The Elephant and the Shrew

One day when the elephant was walking along the road, she encountered a shrew.

"Get out of my way!" trumpeted the elephant. "I am bigger than you!"

"Curse you, elephant!" the shrew shouted back. "May the long grass cut your legs!” 

“I put a curse on you too," bellowed the elephant: "may you meet your death when you walk in the road!" 

The elephant then stepped on the shrew and squashed her to death.

Since that time, the two curses have come true: the long grass scratches the elephant, while shrews die if they ever try to cross the road.

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Inspired by: "The Elephant and the Shrew" in George Grenfell and the Congo, volume 2 by Harry Hamilton Johnston, 1910.
Notes: You can read the original story online. The author notes: "A story from the Wele Mubangi River, and is told among the Azande (Nyamnyam)." About the shrew, he also adds: "It is a curious and unexplained fact that shrews of the genus Crocidura are constantly found lying dead on the bare ground of the native paths in tropical Africa." For a story about the shrew who is afraid to cross the road because of this curse, see: The Shrew and the Hunter.

(shrew)