymnas Cri/. — This fable is"^ the Unyoro version of " A bird in the hand is 

 worth two in the bush." A hyoena, whilst wandering in search of food one night, 

 passed by a hut in which a sick man was lying, being tended by his friends. The 

 hyaena listened to their talk. " Why," said one man, " does he not die when he is 

 so sick and let us bury him quickly, instead of keeping us waiting here throughout 

 the night." "Ah," thought the hyrena, "why should I tire myself wandering on, 

 when I have a meal so near at hand. It will be but little trouble to me to unearth 

 him after he is buried." So he waited on till the man should die and be buried. 

 The man, however, recovered ; and in the morning, on looking out, the hyagna was 

 seen by the friends to be walking away disconsolately. A little later they heard 

 it howling and crying out, " The owner of that house is crazy ; he has been drinking 

 liquor ('mwengi')- He kept me from searching for my food last night, saying the sick 

 man was about to die. The man has not died, and so I have had no food, and am 

 hungry. Are they all drunk 1 " Until this day this is the hyrena's cry. 



(4) The Hare and the Tortoise. — A hare and a tortoise were great friends. One 

 day, having decided to search for their food, they went out and dug a hole in an 

 ant-heap to trap the ants as they came out. As the time drew near for them to 

 collect them, the hare thought, " Why should an old fool like the tortoise share 

 the feast with me; I can easy outwit him." Thereupon he told his friends to wait 

 in a quiet place for the tortoise, to fall upon him, and, being oS,reful not to hurt 

 him, carry him into the long grass, through which he would have great difficulty in 

 pushing his way back, then the hare might enjoy the feast alone, and directly he 

 had finished scamper off home. The tortoise, already tired and vexed with the 

 struggle of making his way through the long grass, went to the ant-hill and 

 found nothing left. He was interested, however, in seeing the footprints of his 

 comrade there, and more vexed as it flashed upon him how he had been outwitted. 

 " Ah, my cunning friend," said he, " I will be even with you for this." On reaching 

 home he was met by the hare, who effusively received him. "^My dear old 

 comrade," said he, " how thankful I am to see you safe 1 I feared you were killed ! 

 I only escaped myself by the merest chance. Three spears fell quite close to me ; 

 we must not go to that ant-hill anymore." "Never mind," said the tortoise, " our 

 enemies are not likely to be at the same spot again ; it will be quite safe to go 

 another day." The tortoise, knowing the selfish hare would sneak out to feast 

 alone, arranged with his friends to catch the hare when engrossed with his meal. 



