Woodpecker and Weaverbird used to be friends.
They once made a long journey together and had to spend the night on the road. Weaverbird wove a nest attached to a tree branch, while Woodpecker drilled a hole for herself in the tree's trunk.
Then the two friends went to sleep.
A fierce storm came during the night, and it demolished Weaverbird's nest; she barely escaped with her life.
"Let me in!" Weaverbird pleaded, tapping outside of Woodpecker's hole.
"Don't bother me!" shouted Woodpecker. "I'm sleeping."
So Weaverbird spent the night shivering in the rain.
The two birds aren't friends anymore.
[a Bakweri story from Cameroon]
Inspired by: "Why the Weaver-Bird and the Woodpecker Are Enemies" in African Jungle Tales by C. J. Bender, 1919.
Notes: You can read the original story online. This is a story of the Kwe (Wakweli) people of Cameroon; find out more at Wikipedia.
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