Ajapa the Tortoise

by Margaret Baumann

  The King sprang to his feet, crying:

  “He has brought me a present of heads! Chief Tortoise, you are welcome. Come and sit beside me.”

  The twenty labourers laid down their nets some distance away, and Tortoise sat down beside the King, so that all the other Chiefs, who would have liked to sit under the white umbrella where Tortoise was, were filled with envy.

  “Illustrious King,” said Tortoise, “shaker of the earth, monarch of the forest, ruler of elephants and serpents, we are all assembled here to rejoice in your royal birthday, and I am glad to think that I have brought you a gift which is unique.”

  “Chief Tortoise,” replied the King, “your present fills me with delight. I have never seen a collection of so many heads, and I am sure you must have gone through many perils and adventures to obtain them. I am not ungrateful, and I would like to hear how your present was obtained.”

  Tortoise cleared his throat as if he were about to tell a long story, but at that moment a certain Chief drew close to the King and cried:

  “Sire, the heads which Tortoise has brought are nothing but coconuts!” And he flourished before the King’s face a large and shaggy coconut.

  The King rushed to the spot where the labourers had put down their nets, and found that truly the nets were filled with a grand collection of coconuts.

  “So this is your unique present!” he said grimly. “At least I will have one head—your own!”

  “Your Majesty,” pleaded Tortoise, trembling with fear, “I crave forgiveness. I am very, very poor, as Your Majesty may perhaps remember, yet I truly desired to find a unique present, and I still claim that I have done so. I am quite convinced that Your Majesty has never before received five hundred coconuts, and if this is the case, then surely you will not desire my death, for I have done what I promised. I never said that I had brought a gift of heads.”

  “It is true, presumptuous Chief, that I have never received five hundred coconuts,” replied the King, who could not refrain from smiling. “It is equally true that I have no use whatever for five hundred coconuts, and I therefore command you to eat them all yourself!”

  All the Court rocked with merriment at this decree, but Tortoise was filled with consternation. In vain did he plead for mercy, promising to secure ten or even twelve real heads by some means or other.

  The King’s slaves began to open the coconuts one after another. Tortoise stood in front of the growing pile and began to eat. One coconut was quite sufficient for him, and when he had eaten three (by this time the night was far advanced) he felt extremely uncomfortable.

  In the morning he was still eating, and the huge pile of coconuts was only decreased by ten. But alas for poor Tortoise! His back, which had always been so smooth and flat, was curved into the hump which his descendants still wear to-day.

  Seeing his sad condition, the King relented and declared himself satisfied. At this, Tortoise collapsed and was carried home by his labourers.

  “Now you see what it means to become a Chief!” said his wife, but for once Tortoise made no reply.

  In time he recovered from the ill-effects of his feast, but to this day he has no liking for coconuts.

  IV. The Inquisitive Servant

  There was once a poor boy called Ladipo, who had the power of changing himself into any form he desired, but so far the charm had not been of any use to him, and as he stood in the market-place one afternoon he felt hungry and miserable, for he had not a single cowrie with which to buy fried plantains or even corn.

  As he leaned listlessly against a wall, he was suddenly aware that two men were talking eagerly at the other side.

  “How great is the treasure?” asked the first.

  “Oh, very great—a king’s ransom, all in gold and ivory,” replied the other. “We and our friend can share it all, since no one else knows where it is buried. We shall all three be rich for life.”

  By this time Ladipo was listening intently, but he very much desired to see the two speakers, so he quickly changed himself into a fly and buzzed up to the top of the wall. He saw a very fat man and a very thin one, squatting on the ground with their heads together. They were whispering now in very low tones, and in order to hear what they said the fly settled on the head of the fat man and listened.

  “We will start this evening,” said the fat man. “I think it will be a good idea if you can find a trustworthy servant to carry our provisions, for the journey is long, and you know the treasure lies buried in the depths of the forest. Do you agree?”

