A man was sick and sought a cure from the moles. He killed two moles, while a third mole watched and then ran off.
The man waited.
The third mole returned, carrying a piece of root in its mouth. The mole chewed on the root and then spat on the two dead moles, restoring them to life.
"You have cured them!" shouted the man. "What is this medicine?"
"Take it," said the mole. "Chew the root when you are sick, and you will become healthy."
Then the medicine abounded throughout the land; the people got their medicine from the moles.
Inspired by: "Medicine" in Africana by Duff Macdonald, 1882.
Notes: This is a legend of the Yao people of MalawiYou can read the original story online. There are also European folk legends about medicines obtained from watching animals who use natural medicines to heal their fellow animals (see discussion in Baring-Gould's chapter about the shamir legend for example, including the legend of the weasels in Marie de France's Eliduc). The golden mole of Africa is not the same as the European mole; see Wikipedia.
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