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South African Folk-Lore Tales - Sanni Metelerkamp · Timeless Tales - Explore Classic Fiction

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Speaker 1: South African folklore tales by Sanni Mettler, camp glossary, avaskin
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Speaker 1: skin slung across the back to carry babies in avaskin Askokies,
0:17
Speaker 1: cakes baked in the ash askokis, bas Master bas Basi,
0:29
Speaker 1: little master, Bassi, Babian, baboon, Babian, berskulpad, mountain, tortoise, berscilpad, Bilton,
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Speaker 1: strips of sun dried meat, Bilton, bolmakissie head over heels bolmakissie, bossies, bushes,
0:59
Speaker 1: brewer brother breh boohoo an aromatic felt herb boohoo, Carbonacci,
1:13
Speaker 1: grilled chop, Carbonacci, dassy rock rabbit, dassy aintchee an edible
1:24
Speaker 1: felt root, aintchi, hassantite your health, hassantite, harsy, little hare,
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Speaker 1: hassy hummel a weather harmel, jacalstry, tricky turns, jacalstry, caross
1:51
Speaker 1: a skin rug, caros, kiri a thick stick, kiri, climing,
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Speaker 1: little king, klein, conning, kneer, halterred, hobbled, knear, haltred, kopduc
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Speaker 1: turban kopduc copy hill copy, grantz a precipice, krantz, kraal
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Speaker 1: an enclosure, kraal lamar funger an ego, lamar funger, Lieu
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Speaker 1: a lion, liu manhah a main manhar mens averretta a cannibal,
2:50
Speaker 1: menceeverretta nief nephew, nief noi lady or miss stress, nui
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Speaker 1: noni young lady or miss nonni um uncle um Ota,
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Speaker 1: old man or prefix to the name of old natives. Ota,
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Speaker 1: pronk to show off, pronk rye her a heron ry,
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Speaker 1: her reem a leather thong reem, rustband a couch rustband.
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Speaker 1: Sassabi or sesbie a South African antelope sassabi or sesbe.
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Speaker 1: Scalm a rogue or sly scalem, skilpad a tortoise, skilpad,
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Speaker 1: shamboc a whip of rhino or hippo hide shamboc, scral
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Speaker 1: windi a fine, cutting, wind scrawl, windy scric to be startled,
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Speaker 1: also fright scric, shlim, cunningly, clever shlim. Smootherer a peddler smootherer,
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Speaker 1: soupy a tot suipy thaie, tough, thaie, tanta aunt, tanta,
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Speaker 1: tarrental a guinea fowl tarrental, tover o, tovarai witchcraft, tover
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Speaker 1: or tovarai fabond, a vagabond farbond, flachter a plane flachta
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Speaker 1: forstead jumping aside suddenly and violently forstead folk, colored, farm laborers,
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Speaker 1: folk falstrace, an ostrich falstrace, fro wife fro Fromen's woman
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Speaker 1: fromens zand craper a sand crawler zandcraper. End of the glossary,
5:51
Speaker 1: the place and the people. It was winter in the
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Speaker 1: great Carew. The evening air was so crisp and cutting
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Speaker 1: that one seemed to hear the quick crack of the
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Speaker 1: frost as it formed on the scant vegetation. A scralvidie
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Speaker 1: blew from the distant mountains, springing with it a mingled
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Speaker 1: odor of karou bush, sheep growls, and smoke from the
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Speaker 1: kaffa huts, none perhaps desirable in itself, but all so
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Speaker 1: blent and purified in that rare, clear atmosphere, and so
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Speaker 1: subservient to the exhilarating freshness that pity. Vandermrvha took several
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Speaker 1: sniffs of pleasure as he peered into the pale moonlight
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Speaker 1: over the lower half of the divided door. Then with
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Speaker 1: a little involuntary shiver, he closed the upper portion and
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Speaker 1: turned to the ruddy warmth of the purring fire, which
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Speaker 1: villain was feeding with melicobs from the basket. Beside him,
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Speaker 1: Little Jan sat in the corner of the wire old
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Speaker 1: fashioned roosbunk, his large gray eyes gazing wistfully into the
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Speaker 1: red heart of the fire, while his hand absently stroked Torry,
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Speaker 1: the fox terrier, curled up beside him. Mother, in her
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Speaker 1: large madeira chair at the side table, yawned a little
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Speaker 1: over her book for winter or summer. The mistress of
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Speaker 1: a carew farm leads a busy life, and the end
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Speaker 1: of the day finds her ready for a well earned rest.
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Speaker 1: Pity held his hands towards the blaze, turning his head
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Speaker 1: now and again towards the door at the far end
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Speaker 1: of the room. Presently this opened, and Father appeared comfortably
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Speaker 1: and leisurely, as if such things as shearing, dipping, and
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Speaker 1: plowing were no part of his day's work. Only the
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Speaker 1: healthy tan, the broad shoulders, the whole well developed physic,
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Speaker 1: proclaimed his strenuous, open air life. His eye rested with
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Speaker 1: pleasure on the scene before him, the bright fire throwing
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Speaker 1: gleam and shadow on painted wall and polished woodwork, and
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Speaker 1: giving a general air of coziness to everything, the table
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Speaker 1: spread for the evening meal, the group at the fireside,
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Speaker 1: and his dear helpmate, who was responsible for the comfort
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Speaker 1: and happiness of his well appointed home. He was followed
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Speaker 1: in a moment by cousin Minnie, the bright faced young governess.
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Speaker 1: Their coming caused a stir among the children. Little Yan
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Speaker 1: slowly withdrew his gaze from the fire, and, with more
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Speaker 1: energy than might have been expected from his dreamy look,
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Speaker 1: pushed and prodded the sleeping terrier along the roost bunk,
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Speaker 1: so as to make room for cousin Minnie. Pity sprang
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Speaker 1: to his father's side. Now, may I go and call
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Speaker 1: otar Carroll, he asked eagerly, and at an acquiescent yes,
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Speaker 1: my boy, away he sped. It was a strange figure
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Speaker 1: that came at his bidding, shuffling, stooping, halting, and finally
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Speaker 1: emerging into the firelight. A stranger might have been forgiven
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Speaker 1: for fleeing in terror, for the new arrival looked like
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Speaker 1: nothing so much as an ancient and muscular gorilla in
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Speaker 1: man's clothes and walking uncertainly on its hind legs. He
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Speaker 1: was not quite four feet in height, with shoulders and
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Speaker 1: hips disproportionately broad and long arms, the hands of which
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Speaker 1: reached midway between knee and ankle. His lower limbs were
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Speaker 1: clothed in nondescript garments fashioned from wild cat and dussy skins.
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Speaker 1: A faded brown coat, which from its size had evidently
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Speaker 1: once belonged to his master, hung nearly to his knees,
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Speaker 1: while when he removed his shapeless felt hat, a red
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Speaker 1: kopduk was seen to be wound tightly round his head.
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Speaker 1: No one had ever seen Notta Carrol without his kopduk,
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Speaker 1: but it was reported that the head it covered was
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Speaker 1: as smooth and devoid of hair as an ostrich egg.
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Speaker 1: His yellow brown face was a network of wrinkles across
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Speaker 1: which his flat nose sprawled broadly between high cheek bones.
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Speaker 1: His eyes, sunk far back into his head, glittered dark
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Speaker 1: and beady, like the little, wicked eyes of a snake
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Speaker 1: peeping from the shadow of a hole in the rocks.
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Speaker 1: His wide mouth twisted itself into an engaging grin which
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Speaker 1: extended from ear to ear. As winking and blinking his
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Speaker 1: bright little eyes, he twirled his old hat in his
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Speaker 1: claw like hands and tried to make obeisance to his
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Speaker 1: master and mistress. The attempt was unsuccessful on account of
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Speaker 1: the stiffness of his joints, but it never failed to
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Speaker 1: amuse those who times without number had seen it. Repeated
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Speaker 1: to those who witnessed it for the first time, it
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Speaker 1: was something to be remembered. The grotesque, disproportionate form, the
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Speaker 1: apelike face that yet was so curiously human, the humor
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Speaker 1: and kindness that gleamed from the cavernous eyes which seemed
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Speaker 1: designed to express only malevolence and cunning, the long waving
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Speaker 1: arms and crooked fingers, the yellow skin for all the
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Speaker 1: world like a crumpled sheet of India rubber pulled in
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Speaker 1: a dozen different directions. That he was a consummate actor,
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Speaker 1: and not to put too fine a point of it,
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Speaker 1: an old humbug of the first water goes without saying,
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Speaker 1: for these characteristics are inherent in the native nature. But
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Speaker 1: in spite of this, and the uncanniness of his appearance,
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Speaker 1: there was something about Otta Carroll that drew one to
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Speaker 1: him of his real devotion to his master and the
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Speaker 1: beautiful family funder Mirva, there could be no question. While
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Speaker 1: above everything was the feeling that here was one of
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Speaker 1: an outcast race, one of the few of the original
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Speaker 1: inhabitants who had survived a submerging tide of civilization, who
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Speaker 1: knowing no law but that of possession, had been scared
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Speaker 1: and chased from their happy hunting grounds, first by the Hottentots,
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Speaker 1: and then by the powerful Bantu, and later by the
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Speaker 1: still more terrifying pale faced tribes from over the seas.
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Speaker 1: Though the origin of the bushmen is lost in the
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Speaker 1: mists of antiquity, the Hottentot conquest of him is a
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Speaker 1: matter of history, and it is well known that the
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Speaker 1: victors were in the habit while killing off the men,
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Speaker 1: to take unto themselves wives from among the women of
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Speaker 1: the vanquished race. Hence the fact that a perfect specimen
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Speaker 1: of a bushman is rara Avis. Even in the localities
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Speaker 1: where the last remnants are known to linger otar Carol
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Speaker 1: could hardly be called a perfect specimen of the original race,
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Speaker 1: for though he always spoke of himself as holy bushmen,
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Speaker 1: there was a strong strain of the Hottentot about him,
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Speaker 1: chiefly noticeable in his build He spoke in Dutch, in
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Speaker 1: the curiously expressive voice belonging to these people. Just now, honey,
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Speaker 1: sweet with the deference he felt for his superiors. Achtoch night, pass, knight, noi,
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Speaker 1: knight NONI, and my little bassis, excuse that this old
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Speaker 1: bushman does not bend to greet you, though with is there,
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Speaker 1: but his knees are too stiff. Thank you, Thank you,
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Speaker 1: my bussy as Pity dragged a low stool covered with
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Speaker 1: spring bok skin from under the desk in the recess
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Speaker 1: and pushed it towards him. He settled himself on it
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Speaker 1: slowly and carefully, with much creaking of joints and many
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Speaker 1: strange native ejaculations. The little group had arranged itself. Anew cousin, Minnie,
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Speaker 1: was in the cozy corner of the roost bunk near
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Speaker 1: the wall, Little Jan next her, with his head against
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Speaker 1: her and Torrey's head on his lap, this attention making
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Speaker 1: up for his late seeming unkindness in pushing him away. Papa,
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Speaker 1: with his magazine, was at the other end of the
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Speaker 1: roost bunk, where he could, if he chose, speak to
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Speaker 1: Mamma in a low voice, or peeple over to see
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Speaker 1: how her book was getting on. Billiam had pushed the
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Speaker 1: basket away so as to settle himself more comfortably against
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Speaker 1: cousin Minnie's knee as he sat on the floor, and
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Speaker 1: Pity was on a small chair just in front of
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Speaker 1: the fire. The center of attention was the quaint old native, who,
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Speaker 1: having relegated his duties to his children and grandchildren, lived
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Speaker 1: as a privileged pensioner in the Vandermerva family he had
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Speaker 1: served so faithfully for three generations. The firelight played over
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Speaker 1: his quaint figure with the weirdest effect, lighting up now
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Speaker 1: one portion of it, now another, showing up his astonishingly
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Speaker 1: small hands and crooked fingers as he pointed and gesticulated incessantly.
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Speaker 1: For these people speak as much by gesture as by sound,
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Speaker 1: and throwing exaggerated shadows on the wall. This was the
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Speaker 1: hour beloved by the children, when the short wintry day
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Speaker 1: had ended, and in the interval between the coming of
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Speaker 1: darkness and the evening meal, their dear Otar Carroll was
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Speaker 1: allowed in to tell them stories and weird and wonderful stories.
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Speaker 1: They were tales of spooks and giants, of good and
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Speaker 1: bad spirits, of animals that talked, of birds, beasts and
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Speaker 1: insects that exercised marvelous influence over the destinies of unsuspecting mankind.
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Speaker 1: But most thrilling of all, perhaps were Ottar Carroll's personal
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Speaker 1: experiences adventures by felt and cants with lion, tiger, jackal,
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Speaker 1: and crocodile, such as no longer fall to the lot
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Speaker 1: of mortal man. The children would listen, wide eyed and breathless,
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Speaker 1: and even their elders, sparing a moment's attention from book
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Speaker 1: or writing, would feel a tremor of excitement, unable to
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Speaker 1: determine where reality ended and fiction began, so inextricably were
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Speaker 1: they intermingled, as this old Iago of the desert wove
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Speaker 1: his romancers. Now otta tell us a nice story, the
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Speaker 1: nicest you know, said little jan nestling closer to cousin
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Speaker 1: Minnie and issuing his command as the autocrat of the
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Speaker 1: one thousand and one Knights might have done. Ah, but
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Speaker 1: Kline Bass, This stupid old black one knows no new stories,
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Speaker 1: only the old ones of Jacals and you. And how
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Speaker 1: can he tell even those? When his throat is dry,
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Speaker 1: ach so dry with the dust from the kraals. He
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Speaker 1: forced a gurgling cough, and his small eyes glittered expectantly.
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Speaker 1: Then suddenly he started with well feigned surprise, and beamed
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Speaker 1: on pity who stood beside him with the soupee in
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Speaker 1: the glass kept for his especial use. This was a
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Speaker 1: nightly performance. The dubrication was never forgotten, but it was
18:13
Speaker 1: often purposely delayed in order to see what pretext Otar
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Speaker 1: would use to call attention to the fact of it
18:21
Speaker 1: not having been offered. Sore throat, headache, stomach ache, cold heat, rheumatism,
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Speaker 1: old age, a birthday invented for the occasion, the killing
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Speaker 1: of a snake, or the breaking in of a young horse.
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Speaker 1: Anything served as an excuse for what was a time
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Speaker 1: honored custom. Thank you, thank you, mind klinknig chosantite to
18:48
Speaker 1: bas Noi Noni and the beautiful family Vandermerva. He lifted
18:54
Speaker 1: the glass, gulped down the contents, and smacked his lips approvingly. Ach,
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Speaker 1: if a bushman only had a neck like an ostrich,
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Speaker 1: how good with the soupy taste all the way down.
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Speaker 1: Now I am strong again. Now I am ready to
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Speaker 1: tell the story of yak As and uum Lieu. About
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Speaker 1: um Lieu carrying Jakols on his back, asked Philim, No Bassi,
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Speaker 1: this is quite a different one and with many strange gesticulations.
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Speaker 1: Imitating every action and changing his voice to suit the
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Speaker 1: various characters. The old man began and of the place
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Speaker 1: and the people, how yakuls fed uem Lieu. One day
19:51
Speaker 1: in the early morning, before any people were awake, Jakus
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Speaker 1: was prowling round and prowling round, looking for something to eat.
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Speaker 1: Jacarls is not fond of hunting for himself. Oh no,
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Speaker 1: he likes to wait till the hunt is over, so
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Speaker 1: that he can share in the feast without having had
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Speaker 1: any of the work. He had just dragged himself quietly
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Speaker 1: to the top of a copy so my basis so,
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Speaker 1: with his stomach close to the ground and his ears
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Speaker 1: moving backwards and forwards. O Ta's little hands on either
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Speaker 1: side of the kokduk suited the action to the word
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Speaker 1: to hear the least sound. Then he looked here, he
20:36
Speaker 1: looked there, He looked all round, And yes, truly, whom
20:41
Speaker 1: do you think he saw in the cliff below? No
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Speaker 1: other than um Lieu himself, clawing a nice big hummel.
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Speaker 1: He had just killed a boer rammel passis with a
20:53
Speaker 1: beautiful fat tail. Oh yes, um Lieu had picked out
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Speaker 1: a good one houray, thought Jackos, this is luck and
21:04
Speaker 1: he sat still for a minute, wondering how he could
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Speaker 1: get some of the nice meat for himself. He soon
21:11
Speaker 1: made a plan. A white thing fluttered in a little
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Speaker 1: bush near him. It was a piece of paper. He
21:19
Speaker 1: picked it up and folded it so and so and so.
21:24
Speaker 1: The crooked fingers were very busy till it looked like
21:27
Speaker 1: a letter. Then he ran down the copy in a
21:31
Speaker 1: great hurry and called out, good morning, orm morning, Neuv,
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Speaker 1: I see Uim has killed a boor hammel, Yes, Neuv,
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Speaker 1: a big fat one. Well, here is a letter from Tanta,
21:46
Speaker 1: said Jackos, giving the piece of paper to Lieu. As
21:50
Speaker 1: I was passing, She asked me to give it to Urim.
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Speaker 1: Liu took it and turned it this way and that way.
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Speaker 1: He held it far from him. He held it close
22:01
Speaker 1: to his eyes, but he couldn't make it out at all.
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Speaker 1: See bussies. Liu was one of the old fashioned sort.
22:09
Speaker 1: He grew up before there were so many schools and
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Speaker 1: good teachers. Here. Otar's bright eyes winked and blinked flatteringly
22:17
Speaker 1: on cousin Minnie and her pupils. He was not clever.
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Speaker 1: He could not read, but he didn't want any one
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Speaker 1: to know it, so he said, Jack als Uam has
22:29
Speaker 1: forgotten his spectacles. You had better read it out um
22:35
Speaker 1: um um, said Jacars, pretending to read. Tanta says, or
22:41
Speaker 1: must kill a nice fat, poor hamel and send it
22:44
Speaker 1: home at once by me. She and the children are hungry. Well,
22:50
Speaker 1: that's all right. Here is the very thing. Tante is
22:54
Speaker 1: not very well. That juce Mussa's donkey she ate the
22:58
Speaker 1: other day. Disagree with her, so we must coax her
23:02
Speaker 1: a little. I don't want to say anything, but you
23:06
Speaker 1: know a fromance is a dangerous thing when she's in
23:08
Speaker 1: a temper, so you had better take this harmel to
23:12
Speaker 1: her at once, and then you can have the Offal
23:15
Speaker 1: for your trouble. Thank you, noble ouam King of the Beasts,
23:20
Speaker 1: said Jacos in a fawning voice, promising himself at the
23:24
Speaker 1: same time that he would have something more than the offul.
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Speaker 1: How fortunate am I, poor humble creature, to have the
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Speaker 1: king for my uncle. And off he trotted with the sheep.
23:38
Speaker 1: Liu prowled further up the Clueff, waving his tail from
23:42
Speaker 1: side to side. Had ota a tail, he would have
23:46
Speaker 1: wagged it, but as he had not, his right arm
23:50
Speaker 1: was slowly flourishing to and fro. To give point to
23:53
Speaker 1: his description, here comes a little Steenbokie on its way
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Speaker 1: to a felt damn water. Ah, but it is pretty.
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Speaker 1: It looks here, It looks there with its large soft eyes.
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Speaker 1: One little front foot is in the air. Now it
24:12
Speaker 1: is down. The other goes up down again. On it
24:16
Speaker 1: comes slowly, slowly. Otar's hands bunched up to resemble the
24:22
Speaker 1: buxed feet, illustrated each step, the children following his movements
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Speaker 1: with breathless interest. Now it stops to listen. Otar was
24:33
Speaker 1: rigid as he bent forward to catch the least sound.
24:37
Speaker 1: Suddenly he started violently, and the children involuntarily did the same. Hark,
24:43
Speaker 1: what was that? What is coming? Ach? Haustian Bocky scrieks
24:47
Speaker 1: and shivers. A terrible form blocks the way. Great eyes,
24:52
Speaker 1: cruel eyes burning with their fire. Now he knows it
24:57
Speaker 1: is Liu Liu who stands in the path. He growls
25:02
Speaker 1: and glares at Steenboki. Steenboki cannot run away. They stare
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Speaker 1: at each other, so just so Ota glares at each
25:12
Speaker 1: fascinated child In turn. Steenboki cannot look away, cannot move.
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Speaker 1: He is stiff with fright, His blood is cold, his
25:22
Speaker 1: eyes are staring out of his head, and then whoops.
25:26
Speaker 1: The listeners jump as Otar's long arms suddenly swoop towards
25:29
Speaker 1: them one spring, and Liu is on him. Steenboki blares may, may, may,
25:37
Speaker 1: but it is no good. Liu tears him and claws
25:41
Speaker 1: him tip tip tip. The red blood drips down. It
25:48
Speaker 1: runs out like a stream, and Liu licks it up.
25:52
Speaker 1: There lies pretty little Steenbokie, dead dead. Otar's voice trails
25:59
Speaker 1: away faintly. The children heave big sighs. Little Young's gray
26:06
Speaker 1: eyes are full of tears. The old native's graphic description
26:10
Speaker 1: as made them feel as though they had been watching
26:13
Speaker 1: round a death bed. Yes, basses, Liu killed Stienboki there
26:19
Speaker 1: in the cliff. He tore the skin off scriff and
26:23
Speaker 1: bit through the bones, crunch scrinch scotch, and ate little
26:28
Speaker 1: Steenboki for his breakfast. Then he went to the crances
26:32
Speaker 1: to sleep, for the day was coming, and the light
26:36
Speaker 1: began to hurt his eyes. When he awoke, it was evening,
26:41
Speaker 1: and he felt refreshed and rather hungry. My passes No
26:46
Speaker 1: a Steenboki is nothing for a meal for um Liu.
26:50
Speaker 1: But before hunting again he thought he would go home
26:53
Speaker 1: and see how Tanta and the children were getting on,
26:57
Speaker 1: and whether they had feasted well on the nice fas rammel.
27:01
Speaker 1: But dear Land, what did poor Oumlieu find the children crying,
27:08
Speaker 1: Tanta spluttering and scratching with rage, everything upside down, and
27:12
Speaker 1: not even the bones of trammel to be seen? O
27:16
Speaker 1: he ough ough, cried Tanta, that bad, wicked Jacos ach
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Speaker 1: the low felt dog. But what is the matter, asked Liu.
27:28
Speaker 1: Where is Jacos? Where is he? How should I know?
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Speaker 1: He has run off with the nice fat rammel? And me, yes, me,
27:37
Speaker 1: the King's wife. Has he beaten with the entrails? O
27:41
Speaker 1: he oy and boxed my ears, cried one of the cubs. Wha,
27:47
Speaker 1: wha wha, and pinched my tail, roared the other where
27:52
Speaker 1: where where? And left us nothing but the awful, oh,
27:57
Speaker 1: the cunning, smooth tongued vagabond. And all three fell to
28:02
Speaker 1: weeping and wailing, while Liu roared aloud his anger. Wait
28:08
Speaker 1: a bit, I'll get him, he said, before the world
28:11
Speaker 1: wakes to morrow, He'll see whose bass. He waved his
28:16
Speaker 1: tail to and fro and stuck out his strong claws.
