On the next day, before the Ngwai (a Bird, that announces the first coming of daylight) had sounded, Tortoise…
- Date of account
- Published 1917
- Source
- Where Animals Talk: West African Folk Lore Tales
- Reference
- Where Animals Talk: West African Folk Lore Tales · selected passage 15
- Rights
- public_domain
- Language
- English
- Record updated
- 2026-08-25
Record summary
On the next day, before the Ngwai (a Bird, that announces the first coming of daylight) had sounded, Tortoise went out clear on to where was that giant Goat
Published source text
Read the available text below. Archive transcriptions may contain OCR errors; later context is labelled separately. A recorded claim is not a finding that it happened.
Source passage
Source text · mention onlyOn the next day, before the Ngwai (a Bird, that announces the first coming of daylight) had sounded, Tortoise went out clear on to where was that giant Goat. He spoke, as on his previous journey, "O! Mbodi! Friend of the Creator! open for me the house!" It at once opened the aperture; he entered in; and began to slice pieces of meat from the Goat's inside. When he had finished, he said, "Open for me the house!" It opened the aperture; and he emerged and went back to his town. There he spoke to his women, saying, "Cook ye!" They boiled the meat; it was cooked; he invited Leopard; they ate; and finished. And Leopard went back to his house.
Historical context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyThis material belongs to a folklore tradition. Story type, collector, community, transmission and literary editing matter when comparing it with other sources.
Modern context
Contextual commentary · mention onlyLattice compares motifs and reported features without assuming that a traditional being is a biological species or that similar stories document one external cause.
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