149. The Bird and Her Chick

A mother-bird left her chick alone while she looked for food.

Then she heard screams. "Help! Mother! It's a python!"

Terrified, she flew back to the nest.

"Ha, I tricked you," said the chick.

"You shouldn't tell lies," the mother said patiently.

But the chick kept doing the same thing again and again.

Then one day when the mother-bird went foraging, a python really did come. 

"Help! Mother! Help! It's a python!" screamed the chick.

But the mother-bird ignored his cries, and the python ate him up.

She found nothing but a few feathers when she returned to the nest.

[a Bulu story from Cameroon]

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Inspired by: "Why Small Bird Died" in Bulu Folk-Tales (in Journal of American Folklore) by George Schwab, 1914.
Notes: You can read the original story online.

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