"Cock-a-doodle-doooooo!" sang Rooster. "Crocodile is my friend; he is my family!"
"Rooster's a liar," said the angry reptiles. "We're reptiles, and Crocodile is our king. Rooster is a bird; his king is Eagle."
Uncertain what to do, Crocodile went to Eagle for advice.
Eagle smiled. "You come from an egg, and I come from an egg, as does Rooster! We are all friends. We are all family."
"Ah!" said Crocodile. "I understand."
Then Crocodile said to Rooster, "Your enemies are my enemies now! Because humans kill roosters, I will kill humans."
True to this promise, crocodiles attack humans even now.
[a Yao story from Malawi]
Inspired by: "The Cock and the Crocodile" in The Wayao of Nyasaland by Hugh Stannus, 1917.
Notes: You can read the original story online. For a variant, see The Crocodile and the Chicken. The sound of the rooster in the story is: Kokoliliko.
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