28:21
Speaker 1: His eyes glared like fire. In a dark cloth when
28:24
Speaker 1: there is no moon, and when he brooled, it was
28:27
Speaker 1: very terrible to hear oo oo, and Ota gave vent
28:34
Speaker 1: to several deep, blood curdling roars. Very early the next morning,
28:40
Speaker 1: when only a little gray in the sky showed that
28:43
Speaker 1: the night was rolling round to the other side of
28:45
Speaker 1: the world, Liu took his strongest chambok and started off
28:50
Speaker 1: to look for Jacas. He spied him at last on
28:53
Speaker 1: the top of a carntz, sitting by a fire with
28:56
Speaker 1: his wife and children. Ah, there you are, my fine fellow,
29:01
Speaker 1: he thought, well and happy are you? But wait, I'll
29:06
Speaker 1: soon show you. He began at once to try and
29:10
Speaker 1: climb the cruntz, but it was very steep and high
29:14
Speaker 1: and so smooth that there was nothing for him to
29:17
Speaker 1: hold to. Every time he got up a little way,
29:21
Speaker 1: his claws just scratched along the hard rock, and he
29:24
Speaker 1: came sailing down again. At last, he thought, well, as
29:29
Speaker 1: I can't climb up, I'll pretend to be nice and friendly,
29:33
Speaker 1: and then perhaps you Carls will come down. I'll ask
29:37
Speaker 1: him to go hunting with me. Here Otah's beady little
29:41
Speaker 1: eyes danced mischievously bases No, the only way to get
29:46
Speaker 1: the better of a skellum is to be skelem too.
29:49
Speaker 1: When anyone cheats, you must cheat more, or you will
29:53
Speaker 1: never be bas ah. Yes, that is the only way.
29:59
Speaker 1: Cousin Minnie would not disturb the course of the tale,
30:02
Speaker 1: but she mentally prescribed and stored up for future use
30:06
Speaker 1: an antidote to this pagan and worldly wise piece of
30:09
Speaker 1: advice to her pupils. So Liu stood at the foot
30:14
Speaker 1: of the cruntz and called out, quite friendly and kind
30:17
Speaker 1: good morning, near Fjakos mourning ougham. I thought you might
30:23
Speaker 1: like to go hunting with me, but I see you
30:25
Speaker 1: are busy. At any other time, Jacos would have skipped
30:29
Speaker 1: with delight, for it was very seldom he had the
30:32
Speaker 1: honor of such an invitation. But now he was blown
30:36
Speaker 1: up with conceit at having cheated ouim and tantelieu so nicely,
30:42
Speaker 1: thank you, ouum. But I am not in want of
30:44
Speaker 1: meat just now. I am busy grilling some nice fat
30:48
Speaker 1: mutton chops for breakfast. Won't you come and have some too?
30:53
Speaker 1: Certainly with pleasure, But this crunz is so steep. How
30:57
Speaker 1: can I get up? Ah, that is quite easy, wum,
31:02
Speaker 1: I'll pull you up in an eye. Wink herefro give
31:05
Speaker 1: me a nice thick rium, that old rotten one that
31:09
Speaker 1: is nearly rumped through, he said in a whisper to
31:12
Speaker 1: his wife. So missus Jackalles, who was as slim as
31:16
Speaker 1: her husband, brought the bad rum, and they set to
31:20
Speaker 1: work to pull umlo up. Oo ha oo ha, they
31:25
Speaker 1: sang as they slowly hauled away. When he was about
31:29
Speaker 1: ten feet from the ground, Jacals called out, aarrah, but
31:34
Speaker 1: worm is heavy. And he pulled the rum this way
31:38
Speaker 1: and that way along the sharp edge of the krantz
31:41
Speaker 1: otar vigorously demonstrated till it broke right through, and kabloops
31:46
Speaker 1: down fell um new to the hard ground below. Oh
31:51
Speaker 1: my goodness, what a terrible fall. I hope worm is
31:54
Speaker 1: not hurt. How stupid can Afromans be to give me
31:58
Speaker 1: an old rum when are called for the best? Now
32:02
Speaker 1: here is a strong one. Ouum can try again. So
32:07
Speaker 1: Liu tried again and again and again many times over.
32:12
Speaker 1: But each time the rope broke, and each time his
32:15
Speaker 1: fall was greater because jack Als always pulled him up
32:19
Speaker 1: a little higher and a little higher. At last, he
32:23
Speaker 1: called out, it is very kind of you Jacus, But
32:27
Speaker 1: I must give it up. Ah, but that's a shame,
32:30
Speaker 1: said Jackals, pretending to be sorry. The carbonachies are done
32:34
Speaker 1: to a turn and to smell a ferralt it is fine.
32:40
Speaker 1: Shall I throw um down a piece of the meat? Yes, please, Jackals,
32:45
Speaker 1: said Liu, eagerly, licking his lips. I have a big
32:48
Speaker 1: hole inside me, and some carbonaches will fill it nicely. Ah,
32:54
Speaker 1: my bassies, what did cunning Jacals do? He carefully raked
32:59
Speaker 1: a red hot stone out o the fire and wrapped
33:02
Speaker 1: a big piece of fat around it. Then he peered
33:05
Speaker 1: over the edge of the crantz and saw Liu waiting impatiently. Now,
33:10
Speaker 1: orm he called, open your mouth wide and I'll drop
33:13
Speaker 1: this in. It's such a nice big one. I bet
33:17
Speaker 1: you won't want another. And when he said this, Jackals chuckled,
33:22
Speaker 1: while Missus, Jackos and the little ones doubled up with
33:25
Speaker 1: silent laughter at the great joke. Are you ready? Orm
33:30
Speaker 1: Er gurgled you. He had his mouth wide open to
33:34
Speaker 1: catch the carbonatchie, and he would not speak for fear
33:38
Speaker 1: of missing it. Jackars leaned over and took aim down,
33:43
Speaker 1: fell the tit bit and shluk, shluk, you had swallowed it,
33:48
Speaker 1: and then my bassis. There rose such a roaring and
33:52
Speaker 1: raving and groaning as had not been heard since the
33:55
Speaker 1: heels were made. The darsis crept along the rocky ledges
33:59
Speaker 1: far ap above, and peeped timidly down. The circling eagles
34:04
Speaker 1: swooped nearer to find out the cause. The mere cuts
34:07
Speaker 1: and ant bears, the porcupines and spring hares snuggled further
34:12
Speaker 1: into their holes, while the frightened spring bucks and elons
34:16
Speaker 1: fled swiftly over the plain to seek safety in some
34:19
Speaker 1: other felt only wicked Yuckles and his family rejoiced, with
34:25
Speaker 1: their bushy tails waving, and they pointed ears. Standing up,
34:29
Speaker 1: they danced round the fire, holding hands and singing over
34:32
Speaker 1: and over, Array, Who is stronger than the King of Beastland? Array?
34:38
Speaker 1: Who sees further than the King of birdland? Who but
34:43
Speaker 1: thick tailed yakuls? But the silver maned one, he the
34:47
Speaker 1: small but sly one, He, the wise plan maker, King
34:53
Speaker 1: of beasts would catch him, catch him, claw him, kill him.
34:58
Speaker 1: Ha ha ha would catch jim ha ha would kill him.
35:03
Speaker 1: But he finds a way out. Grills the fat tail
35:06
Speaker 1: hammel feeds the King of beastland with juicy tit bits
35:10
Speaker 1: eats the fat tailed hamel, while the king lies dying.
35:14
Speaker 1: Ha ha ha lies dying, ha ha ha lies dead.
35:19
Speaker 1: Now o Tar croon the jackal's triumph song in a
35:24
Speaker 1: weird monotone, and on the last words, his voice quavered out,
35:29
Speaker 1: leaving a momentary silence among the small folk. Pity blinked
35:35
Speaker 1: as though the firelight were too much for his eyes.
35:38
Speaker 1: Little Yan sighed tumultuously Phillim cleared his throat. But how
35:44
Speaker 1: did jackals know that um Lu was dead? He asked. Suddenly,
35:48
Speaker 1: he peeped over the clants every time between the dancing
35:52
Speaker 1: and singing like this BASSI, just like this OTA's eyes,
35:57
Speaker 1: head and hands were at work. The first time he looked,
36:01
Speaker 1: he saw um Liu rolling over and over, the next time,
36:06
Speaker 1: Liu was scratching, scratching at the rocky crantz. Then he
36:11
Speaker 1: was digging into the ground with his claws. Then he
36:14
Speaker 1: was only blowing himself out so with long, slow breaths.
36:20
Speaker 1: But the last time he was lying quite still. And
36:24
Speaker 1: then jackals knew. Oh, I didn't want poor Steenboki to die,
36:31
Speaker 1: said Little Yanz. He was such a pretty little thing. Ota,
36:35
Speaker 1: this is not one of your nicest stories. It's all
36:39
Speaker 1: about killing, said Pete. First you killed poor Steenboki, who
36:44
Speaker 1: never did him any harm, and then jackals killed um Liu,
36:49
Speaker 1: who never did him any harm. It was very cruel
36:52
Speaker 1: and wicked. Ah yes, Bassis, explained Ota apologetically. We don't
36:58
Speaker 1: know why, but it is so. Sometimes the good ones
37:02
Speaker 1: are killed and the bad ones grow fat. In this
37:06
Speaker 1: old world, it goes not always so's it must go.
37:11
Speaker 1: It just go so's it goes. But persisted, pity. You
37:17
Speaker 1: oughtn't to have let yakuls kill umlu Umu was much stronger,
37:22
Speaker 1: so he ought to have killed naughty yakas OTA's eyes
37:27
Speaker 1: gleamed pityingly. These young things, what did they know of
37:32
Speaker 1: the ups and downs of a hard world where the
37:35
Speaker 1: battle is not always to the strong, nor the race
37:38
Speaker 1: to the swift. But my basi Ota did not make
37:43
Speaker 1: up the story. He only put in little bits, like
37:46
Speaker 1: the newspaper and the spectacles and the dew smooser that
37:51
Speaker 1: are things of to day. But the real story was
37:54
Speaker 1: made long long ago, perhaps when Basi's people went about
37:58
Speaker 1: in skins like the Rui Kaffers and Otar's people were
38:02
Speaker 1: still monkeys in the bushveldt. It has always been so,
38:07
Speaker 1: and it will always be so in the story and
38:12
Speaker 1: in the old wicked world. It is the head, my bussies,
38:17
Speaker 1: the head, he tapped his own, and not the strong
38:21
Speaker 1: arms and legs and teeth that makes one animal master
38:24
Speaker 1: over another. Ah. Yes, if the bushman's head had been
38:29
Speaker 1: the same as the white man's a rae, what a
38:33
Speaker 1: fight they would have been between them. And lost in
38:37
Speaker 1: the astonishing train of thought called up by this idea,
38:40
Speaker 1: he sat gazing out before him with eyes which saw
38:43
Speaker 1: many strange things, then rousing himself with a quick change
38:48
Speaker 1: of voice and manner. Ah please, nui, he said, in
38:53
Speaker 1: a wheedling tone. A span of tobacco, Just one little
38:58
Speaker 1: span for to night and to morrow. His mistress laughed indulgently,
39:04
Speaker 1: and unhooking the bunch of keys from her belt, handed
39:08
Speaker 1: them to cousin Minnie, the old sinner. She said, we
39:12
Speaker 1: all spoil him, and yet who could begin to be
39:15
Speaker 1: strict with him? Now? Only a small piece, Minnie, Thank you,
39:21
Speaker 1: thank you, my Nonni, said the old man, holding out
39:24
Speaker 1: both hands and receiving the coveted span, as if it
39:29
Speaker 1: were something very precious. That's my young lady NONI can
39:34
Speaker 1: have Outta's skeleton when he is dead. Yes, it will
39:38
Speaker 1: be a fine skeleton for Nonni to send far across
39:41
Speaker 1: the blue water where she sent the old, long dead
39:44
Speaker 1: bushman's bones. Ah foy, all of him went into a
39:49
Speaker 1: little soap boxy, just to think of it, a soap
39:53
Speaker 1: boxy he started as a young colored girl made her appearance.
39:59
Speaker 1: Whom liv here is lease already how the time goes
40:04
Speaker 1: when a person is with the basis and the noise.
40:08
Speaker 1: Knight Basi, Knight Noi, Knight Noni, and little masters sleep well. Ah.
40:15
Speaker 1: The beautiful family Vandermerva, his thanks, farewells and flatteries, grew
40:22
Speaker 1: fainter and fainter, and finally died away in the distance
40:26
Speaker 1: as his granddaughter led him away. And of how jakals
40:32
Speaker 1: fed wum Lieu, who was king. Once upon a time
40:45
Speaker 1: began o Ta Carol, and his audience of three looked
40:49
Speaker 1: up expectantly. Once upon a time wum Lieu droared, and
40:55
Speaker 1: the forest shook with the dreadful sound. Then from far
41:00
Speaker 1: away over the Flachta floated another roar, and the little
41:04
Speaker 1: lion cubs jumped about and stood on their heads tumbling
41:08
Speaker 1: over each other in their merriment. Here they said, it
41:13
Speaker 1: is false Trays old three sticks. He tries to imitate
41:17
Speaker 1: the king, our father. He roars, well, truly, there is
41:22
Speaker 1: no difference. When Liu heard this, he was very angry.
41:27
Speaker 1: So he roared again, louder than ever. Again came back.
41:32
Speaker 1: The sound over the felt as if it had been
41:35
Speaker 1: an echo. Ah. No, this will never do, thought Liu.
41:40
Speaker 1: I must put a stop to this impudence. I alone
41:43
Speaker 1: am king here, and imitators I want none. So he
41:49
Speaker 1: went forth and roamed over the flucta till he metled
41:52
Speaker 1: three sticks, the Ostrich. They stood glaring at each other.
41:58
Speaker 1: Liu's eyes flamed, his mane rose in a huge mass,
42:03
Speaker 1: and he lash'd his tail angrily. Falstrays spread out his
42:08
Speaker 1: beautiful wings and swayed from side to side, his beak
42:12
Speaker 1: open and his neck twisting like a whipsnake. Ah, it
42:17
Speaker 1: was pretty. But if Basis could have seen his eyes,
42:22
Speaker 1: Bassis No, Falstras's eyes are very soft and beautiful, like
42:27
Speaker 1: Noni's when she tells the Bible stories. But now there
42:32
Speaker 1: was only fierceness in them, and yellow lights that looked
42:36
Speaker 1: like fire. But there was no fight. Yet it was
42:41
Speaker 1: only their way of meeting. Liu came a step nearer
42:45
Speaker 1: and said, we must see who is bas you Falstras,
42:50
Speaker 1: please to roar a little. So Falstrace roared, blowing out
42:55
Speaker 1: his throat so ooo er. It was a fearsome sound,
43:03
Speaker 1: the sort of sound that makes you feel streams of
43:06
Speaker 1: cold water running down your back when you hear it
43:08
Speaker 1: suddenly and don't know what it is. Yes, bassies, if
43:13
Speaker 1: you are in bed, you curl up and pull the
43:16
Speaker 1: blankets over your head, and if you are outside, you
43:19
Speaker 1: run in and get close to the noi ord noni.
43:23
Speaker 1: A slight movement indicative of contradiction passed from one to
43:27
Speaker 1: another of his small hearers. But unless it was a
43:31
Speaker 1: free and easy conversational evening, they made it a point
43:35
Speaker 1: of honor never to interrupt Ota in full career, this,
43:40
Speaker 1: like other things, could wait the finish of the story.
43:45
Speaker 1: Then Liu roared, and truly the voices were the same.
43:50
Speaker 1: No one could say this is a bigger voice, or
43:54
Speaker 1: that is a more terrifying voice. No, they were just equal.
44:00
Speaker 1: So Liu said to Falsetrace, our voices are alike. You
44:04
Speaker 1: are my equal in roaring. Let it then be so
44:09
Speaker 1: you will be king of the birds as I am
44:12
Speaker 1: king of the beasts. Now let us go hunting and
44:17
Speaker 1: see who is bas there out in the Flachta. Some
44:22
Speaker 1: sassaby were feeding big fat ones a nice clumpy so
44:27
Speaker 1: Liu started off in one direction and falsetrace in the other,
44:32
Speaker 1: but both kept away from the side the wind came from.
44:37
Speaker 1: Footnote Sassebe also spelt sessebe or bastard. Heartebiest are much
44:43
Speaker 1: smaller than the hartebiest proper and are found in open
44:47
Speaker 1: felt near the forest country. End of footnote. Wild bucks
44:53
Speaker 1: can smell ach toch so good, just one little puff
44:58
Speaker 1: when a hunter is creeping up to them, and at
45:01
Speaker 1: once all the heads are in the air. Sniff, sniff, sniff,
45:06
Speaker 1: and they are off like the wind. Dust is all
45:10
Speaker 1: you see. And when that has blown away, ah, No,
45:14
Speaker 1: there are no bucks. The whole felt is empty. Empty.
45:19
Speaker 1: Hotar stretched out his arms and waved them from side
45:22
Speaker 1: to side with an exaggerated expression of finding nothing but
45:26
Speaker 1: empty space, his voice mournful with a sense of irreparable loss.
45:33
Speaker 1: But he took up his tail with renewed energy. Liu
45:37
Speaker 1: and False Trace were old hunters. They knew how to
45:41
Speaker 1: get nearer and nearer, without letting the bucks know, Liu
45:45
Speaker 1: trailed himself along, slowly, slowly, close to the ground, and
45:51
Speaker 1: only when he was moving could you see which was
45:54
Speaker 1: lio and which was sand. The color was just the same.
46:00
Speaker 1: He pick'd out a big buck, well grown and fat,
46:03
Speaker 1: but not too old to be juicy. And when he
46:07
Speaker 1: got near enough, he hunched himself up very quietly, so
46:12
Speaker 1: my little masters, just so ready to spring. And then
46:17
Speaker 1: before you could whistle, he shot through the air like
46:20
Speaker 1: a stone from a catapult, and fell fair and square
46:23
Speaker 1: on to the sassape's back, his great tearing claws fastened
46:28
Speaker 1: on its shoulders, and his wicked teeth meeting in the
46:31
Speaker 1: poor thing's neck. Ah, the beautiful big buck. Never again
46:36
Speaker 1: would his pointed horns tear open his enemies. Never again
46:40
Speaker 1: would he lead the herd or pronk in the felt
46:43
Speaker 1: in mating time. Never again would his soft nostrils scent
46:47
Speaker 1: danger in the distance, nor his quick hoofs gived the
46:51
Speaker 1: signal for the stampede. No, it was rarely all up
46:55
Speaker 1: with him this time. When Umlieu gets hold of a thing,
47:00
Speaker 1: he doesn't let go till it is dead. The rest
47:04
Speaker 1: of the herd ach but they ran soon they were
47:09
Speaker 1: far away, only specks in the distance, all except those
47:14
Speaker 1: that Falstrace had killed. Truly, Falstras was clever basses. No,
47:20
Speaker 1: he can run fast, faster even than the sasserby. So
47:24
Speaker 1: when he saw Liu getting ready to spring, he raced
47:28
Speaker 1: up wind as hard as he could, knowing that was
47:31
Speaker 1: what the herd would do. So there he was waiting
47:34
Speaker 1: for them, And didn't he play with them, see bussies,
47:39
Speaker 1: He stood just so. In his excitement, Ota rose and
47:43
Speaker 1: struck an attitude, And when they streaked past him, he
47:46
Speaker 1: jumped like this, striking at them with the hard sharp
47:50
Speaker 1: claws on his old two toes. Ota hopped about like
47:54
Speaker 1: a fighting bantam, while the children hugged themselves in silent
47:58
Speaker 1: delight whoots. There was one dead o, Ta kick'd to
48:02
Speaker 1: the right foots. There was another he kicked to the left,
48:07
Speaker 1: till there was a clump of bucks lying about the
48:09
Speaker 1: felt giving their last blare. Yes, old two toes did
48:14
Speaker 1: his work well that day. When Liu came up and
48:18
Speaker 1: saw that Falstrace had killed more than he had, he
48:22
Speaker 1: was not very pleased. But Falstrace soon made it all right.
48:26
Speaker 1: Liu said, you have killed most so you rip open
48:30
Speaker 1: and begin to eat. Oh no, said Falstras. You have
48:35
Speaker 1: comes to share the food with, So you rip open
48:38
Speaker 1: and eat. I shall only drink the blood. This put
48:43
Speaker 1: Liu in a good humor. He thought Falstrace a noble,
48:46
Speaker 1: unselfish creature. But truly, as I said before, Falstrace was clever. Bassis.
48:54
Speaker 1: See he couldn't eat meat he had no teeth, but
48:58
Speaker 1: he didn't want Liu to know. Therefore, he said, you eat,
49:03
Speaker 1: I will only drink the blood. So Liu ripped open,
49:08
Speaker 1: scree sk and called the cubs, and they all ate
49:13
Speaker 1: till they were satisfied. Then Falstras came along in a
49:17
Speaker 1: careless fashion, pecking pecking as he walked, and drank the blood.
49:22
Speaker 1: Then he and Liu lay down in the shade of
49:25
Speaker 1: some trees and went to sleep. The cubs played about,
49:29
Speaker 1: rolling and tumbling over each other. As they played. They
49:33
Speaker 1: came to the place where Falstrace lay. Aha, said one,
49:38
Speaker 1: he sleeps with his mouth open. He peeped into Falstrace's mouth.
49:44
Speaker 1: Ah ha, he said, again, I see something. Another cub
49:48
Speaker 1: came and peeped a le kracht. He said, I see
49:52
Speaker 1: something too. Let us go and tell our father. So
49:56
Speaker 1: they ran off in great excitement and woke Liu. Come,
50:01
Speaker 1: Come quickly, they said. Falstrace insults you by saying he
50:05
Speaker 1: is your equal. He lies sleeping under the trees with
50:09
Speaker 1: his mouth wide open, and we have peeped into it,
50:12
Speaker 1: and behold, he has no teeth. Come and see for yourself.
50:19
Speaker 1: Leu bounded off quick quick, with the cubs at his
50:22
Speaker 1: tail near. He growled, waking Falstrace near. What is the
50:29
Speaker 1: meaning of this? You pretend you are my equal and
50:33
Speaker 1: you haven't even got teeth, teeth or no teeth, said Falstrace,
50:38
Speaker 1: standing up wide awake. I killed more bucks than you
50:42
Speaker 1: did to day, teeth or no teeth. I'll fight you
50:46
Speaker 1: to show whose pass. Come on, said Liu, who's afraid.
