Leopard smeared ashes on his face. "Look how sick I am!" he told his wives. "Summon the medicine-man! Call my friends!"
Mongoose, Wild-Rat, and many other animals visited the ailing Leopard, and Leopard ate them all.
Gazelle came, but he refused to enter Leopard's house.
Leopard's medicine-man sang:
O Gazelle, come see the sick one,
O Gazelle, come see the sick one,
Come see your own uncle!
Then Gazelle sang:
Then Gazelle sang:
Uncle, come out of the house,
Come out into the light of day.
Leopard finally lost all patience and came running out of the house to attack Gazelle, but Gazelle sprang away and ran to safety, laughing.
Inspired by: "How the leopard tried to deceive the gazelle" in Congo Life and Jungle Stories by John Weeks, 1921.
Notes: You can read the original story online. In the original, Leopard smeared powdered ironstone on his face; I changed it just to be ashes.
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