The tailed head-hunters of Nigeria : an account of an official's seven years' experiences in the Northern Nigerian pagan belt, and a description of the manners, habits, and customs of some of its native tribes / by A.J.N. Tremearne.
- Arthur John Newman Tremearne
- Date:
- 1912
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The tailed head-hunters of Nigeria : an account of an official's seven years' experiences in the Northern Nigerian pagan belt, and a description of the manners, habits, and customs of some of its native tribes / by A.J.N. Tremearne. Source: Wellcome Collection.
393/426 page 327
![making the jackal a victim. There is a resemblance in this to our story of “ The Lion and the Mouse.” The goat, the sheep, the jackal, and the donkey are regarded as wise animals, while the dog and the monkey are rather foolish, though usually too clever for the hyena, which is the butt of all the animals. The Hyena, the Sheep, and the Monkey There was once a Sheep who, with her two Lambs, set out on her travels, and the three journeyed on and on, until, as night approached, they found themselves at the house of the Hyena. The Hyena made food for them, and they ate it, and when they had finished the Hyena gave them a hut to sleep in, and she and her seven Cubs shut them in lest they should run away. During the night the Sheep dug a hole, and made a tunnel under the wall [this is often done by the Hyenas in order to reach Goats and Sheep shut up in a hut], and she and her two Lambs escaped. They ran on to the brink of the river, and there they obtained three gourds, one large, the other two small. Then they made three holes in the earth, and the Sheep put the gourds in the holes, and she and her Lambs ran on again. In the morning the Hyena arose and looked in the hut where the Sheep had slept, but saw that she was too late, so she galloped after them, and there on the brink of the river she saw the three white gourds [which she mistook for the heads of the Sheep and her Lambs]. “ Oh, there they are,” she said ; “ they have not gone far,” and she sprang on to them. But the earth gave way and she fell into the river. Just then the Monkey came up to drink, and the Hyena said, “ O Monkey, will you not let me catch hold of your tail that I may pull myself outBut the Monkey replied, “ Oh no, if one does you a good turn you will repay him wdth an evil one.” But she swore that she would not do such a thing, and so the Monkey stretched out his tail, and she seized it, and pulled herself out of the water. When she had done this the Monkey said, “ Now let me go ”; but the Hyena said, “ Will you not let me have a bite off it ? ” and she bit off' half, and even then she refused to let him go.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b29010445_0393.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