50:51
Speaker 1: I'm just ready for you. Come on, No, wait a little,
50:56
Speaker 1: said Falstras. I've got a plan. You see that ante
51:00
Speaker 1: deep over there, Well, you stand on one side of it,
51:03
Speaker 1: and I'll stand on the other side, and we'll see
51:06
Speaker 1: who can push it over first. After that we'll come
51:10
Speaker 1: out into the open and fight. That seems an all
51:13
Speaker 1: right plan, said Leo, And he thought to himself, I'm
51:17
Speaker 1: heavier and stronger. I can easily send the and hep
51:21
Speaker 1: flying on to old three sticks and then spring over
51:25
Speaker 1: and kill him. But wait a bit. It was not
51:29
Speaker 1: as easy as he thought. Every time he sprang at
51:33
Speaker 1: the ant heap, he clung to it as he was
51:35
Speaker 1: accustomed to king to his prey. He had no other
51:39
Speaker 1: way of doing things. And then Falstrace would take the
51:43
Speaker 1: opportunity of kicking high into the air, sending the sand
51:47
Speaker 1: and stones into Liu's face and making him howl and
51:51
Speaker 1: splutter with rage. Sometimes he would stand still and roar,
51:56
Speaker 1: and Falstrace would send a raw back from the other side.
52:00
Speaker 1: So they went on till the top of the ant
52:03
Speaker 1: heap was quite loosened by the kicks and blows. Liu
52:07
Speaker 1: was getting angrier and angrier, and he could hardly see.
52:11
Speaker 1: His eyes were so full of dust. He gathered himself
52:14
Speaker 1: together for a tremendous spring, but before he could make it,
52:19
Speaker 1: fALS thrice bounded into the air and kicked the whole
52:22
Speaker 1: top off the ant heap a ray, but the dust
52:26
Speaker 1: was thick. When it cleared away. There lay Lio groaning
52:31
Speaker 1: and coughing, with the great heap of earth and stones
52:33
Speaker 1: on top of him. O hey, o hay, wailed the
52:37
Speaker 1: cubs get up, my father. Here he comes, the toothless one,
52:42
Speaker 1: he who has teeth only on his feet, Get up
52:45
Speaker 1: and slay him. Liu shook himself free of the earth
52:49
Speaker 1: and sprang at falstras, but his eyes were full of sand.
52:53
Speaker 1: He could not see properly, so he missed. As he
52:57
Speaker 1: came down heavily. Falstray shot out his strong right leg
53:01
Speaker 1: and caught Liu in the side. Screa went the skin
53:06
Speaker 1: and goops, goops, over fell poor um Liu. With False
53:11
Speaker 1: TRACE's terrible claws, the teeth of old two toes fastened
53:15
Speaker 1: into him. False Thrace danced on him, flapping and waving
53:20
Speaker 1: his beautiful black and white wings and tearing the life
53:24
Speaker 1: out of um Liu. When it was all over, he
53:28
Speaker 1: cleaned his claws in the sand and walst away slowly
53:32
Speaker 1: over the felt to where his mate sat on the nest.
53:36
Speaker 1: Only the cubs were left wailing over the dead king
53:40
Speaker 1: of the forest. The usual babble of questions and comment
53:44
Speaker 1: broke out at the close of the story, till at
53:47
Speaker 1: last Pity's decided young voice detached itself from the general chatter. Ota,
53:53
Speaker 1: what made you say that about pulling the blanket over
53:56
Speaker 1: one's head? And running to get near mammy if one
53:59
Speaker 1: heard Falstrace bellowing at night, you know quite well that
54:03
Speaker 1: none of us would ever do it. Yes, yes, my bassy,
54:07
Speaker 1: I know, said Ota soothingly. I never meant any one
54:11
Speaker 1: who belongs to the land of Falsethrace. But other little
54:14
Speaker 1: masters who did not know the voice of old Threesticks,
54:18
Speaker 1: they would run to their mammas if they heard him. Oh,
54:22
Speaker 1: I see, said Pete, accepting the apology graciously. I was
54:26
Speaker 1: sure you could not mean a carew farm boy. Is
54:30
Speaker 1: your story a parable? Ota asked little Jan, who had
54:34
Speaker 1: been doing some hard thinking for the last minute. Ah
54:39
Speaker 1: and what is that, my little master, A kind of fable, Otta, Yes,
54:45
Speaker 1: that is what it is, bussy, said Ota, gladly, seizing
54:49
Speaker 1: on the word. He understood. A fable, A sort of
54:52
Speaker 1: nice little fable. But a parable is an earthly story
54:58
Speaker 1: with a heavenly meaning. And when cousin Minnie tells us parables,
55:02
Speaker 1: she always finds the meaning for us. What is the
55:06
Speaker 1: heavenly meaning of this, Ota? Little Yan's innocent gray eyes
55:12
Speaker 1: were earnestly fixed on OTA's face, as though to read
55:15
Speaker 1: from it the explanation he sought for once the old
55:19
Speaker 1: native was nonplussed. He rubbed his red kopduk, laid a
55:24
Speaker 1: crooked finger thoughtfully against his flat nose, scratched his sighs
55:29
Speaker 1: monkey fashion, and finally had recourse once more to the kopduk.
55:34
Speaker 1: But all these expedients failed to inspire him with the
55:37
Speaker 1: heavenly meaning of the story He had just told, ah,
55:42
Speaker 1: these dear little ones to think of such strange things.
55:46
Speaker 1: There they all were waiting for his next words. He
55:50
Speaker 1: must get out of it somehow, Bassis, he began smoothly.
55:55
Speaker 1: There is a beautiful meaning to the story, but Ota
55:58
Speaker 1: hasn't got time to tell it. Now. Another time, Otah
56:03
Speaker 1: broke in villain reprovingly, you know you only want to
56:06
Speaker 1: get away so that you can go to the old
56:09
Speaker 1: tramp floor where the folk are dancing to night. No,
56:13
Speaker 1: my BASSI, truly no, And I wouldn't be surprised to
56:17
Speaker 1: hear that you had danced too, after the way you
56:21
Speaker 1: have been jumping about here. Yes, that was fine, said
56:25
Speaker 1: Pete with relish foots. There is one dead foots there
56:30
Speaker 1: is another. Ota. You always say you are so stiff,
56:34
Speaker 1: but you can still kick well. Ahya, Bassi returned Ota modestly.
56:40
Speaker 1: In my day I was a great dancer. No one
56:43
Speaker 1: could do the fast rup better. And the Honda Club
56:47
Speaker 1: and the false Revere Horey, those were the times he
56:53
Speaker 1: gave a little hop at the remembrance of those mad
56:55
Speaker 1: and merry days. And yet another and another, always towards
57:01
Speaker 1: the passage leading to the kitchen. But the meaning, Ota,
57:05
Speaker 1: the heavenly meaning, cried little jan you haven't told us, No,
57:10
Speaker 1: my little mouse, not to night. Ask the Nonnie, She
57:14
Speaker 1: will tell you. Here she comes, And as cousin Minnie
57:19
Speaker 1: entered the room, the wily old native, with an agility
57:22
Speaker 1: not to be expected from his cramped and crooked limbs,
57:25
Speaker 1: skipped away, leaving her to bear the brunt of his
57:29
Speaker 1: inability to explain his own story. End of who was king?
57:43
Speaker 1: Why the Hyaena is lame? It was Tante Hyena that
57:50
Speaker 1: Jakos cheated more than any one, said Ota. She always
57:54
Speaker 1: forgot about the last time he had played a trick
57:57
Speaker 1: on her, so she was quite ready to belie leave
58:00
Speaker 1: him when he came along with another story. Some people
58:05
Speaker 1: are so, my bassies. Perhaps it is kindness, perhaps it
58:10
Speaker 1: is only stupidness. Ota doesn't know. One day yuckles and
58:17
Speaker 1: Hyena were out walking together when a white cloud came
58:22
Speaker 1: up behind the copies and floated over the felt quite
58:25
Speaker 1: close to them. It was a nice thick cloud, just
58:30
Speaker 1: like white fat, and Jacals climbed onto it and sat
58:34
Speaker 1: looking down over the edge. Then he bit pieces out
58:38
Speaker 1: of it and ate them away. But this white fat
58:43
Speaker 1: is nice, he said, yum yum yum, and he chewed
58:47
Speaker 1: round the cloud like a caterpillar chews a leaf. Hyena
58:52
Speaker 1: licked her lips and looked up at him. Throw me
58:55
Speaker 1: down some please, she said, Ah, my brown siest will
59:00
Speaker 1: I then be so greedy as to throw you down
59:03
Speaker 1: little bits? Wait till I get down, and then I'll
59:07
Speaker 1: help you up to eat for yourself. But come a
59:11
Speaker 1: little nearer so that you can catch me when I jump.
59:16
Speaker 1: So Hyena stood ready, and Jacus jumped in such a
59:20
Speaker 1: way that he knocked her into the sand. He fell
59:23
Speaker 1: soft because he was on top. But FOI, poor Hyena
59:28
Speaker 1: had all the breath knocked out of her, and she
59:31
Speaker 1: was covered with dust. Ah, but I am clumsy, said Juckus.
59:37
Speaker 1: But never mind, now I'll help you. So when she
59:42
Speaker 1: had got up and dusted herself, he helped her to
59:45
Speaker 1: climb on to the cloud. There she sat biting pieces
59:49
Speaker 1: off and eating them. Yum, yum, yum, It's just like
59:54
Speaker 1: white fat. After a time, she called out, Gray Brother,
1:00:00
Speaker 1: I've had enough. I want to come down. Please catch
1:00:04
Speaker 1: me when I jump. Ah, certainly, Brown Sister, come on,
1:00:09
Speaker 1: just see how nicely I'll catch you. So he held
1:00:13
Speaker 1: out his arms, but just as Hyena jumped, he sprang
1:00:18
Speaker 1: to one side, calling out, ulla Ullah, a thorn has
1:00:21
Speaker 1: pricked me. What shall I do? What shall I do?
1:00:25
Speaker 1: And he hopped about, holding one leg up. Whoops, Down
1:00:30
Speaker 1: fell Brown Sister, And as she fell she put out
1:00:33
Speaker 1: her left leg to save herself, but it doubled up
1:00:37
Speaker 1: under her and was nearly broken. She lay in a
1:00:41
Speaker 1: bundle in the sand, crying, my leg is cracked, My
1:00:45
Speaker 1: leg is cracked. Jacos came along very slowly, jump jump
1:00:52
Speaker 1: on three legs. Surely the thorn that wasn't there was
1:00:57
Speaker 1: hurting him very much. Ooh ooh, cried Hyena. Help me up,
1:01:03
Speaker 1: Gray brother. My leg is broken and mine has a
1:01:07
Speaker 1: thorn in it. Fetoch, my poor sister. How can the
1:01:11
Speaker 1: sick help the sick? The only plan is for us
1:01:15
Speaker 1: to get home in the best way we can. Good bye,
1:01:19
Speaker 1: and I will visit you to morrow to see if
1:01:21
Speaker 1: you are all right. And off he went jump jump
1:01:26
Speaker 1: on three legs very slowly, But as soon as old
1:01:31
Speaker 1: Brown Sister could not see him, he put down the
1:01:34
Speaker 1: other one and sh He shot over the felt and
1:01:38
Speaker 1: got home just in time to have a nice supper
1:01:41
Speaker 1: of young ducks that missus Jakos and the children had
1:01:44
Speaker 1: caught at Obasvannikirk's dam. But poor Brown Sister lay in
1:01:50
Speaker 1: the sand crying over her sore places. And from that
1:01:54
Speaker 1: day she walks lame because her left hindfoot is smaller
1:01:58
Speaker 1: than the right one. Footnote. The Hyaena on first starting
1:02:04
Speaker 1: appears lame in the hind legs, a fact accounted for
1:02:09
Speaker 1: by the Hottentots in the foregoing fable end A footnote
1:02:16
Speaker 1: end of why the hyaena is lame? Who was the thief? Yes,
1:02:28
Speaker 1: my basis, so was Umyakas. He always made as if
1:02:33
Speaker 1: he forgot all about what he had done, and he
1:02:37
Speaker 1: made as if he thought all the others forgot too
1:02:40
Speaker 1: quick quick. He is marsa skellum here Otar took full
1:02:46
Speaker 1: advantage of the pinch of snuff he held between his
1:02:50
Speaker 1: right forefinger and thumb sneezed with evident enjoyment two or
1:02:55
Speaker 1: three times and continued. When Yak thought Hyena was quite well,
1:03:02
Speaker 1: he went to visit her. It's very dull here in
1:03:06
Speaker 1: the felt, he said, and food is so scarce. So
1:03:11
Speaker 1: I'm going to hire myself to a farmer. He'll give
1:03:15
Speaker 1: me lots to eat and drink, and when i'm nice
1:03:18
Speaker 1: and fat, i'll come home again. Would you like to
1:03:22
Speaker 1: go too, Brown sister Hyaena smacked her lips when she
1:03:27
Speaker 1: heard about the nice things to eat. She thought it
1:03:31
Speaker 1: a very good plan. So they went to a farm,
1:03:35
Speaker 1: and jack Alls talked so nicely that the farmer hired
1:03:39
Speaker 1: them both to work for him. Ah, it was a
1:03:43
Speaker 1: beautiful place, lots of chickens and little ducks and afrikander
1:03:49
Speaker 1: sheep with large fat tails that could be melted out
1:03:53
Speaker 1: for soap, and candles and eggs and doves and pigeons,
1:03:58
Speaker 1: all things that jackulls like. He just felt in his
1:04:02
Speaker 1: stomach that he was going to have a jolly life.
1:04:07
Speaker 1: During the day, Jackals peeped all about in this corner
1:04:12
Speaker 1: in that corner, and he found out where the farmer
1:04:16
Speaker 1: kept the nice fat that was melted out of the
1:04:19
Speaker 1: sheep's tails. In the middle of the night, when all
1:04:23
Speaker 1: the people were fast asleep, he got up and went
1:04:27
Speaker 1: quietly my basis, quietly, like a shadow on the ground,
1:04:33
Speaker 1: to the place where the fat was. He took a
1:04:37
Speaker 1: big lump and smeared it all over brown sister's tail
1:04:41
Speaker 1: while she was asleep. Then he ate all that was
1:04:45
Speaker 1: left n yum yum yum, and went to sleep in
1:04:49
Speaker 1: the wagon house. Early in the morning, when the farmer
1:04:54
Speaker 1: went out to milk the cows, he missed the fat. Liefhalant,
1:05:00
Speaker 1: here is all my fat, he said. It must be
1:05:03
Speaker 1: that vagabond Jakos. But wait, I'll get him. He took
1:05:08
Speaker 1: a thick rium and his shambok and went to the
1:05:11
Speaker 1: wagon house to catch Jakos and give him a beating.
1:05:15
Speaker 1: But when he asked about the fat, Yakov spoke in
1:05:18
Speaker 1: a little little voice, ach, no bass, Would I then
1:05:24
Speaker 1: do such an ugly thing? And look at my tail?
1:05:28
Speaker 1: There's no fat on it. The one whose tail is
1:05:31
Speaker 1: full of fat is the thief. He turned round and
1:05:36
Speaker 1: waved his tail in the farmer's face, and any one
1:05:40
Speaker 1: could easily see that there was no fat on it.
1:05:44
Speaker 1: But the fat is gone, said the farmer. Some one
1:05:47
Speaker 1: must have stolen it, and he went on hunting, hunting
1:05:51
Speaker 1: in the wagon house. At last he came to where
1:05:55
Speaker 1: Hyena was sleeping, just like a baby. Bassi's so nicely
1:06:01
Speaker 1: and snoring a little, Not the loud snoring like sawing planks,
1:06:07
Speaker 1: war er, ar er, but nice, soft snoring like people
1:06:13
Speaker 1: do when they sleep very fast. See you, see you.
1:06:19
Speaker 1: It is the deepest sleep when a person snores, see you,
1:06:24
Speaker 1: see you. Hyena's head was on some chaff, and her
1:06:29
Speaker 1: tail was sticking out behind her stiff with fat. Aha,
1:06:35
Speaker 1: here's the thief, said the farmer, and he began to
1:06:38
Speaker 1: tie the rim round her. Old brown sister sat up
1:06:43
Speaker 1: and rubbed her eyes. What's the matter, she asked. I
1:06:47
Speaker 1: had a beautiful dream. I dreamt I was eating fat
1:06:50
Speaker 1: the whole night, and and so you were my fat,
1:06:54
Speaker 1: said the farmer, And he pulled the rope tighter. And
1:06:58
Speaker 1: now I'm going to teach you not to steal again.
1:07:03
Speaker 1: Poor old brown sister jumped about. When she found out
1:07:07
Speaker 1: what he was going to do. She ran round and
1:07:10
Speaker 1: round the wagon house trying to get away. She called out,
1:07:14
Speaker 1: and she called out that she did not know about
1:07:16
Speaker 1: the fat, that she had never tasted it, and had
1:07:20
Speaker 1: never even seen it. But it was no good. Look
1:07:24
Speaker 1: at your tail, said the farmer. Will you tell me
1:07:28
Speaker 1: that your tail went by itself and rubbed itself in
1:07:31
Speaker 1: the fat. So he tied her to the wagon wheel
1:07:34
Speaker 1: and beat her and beat her. Ah. She was quite sore,
1:07:40
Speaker 1: and she screamed and screamed, and at last he drove
1:07:44
Speaker 1: her away from the farm. Poor old brown sister. She
1:07:49
Speaker 1: didn't even have the fat from her tail to eat,
1:07:52
Speaker 1: because sparsees. See, with the running round and the beating,
1:07:56
Speaker 1: it was all rubbed off. But she ever went to
1:08:00
Speaker 1: live on a farm again. The felt was quite good
1:08:04
Speaker 1: enough for her. Is that the end Ota asked villain, Yes,
1:08:10
Speaker 1: my bassy, it's a bad end but otta can't help it,
1:08:15
Speaker 1: it does mar end So and where was jakas all
1:08:20
Speaker 1: the time, inquired pity severely, Jakols. My bassy was sitting
1:08:26
Speaker 1: on the wagon saying his prayers. So my bassis Oda
1:08:31
Speaker 1: put his crooked hands together and cast his twinkling eyes
1:08:35
Speaker 1: upward till only the yellows showed Bezi bezy brahma ho
1:08:41
Speaker 1: yohandi Sama. Footnote berry berry, BlackBerry, hold your hands together.
1:08:50
Speaker 1: End of footnote and every time Hyaena screamed, Jakuls begged
1:08:56
Speaker 1: her not to steal again, but to try and behave
1:09:00
Speaker 1: like a good Christian. But Jacus was the thief, said
1:09:04
Speaker 1: little Young indignantly. He was always the wicked one, and
1:09:09
Speaker 1: he was never punished. How was that? Ota? A whimsical
1:09:14
Speaker 1: smile played over the old man's face, and though his
1:09:18
Speaker 1: eyes danced as wickedly as ever, his voice was sober
1:09:22
Speaker 1: as he answered, Ah, my little master, how can Ota
1:09:27
Speaker 1: tell it is Marceau? In this old world? It's like
1:09:33
Speaker 1: the funny thing bass villem saw in the carp that
1:09:36
Speaker 1: runs down a place so quickly that it just runs
1:09:39
Speaker 1: up on the other side, and then it can't stop,
1:09:43
Speaker 1: but it has to run down again, and so it
1:09:45
Speaker 1: keeps on up and down, up and down. Footnote the
1:09:52
Speaker 1: carp is cape town and a footnote you mean the switchback,
1:09:58
Speaker 1: asked villain. Ah, yes, Bussy, Ota means so. And in
1:10:04
Speaker 1: the world it is the same up and down, up
1:10:08
Speaker 1: and down, And often the good ones are down and
1:10:12
Speaker 1: the bad ones are up. But the thing Ota can't
1:10:17
Speaker 1: get the name right, goes on and it goes on
1:10:21
Speaker 1: and by and by the good ones are up and
1:10:24
Speaker 1: the bad ones are down, but Jakuls seems always to
1:10:29
Speaker 1: be up, remarked villain. Yes, my bassy, said the old
1:10:34
Speaker 1: man soberly. Yakul seems always to be up. It goes so,
1:10:39
Speaker 1: sometimes it goes so. But his eyes suddenly had a
1:10:44
Speaker 1: far away look, and one could not be certain that
1:10:48
Speaker 1: he was thinking of yak All's and of who was
1:10:54
Speaker 1: the thief the sun a bushman legend. Otar, having disposed
1:11:07
Speaker 1: of his nightly tot, held his crooked hands towards the
1:11:11
Speaker 1: cheerful blaze and turned his engaging smile alternately on it
1:11:16
Speaker 1: and his little masters. Ah, what it is to keep
1:11:21
Speaker 1: a bit of the sun even when the sun is gone.
1:11:25
Speaker 1: Long ago, Otar's people, the bushmen, did not know about fire. No,
1:11:31
Speaker 1: my bussies. When the big fire that makes the world
1:11:34
Speaker 1: warm and bright walked across the sky, they were happy.
1:11:39
Speaker 1: They hunted and danced and feasted. They shot the fine
1:11:43
Speaker 1: big bucks with their little poisoned arrows, and they tore
1:11:47
Speaker 1: pieces off and ate the flesh with the red blood
1:11:50
Speaker 1: dripping from it. They had no fire to make it
1:11:54
Speaker 1: dry up. And the roots and nineties that they dug
1:11:57
Speaker 1: out with their sharp stones, those too, they ate, just
1:12:01
Speaker 1: as they were. They did not cook, for they did
1:12:05
Speaker 1: not know how to make fire. But when the white
1:12:09
Speaker 1: man came, then they learnt Basi's sea. OTA's head is big,
1:12:15
Speaker 1: bigger than the Basa's head, but that does not help.
1:12:20
Speaker 1: It's the inside that matters, and the white man's head inside.
1:12:25
Speaker 1: Here Ota tapped his wrinkled forehead allah, but it can
1:12:30
Speaker 1: hold a lot. In the olden days, when OTA's people
1:12:34
Speaker 1: were cold, they crept into caves and covered themselves with skins,
1:12:39
Speaker 1: for they had no fire to sit by. Yes, they
1:12:43
Speaker 1: were sorry when the old man in the sky put
1:12:46
Speaker 1: down his arms and lay down to sleep. What old
1:12:50
Speaker 1: man asked, pity? Do you mean the sun? Ah Ya?
1:12:55
Speaker 1: Doesn't Basi then know that the sun was once a man.
1:12:59
Speaker 1: It was long long ago before Otta's people lived in
1:13:03
Speaker 1: the world, perhaps in the days of the Irly race
1:13:07
Speaker 1: that were before even the flat bushmen, who were the
1:13:10
Speaker 1: first people we really know anything about. In those days,
1:13:15
Speaker 1: at a certain place lived a man from whose armpits
1:13:19
Speaker 1: brightness streamed. When he lifted one arm, the place on
1:13:23
Speaker 1: that side of him was light. When he lifted the
1:13:27
Speaker 1: other arm, the place on that side of him was light.
1:13:31
Speaker 1: But when he lifted both arms the light shone all
1:13:34
Speaker 1: around him, but it only shone around the place where
1:13:37
Speaker 1: he lived. It did not reach to other places. Sometimes
1:13:43
Speaker 1: the people asked him to stand on a stone so
1:13:45
Speaker 1: that his light could go farther, And sometimes he climbed
1:13:49
Speaker 1: on a copy and lifted up his arms. Ah Then
1:13:53
Speaker 1: the light streamed out far far and lighted up the
1:13:57
Speaker 1: felt for miles and miles. For the higher he went,
1:14:01
Speaker 1: the farther the light shone. Then the people said, we
1:14:06
Speaker 1: see now, the higher he goes, the farther his light shines.
