15. THE GIRAFFE AND THE TORTOISE.
(The original, in the Hottentot language, is in Sir G. Grey’s Library, G. Krönlein’s Manuscript, p. 5.)
THE GIRAFFE.
Thou who descendest river by river,
Thou burnt thornbush (ǂaro)!
Thou blue one,[1]
Who appearest like a distant thornhill full of people sitting down.
The Giraffe and the Tortoise, they say, met one day. The Giraffe said to the Tortoise, “At once I could trample you to death.” The Tortoise, being afraid, remained silent. Then the Giraffe said, “At once I could swallow you.” The Tortoise said, in answer to this, “Well, I just belong to the family of those whom it has always been customary to swallow.” Then the Giraffe swallowed the Tortoise; but when the latter was being gulped down, it stuck in the Giraffe’s throat, [[63]]and as the latter could not get it down, he was choked to death.
When the Giraffe was dead, the Tortoise crawled out and went to the Crab (who is considered as the mother of the Tortoise), and told her what had happened. Then the Crab said—