times (and most frequently) a "malin personnage," who is surnamed "le rusé compère" (Nwa-Chisisana), sometimes "un nigaud," who is taken in by the Swallow, and even by the Hen. M. Junod suggests that his contention is borne out by the circumstance that the two tales in his collection which most strongly exhibit the Rabbit in this light are really Makua stories, imported from Mozambique.
I do not feel competent to give an opinion on this matter, but would like to mention one or two points which may or may not be relevant. Among the Mang'anja tales I collected at Blantyre and in the West Shire district are two variants (one very imperfect) of the tale called by M. Junod "Le Lièvre et l'Hirondelle." In one it is the Cock (tambala) who is overreached (with tragic results) by the Swallow; in the other the Rabbit's place is taken by the Cat, and it is a small bird (the ntengu) who is too sharp for him. Again, many of the Kalulu stories (and he figures in the great majority) consist of two parts; in the first. Brer Rabbit is fooled by some one, by preference the Dzimwe;[1] in the second he goes one better and turns the tables on his adversary. In one, the Crocodile kills the Rabbit's wife, but the latter employs the Wood-pigeon to entice the Crocodile ashore, and then kills him. So universally is the Kalulu's superiority insisted on, that I am inclined to think that the tales showing him as the defeated party (I can only recall one at this moment) are incomplete, and, like Cambuscan's, left half-told.
I may add that, to the best of my belief, there is only one Kalulu in the Shire Highlands, and he is quite as much of a hare as he is of a rabbit; more so indeed, for he does not live in warrens, but makes himself a form in the bush, even as our hare at home. In size, if I recollect rightly the fleeting glimpses which were all he ever vouchsafed me, he is something between the two.
- ↑ Some call this animal an ant-eater, some an elephant, some a bogy. I incline to think he belongs to the last-named genus.
