Tortoise then took the food his wife cooked for him and went away; he didn't want to share the food with her.
Then Tortoise sat on an anthill and started eating.
"Give us food!" said the ants.
"No!" said Tortoise.
The ants were angry. One by one they bit Tortoise's tail.
"Ouch!" said Tortoise. "Ouch! Stop that! I am the King!" Ouch!"
When they were done, Tortoise couldn't move: the ants had trapped him by the tail.
Inspired by: "Tortoise Becomes King" in Anthropological report on the Ibo-speaking peoples of Nigeria by Northcote Whitridge Thomas, 1914.
Notes: You can read the original story online. In a continuation of the story, you can find out how Tortoise breaks free.
No comments:
Post a Comment