  “Yes,” said the thin man; “but wait a moment! There is a big fly on your head, and I am going to kill it.”

  But of course the fly was gone, and in his own form Ladipo waited eagerly in the market-place until at last he saw the thin man walking about alone, buying provisions which he placed in a large basket.

  Ladipo approached him and said politely:

  “Sir, you appear to be getting ready for a journey. Do you by any chance require a servant? My master has just died, and I have nothing to do.”

  The thin man observed him carefully and replied:

  “You are very small and do not appear strong.”

  “That,” said the boy, “is because I have had nothing to eat to-day. If you will give me two plantains, you will see how briskly I can carry your basket. I am a very good cook besides.”

  So the thin man agreed to take him, and gave him some fruit to eat. After that Ladipo felt quite lively and excited, and stepped along so boldly with the basket on his head that the thin man was glad to have found him and quite proud when he showed him that evening to his two friends.

  Ladipo, of course, recognized the fat man, and he found that the third traveller was a man with a long black beard, but they all had such strange names that the boy decided to call them simply Fat, Thin, and Beard.

  The four of them set off at once and travelled for a long distance into the forest. Even when it was quite dark they did not stop, for they had a little lamp and seemed to know the way by heart. At last the servant was so tired that he felt sure he would soon go to sleep standing up.

  When they had gone still further, poor Ladipo felt that he could not endure his weariness any longer, so, pretending that something had fallen out of his basket, he asked one of the travellers to carry the basket while he ran back to pick up what was lost.

  “You cannot find it in the dark,” said Thin.

  “Oh yes, I have the eyes of a leopard!” replied the servant; and Thin took the basket. Ladipo quickly turned himself into a coconut, sat in the basket, and was carried along with the others.

  As they walked the travellers discussed their new servant.

  Ladipo and His Masters. Page 14.

  “We must be careful not to let him see the treasure if he has such sharp eyes,” said Thin.

  “Oh,” said Beard, “we will manage to lose him before we reach the place, and so he will know nothing about it.”

  “Let us rest here,” said Fat, panting and puffing. “I am worn out and very hungry. What is the good of carrying provisions if we eat nothing?”

  They sat down under a tree, and Thin said:

  “We will eat a coconut—the largest we have.”

  Now as Ladipo was the largest coconut, he quickly changed into his proper form and stood before them, smiling.

  “I did not hear your footsteps, boy!” cried Fat.

  “No,” said the servant. “I am as silent as a snake.”

  “And did you find what you had dropped?”

  “Yes, an orange, but I was so hungry that I ate it,” he replied at once; and after scolding him for eating an orange without permission, they divided a coconut and set off again.

  Once again Ladipo found that the basket was very heavy, and he began to wish he had not to carry it. He could not think of a plan to get rid of his load, until the travellers began to complain of thirst.

  “I will run forward to discover a well or a pool,” suggested the servant eagerly.

&
nbsp; “How can you find a pool in the dark?” objected Fat.

  “Oh,” said the servant, “I have the ears of an antelope and the instinct of a jackal. I will find some water.”

  But though the travellers thought he had run on ahead, he had really changed himself into a leaf, and lay on top of the provisions in the basket. He felt quite pleased with the trick he had played his masters, but soon found that they were talking about him as they went on.

  “This is a foolish servant,” grumbled Fat, who was already tired of the weight on his head.

  “Foolish? I am more inclined to think he is dangerous,” replied Beard. “He has the eyes of a leopard, the silence of a snake, the ears of an antelope, and the instinct of a jackal! I am afraid he may discover the reason for our journey and steal our treasure from us.”

  “I think he is a very good servant,” said Thin, because, of course, it was he who had engaged the boy. “However, if you are afraid of him, the only thing to do is to lose him—but he is sure to follow us!”

