One day, the hare, roaming through the forest in search of food, glanced up through the boughs of a very large calabash tree, and saw that a great hole in the upper part of the trunk was inhabited by bees; thereupon he returned to town in search of someone to go with him and help to get the honey.<\/p>\n
As he was passing the house of the big rat, that worthy gentleman invited him in. So, he went in, sat down, and remarked: \u201cMy father has died, and has left me a hive of honey. I would like you to come and help me to eat it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course, the big rat jumped at the offer, and he and the hare started off immediately. When they arrived at the great calabash tree, the hare pointed out the bees\u2019 nest and said, \u201cGo on; climb up.\u201d So, taking some straw with them, they climbed up to the nest, lit the straw, smoked out the bees, put out the fire, and set to work eating the honey.<\/p>\n
In the midst of the feast, who should appear at the foot of the tree but, the lion? Looking up, and seeing them eating, he asked, \u201cWho are you?\u201d Then the hare whispered to the big rat, \u201cHold your tongue; that old fellow is crazy.\u201d But in a very little while the lion roared out angrily: \u201cWho are you, I say? Speak, I tell you!\u201d This made the big rat so scared that he blurted out, \u201cIt\u2019s only us!\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon this, the hare said to him: \u201cYou just wrap me up in this straw, call to the lion to keep out of the way, and then throw me down. Then you\u2019ll see what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, the big rat, wrapped the hare, the hare, in the straw, and then called to the lion, \u201cStand back; I\u2019m going to throw this straw down, and then I\u2019ll come down myself.\u201d When Simba stepped back out of the way, the big rat threw down the straw, and as it lay on the ground the hare crept out and ran away while the lion was looking up.<\/p>\n
After waiting a minute or two, the lion roared out, \u201cWell, come down, I say!\u201d and, there being no help for it, the big rat came down. As soon as he was within reach, the lion caught hold of him, and asked, \u201cWho was up there with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy the hare. – Said the big rat -, Didn\u2019t you see him when I threw him down?\u201d \u201cOf course, I didn\u2019t see him,\u201d replied the lion, in an incredulous tone, and, without wasting further time, he ate the big rat, and then searched around for the hare, but could not find him.<\/p>\n
Three days later, the hare called on his acquaintance, the tortoise, and said to him, \u201cLet us go and eat some honey.\u201d \u201cWhose honey?\u201d inquired the tortoise, cautiously. \u201cMy father\u2019s,\u201d the hare replied. \u201cOh, all right; I\u2019m with you,\u201d said the tortoise, eagerly; and away they went.<\/p>\n
When they arrived at the great calabash tree they climbed up with their straw, smoked out the bees, sat down, and began to eat. Just then the lion, who owned the honey, came out again, and, looking up, inquired, \u201cWho are you, up there?\u201d<\/p>\n
The hare whispered to the tortoise, \u201cKeep quiet;\u201d but when the lion repeated his question angrily, the tortoise became suspicious, and said: \u201cI will speak. You told me this honey was yours; am I right in suspecting that it belongs to the lion?\u201d<\/p>\n
So, when the lion asked again, \u201cWho are you?\u201d he answered, \u201cIt\u2019s only us.\u201d The lion said, \u201cCome down, then;\u201d and the tortoise answered, \u201cWe\u2019re coming.\u201d Now, the lion had been keeping an eye open for the hare since the day he caught, the big rat, and, suspecting that he was up there with the tortoise, he said to himself, \u201cI\u2019ve got him this time, sure.\u201d<\/p>\n
Seeing that they were caught again, the hare said to the tortoise: \u201cWrap me up in the straw, tell the lion to stand out of the way, and then throw me down. I\u2019ll wait for you below. He can\u2019t hurt you; you know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll right,\u201d said the tortoise; but while he was wrapping the hare up, he said to himself: \u201cThis fellow wants to run away, and leave me to bear the lion\u2019s anger. He shall get caught first.\u201d Therefore, when he had bundled him up, he called out, \u201cThe hare is coming!\u201d and threw him down.<\/p>\n
