After Brer Turtle Won the Race

Rabbit couldn't believe it: Turtle beat him to the finish line.

"You cheated!" Rabbit shouted angrily. Then Rabbit grabbed a stick and he started to beat Turtle, breaking his back into pieces. He finally left Turtle for dead.

"Help!" Turtle groaned. "Help!"

Ants came. "What's wrong?" they asked.

"Rabbit broke my back into all these pieces," said Turtle. "Help me!"

"We can sew you back up," the Ants said, "but what will you give us in return?"

"There is fat under my shell," said Turtle. "Take that!"

So the Ants stitched Turtle's shell back together, and they took his fat. 

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Inspired by: Swapping Stories: Folktales from Louisiana by Carl Lindahl.
Notes: The storyteller is Bel Abbey, a Koasati storyteller, recorded in 1989.