Tortoise was out walking when he met Guinea-Fowl.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"To get fruit!" she replied. "Come along!"
Guinea-Fowl led Tortoise a tree full of ripe fruit. She flew up into the tree, shook a branch, and fruits fell down on Tortoise's back, bursting open. Then Guinea-Fowl flew down and they feasted on the fruit.
"I want more!" said Tortoise.
"You climb the tree this time," replied Guinea-Fowl.
So Tortoise climbed the tree, shook a branch, and fruits fell down on Guinea-Fowl, but she did not have a hard shell like Tortoise: the falling fruit killed her.
Inspired by: "Tortoise and Fowl" in Talking Animals by Wilfrid Hambly, 1949.
Notes: You can read the original story online. See the continuation here: The Tortoise Makes a Flute. Compare the Igbo story in Basden: A Tortoise and a Fowl. Hambly's book contains stories from Angola and from Nigeria, and based on this parallel, I'm guessing this is one of the Nigerian stories in the book.
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