Swahili Tales/The Ape, the Lion, and the Snake
THE APE, THE LION, AND THE SNAKE.
In old times there was a town, and there was a woman, and she was pregnant, and her husband died. When her husband was dead she waited till at last she bore a son. And her husband's work had been to set traps, and he caught game, and sold food.
After his death the woman was asked by her son, "Mother, we are dying of hunger." And the son spoke to her and asked his mother, "Mother, what work did father do to get food?" And she said, "Your father was a man who set traps, and so got food." "Then I too will set traps, that I may get game, and we may sell it, and get food."
And he went on all day, and cut branches of trees. The second day he went on all day, and cut traps. The third day he went on all day, and twisted rope. The fourth day he went on all day, and set up the traps. The fifth day he went on all day, and set the traps. The sixth day he went to try the traps, and took out game and killed it, and took the flesh into the town and it was sold for corn. And their houses were full of food, and they got ease in their circumstances.
At last he went and tried the traps, and got nothing. The first day when he went to the traps an ape was taken. And he wanted to kill it. And the ape said, "You son of Adam, do not kill me. Come and take me out of the trap; save me from rain, that I may come and save you from sun." When he had finished taking out the ape, it said, "I give you my word that no son of Adam is good; do not do good to him; if you do, to-morrow he will come and do you harm."
Then, the second day, he came trying the traps, and a snake was taken. And he ran to call people from the town. And the snake said, "Come back, son of Adam, do not run to the town, do not go and call people to me to come and kill me. Help me out of this trap, and to-morrow I will come and help you; but a son of Adam does good to no one."
The third day he went to try the traps, and reached them, and a lion was caught by a trap. The man who owned the trap saw an old lion caught in the trap, and ran to go and call people to come and kill it. And the lion said, "No; save me in rain, and I will come and save you in sun." But when he had finished letting it out of the trap, the lion said to him, "Son of Adam, you have helped me, you have done good to me; but I declare to you my word, a son of Adam does not do good." Another day a man was taken in the trap, and the owner of the trap let him loose.
At last that youth's food was finished in all the houses, and they were taken with hunger, he and his mother. And he said to his mother, "Mother, make me seven cakes." When she had finished making the seven cakes, he took hold of his bow, and went into the forest to hunt game. And he lost himself, and ate six cakes, and when they were done one remained.
When that one remained he went, till in the forest was a great forest and a great wilderness, and he went on and met with that ape. The man was asked the news by the ape. And he asked him, "You son of Adam, where are you going?" And he said, "I am lost." And it said, "Rest your heart here, that I may repay you here to-day the good you did me the other day, and took me out of the trap; so be still and wait for me here."
And the ape went to people's plantations, and went and stole ripe papaws, and stole ripe bananas, and carried them to the man, and said to him, "Take this food, bananas and papaws," and it gave them to the man. And it said "What do you want? do you want water?" And it went and stole a calabash of water and gave to the man, and he drank; and when he had finished drinking they took leave of one another. And they said, "Good-bye; good-bye till we meet again." And he went his way.
When he arrived further on, he went on and met with the lion. When he met with it, the lion asked him, "Where do you come from, son of Adam?" The man answered the lion, "I am lost." The lion said to him, "Sit down here, that I may repay you that kindness of yours of the other day, when you helped me. Let me help you; sit here." And the man stayed still, and waited for the lion. The lion went and caught game and brought it to the man, and said, "You are lost, eat this food; let me come and repay you your goodness of the other day." And it gave him meat, and fire to roast the meat. And he roasted the meat and ate it. When he had eaten the meat, he took courage, and the man went his way.
When the man had gone away he went on and came out upon a plantation, where was an exceedingly old woman. And the man came out there, and she said to him, "There in our town there is a man who has fallen sick; if you can prepare medicine, we want you to prepare medicine." And he said, "I do not know how to prepare medicine."
When he reached the road he saw a pail, and a well beside it. He says, "Let me go and drink water there from the well." And he reached the well and looked on all sides of the pail. And he said, "Let me peep into this well of water, that I may get water to drink." And when he peeped into the well he saw a great snake. And it said, "Son of Adam, wait a bit for me." And the snake came out of the well and said, "Son of Adam, where are you going? Do you remember me?" And he said, "I do not know you." And it said, "It was I that you took out of your trap, and I said to you, 'Take me out of rain, and I will take you out of sun.' And you are a stranger where you are going. But bring here your scrip, that I may put in for you things that will be of use to you there where you are going." And he gave it the scrip, and it put in for him chains of gold and chains of silver. And it said, "Take the scrip and spend from it freely."
When he reached the town, that town whither he was going, first of all he met the man who had been taken in the trap. And he took from him the scrip and went with him to his house. And when his wife saw the stranger she cooked porridge, and said, "I am cooking for our guest."
The man whom he had taken out of the trap went to the Sultan in the town, and told the Sultan, "That stranger who has come to my house there, do not think him a son of Adam. He is a snake, and lives in a well; and think him a snake, or if he is not a snake, it is he who turns himself into a snake. So then, Sultan, let a man go and take him and his scrip. I have seen, too, chains of gold and chains of silver."
And a man went to take that stranger, and he came with him and his scrip. And the scrip was opened, and many people testified to things of the Sultan's child and things of the vizir's children, and [of] people in the town. At last his hands were tied behind him with a rope.
And that great snake came out of the well, and came to the town. And he went round the town, and stopped where the man was. And the people were troubled in the town, so that they spoke to the man and said to him, "Say to this snake, 'Go away.'" And the snake came. And the people untied the man's hands that had been tied behind him. And the snake went back to its well, and said, "You son of Adam, when you are done wrong to, give me a call, and I will come out to you at once."
And he got much honour in the country. And he was asked, "Why should this man be your host, and do you wrong?" And he said, "Of the snake, and the lion, and the ape, they told me that no son of Adam is done good to; if you do a son of Adam good he does you wrong, and this is true and no lie. That man for the good I did him has done me harm; that sentence of the snake and the lion and the ape is true, and is no lie."
And the Sultan asked what it meant, and he explained to him how things had gone. And the Sultan said, "He deserves to be put in a sleeping mat, and drowned in the sea, for he knows no good. He was done good to and has repaid evil."