  They all sighed, and Beard said:

  “Well, if I remember the road rightly, there is a deserted hut not far from here where we can sleep for the remainder of the night. We will wake up very early and creep out of the hut while the boy is still asleep, and so leave him behind.” He chuckled. “Even with his wonderful instinct it will take him some time to find us, and meanwhile we will dig up the treasure from the foot of the great breadfruit tree, eat all the provisions in the basket and fill it with the gold and ivory. Then if our servant finds us, he must carry the basket again, and he will never guess what wealth it contains!”

  They all agreed with this plan, and laughed heartily, and even Ladipo in the basket was pleased with himself, as he now knew all the plans of the travellers. He lay thinking out his own plans too.

  He had no desire to dig under the breadfruit tree, and so he decided to leave this hard work for his masters, while he himself . . .

  But at this moment Fat, panting and groaning, laid down the basket.

  “Oh dear!” he cried. “This is very hot work! I must take a leaf from the basket to fan myself with!”

  At this Ladipo at once changed into his natural shape and appeared before them.

  “Boy, you are very sudden!” cried Thin.

  “Yes, master, I am as sudden as a thunderstorm,” replied Ladipo, picking up the basket.

  “And did you find water?”

  “I found the pool where the elephants come to bathe, but it is muddy and unfit for drinking,” was the reply.

  “You miserable servant!” cried Beard, and they all fell upon the poor boy and beat him unmercifully.

  After this treatment Ladipo was not sorry that he was going to steal the treasure, because he felt that his masters were wicked and did not deserve to possess such wealth.

  Shortly after, they reached a hut by the side of the path. The hut was empty, and they all went in to sleep. But Ladipo stayed awake until he heard his three masters snoring, when he softly changed himself into a grass mat and lay down on the floor, sleeping peacefully.

  At dawn Beard awoke and roused his two companions. They could not find their servant, and thought that he must have gone into the forest searching for water.

  “All the better!” said Fat. “Now we have really lost him.”

  They hastily rolled up the mat which lay on the ground and put it on top of the basket. Then they set off as fast as they could go.

  Thin carried the basket, but they had not gone far when he began to grumble about the weight.

  “It will be much heavier than this when it is full of gold!” declared Beard.

  “In that case, why don’t you carry it now while it is light?” retorted Thin; and so Beard had to carry the basket.

  After a while he, too, began to feel weary, and passed the basket on to Fat. But Fat was the laziest of the three, and filled the air with complaints about the cruelty of his comrades in making him carry their load. At last he laid down the basket.

  “It is impossible to carry this monstrous load!” he said. “I shall throw away this stupid grass mat, which we really do not need.”

  So he threw away the mat, and they went on.

  Ladipo had no desire to remain behind, so he flew into the basket in the form of a mosquito, and then changed himself into a pineapple, in case they should try to drive the insect away.

  Soon afterwards Fat again decided to throw away the heaviest things in the basket—the coconuts and pineapples.

  “What a lazy man he is!” grumbled Ladipo, when he found himself on the ground again with the rest of the fruit. He changed himself into a bird and flew after them, but found that they had all stopped at the foot of a great tree.

  “Here we are!” said Thin.

  “At last!” said Beard.

  “I am nearly dead with fatigue!” said Fat.

  The little bird perched on the tree and watched them. How hard they worked! Even Fat had to help with the digging, and the treasure seemed to be buried in a very deep hole indeed, because it took them quite a long time to find it.

  In the end they were successful, and, squatting on the ground, made haste to eat up all the contents of the basket, which they filled with the treasure.

  They were all eager to carry the basket now, though it was much heavier than before, and they cast doubtful looks at one another, as if each suspected the other two of plotting to run away with the whole treasure.

  They had not gone very far when, with a fierce trumpeting noise, a huge elephant crashed its way through the trees and came in their direction. They were so terrified that they dropped the basket and ran away as fast as their legs would carry them.

  The elephant, however, did not pursue them, but took up the basket with its trunk and followed the forest-path almost to within sight of the town. Then the animal disappeared and Ladipo stood there, holding the basket.

