Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 27, 1916.djvu/185

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Folklore of the Banyanja.
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here." They lay under the tree that night. A Lion came and said, "What is this? Do not lie here or I will eat you." Next night they lay there again, and the Lion ate them all; the first boy only was left. His head was too big for the Lion to eat! He tried to eat it, but he failed; so the boy went home and told his friends that the Lion had eaten all the others.


The Sheep.

There was a man and he herded sheep every day. Every day he tried to climb a great tree to get the fruit. One day he did climb it; he went very high and fell and was killed. One of the sheep returned home and sang:

"Maa, maa, maa, maa!
Maa, maa, maa, maa!
My man wanted to climb the tree.
Now he has fallen;
Maa, maa, maa, maa!"

It went along the road singing this and people said, "What is this that sings like this on the road?" It went along until it came to the village. There it sang again, "Maa, maa!" etc. All the people listened; but could not understand. At last someone said, "I think it says its master is dead!" They followed it and it took them to where the brother lay dead.


The Old Man.

There were three brothers and they went to hunt guinea fowl. They went very far and the sun went down. They were far from home. They wandered farther and farther and at last they came to a house where there was a fire. They said, "Very well, we shall sleep here to-night, for it is very far; to-morrow we shall return home." They went in and found an old man sitting by the fire. He said, "Where do you come from?" They said, "We have