1:14:11
Speaker 1: If only we could put him very high, his light
1:14:14
Speaker 1: would go out over the whole world. So they tried
1:14:19
Speaker 1: to make a plan, and at last a wise old
1:14:22
Speaker 1: woman called the young people together and said, you must
1:14:26
Speaker 1: go to this man, from whose armpits the light streams.
1:14:30
Speaker 1: When he is asleep. You must go, and the strongest
1:14:34
Speaker 1: of you must take him under the armpets and lift
1:14:37
Speaker 1: him up, and swing him to and fro so so,
1:14:42
Speaker 1: and throw him as high as you can into the sky,
1:14:46
Speaker 1: so that he may be above the copies, lifting his
1:14:49
Speaker 1: arms to let the light stream down, to warm the
1:14:52
Speaker 1: earth and make green things to grow in summer. So
1:14:57
Speaker 1: the young men went to the place where the man
1:15:00
Speaker 1: lay sleeping. Quietly, they went my bassies, creeping along in
1:15:05
Speaker 1: the red sand, so as not to wake him. He
1:15:09
Speaker 1: was in a deep sleep, and before he could wake
1:15:12
Speaker 1: the strong young men took him under the armpits and
1:15:15
Speaker 1: swung him to and fro, as the wise old woman
1:15:19
Speaker 1: had told them. Then as they swung him, they threw
1:15:23
Speaker 1: him into the air, high high, and there he stuck.
1:15:29
Speaker 1: The next morning, when he awoke and stretched himself, lifting
1:15:33
Speaker 1: up his arms, the light streamed out from under them
1:15:37
Speaker 1: and brightened all the world, warming the earth and making
1:15:41
Speaker 1: the green things grow. And so it went on day
1:15:46
Speaker 1: after day. When he put up his arms it was bright.
1:15:49
Speaker 1: It was day. When he put down one arm, it
1:15:53
Speaker 1: was cloudy. The weather was not clear. And when he
1:15:57
Speaker 1: put down both arms and turned over to go to sleep,
1:16:01
Speaker 1: there was no light at all. It was dark. It
1:16:04
Speaker 1: was night. But when he awoke and lifted his arms,
1:16:09
Speaker 1: the day came again, and the world was warm and bright.
1:16:14
Speaker 1: Sometimes he is far away from the earth, then it
1:16:18
Speaker 1: is cold, it is winter. But when he comes near,
1:16:22
Speaker 1: the earth gets warm again. The green things grow and
1:16:26
Speaker 1: the fruit ripens. It is summer, And so it goes
1:16:31
Speaker 1: on to this day. My basis the day and night,
1:16:35
Speaker 1: summer and winter, and all because the old man with
1:16:39
Speaker 1: the bright armpits was thrown into the sky. But the
1:16:44
Speaker 1: sun is not a man, Ota said, downright, villain, he
1:16:48
Speaker 1: hasn't any arms, No, my Bassy, not now he is
1:16:54
Speaker 1: not a man any more. But Bassis must remember how
1:16:58
Speaker 1: long he has been up in the sky, spans and
1:17:02
Speaker 1: spans and spans of years, always rolling round and rolling round,
1:17:08
Speaker 1: from the time he wakes in the morning till he
1:17:11
Speaker 1: lies down to sleep at the other side of the world.
1:17:14
Speaker 1: And with the rolling busses he has got all rounder
1:17:18
Speaker 1: and rounder, and the light that at first came only
1:17:21
Speaker 1: from under his arms has been rolled right round him
1:17:25
Speaker 1: till now he is a big ball of light, rolling
1:17:28
Speaker 1: from one side of the sky to the other. Cousin Minnie,
1:17:33
Speaker 1: who had been listening in a desultory way to the
1:17:36
Speaker 1: fireside chatter as she wrote at the side table, started
1:17:40
Speaker 1: and leant towards the little group. But a single glance
1:17:44
Speaker 1: was enough to show that so interested were the children
1:17:48
Speaker 1: in the personal aspect of the tale, that there was
1:17:51
Speaker 1: no fear of confusion arising in their minds from OTA's
1:17:55
Speaker 1: decided subversion of an elementary fact which she had been
1:17:59
Speaker 1: at pains to get them to understand and accept. And
1:18:04
Speaker 1: his arms. Ota inquired little Yan in his earnest way.
1:18:09
Speaker 1: Do they never come out now? Ota beamed upon him proudly. Ah,
1:18:16
Speaker 1: that is my little master, always to ask a big thing. Yes, Bassy,
1:18:23
Speaker 1: Sometimes they come out when it is a dark day,
1:18:27
Speaker 1: when he has put his arms out, he is holding
1:18:30
Speaker 1: them down and spreading his hands before the light so
1:18:34
Speaker 1: that it can't shine on the world. And sometimes just
1:18:38
Speaker 1: before he gets up in the morning, and before he
1:18:41
Speaker 1: goes to sleep at night. Haven't Passy seen long bright
1:18:46
Speaker 1: stripes coming from the round ball of light? Yes, yes,
1:18:51
Speaker 1: assented his little listeners eagerly. Those are the long fingers
1:18:56
Speaker 1: of the sun. His arms are rolled up inside a
1:19:00
Speaker 1: fiery ball, but he sticks his long fingers out and
1:19:04
Speaker 1: they make bright roads into the sky, spreading out all
1:19:08
Speaker 1: round him. The old man is peeping at the earth
1:19:12
Speaker 1: through his fingers. Passies, must count them next time he
1:19:16
Speaker 1: sticks them out, and see if they are all there.
1:19:20
Speaker 1: Eight long ones those are the fingers, and two short
1:19:24
Speaker 1: ones for the thumbs. Otar's knowledge of arithmetic was limited
1:19:28
Speaker 1: to the number of his crooked digits and the smile
1:19:32
Speaker 1: with which he announced the extent of his mathematical attainments
1:19:36
Speaker 1: was a ludicrous cross between proud triumph and modest reluctance.
1:19:42
Speaker 1: When he lies down, he pulls them in. Then all
1:19:45
Speaker 1: the world grows dark and the people go to sleep.
1:19:50
Speaker 1: But Otta, it isn't always dark at night, Pete reminded him.
1:19:55
Speaker 1: There are stars and the moon, you know, lah, Yes,
1:20:01
Speaker 1: the little stars and the lady Moon. Oto will tell
1:20:05
Speaker 1: the basis about them another night. But now he must
1:20:09
Speaker 1: go quick, quick, and let Lise rub his back with boohoo.
1:20:14
Speaker 1: When friend old age comes, the back bends and the
1:20:18
Speaker 1: bones get stiff, and the rheumatism foi, but it can pinch. Therefore,
1:20:26
Speaker 1: my bassies Ota Cook's bosses from the felt to rub
1:20:30
Speaker 1: on boohoo and Cooka Makranka and Caru bosses. They are
1:20:35
Speaker 1: all good, but boohoo is the best. Yes, Booho for
1:20:40
Speaker 1: the outside, and the basa's fire water for the inside.
1:20:46
Speaker 1: He looked longingly at the cupboard. But wood and glass
1:20:49
Speaker 1: are unresponsive until acted on by human agency. So possessing
1:20:55
Speaker 1: no open sesame for that unyielding lock, Otak contented himself
1:21:01
Speaker 1: by smacking his lips as he toddled away, and of
1:21:07
Speaker 1: the sun a bushman legend. The stars and the stars
1:21:18
Speaker 1: rode darkly blue and illimitable. The arc of the sky
1:21:24
Speaker 1: hung over the great carew like a canopy of softest velvet,
1:21:29
Speaker 1: making a deep, mysterious background for the myriad stars which
1:21:34
Speaker 1: twinkled brightly at a frosty world. The three little boys
1:21:39
Speaker 1: gathered at the window pointed out to each other the
1:21:42
Speaker 1: constellations with which cousin Minnie had made them familiar, and
1:21:47
Speaker 1: were deep in a discussion as to the nature and
1:21:50
Speaker 1: number of the stars composing the Milky Way. When Ota
1:21:54
Speaker 1: shuffled in Ota, do you think that there are a
1:21:58
Speaker 1: billion stars up there in the Milky Way, asked villain.
1:22:03
Speaker 1: A billion, you know, explained pity, is a thousand million,
1:22:08
Speaker 1: and it would take a month to count even one million.
1:22:13
Speaker 1: Ah yah bassy, said the old man, readily seizing with
1:22:17
Speaker 1: native adroitness the unknown word and making it his own.
1:22:23
Speaker 1: Then there will surely be a billion stars up there, perhaps,
1:22:28
Speaker 1: he added, judiciously, considering the matter, two billion, But no
1:22:33
Speaker 1: one knows, because no one can ever count them. They
1:22:37
Speaker 1: are too many. And to think that that bright road
1:22:41
Speaker 1: in the sky is made of wood ashes after all,
1:22:46
Speaker 1: he settled himself on his stool, and his little audience
1:22:50
Speaker 1: came to attention. Yes, my basis, he went on. Long
1:22:56
Speaker 1: long ago. The sky was dark at night when the
1:23:00
Speaker 1: old man with the bright armpits lay down to sleep.
1:23:04
Speaker 1: But people learnt in time to make fires to light
1:23:07
Speaker 1: up the darkness. And one night a girl who sat
1:23:12
Speaker 1: warming herself by a wood fire played with the ashes.
1:23:17
Speaker 1: She took the ashes in her hands and threw them
1:23:20
Speaker 1: up to see how pretty they were when they floated
1:23:23
Speaker 1: in the air. And as they floated away, she put
1:23:27
Speaker 1: green bushes on the fire and stirred it with a stick.
1:23:32
Speaker 1: Bright sparks flew out and went high high, mixing with
1:23:36
Speaker 1: the silver ashes, and they all hung in the air
1:23:40
Speaker 1: and made a bright road across the sky. And there
1:23:44
Speaker 1: it is to this day. Passies call it the milky Way,
1:23:49
Speaker 1: but Ota calls it the stars Road. Aye. But the
1:23:54
Speaker 1: girl was pleased. She clapped her hands and danced, shaking
1:23:59
Speaker 1: herself like OTO's people do when they are happy, and singing.
1:24:04
Speaker 1: The little stars, the tiny stars, they make a road
1:24:08
Speaker 1: for other stars. Ash of wood fire, dust of the sun.
1:24:13
Speaker 1: They call'd a dawn when night is done. Then she
1:24:18
Speaker 1: took some of the roots she had been eating and
1:24:21
Speaker 1: threw them into the sky, and there they hung and
1:24:25
Speaker 1: turned into large stars. The old roots turned into stars
1:24:30
Speaker 1: that gave a red light, and the young roots turned
1:24:33
Speaker 1: into stars that gave a golden light. There they all hung,
1:24:38
Speaker 1: winking and twinkling and singing, yes, singing my basis. And
1:24:43
Speaker 1: this is what they sang. We are children of the sun.
1:24:49
Speaker 1: It's so, it's so. It's so him we call when
1:24:53
Speaker 1: night is done. It's so, it's so. It's so bright.
1:24:59
Speaker 1: We sail across the sky by the star's road, high,
1:25:04
Speaker 1: so high, and we twinkling smile at you as we
1:25:09
Speaker 1: sail across the blue. It's so. It's so. It's so.
1:25:15
Speaker 1: Bases know when the stars twinkle up there in the sky,
1:25:19
Speaker 1: they are like little children, nodding their heads and saying,
1:25:22
Speaker 1: it's so. It's so, it's so. At each repetition, Otar
1:25:28
Speaker 1: nodded and winked, and the children, with antics of approval,
1:25:32
Speaker 1: followed suit. Bases have sometimes seen a star fall, three
1:25:39
Speaker 1: little heads nodded in concert. When a star falls, said
1:25:43
Speaker 1: the old man, impressively, it tells us some one has died.
1:25:49
Speaker 1: For the star knows when a person's heart fails and
1:25:52
Speaker 1: the person dies, and it falls from the sky to
1:25:56
Speaker 1: tell those at a distance that someone they know has died. Footnote.
1:26:03
Speaker 1: It is both curious and interesting to find the identical
1:26:07
Speaker 1: belief obtaining among races so widely different as the Scandinavians
1:26:12
Speaker 1: of Northern Europe and the Bushmen of South Africa. See
1:26:17
Speaker 1: Hans Andersen's Little match Girl. Her grandmother had told her
1:26:21
Speaker 1: that when a star fell down, a soul mounted up
1:26:25
Speaker 1: to God and a footnote. One star grew and grew
1:26:31
Speaker 1: till he was much larger than the others. He was
1:26:34
Speaker 1: the Great Star, And singing he named the other stars.
1:26:39
Speaker 1: He called each one by name, till they all had
1:26:43
Speaker 1: their names. And in this way they knew that he
1:26:47
Speaker 1: was the Great Star. No other could have done so.
1:26:52
Speaker 1: Then when he had finished, they all sang together and
1:26:56
Speaker 1: praised the great Star who had named them. Footnote when
1:27:02
Speaker 1: the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of
1:27:06
Speaker 1: God shouted for joy job chapter thirty eight, verse seven
1:27:14
Speaker 1: end a footnote. Now, when the day is done, they
1:27:19
Speaker 1: walk across the sky on each side of the stars road.
1:27:24
Speaker 1: It shows them the way, and when night is over
1:27:27
Speaker 1: they turn back and sail again by the stars road
1:27:31
Speaker 1: to call the daybreak that goes before the sun. The
1:27:35
Speaker 1: star that leads the way is a big, bright star.
1:27:39
Speaker 1: He is called the Dawn's Heart Star. And in the
1:27:43
Speaker 1: dark dark hour before the stars have called the dawn,
1:27:47
Speaker 1: he shines achbasies. He is beautiful to behold. The wife
1:27:54
Speaker 1: and the child of the Dawn's Heart Star are pretty too,
1:27:58
Speaker 1: but not so big an bright as he. They sail
1:28:02
Speaker 1: on in front, and then they wait, wait for the
1:28:06
Speaker 1: other stars to turn back and sail along the stars road,
1:28:10
Speaker 1: calling calling the dawn, and for the sun to come
1:28:15
Speaker 1: up from under the world where he has been lying asleep.
1:28:19
Speaker 1: They call and sing, twinkling as they sing. We call
1:28:24
Speaker 1: across the sky, Dawn, come dawn, You that are like
1:28:30
Speaker 1: a young maid, newly risen, rubbing the sleep from your eyes.
1:28:35
Speaker 1: You that come stretching bright hands to the sky, pointing
1:28:39
Speaker 1: the way for the sun. Before who smile. The stars
1:28:42
Speaker 1: faint and grow pale, and the stars road melts away. Dawn,
1:28:48
Speaker 1: come dawn, we call across the sky, and the Dawn's
1:28:53
Speaker 1: Heart Star is waiting. It's so, it's so, it's so
1:28:59
Speaker 1: so so. They sing basses because they know they are
1:29:03
Speaker 1: soon going out. Then slowly, the dawn comes, rubbing her eyes, smiling,
1:29:10
Speaker 1: stretching out bright fingers, chasing the darkness away. The stars
1:29:16
Speaker 1: grow faint, and the stars road fades, while the dawn
1:29:21
Speaker 1: makes a bright pathway for the sun. At last, he
1:29:24
Speaker 1: comes with both arms lifted high, and the brightness streaming
1:29:29
Speaker 1: from under them makes day for the world and wakes
1:29:33
Speaker 1: people to their work and play. But the little stars
1:29:37
Speaker 1: wait till he sleeps again before they begin their singing.
1:29:42
Speaker 1: Summer is the time when they sing best. But even now,
1:29:46
Speaker 1: if basses look out of the window, they will see
1:29:49
Speaker 1: the stars twinkling and singing. The children ran to the
1:29:53
Speaker 1: window and gazed out into the starlit heavens. The last
1:29:58
Speaker 1: sight Ota had as he drained the souping glass the
1:30:01
Speaker 1: bus was just in time to hand him, was of
1:30:04
Speaker 1: three little heads bobbing up and down in time to
1:30:08
Speaker 1: the immemorial music of the stars, while Little Yan's excited
1:30:12
Speaker 1: treble rang out, Yes, it's quite true, Ota, they do say,
1:30:18
Speaker 1: it's so, it's so, it's so, end of the stars,
1:30:25
Speaker 1: and the stars rowed why the hare's nose is slit.
1:30:36
Speaker 1: The curtains had not yet been drawn, nor the shutters closed,
1:30:41
Speaker 1: and little Yan looked with wide, serious eyes at the
1:30:45
Speaker 1: full moon sailing serenely in the cold sky. Then he sighed,
1:30:51
Speaker 1: as though thoughts too big for expression stirred within him,
1:30:56
Speaker 1: and turned absently towards the purring fire. And why does
1:31:01
Speaker 1: the big man make such a sighing, asked Toto Carrol.
1:31:05
Speaker 1: It is like the wind in the mealy land at
1:31:09
Speaker 1: sun under Little Yan's eyes slowly withdrew their gaze from
1:31:14
Speaker 1: some inward vision and became conscious of the old native Ota.
1:31:21
Speaker 1: He said, why is the moon so far away and
1:31:25
Speaker 1: so beautiful and so golden? Ach to hear him? Now,
1:31:31
Speaker 1: how can Ota tell it is Mars? So just like
1:31:36
Speaker 1: grass is green and fire is hot, so the moon
1:31:41
Speaker 1: is far away and beautiful and golden. But she is
1:31:45
Speaker 1: a cruel lady sometimes too, And it is through her
1:31:49
Speaker 1: that the poor little hare runs about with the slit
1:31:52
Speaker 1: in his nose. To day tell us Sota. Little Yan
1:31:58
Speaker 1: dropped on to the rug beside them, basket of Meacob's
1:32:02
Speaker 1: and the others edged nearer. And why do you call
1:32:06
Speaker 1: the moon a lady, asked pity of the inquiring mind.
1:32:11
Speaker 1: But doesn't barsy know that the moon is a lady? Oh? Yes,
1:32:17
Speaker 1: And for all her beauty, she can be cross and
1:32:20
Speaker 1: cruel sometimes, like other ladies, as you will hear, Long
1:32:26
Speaker 1: long ago, when the world was quite young, the lady
1:32:30
Speaker 1: Moon wanted some one to take a message to men.
1:32:33
Speaker 1: She tried first one creature and then another, but no,
1:32:38
Speaker 1: they were all too busy they couldn't go. At last
1:32:42
Speaker 1: she called the crocodile. He is very slow and not
1:32:47
Speaker 1: much good. But the lady Moon thought she would pinch
1:32:50
Speaker 1: his tail and make him go quickly. So she said
1:32:54
Speaker 1: to him, go down to men at once and give
1:32:58
Speaker 1: them this message. As I die and dying live, so
1:33:04
Speaker 1: also shall you die and dying live. Parsi knows how
1:33:10
Speaker 1: the moon is sometimes big and round, So and Otar's
1:33:15
Speaker 1: diminutive hands described a wide circle and remained suspended in
1:33:19
Speaker 1: the air, like she is now in the sky. Then
1:33:24
Speaker 1: every night she gets smaller and smaller, so so so
1:33:31
Speaker 1: so so till the crooked fingers come together with a bang.
1:33:40
Speaker 1: There's no more moon. She is dead. Then one night
1:33:45
Speaker 1: a silver horn hangs in the sky, thin, very thin.
1:33:51
Speaker 1: It is the new moon that grows and grows and
1:33:55
Speaker 1: gets beautiful and golden by the aid of the small
1:34:00
Speaker 1: claw like hands. The moon grew to the full before
1:34:04
Speaker 1: the children's interested eyes. And so it goes on, always
1:34:09
Speaker 1: living and growing and dying and living again. So the
1:34:15
Speaker 1: lady Moon pinched old worm crocodile's tail, and he gave
1:34:20
Speaker 1: one jump, and off he started with the message. He
1:34:24
Speaker 1: went quickly while the moon watched him. But soon he
1:34:28
Speaker 1: came to a bend in the road. Round he went
1:34:31
Speaker 1: with a great turn. For a crocodile's back is stiff
1:34:35
Speaker 1: like a plank, he can't bend it. And then when
1:34:39
Speaker 1: he thought he was out of sight, he went slower
1:34:42
Speaker 1: and slower. Drift druff, drippity drift, druff, drift draft, drippety
1:34:49
Speaker 1: drift druff Like at near haltered horse. He was toch
1:34:54
Speaker 1: too lazy. All of a sudden there was a noise
1:34:58
Speaker 1: sh and there was the little hare ha ha ha,
1:35:03
Speaker 1: you laughed. What is the meaning of this drift draft,
1:35:07
Speaker 1: rippety drift draft? Where are you going? In such a hurry,
1:35:10
Speaker 1: worm crocodile, I can't stop to speak to you, nief hussy,
1:35:15
Speaker 1: said worm crocodile, trying to look busy and to hurry up.
1:35:20
Speaker 1: The Lady Moon has sent me with a message to men.
1:35:24
Speaker 1: And what is the message? Worm? Crocodile, it is a
1:35:28
Speaker 1: very important one. As I die and dying live, so
1:35:34
Speaker 1: also shall you die and dying live. Ah, But that
1:35:39
Speaker 1: is a stupid message. And you can't ever run, worm,
1:35:43
Speaker 1: You are so slow. You can only go drift draft, drippity,
1:35:48
Speaker 1: drift draft, like a near haltered horse. But I go
1:35:53
Speaker 1: sh like the wind. Give the message to me, and
1:35:57
Speaker 1: I will take it very well, said the lazy crocodile.
1:36:02
Speaker 1: But you must say it over first and get it right.
1:36:06
Speaker 1: So nea FARSI said the message over and over, and
1:36:10
Speaker 1: then sh He was off like the wind. Here he was,
1:36:16
Speaker 1: there he was, and you could only see the white
1:36:19
Speaker 1: of his tail and his little behind legs getting smaller
1:36:23
Speaker 1: in the distance. At last he came to men, and
1:36:27
Speaker 1: he called them together and said, listen, sons of the Baboon,
1:36:32
Speaker 1: a wise man comes with the message by the Lady Moon.
1:36:36
Speaker 1: I am sent to tell you, as I die and
1:36:40
Speaker 1: dying perish, so shall you also die and come wholly
1:36:44
Speaker 1: to an end. Then men looked at each other and shivered.
1:36:49
Speaker 1: All of a sudden, The flesh on their arms was
1:36:52
Speaker 1: like goose flesh. What shall we do? What is this
1:36:56
Speaker 1: message that the lady Moon has sent as I die,
1:37:00
Speaker 1: and dying perish, So shall you also die and come
1:37:04
Speaker 1: wholly to an end? They shivered again, and the goose
1:37:08
Speaker 1: flesh crept right up their backs and into their hair,
1:37:12
Speaker 1: and their hair began to rise up on their heads
1:37:14
Speaker 1: just like ach. No, but Outa forgets these passes don't
1:37:20
Speaker 1: know how it is to feel so. And the wide
1:37:24
Speaker 1: smile which accompanied these words hid the expression of sly
1:37:28
Speaker 1: teasing which sparkled Inota's dancing black eyes, for he knew
1:37:33
Speaker 1: what it was to be taken to task for impugning
1:37:36
Speaker 1: the courage of his young listeners. But Nevasi did not care.