  He went boldly into the town, and sold the treasure for a great deal of money, with which he bought a large house and a coconut plantation.

  He never saw his masters Thin, Fat, and Beard again, and lived happily to the end of his days.

  V. Tortoise and Crab

  Now both Tortoise and Crab carry a shell-house on their backs, but while Crab can defend himself with his vigorous claws, Tortoise has to rely upon wit for his protection.

  Buried in the warm sand of the beach one morning, Crab awoke to hear Tortoise near by calling out: “Gidigbo! Gidigbo! Gidigbo!” which is the call to wrestling.

  “Ho!” said Crab, crawling out of his sandy bed. “Who is this who boasts his strength so loudly to the world?”

  “Gidigbo! Gidigbo! Gidigbo! I am a mighty warrior! Who will wrestle with me?” repeated Tortoise, wagging his head arrogantly.

  “What! Tortoise? You weak little creature,” said Crab, with scorn, “how dare you presume to invite me to fight with you?”

  “We are both warriors,” said Tortoise. “We are clad in armour, but you know very well that I am both braver and stronger than you.”

  “We shall see!” replied Crab grimly, and he suddenly seized Tortoise by the neck with his sharp pincers. “Now, Tortoise, admit that you are nothing but a foolish boaster,” he said triumphantly.

  Poor Tortoise closed his eyes and felt quite faint with the pressure on his neck. It was, in fact, impossible for him to reply, and, seeing this, Crab released his hold for a moment, and Tortoise promptly drew his head and feet safely inside his shell.

  “Oh, Crab!” he murmured, somewhat faintly, it is true, “now pinch me if you can!”

  The Crab, of course, could not find any spot where his claws could take hold of Tortoise, and in the end had to give up the attempt.

  “Now,” said Tortoise, still keeping his head well out of reach, “I think we ought to agree that we are both equally powerful, and that our armour makes us absolutely secure from attack, once we are on our guard.”

  “Why, yes!” agreed Crab. “And so we are the strongest and most powerful c
reatures in the world. Nothing can harm us.”

  At that moment two boys were passing.

  “Ha!” said the one. “Here is a nice big crab—my mother will enjoy it for her evening meal.”

  And picking up Crab from behind, he popped him into his bag.

  “Why, here is a large tortoise,” cried his companion. “I shall boil him down and sell his shell in the market-place. How lucky we are to-day!”

  He picked up Tortoise without ceremony and took him away.

  Since that day the descendants of Tortoise and Crab have always shunned one another, and should Tortoise see the powerful claws of Crab approaching, he pops his head into his shell, and no doubt blushes with shame to think how the two boasters once came to such a sad and undignified end in the cooking-pot.

  VI. The Golden Comb

  As far as one can see, all along the border of the ocean stretches the shining golden sand. In the daytime the shore is deserted, but at night, when the moon sheds a clear radiance, the water-mammies, or mermaids, rise up out of the sea and sit upon the sand on their silvery tails, combing their long hair, and singing tunes that are like the sighing of the wind in very tall palm trees.

  Each mermaid has one great treasure, which she guards closely—her golden comb.

  At dawn the moon fades and the mermaids glide into the sea once more, and dance in the green foam or dive to the very bottom of the ocean, where the pearls and corals are, and where fishes swim slowly past with staring eyes.

  Once upon a time a careless mermaid slipped back into the sea at dawn and left her comb lying upon the sands.

  Oh, how vast and silent were the golden sands that morning! There was not a single footprint anywhere, until a certain fisherman came slowly along, singing to himself, for he had made a good catch of fish that night. In the sunlight he suddenly found the golden comb gleaming. He picked it up, and when he saw how beautiful it was, he ran to his hut and called his family together.

  “Ayo,” said the fisherman joyfully to his wife, “see what a pretty thing I found upon the sands after I had brought in my nets. Our little daughter Remi shall wear this yellow comb in her hair.”