Climbing a tall palm-tree, Tortoise fell down and his shell shattered.
“Please help me put my shell back together,” he begged the passing animals, but nobody helped, except for Pig.
“Thank you!” Tortoise told Pig. “I promise to reward you.”
When Pig came for his reward, Tortoise hid, pretending to be the grinding-stone where Mrs. Tortoise was grinding grain. Pig got angry and threw the supposed grinding-stone into the woods.
Next time Pig came, Tortoise said, “Oh, that fine grinding-stone you threw into the woods is your reward; go get it!”
Pig is still digging around, looking for that grinding-stone.
[a Calabar story from southern Nigeria]
Inspired by: "The Tortoise and the Pig" in Animal Stories from Calabar (published in Journal of the Royal African Society) by Henry Cobham, 1905.
Notes: You can read the original story online.
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