Then [after they had gone to the river] the Lion said to the Turtle, “Thou, having swum in front, be off. I having come slowly shall get in front of thee,” he said.
Then the Turtle, also holding a red flower in his mouth, having descended to the river, and having gone a little far, got hid at the bottom of the water. While it was hidden, as the Lion was going swimming near the river bank, the other Turtle which stopped at that side, having got in front before the Lion landed, and said, “Kūrmarsha,” having placed a red flower also in his mouth, landed on the river bank at once.
The Lion having seen him, again sprang into the river. As he came to this side, the Turtle that remained at the bank at this side, having got in front of the Lion at once, taking the flower also, said, “Kūrmarsha,” and landed.
Again the Lion swam to the other side. In that very way the Turtle having been there and said, “Kūrmarsha,” landed [in front of him].
Thus, in that way, when swimming seven or eight times, the Lion, who was without even any prey that day, having become unable to swim, and being without strength in the middle of the river, died.
In a variant of the North-western Province, the Lion lived in a cave, and met the Turtle when he went to the river to drink. He told the Turtle that it was unable to travel quickly because it always lived in one place. The Turtle shrugged its shoulders, and replied, “Can you travel better than I?” The Lion challenged it to race with him, and the Turtle accepted the challenge, fixing the time eight days later.
The race of the two animals was not across the river, but along it, a series of Turtles having been stationed at various points where it was arranged that the Lion should come to the bank and call out, “Friend.” At each place a Turtle rose on hearing this, and said, “What is it, friend?” At the fifth stage, the Lion leapt over two stages as quickly as one, and broke his neck.
The resemblance of the race in this variant to that between Brer Rabbit and Brer Tarrypin in Uncle Remus is striking; it even extends to the number of stages, five in both stories.