1:37:41
Speaker 1: He danced away on his behind legs and laughed and
1:37:45
Speaker 1: laughed to think how he had cheated men. Then he
1:37:49
Speaker 1: returned again to the moon, and she asked, what have
1:37:53
Speaker 1: you said to men? Oh lady Moon, I have given
1:37:57
Speaker 1: them your message like as I die and dying perish,
1:38:02
Speaker 1: so also shall you die and come wholly to an end?
1:38:06
Speaker 1: And they are all stiff with fright. Pa Hsi laughed
1:38:10
Speaker 1: at the thought of it. What cried the lady Moon,
1:38:14
Speaker 1: What did you tell them, that, child of the Devil's donkey,
1:38:20
Speaker 1: you must be punished footnote According to a hottentot legend.
1:38:26
Speaker 1: The hare is related to the donkey end a footnote ah,
1:38:33
Speaker 1: But the lady Moon was very angry. She took a
1:38:37
Speaker 1: big stick, a kirie, much bigger than the one Ota
1:38:41
Speaker 1: used to kill lions with when he was young. And
1:38:44
Speaker 1: if she could have hit him, then Otar shook his
1:38:47
Speaker 1: head hopelessly. There would have been no more little hare.
1:38:52
Speaker 1: His head would have been cracked right through. But he
1:38:56
Speaker 1: is a slim carol. When he saw the big stick
1:38:59
Speaker 1: coming near one two three, he ducked and slipped away,
1:39:04
Speaker 1: and it caught him only on the nose. Fay, But
1:39:08
Speaker 1: twas sore neer Farsi forgot that the moon was a lady.
1:39:13
Speaker 1: He yelled and screamed. He jumped high into the air.
1:39:18
Speaker 1: He jumped with all his four feet at once, and scratch, scratch, scratch.
1:39:23
Speaker 1: He was kicking and hitting and clawing the Moon's face
1:39:27
Speaker 1: till the pieces flew. Then he felt better and ran
1:39:31
Speaker 1: away as hard as he could, holding his broken nose
1:39:34
Speaker 1: with both hands. And that is why to day he
1:39:38
Speaker 1: goes about with a split nose. And the golden face
1:39:42
Speaker 1: of the Lady Moon has long dark scars. Yes, Bassis
1:39:48
Speaker 1: fighting is a miserable thing. It does not end when
1:39:52
Speaker 1: the fight is over. Afterwards, there is a saw place
1:39:56
Speaker 1: ach for so long, and even when it is well,
1:40:00
Speaker 1: the ugly marks remained to show what has happened. The best,
1:40:05
Speaker 1: my little masters, is not to fight at all. And
1:40:11
Speaker 1: of why the hare's nose is slit? How the jackal
1:40:21
Speaker 1: got his stripe? The sun was a strange little child,
1:40:27
Speaker 1: said Otta. He never had any papa or mamma. No
1:40:32
Speaker 1: one knew where he came from. He was just found
1:40:35
Speaker 1: by the roadside. In the olden days, when the men
1:40:40
Speaker 1: of the ancient race, the old old people that lived
1:40:44
Speaker 1: so long ago, were trekking in search of game, they
1:40:48
Speaker 1: heard a little voice calling calling. It was not a
1:40:52
Speaker 1: spring bokie, It was not a tarantah, it was not
1:40:56
Speaker 1: a little ostrich. They couldn't think what it was. But
1:41:01
Speaker 1: it kept on, It kept on. OTA's head nodded in
1:41:05
Speaker 1: time to his repetitions. Why didn't they go and look,
1:41:10
Speaker 1: asked villain. They did, my bassy. They hunted about among
1:41:15
Speaker 1: the milk bushes by the roadside, and at last, under
1:41:19
Speaker 1: one of them, they found a nice brown baby. He
1:41:24
Speaker 1: was lying quite still, looking about him, not like a baby.
1:41:28
Speaker 1: Bassis but like an old child, and sparks of light
1:41:33
Speaker 1: as bright as the sparks from OTA's tinder box seemed
1:41:37
Speaker 1: to fly out of his eyes. When he saw the men,
1:41:41
Speaker 1: he began calling again, carry me, carry me, pick me
1:41:47
Speaker 1: up and carry me. Aarrah, he can talk, said the man,
1:41:52
Speaker 1: What a fine little child. Where have your people gone?
1:41:57
Speaker 1: And why did they leave you here? But the little
1:42:01
Speaker 1: son wouldn't answer them. All he said was put me
1:42:05
Speaker 1: in your of our skin and tired, I can't walk.
1:42:11
Speaker 1: One of the men went to take him up, but
1:42:13
Speaker 1: when he got near he said, schwei, but he's hot.
1:42:17
Speaker 1: The heat comes out of him. I won't take him.
1:42:22
Speaker 1: How can you be so silly? Said another man. I'll
1:42:25
Speaker 1: carry him, But when he got near he started back,
1:42:30
Speaker 1: Allah what eyes, fire comes out of them, and he
1:42:35
Speaker 1: too turned away. Then a third man went. He is
1:42:40
Speaker 1: very small, he said, I can easily put him in
1:42:43
Speaker 1: my ofvaskin. He stooped and took the little son under
1:42:47
Speaker 1: his arms. O he, o hey, o hey, he cried,
1:42:52
Speaker 1: dropping the baby on to the red sand. What is
1:42:56
Speaker 1: this for, teuvay? It is like fire under his arm?
1:43:00
Speaker 1: He burns me when I take him up. The others
1:43:04
Speaker 1: all came round to see. They didn't come too near
1:43:07
Speaker 1: my busses because they were frightened. But they wanted to
1:43:11
Speaker 1: see the strange brown baby that could talk, and that
1:43:15
Speaker 1: burned like a fire. All on a sudden he stretched himself,
1:43:20
Speaker 1: He turned his head and put up his little arms.
1:43:24
Speaker 1: Bright sparks flew from his eyes, and yellow lights streamed
1:43:28
Speaker 1: from under his arms, And here skier. The men of
1:43:32
Speaker 1: the early race fell over each other as they ran
1:43:35
Speaker 1: through the milk bushes back to the road. My, but
1:43:38
Speaker 1: they were frightened. The women were sitting there with their
1:43:41
Speaker 1: babies on their backs, waiting for their husbands. Come along. Hurry, hurry,
1:43:47
Speaker 1: see that you get away from here, said the men,
1:43:49
Speaker 1: without stopping. The women began to run too. What was it?
1:43:54
Speaker 1: What did you find? A terrible something, said the men,
1:43:58
Speaker 1: still running. It pretends to be a baby, but we
1:44:02
Speaker 1: know it is immense avretta. There it lies in the sand,
1:44:06
Speaker 1: begging one of us to pick it up and put
1:44:08
Speaker 1: it in his vaskin. But as soon as we go
1:44:11
Speaker 1: near it tries to burn us. And if we don't
1:44:14
Speaker 1: make haste and get away from here, it will certainly
1:44:17
Speaker 1: catch us. Then they ran faster than ever Bassis. No
1:44:22
Speaker 1: Ah No, corrected Ota with a sly smile. O, Tamians,
1:44:28
Speaker 1: basses don't know how frightenedness makes wings grow on people's feet,
1:44:34
Speaker 1: so that they seemed to fly. So the men of
1:44:38
Speaker 1: the early race and the women with their babies on
1:44:40
Speaker 1: their backs flew, and very soon they were far from
1:44:44
Speaker 1: the place where the Little Sun was lying. But some
1:44:48
Speaker 1: one had been watching my bassies watching from a bush
1:44:52
Speaker 1: near by. It was jak Als, with his bright eyes
1:44:57
Speaker 1: and his sharp nose, and his stomach close to the ground.
1:45:02
Speaker 1: When the people had gone, he crept out to see
1:45:05
Speaker 1: what had made them run Hardly a leaf stirred, not
1:45:10
Speaker 1: a sound was heard. So softly he crept along under
1:45:15
Speaker 1: the milk bushes to where the little Sun lay. Ah,
1:45:20
Speaker 1: what a fine little child has been left behind by
1:45:23
Speaker 1: the men, he said. Now, that is really a shame
1:45:27
Speaker 1: that none of them would put it into his avaskin.
1:45:31
Speaker 1: Carry me, carry me, put me in your ravaskin, said
1:45:35
Speaker 1: the little Sun. I haven't got navaskin, BASSI, said Jakos,
1:45:41
Speaker 1: But if you can hold on, I'll carry you on
1:45:43
Speaker 1: my back. So Jakals lay flat on his stomach, and
1:45:48
Speaker 1: the Little Sun caught hold of his manhar and rolled
1:45:52
Speaker 1: round on his back. Where do you want to go,
1:45:56
Speaker 1: asked Jakos. There were it far is, said the baby sleepily.
1:46:03
Speaker 1: Jack Als trotted off with his nose to the ground
1:46:06
Speaker 1: and a sly look in his eye. He didn't care
1:46:10
Speaker 1: where the baby wanted to go. He was just going
1:46:13
Speaker 1: to carry him off to the crantz where Tant and
1:46:15
Speaker 1: the young jacalcers lived. If Bassies could have seen his face,
1:46:20
Speaker 1: Allah verralt, he was smiling, and when Jakal smiles, it
1:46:26
Speaker 1: is the wickedest sight in the world. He was very
1:46:30
Speaker 1: pleased to think what he was taking home. Fat brown
1:46:34
Speaker 1: babies are as nice as fat sheep tails. So he
1:46:38
Speaker 1: went along quite jolly, but only at first. Soon his
1:46:43
Speaker 1: back began to burn where the baby's arms went round it.
1:46:47
Speaker 1: The heat got worse and worse, until he couldn't hold
1:46:51
Speaker 1: it out any longer. Swish, why passy burns me? He cried,
1:46:56
Speaker 1: Sail down a little further, Bassy, so that my neck
1:47:00
Speaker 1: can get cool. The little son slipped further down and
1:47:04
Speaker 1: held fast again, and Yakas trotted on. But soon he
1:47:10
Speaker 1: called out again, soey sway, now the middle of my
1:47:14
Speaker 1: back burns. Sailed down a little further. The little Sun
1:47:18
Speaker 1: went further down and held fast again, and so it
1:47:22
Speaker 1: went on. Every time Jakos called out that he was burning,
1:47:27
Speaker 1: the baby slipped a little further and a little further,
1:47:30
Speaker 1: till at last he had hold of Jakos by the tail.
1:47:34
Speaker 1: And then he wouldn't let go, even when Jakos called out.
1:47:39
Speaker 1: He held on, and Jakos's tail burnt and burnt. My
1:47:44
Speaker 1: it was quite black. Help help, he screamed, ach you,
1:47:49
Speaker 1: devil's child, get off, let go. I'll punish you for this.
1:47:53
Speaker 1: I'll bite you, I'll gobble you up. My tail is burning.
1:47:57
Speaker 1: Help help. And he jumped and bucked and rushed about
1:48:01
Speaker 1: the felt till at last the baby had to let go.
1:48:05
Speaker 1: Then Yakuls foot steaded round and ran at the Little
1:48:09
Speaker 1: Sun to bite him and gobble him up. Footnote footstead
1:48:15
Speaker 1: evidently a word of Otar's coining, meaning to jump round
1:48:19
Speaker 1: suddenly and violently end a footnote. But when he got near,
1:48:25
Speaker 1: a funny thing happened, my bassies, Yes, truly, just when
1:48:29
Speaker 1: he was going to bite, he stopped half way and
1:48:33
Speaker 1: shivered back, as if some one had beaten him. At
1:48:37
Speaker 1: first he growled with crossness, but now he began to
1:48:40
Speaker 1: whine from frightenedness. And why was it, my bassies? Because
1:48:46
Speaker 1: from under the baby's arms streamed brightness and hotness, and
1:48:51
Speaker 1: out of the baby's eyes came streaks of fire, so
1:48:54
Speaker 1: that Jakuls winked and blinked and tried to make himself
1:48:58
Speaker 1: small in the sand. And every time he opened his
1:49:02
Speaker 1: eyes a little, just like slits, there was the baby
1:49:06
Speaker 1: sitting straight in front of him, staring at him, so
1:49:09
Speaker 1: that he had to shut them again. Quick, quick, Come
1:49:13
Speaker 1: and punish me, said the baby. No, basi ah no,
1:49:18
Speaker 1: said Jucos in a small little voice. Why should I
1:49:21
Speaker 1: punish you? Come and bite me, said the baby. No,
1:49:26
Speaker 1: Basi no, I could never think of it. Jucoles made
1:49:30
Speaker 1: himself still a little smaller in the sand. Come and
1:49:33
Speaker 1: gobble me up, said the baby. Then Jucos gave a
1:49:37
Speaker 1: yell and tried to crawl further back. Such a fine
1:49:42
Speaker 1: little child, he said, trying to make his voice sweet.
1:49:46
Speaker 1: Who would ever do such a wicked thing? You would,
1:49:50
Speaker 1: said the little son, when you had carried me safely
1:49:54
Speaker 1: to your crantz, you would have gobbled me up. You
1:49:57
Speaker 1: are toch so clever, Jucos, but sometimes you will meet
1:50:01
Speaker 1: your match. Now look at me. Well, jack As didn't
1:50:07
Speaker 1: want to look my basses, but it was just as
1:50:10
Speaker 1: if something made his eyes go open, and he lay
1:50:14
Speaker 1: there staring at the baby, and the baby stared at him.
1:50:18
Speaker 1: So my basies just so, Otos stretched his eyes to
1:50:24
Speaker 1: their utmost and held each fascinated child in turn. You'll
1:50:29
Speaker 1: know me again when you see me, said the baby.
1:50:33
Speaker 1: But never, never again will you be able to look
1:50:36
Speaker 1: me in the face. And now you can go. Fierce
1:50:41
Speaker 1: light shot from his eyes, and he blew at jacars
1:50:44
Speaker 1: with all his might. His breath was like a burning flame,
1:50:49
Speaker 1: and Jackals, half dead with frightenedness, gave a great howl
1:50:53
Speaker 1: and fled away over the Flachta. From that day, my bases,
1:50:59
Speaker 1: he has a black stripe right down his back to
1:51:01
Speaker 1: the tip of his tail, and he cannot bear the sun,
1:51:05
Speaker 1: but hides away all day with shut eyes. And only
1:51:09
Speaker 1: at night, when the old man with the bright armpits
1:51:11
Speaker 1: has gone to sleep, does he come out to hunt
1:51:14
Speaker 1: and look for food and play tricks on the other animals.
1:51:20
Speaker 1: And of how the jackal got his stripe the animals,
1:51:30
Speaker 1: dam ah, it was dry, said Otta, as dry as
1:51:37
Speaker 1: last year's spring buck. Bootong for a long time. The
1:51:41
Speaker 1: old man in the sky shot down strong light and
1:51:44
Speaker 1: sucked all the water out of the felt. From morning
1:51:48
Speaker 1: to night he poured down hotness on the world, and
1:51:52
Speaker 1: when he rolled round to sleep, a hot wind blew
1:51:55
Speaker 1: and blue and blue till he woke to shine again.
1:52:00
Speaker 1: The karoo bushes dried up, the rivers had no water,
1:52:06
Speaker 1: and the poor animals began to die from thirst. It
1:52:11
Speaker 1: was such a drought, my little masters, as you have
1:52:14
Speaker 1: never seen. At last, Umlieu called the animals together to
1:52:20
Speaker 1: make a plan. The sun had gone under, and the
1:52:25
Speaker 1: lady Moon was sailing in the sky, beautiful as she
1:52:29
Speaker 1: always is, and looking down on the hot world. Umlieu
1:52:35
Speaker 1: sat under a crantz on the morning side of a copy,
1:52:38
Speaker 1: where it was a little cool, and the others sat
1:52:41
Speaker 1: round him like a watermelon slice. Leopard, hyena, babyan jakals
1:52:48
Speaker 1: hare and tortoise were in front. They were the chief ones.
1:52:54
Speaker 1: The smaller ones like dassi, meerkat and hedgehog were at
1:52:59
Speaker 1: the sides, and zebra, springbok, ostrich and giraffe waited in
1:53:04
Speaker 1: the felt to hear the news. They pretended to be eating,
1:53:09
Speaker 1: but all the time the ears went backwards and forwards,
1:53:12
Speaker 1: backwards and forwards, so my basses to catch every little sound.
1:53:18
Speaker 1: And they were ready at the first sign of danger
1:53:21
Speaker 1: to race away, kicking up the dust so that Wumlieu
1:53:25
Speaker 1: would not be able to see them. But they needn't
1:53:29
Speaker 1: have been afraid. Wumneu was too hot and tired and
1:53:33
Speaker 1: weak to catch anything. He just sat against the crantz
1:53:37
Speaker 1: with his dry tongue hanging out, and the others just
1:53:41
Speaker 1: lay round about him in the watermelon slice with their
1:53:45
Speaker 1: dry tongues hanging out. And every time they looked at
1:53:49
Speaker 1: the sky to see if any clouds were coming up.
1:53:53
Speaker 1: But no, the sky was just like a big hot
1:53:57
Speaker 1: soap pot turned over above their headds with the lady
1:54:01
Speaker 1: Moon making a silver road across it, and the little
1:54:05
Speaker 1: stars shining like bits broken off the big hot sun.
1:54:11
Speaker 1: There was nothing that even looked like a cloud. At last,
1:54:17
Speaker 1: Wumlieu pulled in his tongue and rolled it about in
1:54:21
Speaker 1: his mouth to get the dryness off. When it stopped rattling,
1:54:25
Speaker 1: he began to talk friends and brothers and nephews. He said, yes,
1:54:32
Speaker 1: just like that, Wumleu began. He was so miserable that
1:54:37
Speaker 1: he felt friendly with them, all friends and brothers and nephews.
1:54:43
Speaker 1: It is time to make a plan, you know how
1:54:46
Speaker 1: it is with a drought. When it is at its worst,
1:54:50
Speaker 1: the bottom of the clouds fall out and the water
1:54:53
Speaker 1: runs away fast fast to the sea, where there is
1:54:57
Speaker 1: too much water already, and the poor carew is left
1:55:01
Speaker 1: again without any Even if a land rain comes, it
1:55:06
Speaker 1: just sinks in because the ground is too loose and
1:55:09
Speaker 1: dry to hold it. So we must make a plan
1:55:13
Speaker 1: to keep the water. And my plan is to dig
1:55:17
Speaker 1: a dam. But it's no use for one or two
1:55:20
Speaker 1: to work. Every one must help. What do you say, Certainly,
1:55:27
Speaker 1: said the leopard. Certainly, said the hyaena, Certainly said the
1:55:33
Speaker 1: ant bear. Certainly, said Jacos. But he winked his eye
1:55:38
Speaker 1: at the lady Moon, and then put his nose into
1:55:41
Speaker 1: the warm sand so that no one could see his
1:55:44
Speaker 1: sly smile. All the other animals said certainly, And then
1:55:50
Speaker 1: they began to talk about the dam, dear land. A
1:55:55
Speaker 1: person would never have said their throats were dry. Each
1:55:59
Speaker 1: one had a different plan, and each one talked without
1:56:03
Speaker 1: listening to the other. It was like a church bazaar. Yes,
1:56:08
Speaker 1: Basis long ago, when Ota was young, he was on
1:56:12
Speaker 1: a bazaar in the village. But he was glad my
1:56:16
Speaker 1: bassis when he could creep into the felt again and
1:56:20
Speaker 1: get the noise out of his ears. At last, the
1:56:24
Speaker 1: water tortoise, he with the wise little head under his
1:56:28
Speaker 1: patchwork shell, said, let us go now while it is
1:56:33
Speaker 1: cool and look for a place for the dam. So
1:56:37
Speaker 1: they hunted about and found a nice place, and soon
1:56:41
Speaker 1: they began to make the dam basis. But those animals worked.
1:56:47
Speaker 1: They scratched, they dug, they poked, they bored, they pushed,
1:56:53
Speaker 1: and they rolled, and they all did their best so
1:56:57
Speaker 1: that the dam could be ready when the rains came.
1:57:01
Speaker 1: Only lazy Yakuls did not work. He just roamed about,
1:57:05
Speaker 1: saying to the others, why don't you do this? Why
1:57:09
Speaker 1: don't you do that? Till at last they asked, why
1:57:12
Speaker 1: don't you do it yourself? But jack als only laughed
1:57:17
Speaker 1: at them. And why should I be so foolish as
1:57:20
Speaker 1: to scratch my nails off for your old damn? He said,
1:57:24
Speaker 1: But you said certainly too when Uam asked us, didn't
1:57:28
Speaker 1: you they asked? Then Jaculs laughed more than ever ha
1:57:35
Speaker 1: ha ha am. I then a slave of my word.
1:57:39
Speaker 1: That was last night don't you know yet that a
1:57:42
Speaker 1: thing is one color by moonlight, and quite another color
1:57:47
Speaker 1: when the sun shines on it. Ha ha ha ha.
1:57:51
Speaker 1: So he went about bothering the poor animals that were
1:57:54
Speaker 1: working so hard, and laughing at them when they got
1:57:58
Speaker 1: hot and tired. What's the use of working so hard?
1:58:03
Speaker 1: Those who do not work will also drink? How do
1:58:07
Speaker 1: you know, they asked, Wait a bit, you'll see, said Slyyakas,
1:58:13
Speaker 1: winking his eye again. At last the dam was finished,
1:58:19
Speaker 1: and that very night the rain began. It kept on
1:58:23
Speaker 1: and on till the dam was quite full, and the
1:58:26
Speaker 1: water began to run away over the Felt, down to
1:58:30
Speaker 1: the great big dam called the sea that is the
1:58:33
Speaker 1: mother of all water, and so broad. My basis that,
1:58:38
Speaker 1: truly you can't see the wall at the other side,
1:58:41
Speaker 1: even when you stand on a high copy. Yes, so
1:58:46
Speaker 1: Ota has heard from truth telling people. The milk bushes
1:58:51
Speaker 1: and karou bushes grew green again, and the little felt
1:58:55
Speaker 1: flowers burst out of the hard ground and opened their
1:58:58
Speaker 1: white and blue and pink and purple eyes to look
1:59:01
Speaker 1: at the sun. They were like variegated crosses spread out
1:59:06
Speaker 1: on the felt. And the old man in the sky
1:59:09
Speaker 1: was not so fierce any more. He did not burn
1:59:12
Speaker 1: them with his hotness, but looked at them kindly. And
1:59:17
Speaker 1: the animals were to so glad for the water. From
1:59:21
Speaker 1: far and near. They came to the dam to drink,
1:59:24
Speaker 1: but jac Als was before them all. Soon after the
1:59:28
Speaker 1: sun went down pass snow. The wild animals sleep in
1:59:33
Speaker 1: the daytime and hunt in the night. He went to
1:59:36
Speaker 1: the dam and drank as much water as he wanted,
1:59:39
Speaker 1: and filled his clay pot with some to take home.