So, the lion caught the hare, and, holding him with his paw, said, \u201cNow, what shall I do with you?\u201d The hare replied, \u201cIt\u2019s of no use for you to try to eat me; I\u2019m awfully tough.\u201d \u201cWhat would be the best thing to do with you, then?\u201d asked Simba.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think – said the hare -, you should take me by the tail, whirl me around, and knock me against the ground. Then you may be able to eat me.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, the lion, being deceived, took him by the tail and whirled him around, but just as he was going to knock him to the ground he slipped out of his grasp and ran away, and the lion had the mortification of losing him again.<\/p>\n
Angry and disappointed, he turned to the tree and called to the tortoise, \u201cYou come down, too.\u201d When the tortoise reached the ground, the lion said, \u201cYou\u2019re pretty hard; what can I do to make you eatable?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, that\u2019s easy,\u201d laughed the tortoise; \u201cjust put me in the mud and rub my back with your paw until my shell comes off.\u201d<\/p>\n
Immediately on hearing this, the lion carried the tortoise to the water, placed him in the mud, and began, as he supposed, to rub his back; but the tortoise had slipped away, and the lion continued rubbing on a piece of rock until his paws were raw. When he glanced down at them, he saw they were bleeding, and, realizing that he had again been outwitted, he said, \u201cWell, the hare has done me today, but I\u2019ll go hunting now until I find him.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, the lion, set out immediately in search of the hare, and as he went along he inquired of everyone he met, \u201cWhere is the house of the hare?\u201d But each person he asked answered, \u201cI do not know.\u201d For the hare had said to his wife, \u201cLet us remove from this house.\u201d Therefore, the folks in that neighbourhood had no knowledge of his whereabouts. The lion, however, went along, continuing his inquiries, until presently one answered, \u201cThat is his house on the top of the mountain.\u201d<\/p>\n
Without loss of time, the lion climbed the mountain and soon arrived at the place indicated, only to find that there was no one at home. This, however, did not trouble him; on the contrary, saying to himself, \u201cI\u2019ll hide myself inside, and when the hare and his wife come home, I\u2019ll eat them both,\u201d he entered the house and lay down, awaiting their arrival.<\/p>\n
Pretty soon along came the hare with his wife, not thinking of any danger; but he very soon discovered the marks of the lion\u2019s paws on the steep path. Stopping at once, he said to his wife: \u201cYou go back, my dear. The lion has passed this way, and I think he must be looking for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
But she replied, \u201cI will not go back; I will follow you, my husband.\u201d Although greatly pleased at this proof of his wife\u2019s affection, the hare said firmly: \u201cNo, no; you have friends to go to. Go back.\u201d<\/p>\n
So, he persuaded her, and she went back; but he kept on, following the footmarks, and saw – as he had suspected – that they went into his house.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh!\u201d said he to himself, \u201cThe Lion is inside, is he?\u201d Then, cautiously going back a little way, he called out: \u201cHow d\u2019ye do, house? How d\u2019ye do?\u201d Waiting a moment, he remarked loudly: \u201cWell, this is very strange! Every day, as I pass this place, I say, \u2018How d\u2019ye do, house?\u2019 and the house always answers, \u2018How d\u2019ye do?\u2019 There must be someone inside today.\u201d<\/p>\n
When the lion heard this, he called out, \u201cHow d\u2019ye do?\u201d Then the hare burst out laughing, and shouted: \u201cOho, Lion! You\u2019re inside, and I\u2019ll bet you want to eat me, but first tell me where you ever heard of a house talking!\u201d<\/p>\n
Upon this the lion, seeing how he had been fooled, replied angrily, \u201cYou wait until I get hold of you; that\u2019s all.\u201d \u201cOh, I think you\u2019ll have to do the waiting,\u201d cried the hare; and then he ran away, the lion following.<\/p>\n
But it was of no use. The hare completely tired out the old lion, who, saying, \u201cThat rascal has beaten me; I don\u2019t want to have anything more to do with him,\u201d returned to his home under the great calabash tree.<\/p>\n
(Folktale from Zambia)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One day, the hare, roaming through the forest in search of food, glanced up through the boughs of a very large calabash tree, and saw that a great hole in the upper part of the trunk was inhabited by bees; thereupon he returned to town in search of someone to go with him and help […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7619"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7619\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/combonimissionaries.co.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}