A dove laid an egg in the
hollow of a big tree in front of the blacksmith's
house. When she flew away from her nest in search of
food, the blacksmith's wife stole the egg. The dove
came back to her nest and found the egg missing.
The dove knew at once that
the blacksmith's wife must have taken it. So she went
to the woman and pleaded, "Give me back my egg,
please."
The blacksmith's wife
pretended that she knew nothing about it and said,
"What egg are you talking about? I didn't see
any egg." The dove was heartbroken and flew
about looking for help. On the way she met a pig, who
asked, "Why are you crying, little bird?"
She said, "O pig, can
you help me? Will you dig up the yams of the
blacksmith's wife who stole my egg?"
"No, not I,"
grunted the pig, walking away.
She then met a hunter, who
asked, "Why are you in tears, little bird?"
The bird said, "Will
you shoot an arrow at the pig who wouldn't dig up the
yams of the blacksmith's wife who stole my egg?"
"Why should I? Leave me
out of this," said the hunter, walking away.
The dove wept some more and
flew on till she met a rat, who also asked why she
was in tears. The dove said, "Will you gnaw and
cut the bowstring of the hunter who wouldn't shoot
the pig who wouldn't dig up the yams of the
blacksmith's wife who stole my egg?"
The rat too said, "Not
I," and went his own way.
Next she met a cat, who
asked, "What's the matter, little bird?"
"Will you catch the rat
who wouldn't cut the bowstring of the hunter who
wouldn't shoot the pig who wouldn't dig up the yams
of the blacksmith's wife who stole my egg?"
The cat would rather mind
her own business.
The poor dove was beside
herself with anger and grief. Her wails attracted the
attention of a passing dog, who asked her what was
bothering her. She said, "Will you bite the cat
who wouldn't catch the rat who wouldn't cut the
bowstring of the hunter who wouldn't shoot the pig
who wouldn't dig up the yams of the blacksmith's wife
who stole my egg?"
"No, not I," said
the dog and ran away.
The dove's wails grew louder
and louder.
An old man with a long white
beard came that way and asked the crying bird what
the matter was. She said, "Grandfather, will you
beat the dog who wouldn't bite the cat who wouldn't
catch the rat who wouldn't cut the bowstring of the
hunter who wouldn't shoot the pig who wouldn't dig up
the yams of the blacksmith's wife who stole my
egg?"
The old man didn't want to
do anything of the sort and shook his head and went
his way.
The dove next went to the
fire for help and asked it to burn the white beard of
the old man, but the fire wouldn't do it. Next the
dove went to the water and asked it to put out the
fire which wouldn't burn the beard of the old man who
refused to beat the dog who wouldn't bite the cat who
wouldn't catch the rat who wouldn't cut the bowstring
of the hunter who wouldn't shoot the pig who wouldn't
dig up the yams of the blacksmith's wife who stole
the egg. Water too was unwilling to help.
Not long afterwards, the
dove met an elephant and asked if he would stir up
the water which wouldn't put out the fire which
refused to burn the beard of the old man who wouldn't
. . .
The elephant said, "No,
not I."
Then the dove looked about
and found a black ant, who also asked her what was
troubling her.
"O ant! I know you can
help me. Will you go into the elephant's trunk and
bite him for not stirring up the water which wouldn't
put out the fire which wouldn't burn the beard of the
old man who wouldn't beat the dog who wouldn't bite
the cat who wouldn't catch the rat who wouldn't cut
the bowstring of the hunter who wouldn't shoot the
pig who wouldn't dig up the yams of the blacksmith's
wife who stole my egg?"
"Why not? Here I
go," said the ant and crawled inside the
elephant's trunk and bit it in the softest place,
very hard. This made the elephant dash into the pool
of water and stir it up. The water splashed and began
to put out the fire, which went mad and burned the
white beard of the old man, who beat the dog, who ran
after the cat and bit her. The cat caught the rat,
who gnawed the bowstring of the hunter's bow. The
hunter tied on a new one and shot an arrow at the
pig, who went and dug up all the yams of the
blacksmith's wife.
The blacksmith's wife knew
at once what she had to do and carefully put the
dove's egg back in the nest in the hollow of the big
tree.
That's how the dove
got her egg back.
