Part 8

So the Sultan commanded the skin to be brought, and then he called for the oil merchant to bring forth his two bottles of oil.

When he compared the oil in the skin with that in the bottles he found that it was like that of the lighter colour.

So the Sultan said to the man, "How is this now, that if you received this three years ago and have not opened it since, that the oil in the skin is oil of this year?"

Then was the man exceedingly afraid, and he trembled, for he knew that he had put fresh oil in the skin.

So the Sultan sent soldiers to his house, who found there the dinars he had secreted away, and they were restored to their owner.

Then the Sultan turned to the oil merchant and asked him, "Now is this man truly as he says a poor man?"

So the oil merchant replied, "Yes, truly, my master, he is a very poor man, and I wish to do him no harm."

So the Sultan said, "Then shall I pardon him of his offence."

So the Sultan pardoned the accused, and gave to the oil merchant a reward, in that he had shown him a way to prove the guilt of the merchant's friend.

So the oil merchant took that reward of the Sultan, and also half of the dinars which had been restored to the merchant, as his fee for winning the case for him.

So he took these monies and shared them with the friend who helped him, and they went their way rejoicing.

XXVII

BATA THE DUCK

Once upon a time there was a duck called Bata, and she lived with her husband, and they were very happy, for they had never seen the face of man. Till one day there came a man to their home, and he fired his gun and killed Bata's husband.

When she saw that her husband was dead Bata was very unhappy, and flew far, far away to a country where man had never come.

There she met a peahen, and that peahen made friends with her and asked her name. She said, "I am called Bata."

Then she asked her, "Why are you trembling so?"

Bata answered, "Do you know man?"

The peahen said, "No, I have never seen one."

Then said Bata, "I tremble to think of man and how he has made me a widow, for he killed my husband."

Then the peahen said, "I have a husband too, and he is very beautiful."

So she took Bata to her husband the peacock, and when Bata saw him she began to weep. That peacock said, "Why do you weep?"

Bata answered, "I weep to see how beautiful you are, and to think that if man sees you he will surely kill you."

"What is this creature called man?" asked the peacock.

"He is a creature of great guile," replied Bata.

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.

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 there came 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 him a 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.

XXVIII

THE SULTAN'S DAUGHTER

Long ago 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 there came 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.

XXIX

THE LION, THE HYAENA AND THE HARE

Once it 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 were better 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 he said, "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.

RICHARD CLAY & 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 the Table 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. Underscores have been used to indicate _italic_ fonts.]