Bat, left alone, said to himself, “All the fault of all this trouble is because of Joba. If he had made medicine, my mother would not be dead. So, I, Ndemi, and Joba shall not look on each other. We shall have no friendship. If he emerges, I shall hide myself. I won’t meet him or look at him.” And he added, “I shall mourn for my mother always. I will make no visits. I will walk about only at night, not in the daytime, lest I meet Joba or other people.”

TALE 22

Dog, and His Human Speech (1st Version)

Persons

Mbwa (Dog), and His Mother A Man Njambo, and Daughter Eyâle

NOTE

In the pre-historic times, from which these tales come, all animals, both human and (what we now call) the lower animals, were supposed to associate together, even in marriage. This son Mbwa, in form (and speaking also) like what we now call a “Dog,” spoke also with human speech. The reason is here given why this ancestor of Dogs left the country of the Beasts. But, though Dogs now live with Mankind, they cannot use human speech as their ancestor did. They can only say “Ow! Ow!”