Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/187

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Folklore of the Banyanja.
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look at the trap he saw the Snake. It said, "Take me up and carry me to your house because you have caught me." He took it home, singing:

"Big snake, big snake!
The man who set a snare to catch buck,
Now has he caught a big snake.
Big snake!"

All the people at home heard him, and said, "Who is this who comes singing on the road?" They said, "Wait until he comes; we shall hear." Then they saw him come along bearing the Snake, and he cast it down. They said, "What is this?" He said, "Because I set a trap to catch game and I caught this snake, and he told me to carry him home, and he wants to eat all my brothers because I have caught him." They said, "No, give him a goat or a sheep; let him eat that!" The Snake said. "No, I want a man to eat." The Man said, "Wait, then; I shall go and get one for you." He put him in his hut and said, "Wait here!" He went out and shut his door and then he burned down his hut with the Snake inside it.


The Hare and the Elephant.

There was an Elephant and he made a garden. Every day the Hare came and stole food in it. One day the Elephant stayed at home to catch him; but the Hare knew and would not come that day. Next day the Elephant did not stay in and the Hare went and stole again. He thought, "Where shall I run when the Elephant comes?" He looked about and by and bye he went to the river bank and looked down it. The bank was reflected in the water and looked very deep. The Hare thought the bank was very high and the water far off and little. He said, "I will run down there and the Elephant cannot catch me." When the Elephant came to the garden he ran after the Hare. The Hare ran to the river and went