1:59:43
Speaker 1: Then he swam round and round to get cool, making
1:59:46
Speaker 1: the water muddy and dirty. And when the other animals
1:59:50
Speaker 1: came to drink, he slipped over the dam wall and
1:59:53
Speaker 1: was lost in the felt as if he had been
1:59:56
Speaker 1: a large pin. My but Umlieux was very angry. Ooo,
2:00:05
Speaker 1: he roared, Oo. What is this for a thing? Does
2:00:11
Speaker 1: the lazy one think he can share with the workers?
2:00:14
Speaker 1: Who ever heard of such a thing? Who here, Breur Babian,
2:00:22
Speaker 1: take this big kiri and hide yourself by the dam
2:00:26
Speaker 1: to night, so that you can catch this vagabond, this
2:00:30
Speaker 1: water stealer. Early that night there was jac Als again.
2:00:36
Speaker 1: He peeped this way and that way, so my Bassis,
2:00:41
Speaker 1: And yes, truly there was old brewer Babian lying amongst
2:00:46
Speaker 1: the bushes. But Jacos was too skelemp for him. He
2:00:51
Speaker 1: made as if he didn't see him. He danced along
2:00:54
Speaker 1: on his hind legs, all in the round, all in
2:00:58
Speaker 1: the round, at the edge of the damn singing, hing, ting, ting, honna,
2:01:03
Speaker 1: makading my sweet sweet water. He sang this over and over,
2:01:10
Speaker 1: and every time he came to the end of a line,
2:01:12
Speaker 1: he dipped his fingers into his clay pot and sucked them. Ah,
2:01:18
Speaker 1: but my honey is nice, he said, licking his lips.
2:01:21
Speaker 1: What do I want with their old dirty water when
2:01:25
Speaker 1: I have a whole potful of nice sweet water? Passes,
2:01:30
Speaker 1: No baboons will do anything for honey. And when old
2:01:34
Speaker 1: brubabianheard Jackars, he forgot he was there to guard the dam.
2:01:39
Speaker 1: He crept out from his hiding place a little nearer
2:01:43
Speaker 1: and a little nearer, and at last he couldn't keep
2:01:46
Speaker 1: quiet any longer. When Jackars came dancing along again, he
2:01:51
Speaker 1: called out in a great hurry, good evening, Jakas, please
2:01:55
Speaker 1: give me a little of your sweet water too. Hooray,
2:01:59
Speaker 1: said Jackos, jumping to one side and pretending to be startled.
2:02:04
Speaker 1: What a strick you gave me. What are you doing here,
2:02:07
Speaker 1: Brewer Babian, Ah no, Yacuus, I'm just taking a little walk.
2:02:12
Speaker 1: It's such a fine night. But why have you got
2:02:16
Speaker 1: that big kiri only to dig out a ties? Do
2:02:21
Speaker 1: you rarely want some of my sweet water? Yes, please, Jackules,
2:02:26
Speaker 1: said Broer Babian, licking his lips. And what will you
2:02:30
Speaker 1: give me for it? I'll let you fill your pot
2:02:34
Speaker 1: with water from the dam Ah. I don't want any
2:02:38
Speaker 1: of that dirty, old damn water. But I know how
2:02:41
Speaker 1: fond you are of the sweet water, brewer, so I'll
2:02:44
Speaker 1: let you drink some. Here. I'll hold your kiriy while
2:02:48
Speaker 1: you drink. Brewer Babian was in such a hurry to
2:02:52
Speaker 1: get to the honey that he just threw the kiriy
2:02:55
Speaker 1: to Yakus. But just as he was going to put
2:02:58
Speaker 1: his fingers into the pot, Jackals pulled it away. No,
2:03:03
Speaker 1: wait a bit, brouh, he said, I'll show you a
2:03:06
Speaker 1: better way. It will taste much nicer if you lie down.
2:03:11
Speaker 1: Ah No, really, Yucos, Yes, really, said Jakos. And if
2:03:16
Speaker 1: you don't lie down at once, you won't get a
2:03:18
Speaker 1: drop of my sweet water. He spoke quite crossly. And
2:03:22
Speaker 1: Babian was so tame by this time that he was
2:03:26
Speaker 1: ready to believe anything. So he lay down and Jackal
2:03:30
Speaker 1: stood over him with his knapsack. Riem. Now, brother, first
2:03:34
Speaker 1: I'll tie you with my riam, and then i'll feed
2:03:37
Speaker 1: you with the honey. Yes, yes, said bro Babian quickly.
2:03:43
Speaker 1: His mouth was watering for the honey. He couldn't think
2:03:46
Speaker 1: of anything else, and he had long ago forgotten all
2:03:49
Speaker 1: about looking after the dam. It goes so, my Bassis,
2:03:55
Speaker 1: when a person thinks only of what he wants and
2:03:58
Speaker 1: not of what he must. So he let Jachuls tie
2:04:02
Speaker 1: his hands and feet and even his tail, and then
2:04:06
Speaker 1: he opened his mouth wide. But Jackos only danced round
2:04:11
Speaker 1: and round, sticking his fingers into the pot and licking
2:04:13
Speaker 1: them and singing, hing ting, ting, hona, makading my sweet
2:04:19
Speaker 1: sweet water, where's mine? Called Bru Babian. You said you
2:04:25
Speaker 1: would feed me, where's my sweet water? Here's all the
2:04:30
Speaker 1: sweet water you'll get from me, said Jachus, and clucks.
2:04:34
Speaker 1: He gave poor Bru Babian a hard hit with the
2:04:37
Speaker 1: kiri borhom borhom help, screamed Buru Babian and tried to
2:04:44
Speaker 1: roll away, but there was no one to help him,
2:04:48
Speaker 1: so he could only scream and roll over, and each
2:04:51
Speaker 1: time he rolled over, jaculvs hit him again kraak. At last,
2:04:57
Speaker 1: he squeezed the clay pot and bas can believe me,
2:05:01
Speaker 1: it had never had any honey in it at all,
2:05:04
Speaker 1: over Brewer Babian's head while he ran off and drank
2:05:08
Speaker 1: as much water as he wanted, and swam and stirred
2:05:12
Speaker 1: up the mud. Then he took the clay pot off
2:05:15
Speaker 1: Brewer Babian's head, filled it with water, and dannsed off, singing,
2:05:20
Speaker 1: hing ting ting, honna, makading my sweet sweet water. Good Bye, brother,
2:05:28
Speaker 1: he called out, I hope you'll enjoy the sweet water
2:05:32
Speaker 1: you'll get from Umlieu when he sees how well you
2:05:35
Speaker 1: have looked after the dam. Poor old Brewer Babian was
2:05:40
Speaker 1: ach so miserable, But he was even more unhappy after
2:05:45
Speaker 1: Umlu had punished him and set him on a large
2:05:49
Speaker 1: stone for the other animals to mock at Bassis. It
2:05:53
Speaker 1: was sad. They came in a long string, big ones
2:05:57
Speaker 1: and little ones, and each once top up in front
2:06:00
Speaker 1: of the big stone and stuck out his tongue, then
2:06:04
Speaker 1: turned round and stuck out his tail. Yes, so rude
2:06:09
Speaker 1: they were to Brewer Babian till the poor old animal
2:06:12
Speaker 1: got ashameder and ashameder, and sat all in a heap,
2:06:17
Speaker 1: hanging down his head and trying not to see how
2:06:20
Speaker 1: they were mocking at him. When all the animals had
2:06:25
Speaker 1: passed on and drunk water, Wumlieux untied Brewer Babian and
2:06:30
Speaker 1: let him go. And off he went to the cranzers
2:06:33
Speaker 1: as fast as he could, with his tail between his legs.
2:06:38
Speaker 1: And that is all for to night, my buses. It's
2:06:41
Speaker 1: too long to finish. Now. See here comes Lease with
2:06:45
Speaker 1: the busses supper, and Ota can smell that his ass
2:06:49
Speaker 1: cookies are burning by the hut ebading the children's detaining hands,
2:06:55
Speaker 1: Ota sidled away, turning in the passage doorway to pour
2:07:00
Speaker 1: the air with his crooked fingers in token of a
2:07:03
Speaker 1: final farewell. End of the animal's dam, saved by his tail.
2:07:18
Speaker 1: The end o tarpleis, said little Jan, the end of
2:07:22
Speaker 1: the animal's dam. You said it was too long to
2:07:25
Speaker 1: finish last night. Ah Ya, my bossy, it's full of
2:07:30
Speaker 1: Yaka's dry and that's why it is so long. But
2:07:34
Speaker 1: it's near the end now. The night was old by
2:07:38
Speaker 1: the time the animals had finished with Old Brewer Babian,
2:07:42
Speaker 1: and the stars were going out. Only the big star
2:07:46
Speaker 1: that lasts the longest was traveling quickly by the star's
2:07:50
Speaker 1: road to cold the dawn, it began to get light
2:07:54
Speaker 1: already at the place where the shining old man gets
2:07:56
Speaker 1: up every day, and that meant it was time for
2:08:00
Speaker 1: the animals to fade away to their sleeping places. Um
2:08:05
Speaker 1: you looked round on them. Who will look after the
2:08:08
Speaker 1: dam to night? He asked, I will, said a little
2:08:12
Speaker 1: voice quickly, peep peep. And who is this that speaks
2:08:17
Speaker 1: from the ground, asked worm, Let us find this brave one.
2:08:22
Speaker 1: They looked about in the sand, and there under a
2:08:25
Speaker 1: milk bush near the dam sat the water tortoise. He
2:08:30
Speaker 1: was nice and big bassis, as big as the lid
2:08:33
Speaker 1: of the soap pot, and his skinny legs were very strong.
2:08:38
Speaker 1: He stretched out his skinny neck and twinkled his little
2:08:42
Speaker 1: black eyes. I'll look after the dam, worm, and I'll
2:08:47
Speaker 1: catch the water spoiler for you. Ha ha ha. How
2:08:51
Speaker 1: will you do that, asked Wumlieu. If worm will just
2:08:55
Speaker 1: let some one rub my back with the sticky black
2:08:58
Speaker 1: stuff from the floor of the highbes, then Worm will
2:09:01
Speaker 1: see what will happen. This is a wise little man,
2:09:06
Speaker 1: said Ormlieu, and he ordered old brown sister Hyena, she
2:09:10
Speaker 1: with the limp in the left hind leg, to rub
2:09:13
Speaker 1: the water tortoise with the sticky stuff. That night, my basis,
2:09:18
Speaker 1: when Jacals went to the dam to drink, he peeped about,
2:09:22
Speaker 1: but no, there was no one to guard the dam.
2:09:26
Speaker 1: Only a large black stone lay near the edge of
2:09:28
Speaker 1: the water. Aoray, this is lucky, said Jack, as such
2:09:35
Speaker 1: a nice large stone, I'll stand on it while I drink.
2:09:39
Speaker 1: He didn't know that the stone had a strong, skinny
2:09:43
Speaker 1: neck and on the end of the neck a head
2:09:46
Speaker 1: with little bright eyes that could see everything that was
2:09:49
Speaker 1: going on. So he gave a jump and whoops down.
2:09:54
Speaker 1: He came on to the stone with his two front
2:09:56
Speaker 1: feet and there they stuck fast to the sticky black
2:09:59
Speaker 1: ses and he could not move them. He tried and
2:10:03
Speaker 1: he tried, but it was no use Toever. He screamed, Toever,
2:10:08
Speaker 1: let me go, Peep peep, said the little voice. Don't
2:10:12
Speaker 1: be frightened. Who says I'm frightened? You owe two of us, don't,
2:10:17
Speaker 1: asked the Yakas though my front feet are fast, I
2:10:20
Speaker 1: can still kick with my hind feet. Kick, kick, kick
2:10:25
Speaker 1: and stick fast, said the little voice. So Jukals kicked
2:10:30
Speaker 1: and kick'd, and his hind feet stuck fast. There was
2:10:35
Speaker 1: a funny sound under the water, like water bubbling through
2:10:38
Speaker 1: a reed. It was the water tortoise laughing near Near,
2:10:44
Speaker 1: said Jakars, getting very cross. I've still got a tail
2:10:48
Speaker 1: and I'll beat you with it. Beat, beat, beat, and
2:10:53
Speaker 1: stick fast, said the little voice. So Jackals beat and beat,
2:10:59
Speaker 1: and his tail stuck fast. Near he said, again, very angry,
2:11:05
Speaker 1: I've still got a mouth and I'll bite you with it. Bite, bite, bite,
2:11:11
Speaker 1: and stick fast, said the little voice. Jackars opened his
2:11:15
Speaker 1: mouth and bit and bit, and his mouth stuck fast.
2:11:20
Speaker 1: There he was all in a bundle, sticking altogether fast
2:11:23
Speaker 1: to the black stone, and the more he tried to
2:11:26
Speaker 1: get free, the more he stuck fast. Peep peep, said
2:11:31
Speaker 1: the water tortoise, poking up his head and laughing. Then
2:11:35
Speaker 1: he marched to the top of the damn wall, where
2:11:38
Speaker 1: everyone could see the strange sight, and there he sat
2:11:42
Speaker 1: all quiet and good till the other animals came. Ahaay,
2:11:47
Speaker 1: they were glad when they saw Jakals sticking to the
2:11:50
Speaker 1: water tortoise. They held a council and ordered him to
2:11:54
Speaker 1: be killed and brew a hyena. Old brown sister's husband
2:12:00
Speaker 1: was to be the killer. They loosened Jakals's mouth from
2:12:04
Speaker 1: the sticky stuff so that he could talk for the
2:12:07
Speaker 1: last time. He was very sorry for himself. His voice
2:12:12
Speaker 1: was sick with sorriness, and he could hardly get the
2:12:15
Speaker 1: words out. Thank you, ouam, he said. I know I'm
2:12:19
Speaker 1: a wicked creature. It's better for me to die than
2:12:22
Speaker 1: to live and trouble every one so much. Wumlieu and
2:12:26
Speaker 1: the other animals were wondering what kind of death the
2:12:29
Speaker 1: water stealer should die. Chop my head off, said jack As,
2:12:34
Speaker 1: throw me in the fountain, but please, ah, please, don't
2:12:38
Speaker 1: shave my tail and hit me on the big stone.
2:12:42
Speaker 1: Um Lieu and the others were still putting their heads together.
2:12:47
Speaker 1: Beat me with kerries, drown me in the dam, said Jakos.
2:12:51
Speaker 1: But don't, ah, please, don't smear my tail with fat
2:12:55
Speaker 1: and hit me on the big stone. Wumlieu and the
2:12:59
Speaker 1: others made as if I were taking no notice of him.
2:13:02
Speaker 1: Chop me in little pieces, beat me with thorn branches,
2:13:06
Speaker 1: said Jakos, But please, ah, please don't take me by
2:13:10
Speaker 1: the tail and hit me on the big stone. At last,
2:13:14
Speaker 1: Umlieu turned round. Just as you say, it shall be done.
2:13:20
Speaker 1: Shave his tail, he said to the others, smear it
2:13:23
Speaker 1: with that, and hit his head on the big stone.
2:13:26
Speaker 1: Let it be done. So it was done, and Yakov
2:13:31
Speaker 1: stood very still and sad while his tail was being
2:13:34
Speaker 1: shaved and smeared. But when Hyena swung him round one
2:13:38
Speaker 1: two three ft away, he slipped and ran over the
2:13:42
Speaker 1: felt as fast as he could. All the others ran
2:13:46
Speaker 1: after him, but they were only running to catch and
2:13:49
Speaker 1: he was running to live. So he went like the wind,
2:13:54
Speaker 1: and soon they were left far behind. He never stopped
2:13:59
Speaker 1: till he came to a mountain where a crantz hung
2:14:02
Speaker 1: over and made a kind of cave, and in he crept.
2:14:06
Speaker 1: The first to come after him was um Lieu, who
2:14:09
Speaker 1: had run faster than the others. Jack Als watched Worm
2:14:13
Speaker 1: crawling in, and when UM's head touched the top of
2:14:16
Speaker 1: the cave, he ran out, calling, Um, Um, the crantz
2:14:21
Speaker 1: is falling. If you don't hold it up, you'll be
2:14:23
Speaker 1: crushed to death. I'll run and get a pole to
2:14:26
Speaker 1: prop it up. But Worm must please wait till I
2:14:29
Speaker 1: come back. He left Um, plastering his head against the
2:14:33
Speaker 1: krantz to hold it up while he shot away, and
2:14:39
Speaker 1: never stopped till he got safe home, where he rolled
2:14:42
Speaker 1: bull mc kissie over and over, laughing to think how
2:14:46
Speaker 1: he had cheated all the animals again, and of saved
2:14:52
Speaker 1: by his tail the f lying lion. Once upon a time,
2:15:05
Speaker 1: remarked Oto thoughtfully. Wum Lieu used to fly oo, said
2:15:12
Speaker 1: the children altogether, and their eyes widened with terror at
2:15:16
Speaker 1: the picture called up by OTA's words, yes, my basis,
2:15:21
Speaker 1: and then nothing could live before him. His wings were
2:15:26
Speaker 1: not covered with feathers. They were like the wings of
2:15:29
Speaker 1: brother Bat, all skin and ribs. But they were very big,
2:15:35
Speaker 1: and very thick, and very strong. And when he wasn't flying,
2:15:41
Speaker 1: they were folded flat against his sides. When he was angry,
2:15:46
Speaker 1: he let the points down to the ground like obas
2:15:50
Speaker 1: turkey when he gobble gobble gobbles and struts before his
2:15:54
Speaker 1: wives tsh. And when he wanted to rise from the ground,
2:15:59
Speaker 1: he read them out and flap them up and down
2:16:03
Speaker 1: slowly at first so my basses, then faster and faster,
2:16:08
Speaker 1: so so so till he made a big wind with
2:16:12
Speaker 1: them and sailed away into the air. Ota flapped his
2:16:17
Speaker 1: crooked arms and puffing out his disproportionate chest, seemed about
2:16:22
Speaker 1: to follow suit, but suddenly subsided again on to his stool. Ah,
2:16:28
Speaker 1: but it was a terrible sight. Then, when he was
2:16:32
Speaker 1: high above the earth, he would look down for something
2:16:35
Speaker 1: to kill. If he saw a herd of spring bookie,
2:16:38
Speaker 1: he would fly along till he was just over them,
2:16:41
Speaker 1: then pick out a nice fat one. Then he would
2:16:45
Speaker 1: stretch out his iron claws, fold his wings and whoops down.
2:16:50
Speaker 1: He would fall on the poor boky before it had
2:16:52
Speaker 1: time to jump away. Yes, that was the way Umliou
2:16:57
Speaker 1: hunted in the olden times. There was only one thing
2:17:02
Speaker 1: he was afraid of, and that was that the bones
2:17:05
Speaker 1: of the animals he caught and ate would be broken
2:17:08
Speaker 1: to pieces. No one knew why, and every one was
2:17:13
Speaker 1: too frightened of Womlieu to try and find out. He
2:17:17
Speaker 1: used to keep them all at his home in the Kranzers,
2:17:21
Speaker 1: and he had crows to look after them, two at
2:17:24
Speaker 1: a time, Not like the ugly black crows that build
2:17:28
Speaker 1: in the willow trees near the dam, but white crows,
2:17:32
Speaker 1: the kind that come only once in many years, as
2:17:36
Speaker 1: soon as a white crow baby was found, it was
2:17:40
Speaker 1: taken to Uemliu. That was his order. Then he kept
2:17:45
Speaker 1: it in the crantzes of the mountains and let it
2:17:47
Speaker 1: grow big. And when the old white crows died, the
2:17:52
Speaker 1: next eldest became watchmen, and so there were always white
2:17:57
Speaker 1: crows to watch the bones when ou um Liu went hunting.
2:18:03
Speaker 1: But one day while he was away, brother Big Bullfrog
2:18:07
Speaker 1: came along hop hop hopity hop hop hop hopity hop,
2:18:13
Speaker 1: and said, why do you sit here all day, you
2:18:16
Speaker 1: white head crows? And the white crows said, we sit
2:18:21
Speaker 1: here to look after the bones for um Liu. Ah,
2:18:26
Speaker 1: but you must be tired of sitting, said brother big Bullfrog,
2:18:30
Speaker 1: you fly away a little and stretch your wings. I
2:18:33
Speaker 1: will sit here and look after the bones. The white
2:18:37
Speaker 1: crows looked this way and that way, up and down
2:18:41
Speaker 1: and all round, but no they couldn't see um Liu.
2:18:45
Speaker 1: And they thought now's our chance to get away for
2:18:49
Speaker 1: a fly. So they said craw craw, and stretched out
2:18:55
Speaker 1: their wings and flew away. Brother Big Bullfrog called out
2:19:00
Speaker 1: after them, don't hurry back. Stay as long as you like,
2:19:04
Speaker 1: I will take care of the bones. But as soon
2:19:08
Speaker 1: as they were gone, He said, Now I shall find
2:19:12
Speaker 1: out why Umlieu keeps the bones from being broken. Now
2:19:18
Speaker 1: I shall see why men and animals can live no longer.
2:19:22
Speaker 1: And he went from one end to the other of
2:19:25
Speaker 1: Umlieu's house at the bottom of the Crantz, breaking all
2:19:30
Speaker 1: the bones he could find. Ah, but he worked quickly,
2:19:35
Speaker 1: crack crack, crack crack. Wherever he went he broke bones.
2:19:41
Speaker 1: Then when he had finished, he hopped away hop hop
2:19:44
Speaker 1: hoppity hop, hop hop hoppity hop as fast as he could.
2:19:50
Speaker 1: When he had nearly reached his dam in the felt,
2:19:53
Speaker 1: the white crows overtook him. They had been to the
2:19:57
Speaker 1: Krantz and foy. They were frightened when they saw the
2:20:02
Speaker 1: broken bones. Haw craw. They said, brother big bullfrog, why
2:20:08
Speaker 1: are you so wicked? Wom you will be so angry?
2:20:13
Speaker 1: He will bite off our nice white heads, craw craw,
2:20:17
Speaker 1: and without a head, who can live? But brother big
2:20:22
Speaker 1: Bullfrog pretended he didn't hear. He just hopped on as
2:20:26
Speaker 1: fast as he could, and the white crows went after him.
2:20:31
Speaker 1: It's no good hopping away, brother bullfrog. They said, Woomleu,
2:20:36
Speaker 1: We'll find you wherever you are, And with one blow
2:20:39
Speaker 1: of his iron claws, he will kill you. But old
2:20:43
Speaker 1: brother Big Bullfrog didn't take any notice. He just hopped on,
2:20:48
Speaker 1: and when he came to his dam, he sat back
2:20:51
Speaker 1: at the edge of the water and blinked the beautiful
2:20:54
Speaker 1: eyes in his ugly old head, and said, when Wumlieu comes,
2:21:00
Speaker 1: tell him I am the man who broke the bones.
2:21:03
Speaker 1: Tell him I live in this dam, and if he
2:21:06
Speaker 1: wants to see me, he must come here. The white
2:21:10
Speaker 1: crows were very cross. They flew down quickly to peck
2:21:14
Speaker 1: brother Big Bullfrog, but they only dug their beats into
2:21:18
Speaker 1: the soft mud because Brother Big Bullfrog wasn't sitting there
2:21:21
Speaker 1: any longer. Kabloops He had dived into the dam, and
2:21:25
Speaker 1: the white crows could only see the rings round the
2:21:28
Speaker 1: place where he had made a hole in the water.
