Pigeon and Tree-Branch were friends.
One day, however, Pigeon insulted Tree-Branch's wife.
"Please apologize," said Tree-Branch, "to save our friendship."
"No, I won't apologize!" shouted Pigeon, flying away. "Look at you: just sitting there! I don't know why I was friends with someone like you who can't even fly."
So Pigeon flew and flew and flew without stopping. Eventually he grew tired. "Perhaps I should renew my friendship with Tree-Branch," he thought. But by then Pigeon was so exhausted that he plunged from the sky and died as he struck the ground.
That is what happens to people without friends.
[a Bulu story from Cameroon]
Inspired by: "How Pigeon Learned That No Man Stands Alone" in Bulu Folk-Tales (in Journal of American Folklore) by George Schwab, 1914. The Bulu are a people who live in Cameroon.
Notes: You can read the original story online.
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