He now ascended many trees; and as the extremity of the branches was too slender for his weight, he would, nkengo fashion, extend his long arm and pluck the fruits. Sometimes when he felt lazy—and the men of the woods often feel so—he would seize with his feet a branch full of fruit under him, and bring it up and pluck his food from it.
One afternoon, as the three were wandering in the forest, they came upon a suspicious-looking thing. The old nkengos looked at it with much distrust. It was a trap made by human beings to catch monkeys with, and near it was some fine big juicy fruit that they had put there to tempt the monkeys.
The old nkengo inspected it carefully and said to his mate, “I scent here the human beings.” He had hardly uttered these words when he saw their footprints. Then he gave a grin, and added, “The human beings can make traps to catch the monkeys, njokoos, and other animals, but they never can succeed in trapping us nkengos. We know their tricks and snares; we are too knowing for them.”
They kept a sharp lookout, and told the young nkengo not to go near the trap, for he was not old enough yet to know all the wicked ways of the human beings; and they talked to him, and warned him of the danger of such traps, and told him to look at it carefully, so that he would know one the next time if he should encounter it.
Rainy and dry seasons passed; the young nkengo grew larger and larger, and his first teeth began to drop out and be replaced by others. When the old nkengos saw this, they said, “Our offspring is getting on finely; soon he will have all his teeth, his jaws will then be stronger, he will be a fine strapping nkengo.”
One day they came across a koola-tree, beneath which many nuts were scattered over the ground. The young nkengo at last broke one with his teeth. Then he gave a big shout of joy. The old nkengos were delighted when they saw this, and said, “He is now able to take care of himself.”
Time passed; the three nkengos kept the even tenor of their way, and led the life which nkengos lead. After remaining ten or fifteen days in a place, the food was eaten up for some distance around, and they moved away and built new shelters. One day the young nkengo, who had many times watched his parents make their shelter, made one for himself, to their great joy. Then they said to each other, “Soon he will leave us and go into the forest by himself.”
Some days afterward the young nkengo said to the old folks, “I am going to leave you and act as you did yourselves once.” The following day he left them, and wandered all alone in the forest and built his own bower.
But he felt lonely, for he was without a mate; he bemoaned his fate. Once in a while he would call out, “Whoe! whoe!” but there was no response, for he was the only nkengo in that part of the forest.
He continued his solitary ramble, till he reached a beautiful clear stream, the water of which was as smooth as glass. Going to the bank, he saw himself reflected in the water, but did not know that what he saw was only his image. At this sight he was delighted and said, “At last I have found a companion that will live with me,” looking intently at what he believed was another nkengo.