Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/166

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Folklore of the Banyanja.

was and he stole the tail and dragged it away with him. Then the Chief sent another army and when the Man opened his box to get the Cow's tail, it was gone. So they killed him.

(A cow's tail is part of a witch doctors outfit.)


The Boy and the Elephant's Legs.

Once there was a Boy who had no legs. His brother used to take him to the river bank every day and leave him in the shade with a basket of mealies beside him. One day an Elephant came and said, "Let me eat your mealies and I will lend you my front legs; but you must come back and return them to me to-day." The Boy said, "All right," so he gave the Elephant all the mealies and it lent him its front legs. He put them on and jumped all about and sang:

"A great Chief is the Elephant,
He has lent me his legs, He has lent me his legs,
What! what! (laughing) Chata! Chata! Chata! (leaping)
He has lent me his legs. He has lent me his legs."

Next day his brother said, "How is it that you ate up all the mealies?" He said, "I did not eat them, an Elephant came and asked for them and said he would lend me his legs for one day, so I gave him my mealies and he lent me his legs and I gave them back to him again when the sun was going down." The brother said, "Next time, run home with your legs and don't give them back." So next time the Elephant came and asked for the mealies, he lent the Boy his legs and the Boy sang:

"A great Chief is the Elephant," etc.;

but he ran away home with the legs and the brothers killed the Elephant.