The Tortoise and the Villagers
There was famine almost every time in a village where a tortoise lived. Not a single drop of water was available. All the villagers gathered to dig a well. The king announced that there would be specific days during which all the villagers would be allowed to fetch water at the well because it did not bring out much water. The king said, anybody who did not obey the rules would be sanctioned. The king appointed some security men to guard the well. As we all know, the tortoise was a tricky man. He dressed up and packed a lot of things such as plates, spoons, calabash, iron rod and others on his body to create a weird sound whenever it moved. At specific hours he would go towards the well, singing:
Gbagbara gbugburuwo. Kandu
If I meet Elephant at the river side, I will trample it. Kandu
If I meet Hippopotamus us at the river side, I will trample it. Kandu
I will use it to make soup. Kandu
I will use water with it, kandu
Gbagbara gbugburuwo. Kandu
Whenever the security men heard this song, they would run for their dear lives and the tortoise would fetch more than enough water. The following morning, which was the day for the villagers to fetch water, the well was, temporarily, dry. They now wondered whether the well was not bringing forth water again. The tortoise continued with his trick, again and again, until all the security men decided to take the matter to the king, who told them to get a statue spread all over with gum at the well side.
The next time, the tortoise appeared singing the same song. Everybody ran away except the statue. The tortoise moved close to the statue wondering. "Are you dead? Can't you run for your dear life?" As the statue did not move, the tortoise slapped the statue's face and his hands got stuck to the face of the statue. He used his two legs and they stuck, until his whole body was stuck.
The following day, when all the villagers came to fetch water, they met the tortoise gummed to the statue. The tortoise was taken to the king. The king called for the sword and ordered his executioner to do justice. The tortoise was beheaded for crime against his community.
The Foolish Goat and the Clever Tortoise
Once upon a time, in the animal kingdom, the animals were always working together to assist their mother's. One day, tortoise's mother invited all the animals to work on its farm. After the work, it gave them some food to eat, but the tortoise deceived the animals and ate all the food. The animals complained to tortoise's mother and she gave wings to them, to fly to heaven and attend a feast. It didn't give any to the tortoise. The goat was one of the animals, and as other animals were busy fixing the wings to themselves and preparing to fly to heaven, the goat was busy moving about, shouting and boasting of how it was going to eat so much food in heaven.
The tortoise saw it and called on it to fix the wings on its (tortoise) body, so it would test whether or not the wings would fit on the goat's body. The goat accepted and joyfully fixed the wings on the tortoise's body. The tortoise flew with it to heaven to attend the feast. The goat waited, but didn't see the tortoise. It cried and shouted for other animals to help it with wings, but none of them helped it. So, the goat didn't attend the feast.
The Spider's Creditors
A spider went to a rat and borrowed a penny. It went to a cat and borrowed a kobo. It went to a dog and borrowed a shilling. It went to a hyena and borrowed a naira. It then went to its room and made an exit at the back. The rat went to spider to ask for its money. And the spider said, "Let me go inside the room."
As they were discussing, the cat arrived. The rat said, "Spider I heard the sound of a cat."
The Spider said, "Wait to take the one penny, I owe you before going."
The rat said, "Spider, I leave the money you owe me. Just show me the way out." The spider showed the rat the back door and it ran away. The cat entered to ask the spider to refund it one kobo. As they were discussing, the dog arrived. The cat said, "Spider, I heard the barks of a dog. Please, leave the kobo you owe me, just show me your back exit." The door was opened for the cat to pass. The dog entered to demand for its shilling. "Wait for me," the spider said, as it went into an inner room. It, deliberately, delayed until it heard the sound of the hyena. "Spider, I heard the sound of a hyena," the dog called. "Leave the shilling and show me your back exit." The spider showed the dog the way out, just before the hyena came in and sat down.
As it chatted with the hyena, the spider deceived the hyena and said, "Ah! the lion is here to collect its money. Let me open the door for the lion." The hyena exited and ran away.
The Richest Animal
A long time ago, among all land animals, the elephant was the richest; and among all the creatures in the sea, the hippopotamus was richest. Both of them were very rich and highly respected in their different kingdoms.
The tortoise was jealous of both of them and wanted to be as rich as them, but didn't know how to go about it. It devised a means of getting their wealth from them. It went to the sea and told hippopotamus that it wanted them to enter into a contest; that they would drag a rope to see which of them would be able to pull the other; that the hippopotamus would be in the sea while it (the tortoise) would be on the land. The hippopotamus laughed and told the tortoise that if it (the tortoise) was able to stand its (the hippopotamus') strength for one second, it would give it half of its riches. The tortoise left and went to meet the elephant and said similar things. But it told the elephant that it (the tortoise) would be in the sea, while the elephant would be on the land. The elephant also told the tortoise that if it could stand its (the elephant's) strength for one second, it would give it half of all its riches.
On the day that it agreed with both of them that the contest would hold, the tortoise got a very long rope, gave one end to the hippopotamus. Pretending to be the one to hold the other end, it went a long distance to give it the elephant. The elephant and the hippopotamus dragged each other with each of them, thinking that it was the tortoise that was at the opposite end of the rope. They kept dragging and were wondering how strong the tortoise was. As they dragged on without any of them being able to pull down the other, the rope cut and they both fell down. The tortoise went to meet each of them and they at separate times gave it half of their riches, for it had been able to stand their strength. The tortoise became the richest in the animal kingdom.
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