2:21:32
Speaker 1: Umlieu was far away in the felt, waiting for food,
2:21:36
Speaker 1: waiting for food. At last he saw a herd of zebras,
2:21:41
Speaker 1: the little striped horses that he is very fond of,
2:21:44
Speaker 1: and he tried to fly up so that he could
2:21:46
Speaker 1: fall on one of them, but he couldn't. He tried again,
2:21:51
Speaker 1: but no, he couldn't. He spread out his wings and
2:21:55
Speaker 1: flapped them, but they were quite weak, like Bassi's umbrella.
2:21:59
Speaker 1: When the libs are broken, then whom Lyu knew there
2:22:04
Speaker 1: must be something wrong at his house, and he was
2:22:07
Speaker 1: toch too. Angry, he struck his iron claws into the
2:22:12
Speaker 1: ground and roared and roared softly. He began like thunder
2:22:17
Speaker 1: far away, rolling through the cluiffs, then louder and louder,
2:22:22
Speaker 1: till oo oo. The earth beneath him seemed to shake.
2:22:29
Speaker 1: It was a terrible noise. But all his roaring did
2:22:33
Speaker 1: not help him. He couldn't fly, and at last he
2:22:37
Speaker 1: had to get up and walk home. He found the
2:22:41
Speaker 1: poor white crows nearly dead with fright, but they soon
2:22:45
Speaker 1: found out that he could no longer fly, so they
2:22:48
Speaker 1: were not afraid of him. Oo Oo, he roared, what
2:22:54
Speaker 1: have you done to make my wings so weak? And
2:22:58
Speaker 1: they said while wum was away, some one came and
2:23:03
Speaker 1: broke all the bones, and Umlu said, you were put
2:23:09
Speaker 1: here to watch them. It is your fault that they
2:23:11
Speaker 1: are broken, and to punish you, I am going to
2:23:15
Speaker 1: bite your stupid white heads off who He sprang towards them.
2:23:22
Speaker 1: But now that they knew he couldn't fly, they were
2:23:25
Speaker 1: not afraid of him. They flew away and sailed round
2:23:29
Speaker 1: in the air over his head, just too high for
2:23:32
Speaker 1: him to reach, and they called out, ha ha ha
2:23:36
Speaker 1: uhem cannot catch us. The bones are broken and his
2:23:40
Speaker 1: wings are useless. Now men and animals can live again.
2:23:45
Speaker 1: We will fly away and tell them the good news.
2:23:50
Speaker 1: Worm Liu sprang into the air, first to one side
2:23:53
Speaker 1: and then to the other, striking at them, but he
2:23:56
Speaker 1: couldn't reach them. And when he found all his efforts
2:24:00
Speaker 1: were in vain, he rolled on the ground and roared
2:24:03
Speaker 1: louder than ever. The white crows flew round him in
2:24:07
Speaker 1: rings and called out, ha, ha ha. He can no
2:24:11
Speaker 1: longer fly, He only rolls and roars. The man who
2:24:16
Speaker 1: broke the bones said, if Wumlu wants me, he can
2:24:20
Speaker 1: come and look for me at the dam. Craw craw,
2:24:24
Speaker 1: and away they flew. Then Wumlu thought, wait, I'll get
2:24:31
Speaker 1: hold of the one who broke the bones. I'll get him.
2:24:35
Speaker 1: So he went to the dam and there was old
2:24:38
Speaker 1: brother Bullfrog sitting in the sun at the water's edge.
2:24:43
Speaker 1: Wumlieu crept up slowly, quietly like a skellum behind brother Bullfrog.
2:24:50
Speaker 1: Ha Now I've got him, he thought, and made a
2:24:53
Speaker 1: spring but brother Bullfrog said ho and dived in kubloops
2:24:59
Speaker 1: and came up at the other side of the dam
2:25:01
Speaker 1: and sat there blinking in the sun. Umlieu ran round
2:25:06
Speaker 1: as hard as he could and was just going to
2:25:08
Speaker 1: spring when kablups Brother Bullfrog dived in again and came
2:25:13
Speaker 1: up at the other side of the dam, and so
2:25:16
Speaker 1: it went on each time. Just when Umlieu had nearly
2:25:20
Speaker 1: caught him, Brother Bullfrog dived in kabluups and called out
2:25:25
Speaker 1: oh from the other side of the dam. Then at
2:25:29
Speaker 1: last Umlieu saw it was no use trying to catch
2:25:33
Speaker 1: Brother Bullfrog, so he went home to see if he
2:25:36
Speaker 1: could mend the broken bones. But he could not, and
2:25:41
Speaker 1: from that day he could no longer fly, only walk
2:25:45
Speaker 1: upon his iron claws. Also from that day he learned
2:25:49
Speaker 1: to creep quietly like a skellum after his game, and
2:25:53
Speaker 1: though he still catches them and eats them, he is
2:25:56
Speaker 1: not as dangerous as he was when he could fly.
2:26:00
Speaker 1: And the white crows can no longer speak. They can
2:26:04
Speaker 1: only say crawl, crawl. But old brother Big Bullfrog still
2:26:10
Speaker 1: goes hop hop hoppity hop round about the dam, and
2:26:14
Speaker 1: whenever he sees umlu he just says ho, and dives
2:26:19
Speaker 1: into the water kubloops as fast as he can, and
2:26:23
Speaker 1: sits there laughing when he hears umlu roar with anger
2:26:30
Speaker 1: end of the flying lion. Why the heron has a
2:26:39
Speaker 1: crooked neck. The flames leapt gaily upward in the wide fireplace,
2:26:46
Speaker 1: throwing strange shadows on the painted walls, and gleaming on
2:26:50
Speaker 1: the polished wood of floor and beam and cupboard. Little
2:26:54
Speaker 1: Yan basked contentedly in the warmth, almost dozing, now absently
2:27:00
Speaker 1: stroking the terrier curled up beside him, now running his
2:27:03
Speaker 1: fingers through the soft fur of the rug on which
2:27:06
Speaker 1: he lay. It was made of silver jackal skins, a
2:27:11
Speaker 1: dozen of them, to judge from the six bushy tails
2:27:14
Speaker 1: spread out on either side, and as Ota Carroll's gaze
2:27:18
Speaker 1: rested on them, he remarked, reminiscently, are but warm yuckles?
2:27:24
Speaker 1: Was a slim Carol. No one ever got the better
2:27:27
Speaker 1: of him without paying for it. In an instant, Little
2:27:31
Speaker 1: jan was sitting bolt upright. Every symptom of sleep vanished
2:27:35
Speaker 1: from his face. The book from which villain had been
2:27:38
Speaker 1: laboriously trying to gain some idea of the physical features
2:27:42
Speaker 1: of Russia was flung to the far end of the
2:27:45
Speaker 1: roostpunk while pity suspending for a brief moment his whittling
2:27:50
Speaker 1: of a catapult stick slid along the floor to get
2:27:53
Speaker 1: within better sight and sound of the story teller. Yes,
2:27:58
Speaker 1: my little masters, some times it was Umlieu he cheated.
2:28:02
Speaker 1: Sometimes it was o Bas Babian or orm Wolf, and
2:28:07
Speaker 1: once it was the poor little dove. And that is
2:28:10
Speaker 1: what made me think of how he was cheated himself.
2:28:14
Speaker 1: Did the little dove cheat him, asked Peter eagerly. No, Basi,
2:28:19
Speaker 1: the dove is too frightened, not stupid, Bassy, but like
2:28:24
Speaker 1: people are when they are too gentle and kind and
2:28:27
Speaker 1: believe everything other people tell them. She was sitting on
2:28:31
Speaker 1: her nest one day, singing to her little children Coo
2:28:36
Speaker 1: coo coo, when um Yakas prowled along under the tree
2:28:42
Speaker 1: and heard her. A la verrald. Now I'll have a
2:28:47
Speaker 1: nice breakfast, he thought, and he called out, good morning, Danta.
2:28:51
Speaker 1: I hear you have such pretty little children. Please bring
2:28:55
Speaker 1: them down for me to see. But the Tanta was
2:28:58
Speaker 1: frightened of yakars and said, I'm sorry, warm they are
2:29:02
Speaker 1: not well to day, and I must keep them at home.
2:29:06
Speaker 1: Then Jackos lost his temper and called out, nonsense, I'm
2:29:10
Speaker 1: hungry and want something to eat, So throw down one
2:29:13
Speaker 1: of your little children at once, Barsi's nose. Sometimes crossness
2:29:18
Speaker 1: drives away frightened us. And Tante was so cross with
2:29:21
Speaker 1: Uam Yakas for wanting to eat one of her little
2:29:23
Speaker 1: children that she called out, no, no, you bad Yakas.
2:29:28
Speaker 1: I shall do nothing of the sort. Go away and
2:29:31
Speaker 1: look for other food. If you don't, I'll fly up
2:29:35
Speaker 1: and eat them all, said Jakas. Throw one down at once,
2:29:40
Speaker 1: and he stamped about and made such a horrible noise
2:29:44
Speaker 1: that poor Tanta thought he was really flying up. She
2:29:47
Speaker 1: looked at her babies. There wasn't one she wanted to give,
2:29:51
Speaker 1: but it was better to lose one than have them
2:29:54
Speaker 1: all eaten. So she shut her eyes and fluttered about
2:29:58
Speaker 1: the nest till one of them fell out, and Yakus
2:30:02
Speaker 1: caught it in his mouth and carried it off to
2:30:04
Speaker 1: his hole to eat. Ah. But the poor Tanta was sad.
2:30:09
Speaker 1: She spread her wings over her other children and never
2:30:12
Speaker 1: slept all night, but looked about this way and that
2:30:16
Speaker 1: way with her soft eyes, thinking every little noise she heard.
2:30:20
Speaker 1: Was um yakals trying to fly up to her nest
2:30:23
Speaker 1: to gobble up all her babies. The next morning there
2:30:28
Speaker 1: was um yakus again. Danta, your child was a nice,
2:30:33
Speaker 1: juicy mouthful. Throw me down another and make haste, do
2:30:37
Speaker 1: you hear, or I'll fly up and eat you all.
2:30:41
Speaker 1: Coo coo coo, said Tanta, crying, no, I won't give
2:30:48
Speaker 1: you one. But it was no use, and in the
2:30:52
Speaker 1: end she did what she had done before, just shut
2:30:55
Speaker 1: her eyes and fluttered round and round till a baby
2:30:58
Speaker 1: fell out of the nest. She thought there was no
2:31:01
Speaker 1: help for it. And like some people are, she thought
2:31:05
Speaker 1: what the eye didn't see, the heart wouldn't feel. But
2:31:09
Speaker 1: her heart was very sore, and she cried more sadly
2:31:12
Speaker 1: than ever. And this time she said, ooh ooh ooh, ooh,
2:31:18
Speaker 1: ooh ooh, it was very sad and sorrowful to listen to.
2:31:25
Speaker 1: Ooh ooh, ooh, ooh ooh ooh. Here came old Oumria.
2:31:33
Speaker 1: He is a kind old bird, though he holds his
2:31:36
Speaker 1: neck so crooked and looks like there was nothing to
2:31:39
Speaker 1: smile at in the whole wide world. Ah, why do
2:31:43
Speaker 1: you cry so sadly? Tanta? It nearly gives me a
2:31:46
Speaker 1: stitch in my side. Ooh ooh, I'm very miserable. Um
2:31:53
Speaker 1: Yakals has eaten two of my little children, and to
2:31:56
Speaker 1: morrow he will come for another, and soon I shall
2:32:00
Speaker 1: have none left. But why did you let him eat them?
2:32:04
Speaker 1: Because he said if I didn't give him one, he
2:32:07
Speaker 1: would fly up and eat them all. Ooh ooh ooh.
2:32:13
Speaker 1: Then Umria was very angry. He flapped his wings and
2:32:17
Speaker 1: stretched out his long neck, so my bassis just so.
2:32:22
Speaker 1: The children hugged themselves in silent delight at OTA's fine acting,
2:32:27
Speaker 1: and he opened and shut his long beak to show
2:32:29
Speaker 1: how he would like to peck out Wumyakos's wicked eyes
2:32:33
Speaker 1: if he could only catch him. That for flux da Jakos,
2:32:38
Speaker 1: he said, tie tell such lies. But Tanta, you are stupid,
2:32:43
Speaker 1: don't you know um Yakles can't fly. Now, listen to me.
2:32:47
Speaker 1: When he comes again, tell him you know he can't fly,
2:32:51
Speaker 1: and that you won't giving any more of your children.
2:32:54
Speaker 1: The next day there came Umyakos again with his old story,
2:32:59
Speaker 1: but Tanta just laughed at him. Ah, no, you story telling,
2:33:04
Speaker 1: bushy tail, She said, I won't give you any more
2:33:07
Speaker 1: of my little children. And you needn't say you'll fly
2:33:10
Speaker 1: up and eat them, because I know you can't near near,
2:33:15
Speaker 1: said Wamjakals, growling. How did you know that? Wormria told
2:33:20
Speaker 1: me so there, said Tanta, and you can just go
2:33:23
Speaker 1: to your mother my But Tanta was getting brave now
2:33:28
Speaker 1: that she knew that she and her little children were safe.
2:33:32
Speaker 1: That was the worst insult you can ever give a
2:33:34
Speaker 1: grown up Yakuls, and wum Yakos growled more than ever.
2:33:40
Speaker 1: Never mind, he said, at last, Tanta is only a fromance.
2:33:44
Speaker 1: I won't bother with her any more. But wait till
2:33:47
Speaker 1: I catch Wormria. He'll be sorry. He poked his long
2:33:51
Speaker 1: nose into my business, the old meddler, and he trotted
2:33:55
Speaker 1: off to look for him. He hunted and hunted, and
2:33:59
Speaker 1: at last he found him, standing on one leg at
2:34:01
Speaker 1: the side of the river, with his long neck drawn
2:34:04
Speaker 1: in and his head resting on his shoulders. Good day, Umria,
2:34:09
Speaker 1: he said, politely, How is um to day? I'm all right,
2:34:15
Speaker 1: answered Wumria. Shortly, without moving an inch, yak A spoke
2:34:20
Speaker 1: in a little small voice, Ah toch so humble um,
2:34:26
Speaker 1: please come this way a little I'm so stupid, but
2:34:30
Speaker 1: you are so wise and clever, and I want to
2:34:33
Speaker 1: ask your advice about something. Umria began to listen. It
2:34:39
Speaker 1: is Marceaux when people hear about themselves. He put down
2:34:44
Speaker 1: his other leg, stretched out his neck and asked over
2:34:47
Speaker 1: his shoulder, what did you say, eh, come toch this
2:34:51
Speaker 1: way a little? The mud over there is too soft
2:34:54
Speaker 1: for me to stand on. I want your valuable advice
2:34:58
Speaker 1: about the wind. The other people all say, I must
2:35:01
Speaker 1: ask you, because no one is as wise as you. Truly,
2:35:05
Speaker 1: Yacos was a shlim carol. He knew how to stroke
2:35:09
Speaker 1: Wumria's feathers the right way. Wumiria came slowly over the mud.
2:35:16
Speaker 1: A person mustn't show he is too pleased. He even
2:35:19
Speaker 1: stopped to swallow a little frog on the way, and
2:35:22
Speaker 1: then he said careless like, yes, I can tell you
2:35:26
Speaker 1: all about the wind and weather. Ask what you like, Yacas.
2:35:31
Speaker 1: His long neck twisted about with pride. Um. When the
2:35:35
Speaker 1: wind is from the west, how must one hold one's head?
2:35:40
Speaker 1: Is that all? Said Wumria. Just so, and he turned
2:35:44
Speaker 1: his head to the east. Thank you, um And when
2:35:48
Speaker 1: the wind is from the east, so Wumiria bent his
2:35:53
Speaker 1: neck the other way. Thank you, um said the little
2:35:58
Speaker 1: small voice, so grateful an humble. But when there is
2:36:02
Speaker 1: a storm and the rain beats down, how then, so
2:36:07
Speaker 1: said ou Maria, And he bent his neck down till
2:36:10
Speaker 1: his head nearly touched his toes. My little master's just
2:36:15
Speaker 1: as quick as a whipsnake shoots into its hole. So
2:36:18
Speaker 1: Yakuls shut out his arm and caught Umria on the
2:36:20
Speaker 1: bend of his neck. Crack, And in a minute, the
2:36:23
Speaker 1: poor old bird was rolling in the mud, with his
2:36:26
Speaker 1: neck nearly broken, and so weak that he couldn't even
2:36:30
Speaker 1: lift his beak to peck at the false, wicked eyes
2:36:32
Speaker 1: that were staring at him. Oh, how glad was cruel Jakuls.
2:36:38
Speaker 1: He laughed till he couldn't any more. He screamed and
2:36:41
Speaker 1: danced with pleasure. He waved his bushy tail, and the
2:36:44
Speaker 1: silver mane on his back bristled as he jumped about.
2:36:48
Speaker 1: Ha ha ha. Um ought to do me a bad turn,
2:36:52
Speaker 1: But I'll teach people not to interfere with me. Ha ha.
2:36:56
Speaker 1: No one is as wise as u Maria, hay, and
2:37:00
Speaker 1: he will soon find out how to mend his broken neck.
2:37:03
Speaker 1: Ha ha ha. Jacas gave one last spring right over
2:37:08
Speaker 1: poor Umria and danced off to his den in the
2:37:11
Speaker 1: copies to tell Tanti Jakos and the little Yakusses how
2:37:16
Speaker 1: he had cheated Umria and from that day basis Umria's
2:37:21
Speaker 1: neck is crooked. He can't hold it straight, and it's
2:37:25
Speaker 1: all through trying to interfere with Jakos. That is why
2:37:29
Speaker 1: I said, Jakos is a slim carol. Whether he walks
2:37:32
Speaker 1: on four legs or on two, that best is mar
2:37:36
Speaker 1: to leave him alone, because he can always make a plan,
2:37:40
Speaker 1: and no one never gets the better of him without
2:37:42
Speaker 1: paying for it in the end. And of why the
2:37:47
Speaker 1: heron has a crooked neck the little red tortoise. No
2:37:59
Speaker 1: Yakus story to night, please, Ota, said little Jan as
2:38:03
Speaker 1: they gathered round the fire. We all think Jakos was
2:38:07
Speaker 1: a cruel, horrid creature, eating the poor little doves and
2:38:11
Speaker 1: cracking the good heron's neck. Yes, chimed in pity. He
2:38:16
Speaker 1: was always playing wicked tricks. So no more Yukos for us.
2:38:22
Speaker 1: What will you tell us to night, Ota? Something really nice,
2:38:26
Speaker 1: suggested William, and not unkind OTA's beady black eyes twinkled
2:38:33
Speaker 1: from one to another of his little master's while an
2:38:36
Speaker 1: affectionate smile spread over his yellow face, accentuating the wrinkles
2:38:41
Speaker 1: which Chris crossed it in every direction. Ah, the soft
2:38:47
Speaker 1: young heart's. Otar's heart was like that once too, But
2:38:52
Speaker 1: he shook his head. If the heart doesn't get a
2:38:55
Speaker 1: little tie like a bouton, it is of no use
2:38:58
Speaker 1: to a person in this old, hard world. He deposited
2:39:03
Speaker 1: his shapeless hat on the floor, tapped his red kop
2:39:06
Speaker 1: dook with a claw like forefinger, and waited for an inspiration.
2:39:12
Speaker 1: It came from an unexpected quarter, for suddenly there was
2:39:16
Speaker 1: a commotion at the end of his old coat, the
2:39:19
Speaker 1: tails of which hung down nearly to the floor, and
2:39:23
Speaker 1: diving into his pocket, the old man triumphantly produced a
2:39:27
Speaker 1: squirming tortoise. See what Ota caught for the basis near
2:39:32
Speaker 1: the clip cop this afternoon, A nice little berchskilpat. Now
2:39:38
Speaker 1: bas villain can put it in his corral with the
2:39:41
Speaker 1: others and let it lay eggs. It is still young,
2:39:45
Speaker 1: but it will grow. Yes, so big a cartwheel might
2:39:51
Speaker 1: have been comfortably contained in the circle described by Otar's arms.
2:39:57
Speaker 1: It was a nobbly, dark marked torti, quite unlike those
2:40:01
Speaker 1: the little boys generally found in the felt near the house,
2:40:05
Speaker 1: and they took possession of it with delight and suggestions
2:40:09
Speaker 1: as to a name. After discussion, honors were equally in
2:40:14
Speaker 1: favor of Petre Tiff and Missus van Riebeck, and it
2:40:20
Speaker 1: was decided that the casting vote should be left to
2:40:23
Speaker 1: cousin Minnie, the children's governess. For a long time they
2:40:28
Speaker 1: had kept tortoises of all sorts and sizes in their skill.
2:40:32
Speaker 1: Pup Karl and so tame and intelligent. Had some of
2:40:35
Speaker 1: these creatures grown that they would come when called, And
2:40:40
Speaker 1: big old Vault de Mard roamed about at will, often
2:40:43
Speaker 1: disappearing for a time and returning to his companions. After
2:40:47
Speaker 1: a few days in the felt, Ota turned the new
2:40:52
Speaker 1: acquisition on its back on the jackal skin rug, where
2:40:56
Speaker 1: it lay, wriggling and going through the strangest contortions. Ah,
2:41:01
Speaker 1: the wise little man is it there? Its mother sprinkled
2:41:05
Speaker 1: it with boohoo. There just under its arm. He touched
2:41:10
Speaker 1: the skinny underside of one of its fore legs. Footnote
2:41:15
Speaker 1: bohoo is an aromatic felter heb from which a decoction
2:41:20
Speaker 1: has made. Sprinkling boohoo under the arm is a hottentot
2:41:24
Speaker 1: custom in token of approval, and a footnote here Basviliem
2:41:32
Speaker 1: put it in the soap boxy till to morrow. Ah,
2:41:36
Speaker 1: if only it had been a red tortoise, how glad
2:41:39
Speaker 1: oto would have been a red tortoise, echoed pity, and
2:41:43
Speaker 1: little Yan, while Villem hurried back from the passage to
2:41:47
Speaker 1: hear all about it and have basis then never heard
2:41:51
Speaker 1: of a red tortoise? Yes, certainly sometimes a red one
2:41:56
Speaker 1: is born, but not often, only once in a thousand years.
