Egg, Tadpole, and Fly were friends.
One day they went to harvest palm-nuts together.
"I know how to harvest nuts," said Egg confidently. She climbed up, harvested nuts, and then fell down and broke.
Tadpole laughed, "Ha-ha-ha-ha," and split his mouth open down to his neck.
"Oh, I must tell everyone what happened," said Fly, flying home at top speed.
"What happened, Fly?" they asked him at home.
"I'll tell you, but first I must wipe the sweat from my face," Fly replied, and when he wiped his face, he pulled off his head.
Which friend was the most foolish?
Inspired by: "Three Friends" in Royal Antelope and Spider by Marion Kilson, 1976, which is a book of Mende stories.
Notes: You can read the original story online; the storyteller is from Freetown in Sierra Leone.
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