After they landed, they said to each other, “What fine fun we had in the sea!” Then they went to the prairie and grazed, and enjoyed their meal heartily. Gradually they wended their way back to the river, which they reached toward four o’clock in the morning, when each family went to its shoal.
CHAPTER XVII
A FIGHT FOR MISS NGOOBOO
Time went on, and Miss Ngooboo as she grew up became more and more beautiful and attractive in the eyes of the young ngooboos.
On the two other shoals were young ngooboos who fell very much in love with her. They would come before her shoal, swim, dive, give snorts or grunts, telling her how much they loved her; but Papa and Mamma Ngooboo watched her carefully when she would go out to swim and would themselves swim between her and her two admirers. She was too young yet, the old folks thought, to be taken away from them.
Day after day her two admirers would display themselves before her, show her how they could dive and swim, each trying to surpass the other in these accomplishments. Miss Ngooboo looked at them complacently, enjoying the fun. But before very long the two admirers began to be very jealous of each other, and uttering grunts of defiance and hatred, dared each other to a fight. When they came together in swimming they would look at each other fiercely and say, “If you do not stop coming, I will give you a trouncing.” “I dare you,” would answer the other. So the days passed.
“Then ensued a terrible fight”
One day Miss Ngooboo seemed to show preference for the one whose shoal was the nearest to hers. The rejected rival became furious. He shouted with terrific and angry snorts that Miss Ngooboo was to be his, and that he would fight for possession of her. The other said he would do likewise, for she was to be his. Both went back to their shoals full of fight and hating each other more than ever.
The next day, as Miss Ngooboo was on her shoal by the side of her mamma and papa, the young ngooboo admirer that was her neighbor left his shoal and swam toward her.
When his rival, who was watching him with jealous eyes, saw this, he left his shoal and swam toward her also, with fight in his eyes. He had made up his mind to settle the quarrel that day ngooboo fashion, and decide by single combat to which of the two rivals Miss Ngooboo was to belong. He was very sly and swam under the water.