2:42:02
Speaker 1: And when this happens, the news is sent round because
2:42:05
Speaker 1: it is such a wonderful thing, And the whole nation
2:42:09
Speaker 1: of skilpads, those frogs with bony shields and hard beaks,
2:42:13
Speaker 1: are glad because they know the little red one has
2:42:17
Speaker 1: come to help them against their enemies. Once, a long,
2:42:22
Speaker 1: long time ago, a mother schilpad laid an egg in
2:42:26
Speaker 1: a shallow hole in the sand, just where the sun
2:42:29
Speaker 1: could warm it all the day, and she scraped a
2:42:33
Speaker 1: little sand over it so that no one could see it,
2:42:37
Speaker 1: see bussies. She was afraid of thieves. It was white
2:42:41
Speaker 1: and round and so large that she felt very proud
2:42:45
Speaker 1: of it, and she often went to see how it
2:42:48
Speaker 1: was getting on. One day, as she got near the place,
2:42:52
Speaker 1: she heard a little voice, peep peep, mamma, mamma, come
2:42:58
Speaker 1: and find me. So she called out, Kinter, kinter, here's
2:43:04
Speaker 1: your mamma, my. But she walked fast. Her short legs
2:43:09
Speaker 1: just went so Otar's arms worked vigorously. And when she
2:43:14
Speaker 1: got to the karu bush where she had put the egg,
2:43:17
Speaker 1: the shell was broken, and a little red tortoise was
2:43:20
Speaker 1: sitting alongside of it. His shell was soft, and you
2:43:25
Speaker 1: could see everything inside of him, and how the blood
2:43:28
Speaker 1: went this way and that way. But never mind. It
2:43:32
Speaker 1: is Marceaux with little tortoises. He was fine and healthy,
2:43:37
Speaker 1: and everything about him was quite red. Al la verolt
2:43:42
Speaker 1: old mamma was proud. She went and told all her friends,
2:43:47
Speaker 1: and they came from all sides to see the little
2:43:49
Speaker 1: red tortoise. They were berg tortoises and fluch de tortoises,
2:43:55
Speaker 1: and sun crapers, and even water tortoises, young and old,
2:44:00
Speaker 1: and they all sat round and praised him and gave
2:44:03
Speaker 1: him good advice and nice things to eat. He listened
2:44:08
Speaker 1: to everything and ate all the nice things, and grew
2:44:11
Speaker 1: bigger and redder and harder. But he didn't talk much,
2:44:15
Speaker 1: and the old ones nodded to each other and said, ach,
2:44:19
Speaker 1: but he is sensible. But the young one said, ach,
2:44:24
Speaker 1: but he is stuck up. And they went away and
2:44:27
Speaker 1: crawled in the red clay to make themselves red. But
2:44:31
Speaker 1: it was no good. In a little while it all
2:44:34
Speaker 1: rubbed off. At last all the visitor skilpuds went home again,
2:44:41
Speaker 1: But the little red tortoise stayed with his mamma and
2:44:44
Speaker 1: went on growing bigger and redder and harder. And his
2:44:48
Speaker 1: mamma was toch so proud of him when he walked
2:44:53
Speaker 1: in the felt, and the other young tortoises said to him, come,
2:44:58
Speaker 1: we'll show you the way to do things. You must
2:45:01
Speaker 1: do so, and you must do so. He said, you
2:45:05
Speaker 1: can do so if you like, But I'll do things
2:45:08
Speaker 1: my own way. And they said, stuck up red thing. Wait, oh,
2:45:14
Speaker 1: bas giraffe will get you. But they left him alone.
2:45:19
Speaker 1: And although they all wished they were red, they did
2:45:22
Speaker 1: not crawl in the clay any more. They knew it
2:45:26
Speaker 1: was no good. It was only from outside, so it
2:45:30
Speaker 1: soon rubbed off. But the little red one's redness was
2:45:34
Speaker 1: from inside, and Basi's no for a thing to be
2:45:38
Speaker 1: any good. It must be on the inside. He glanced
2:45:43
Speaker 1: involuntarily at the wall cover where his soupee was safely
2:45:47
Speaker 1: locked up. It would certainly not be any good, in
2:45:50
Speaker 1: his opinion, till it was on the inside of him.
2:45:56
Speaker 1: But when the old tortoises gave him advice, the little
2:45:59
Speaker 1: red tortoise listened and thanked them. He was a wise
2:46:03
Speaker 1: little man. He knew when to speak and when to
2:46:06
Speaker 1: hold his tongue. At that time, my basis, the whole
2:46:12
Speaker 1: tortoise nation was having a hard time with Obas Giraffe,
2:46:17
Speaker 1: that old horse with the long neck and the unequal legs,
2:46:20
Speaker 1: who is all white and black like a burnt thorn
2:46:23
Speaker 1: bush with crows sitting on it. Footnote the mimosa bush
2:46:29
Speaker 1: is white when burnt by the sun. And a footnote
2:46:34
Speaker 1: he gives blue ashes when he is burnt. Therefore is
2:46:38
Speaker 1: he called the blue one. He had taken to eating tortoises.
2:46:45
Speaker 1: They didn't know what to do. They tried to make
2:46:48
Speaker 1: a plan, but no, they could find no remedy. Whenever
2:46:53
Speaker 1: Obas Giraffe saw a nice young tortoise that he could
2:46:57
Speaker 1: easily swallow, he picked it up in his mouth, and
2:47:00
Speaker 1: from fright it pulled his head and all its feet
2:47:02
Speaker 1: into its shell, and whoops, one swallow and is its
2:47:07
Speaker 1: sail down the blue one's long throat, just like Basis
2:47:11
Speaker 1: sail down the plank at the side of the skier Kraal.
2:47:15
Speaker 1: The little red tortoise listened to the plans that were made,
2:47:19
Speaker 1: and at last he thought of a plan. He was
2:47:23
Speaker 1: not sure how it would go, but he was a
2:47:25
Speaker 1: brave little one, and he thought by himself, if it
2:47:29
Speaker 1: goes wrong, there will be no more little red daughtoise.
2:47:33
Speaker 1: But if it goes right, then the whole tortoise nation
2:47:36
Speaker 1: will be able to live again. So what did he do,
2:47:40
Speaker 1: my basis? He crawled out far into the felt and
2:47:45
Speaker 1: sat in the path where the old Blue one liked
2:47:47
Speaker 1: to walk. Soon he heard woof, woof, woof, coming nearer
2:47:54
Speaker 1: and nearer. Then the noise stopped. The little red one
2:47:59
Speaker 1: peeped from under his shell. Yes, there was the great
2:48:03
Speaker 1: Blue One standing over him and looking very fierce. Do
2:48:08
Speaker 1: you know, little red tortoise, In one moment, I could
2:48:11
Speaker 1: trample you to death. The little red one was very frightened,
2:48:16
Speaker 1: for this was not his plan, But he said nothing,
2:48:21
Speaker 1: Do you know, little red tortoise? In one moment I
2:48:24
Speaker 1: could swallow you. Ah, how glad was the little red tortoise,
2:48:30
Speaker 1: But he only said in a small little voice, Yes,
2:48:33
Speaker 1: noble blue one, I belong to the nation whom it
2:48:37
Speaker 1: is the custom to swallow. Please swallow me. Oh Bas
2:48:42
Speaker 1: Giraffe picked him up and gave a little gulp, and
2:48:47
Speaker 1: the little red tortoise slipped half way down his long throat.
2:48:51
Speaker 1: But o, ye, hear a strange thing happened. The little
2:48:55
Speaker 1: red one would go no further. Instead of drawing in
2:48:59
Speaker 1: his head and eggs and slipping down like a stone
2:49:02
Speaker 1: like all the other tortoises had done, he wanted to
2:49:05
Speaker 1: see where he was going, so he stuck out his
2:49:08
Speaker 1: head and fastened his sharp little nails into Obas Giraffe's gullet,
2:49:13
Speaker 1: and there he hung like a bat on a wall.
2:49:16
Speaker 1: Go town, Go down, little tortoise, you choke me. The
2:49:21
Speaker 1: old blue one could hardly speak. His throat was so
2:49:23
Speaker 1: full of tortoise. Peep peep, said the little red one,
2:49:28
Speaker 1: and held on more tightly than ever. Come up, Come up,
2:49:33
Speaker 1: little tortoise, you kill me. The old blue one was
2:49:37
Speaker 1: stamping and gurgling. Now, peep peep, said the little red
2:49:41
Speaker 1: one and hung on with his hard bent beak as well.
2:49:46
Speaker 1: He thought, No, too many of my nation have sailed
2:49:50
Speaker 1: down this red slut. I won't let go. I tell you, Basis.
2:49:57
Speaker 1: O bas Giraffe danced and pranced over the f He
2:50:00
Speaker 1: screamed and bellowed, he gurgled and swallowed. He tried to
2:50:05
Speaker 1: get the little red tortoise down, and he tried to
2:50:08
Speaker 1: get him up, but it was no use. The little
2:50:12
Speaker 1: red one clung fast to him till he was quite choked,
2:50:15
Speaker 1: and sank down in the sand and died. Then the
2:50:20
Speaker 1: little red tortoise crawled out and went home to tell
2:50:23
Speaker 1: his mamma that he had killed O bas Gioff and
2:50:27
Speaker 1: that his nation could have peace again. Ah, but she
2:50:32
Speaker 1: was proud of him. It's not for nothing you were
2:50:36
Speaker 1: born red, she said, Come here, my little crab, that
2:50:40
Speaker 1: I may put boohoo under your arm. Come, my crooked
2:50:43
Speaker 1: legged little one, let your mother sprinkle you with buhoo.
2:50:48
Speaker 1: When she had sprinkled him with boohoo, they went and
2:50:51
Speaker 1: told their friends, and all the tortoise nation rejoiced and
2:50:56
Speaker 1: went and had a great feast off O bas Giraff
2:50:59
Speaker 1: as he lay dead in the felt, And they thought
2:51:03
Speaker 1: more of the little red tortoise than ever. Even the
2:51:06
Speaker 1: young ones who had been angry with him, said, he
2:51:09
Speaker 1: is wiser than we are. We will listen to what
2:51:13
Speaker 1: he says. Perhaps, after all, there is something in being
2:51:18
Speaker 1: born a certain color, And of the little red tortoise.
2:51:30
Speaker 1: The ostrich hunt. The next day. All the time that
2:51:35
Speaker 1: was not given to lessons and meals was spent by
2:51:38
Speaker 1: the little boys in scouring the felt for a red tortoise.
2:51:43
Speaker 1: Disappointment at their fruitless search found vent in no measured terms.
2:51:48
Speaker 1: When Ota Carrol appeared in the dining room at his
2:51:51
Speaker 1: usual hour, Ah to hear them now, he said, regarding
2:51:56
Speaker 1: them with his wide mouthed smile of amused tolerance. Does
2:52:00
Speaker 1: it then rain red tortoises? And how can the basis
2:52:04
Speaker 1: think they will find at the first shot a thing
2:52:07
Speaker 1: that only comes once in a thousand years? Well, said
2:52:12
Speaker 1: Willem stoutly. It might just have been the time for one.
2:52:16
Speaker 1: How were we to know, Ota asked little Yan earnestly.
2:52:21
Speaker 1: Do you know when it will be red tortoise time again?
2:52:26
Speaker 1: Ay ah Bassis said Ota readily. It won't be long. Now.
2:52:30
Speaker 1: Let Ota think he performed a tattoo on the red kopduk,
2:52:36
Speaker 1: a sure sign that he was in the thick of
2:52:38
Speaker 1: mental gymnastics. What comes just before a thousand my basis
2:52:45
Speaker 1: nine hundred and ninety nine, answered Pete, who was good
2:52:48
Speaker 1: at arithmetic. Now, yes, said Otta triumphantly. I knew it
2:52:54
Speaker 1: must be nearly time. It is nine hundred and ninety
2:52:57
Speaker 1: nine years since there was a red tortie. So next year,
2:53:02
Speaker 1: this time busses can begin to look for one. Only
2:53:05
Speaker 1: begin my bussies, because it will only be creeping out
2:53:09
Speaker 1: of the egg then, And perhaps it won't be in
2:53:13
Speaker 1: this felt. It might be far far away where people
2:53:17
Speaker 1: don't know about a red tortoise, and so no one
2:53:20
Speaker 1: will look for him. Must Ota tell you another story
2:53:24
Speaker 1: about him? The sly old man had taken the best
2:53:28
Speaker 1: way of escaping more questions. The little boys gathered round
2:53:33
Speaker 1: and listened wide eyed as he told the story of
2:53:37
Speaker 1: the tortoises hunting the ostriches. After Obas Giraffe was dead,
2:53:43
Speaker 1: the tortoises had a nice life for a long time,
2:53:47
Speaker 1: and then there came into their felt old three sticks,
2:53:51
Speaker 1: the ostrich with his Mamma and Papa, and his wives
2:53:56
Speaker 1: and uncles and aunties and children, and friends. Allah, they
2:54:00
Speaker 1: were a lot of ostriches. The whole felt was full
2:54:04
Speaker 1: of them, and they all began eating tortoises wherever they
2:54:08
Speaker 1: could find them. It was just the same like when
2:54:12
Speaker 1: O Bas Giraffe used to go about. And the tortoises
2:54:16
Speaker 1: thought and thought, and they talked and talked, but they
2:54:19
Speaker 1: couldn't make a plan that would drive the ostriches away.
2:54:25
Speaker 1: The little red tortoise was thinking too, but he didn't
2:54:28
Speaker 1: talk till he had his plan ready. Then he called
2:54:33
Speaker 1: all the tortoises together. The old ones came because they
2:54:37
Speaker 1: wanted to hear what the wise little red one had
2:54:40
Speaker 1: to say. And the young ones came because ever since
2:54:44
Speaker 1: he had killed o Bas Giraffe they had listened to him.
2:54:50
Speaker 1: When they were all together, he said, it now goes
2:54:53
Speaker 1: on too long, this hunting of tortoises by all three
2:54:56
Speaker 1: sticks and his friends. Let us change play, and let
2:55:01
Speaker 1: us the tortoise people go and hunt ostriches. Beep beep,
2:55:07
Speaker 1: cried all the young tortoises. They were quite ready. But
2:55:12
Speaker 1: the old one said, is this, the wise little red one,
2:55:17
Speaker 1: how is it possible for us to hunt ostriches? It
2:55:21
Speaker 1: is possible because ostriches never run straight, but always a
2:55:25
Speaker 1: little in the round and a little in the round,
2:55:28
Speaker 1: so that in the end, if they run long enough,
2:55:32
Speaker 1: they come again to the place where he began from Now, yes,
2:55:37
Speaker 1: on a certain day, let us then go into the
2:55:40
Speaker 1: felt where the ostriches like to hunt, and let us
2:55:43
Speaker 1: make two long rows, not straight out, but always in
2:55:47
Speaker 1: the round, wondering very large outside and the other smaller inside.
2:55:55
Speaker 1: Then when all three Sticks and his friends come, we
2:55:58
Speaker 1: will call to one another and drive them on, and
2:56:02
Speaker 1: they will flee through the midst of us, round and
2:56:04
Speaker 1: round till they can flee no longer. Peep pep, said
2:56:09
Speaker 1: the young tortoises, and the old ones joined in. They
2:56:14
Speaker 1: saw that it was a good plan, so they all
2:56:17
Speaker 1: went to the hunting felt of old three Sticks and
2:56:20
Speaker 1: his friends and spread themselves out. As the little red
2:56:24
Speaker 1: tortoise had said. Soon the ostriches came, pecking, pecking as
2:56:29
Speaker 1: they walked. The tortoises sat very still, waiting, my buses,
2:56:36
Speaker 1: just waiting till the ostriches were right in the middle
2:56:39
Speaker 1: of the two rings. Then the little red tortoise gave
2:56:43
Speaker 1: the signal peep, peep, and at once the calling began,
2:56:48
Speaker 1: Are you there? Called the first tortoise. I am here,
2:56:52
Speaker 1: said the next, And so it went on all round
2:56:55
Speaker 1: the circle, one calling to the other. What are you doing?
2:57:00
Speaker 1: Called the first one. Hunting ostriches, said the next, And
2:57:04
Speaker 1: so it went on all round the circle, again, one
2:57:08
Speaker 1: calling to the other. The ostriches could see nothing, They
2:57:12
Speaker 1: could only hear voices calling. They looked at each other
2:57:15
Speaker 1: and said, what are these voices? It is surely a
2:57:19
Speaker 1: great army come to hunt us. Let us get away.
2:57:23
Speaker 1: They were very frightened and began to run. And as
2:57:26
Speaker 1: far as they ran, they heard are you there, I
2:57:30
Speaker 1: am here? What are you doing? Hunting ostriches? So it
2:57:36
Speaker 1: went on over and over again. The tortoises never moved,
2:57:41
Speaker 1: only kept calling out, and the ostriches ran faster and faster,
2:57:45
Speaker 1: all in the round, till at last they were so
2:57:48
Speaker 1: tired they couldn't run any more. First one fell, then another,
2:57:53
Speaker 1: and another and another, till there were heaps of them
2:57:56
Speaker 1: lying about, and just where they fell they lay quite still.
2:58:01
Speaker 1: They were too tired to move. Then the tortoises gathered together.
2:58:07
Speaker 1: They were very many, and they bit old three sticks,
2:58:10
Speaker 1: and all these family and friends on their long necks,
2:58:13
Speaker 1: and kill them Since then, the tortoises have had peace
2:58:18
Speaker 1: from the long necked people o bas giraffe and old
2:58:22
Speaker 1: three sticks. It is only the things of the air,
2:58:26
Speaker 1: like crows and lammer fungers that still hunt them. And
2:58:31
Speaker 1: basses know how they do. They catch a poor tortoise
2:58:35
Speaker 1: in their claws and fly away with him high up
2:58:38
Speaker 1: over a copy, and then they drop him on the
2:58:41
Speaker 1: stones cub bloops and there he lies with his shell
2:58:45
Speaker 1: all broken and without a shell. How can a tortoise live?
2:58:50
Speaker 1: And then the thing of the air comes and eats
2:58:53
Speaker 1: him up, and that is the end of the poor tortoise.
2:58:58
Speaker 1: But the red tortoise they never touch. It is his color,
2:59:02
Speaker 1: bases that frightens them. So the young tortoises were right
2:59:06
Speaker 1: when they said there is something, after all in being
2:59:10
Speaker 1: born a certain color. After the ostrich hunt, the little
2:59:15
Speaker 1: red tortoise was sprinkled with buho under both arms, and
2:59:19
Speaker 1: his mamma sang him this song. The little crooked legged one,
2:59:24
Speaker 1: I could sprinkle it, sprinkle it with buho under its arms.
2:59:29
Speaker 1: The little red crab, the little wise one, I sprinkled
2:59:32
Speaker 1: the buho under both arms. For the long necks they
2:59:36
Speaker 1: ate us it has found a way to kill them,
2:59:40
Speaker 1: so we sprinkle it. The little red one sprinkled the
2:59:44
Speaker 1: buho under both arms. The usual discussion took place when
2:59:49
Speaker 1: Ota had finished, and at last Beete said, if I
2:59:53
Speaker 1: had to be a tortoise, I'd be a red one. Why,
2:59:58
Speaker 1: my little master, because the crows and lammerfungers don't catch it.
3:00:04
Speaker 1: To be swallowed by an ostrich or stick in a
3:00:06
Speaker 1: giraffe's throat would not be so bad. But I'd hate
3:00:10
Speaker 1: to be broken on the stones, ah, my bassy. No
3:00:15
Speaker 1: matter how old friend death comes, we are never ready
3:00:19
Speaker 1: for him. When Ota was young, he was nearly killed
3:00:23
Speaker 1: by a troop of spring bucks, and he thought, no,
3:00:27
Speaker 1: not toch trampled to death. To be carried down the
3:00:31
Speaker 1: river is better. But when the flood came and the
3:00:35
Speaker 1: river carried Ota away, he fought for his life just
3:00:39
Speaker 1: as hard as when the spring bucks were on him.
3:00:42
Speaker 1: It was the same when the hut was burnt, and
3:00:45
Speaker 1: when the mad bull chased Oto across the felt, Over
3:00:49
Speaker 1: and over again, the same. Always another sort of death
3:00:53
Speaker 1: seems better. Always old friend death finds a man not
3:00:58
Speaker 1: quite ready for him. Him. And now, how would you
3:01:03
Speaker 1: like him to find you, Ota, asked Willem with much interest.
3:01:08
Speaker 1: A whimsical smile spread over the old man's face. Ah
3:01:13
Speaker 1: to hear him just sitting in the sun my bassy
3:01:17
Speaker 1: by the skier kraal wall, where I have sat for
3:01:20
Speaker 1: so many many years. When he comes, I will say, mourning,
3:01:26
Speaker 1: old friend, you have been a long time on the road. Ah,
3:01:31
Speaker 1: so long that I am tired of waiting. Let us
3:01:35
Speaker 1: go at once. A person needn't pack up for that
3:01:39
Speaker 1: trek buses. I'll just drop my old sheepskin cross and
3:01:44
Speaker 1: take old friend Death's hand and let him show me
3:01:48
Speaker 1: the way. It is far my basis, far to that land,
3:01:53
Speaker 1: and no one ever comes back from it, then some
3:01:57
Speaker 1: one else will tell the stories by the fire. There
3:02:00
Speaker 1: will be no Ota any more to talk to the
3:02:03
Speaker 1: little master's. His voice had dropped to a musing tone.
3:02:09
Speaker 1: Don't don't, cried pity in a choked voice. Ota, you
3:02:15
Speaker 1: mustn't say such things, said villain, and they each seized
3:02:19
Speaker 1: one of OTA's crooked hands, while little Jan clung to
3:02:23
Speaker 1: his old coat as though he would never let it go.
3:02:26
Speaker 1: I want my Ota, he cried. He mustn't go away.
3:02:31
Speaker 1: I want my Ota, Carol, the old man's eyes glistened
3:02:36
Speaker 1: with a moisture not often seen in them. Still still
3:02:40
Speaker 1: my little Bassi's, he said, stroking first one then another.
3:02:45
Speaker 1: Ota doesn't want to make them sad. He is not
3:02:48
Speaker 1: going yet. He will sit here and tell his foolish
3:02:52
Speaker 1: stories for many nights. Yet a caressing smile broke over
3:02:56
Speaker 1: his grotesque face. And do they then want to keep
3:03:00
Speaker 1: their Ota? Ah, to think of it, the kind little hearts.
3:03:06
Speaker 1: But what will de nui say if the eyes are juicy? No?
3:03:10
Speaker 1: Ota only said about the skier kraal and sitting in
3:03:13
Speaker 1: the sun, because it sounds so nice and friendly. Look
3:03:18
Speaker 1: how lively and well Ota is like a young bulkhough
3:03:23
Speaker 1: he pretended playfully to toss them. That's right, my children,
3:03:28
Speaker 1: Now you laugh again. But young bulcarves must also go
3:03:32
Speaker 1: in the corral. And the hut is calling Ota night,
3:03:37
Speaker 1: my bassies, night night. Sleep well to morrow, Ote I
3:03:43
Speaker 1: will tell them another beautiful story. Ach the dear little ones,
3:03:48
Speaker 1: so good to their ugly Ota, followed by a chorus
3:03:53
Speaker 1: of good nights from the children. The old man shuffled away,
3:03:57
Speaker 1: not knowing that he had spoken with prophetic voice and
3:04:01
Speaker 1: that friend death would find him even as he wished
3:04:06
Speaker 1: sitting in the sun by the skier Kraal, but that
3:04:10
Speaker 1: was not yet a while, and he told many stories
3:04:14
Speaker 1: before setting out on the great trek for the unknown.
3:04:17
Speaker 1: Felt whence no traveler returns. End of the Ostrich Hunt
3:04:24
Speaker 1: and end of Ottar Carroll Stories. South African Folklore Tales
3:04:30
Speaker 1: by Sanni Mettlecamp