“Our master sleeps behind the thorns. What is it?” he asked, and there was a twinkle of fun in his eye as he propounded the conundrum to them.
One guessed one thing and another something else, and a poor henpecked man suggested it was a woman behind her hoes; but he was instantly annihilated by the remark that if he were bossed by his wives they were not.
They at last called on Bakula to give the solution, and he said, “Our master sleeps behind the thorns is our tongue behind the teeth,” and he saucily continued: “If you don’t let it sleep there you will soon be fighting.”
They rated him good-humouredly for his insolence, and pretended to punch him as a punishment; but promised to let him go if he would state another riddle.
Bakula, on recovering his breath, asked the following conundrum: “There are three men carrying a dead one in their teeth.[[38]] What is it?” To this a man instantly gave the answer: “A ridge pole held by three king posts.”
The guesser of Bakula’s riddle then gave one as follows: “The slave my father bought on the market is always standing out (or away) from him.” After many guesses had been ventured, Bakula gave the proper one, viz. “Pipe” which always stands out (or away) from the smoker.
Bakula had now to give another riddle, and propounded the following one: “The bird with its head cut off eats up all the food. What is it?” After many wild, unsuccessful attempts one of the men guessed the answer, viz. “Mortar.”[[39]] The man who gave this correct solution belonged to Tonzeka’s town, and as he said he did not know any conundrums he was asked to give them a story instead, and to this request, after a little hesitation, he acceded by narrating the following tale, called
“The Adventures of the Twins.”
“Mr. Tungi built some houses and then married. When he had been married about a year he started on a journey to some distant markets to buy and trade in peanuts. He had not been gone very long when Mrs. Tungi gave birth to male twins.
“When the twins had grown into stout lads their mother told them that their father had gone to trade at some distant markets, but would be returning soon to his town. They at once decided to go and meet him. Their mother prepared some native bread and other food, and in a few days they set out in search of their father.