The Rabbit and His Hoe
One day the Rabbit said to the Antelope, "Let's plant peas in a garden! Then we will have peas to eat."
"I don't like peas," said the Antelope. "I prefer wild beans."
So the Rabbit planted peas in his own garden by himself. When the peas began to sprout, he watched them carefully.
Then Rabbit noticed that they were disappearing: each morning there were fewer sprouts than the day before.
To find out who the thief was, he hid in the garden and who did he catch but the Antelope digging up his peas!
"Aha!" said Rabbit. "You said you preferred wild beans, but I knew you were lying. You are a liar, and you are a thief. Pay the fine!"
Antelope gave Rabbit the hoe that she had been using to dig in Rabbit's garden, and then she ran away.
Rabbit then went for a walk and he met some women who were digging clay with sticks; they wanted to use the clay to make pots. He said to them, "Sticks are not good for digging clay. Don't you have a hoe?"
"No," said the women, "we don't have a hoe."
"Well, then," said Rabbit, "you can take this hoe. I'll come back to collect it later on."
But when Rabbit came back later that day, he found only a broken hoe; the last woman who had used the hoe for digging clay had snapped it in two. When he saw the broken hoe, Rabbit sang:
Clay-diggers, give back my hoe, my friends!
Give me my hoe that the Antelope gave me,
The Antelope who paid for my peas.
Because the women did not have a hoe they could give Rabbit, they gave him one of their pots.
Rabbit then continued down the road where he met some men who were harvesting honey from a bee hive. They were trying to harvest the honey in a piece of tree-bark. He said to them, "Tree-bark is not good for harvesting honey. Don't you have a pot?"
"No," said the men, "we don't have a pot."
"Well, then," said Rabbit, "you can take this pot. I'll come back to collect it later on."
But when Rabbit came back later that day, he found only a broken pot; the last man who had used the pot for harvesting honey had dropped the pot and it broke. When he saw the broken pot, Rabbit sang:
Honey-harvesters, give me back my pot, my friends!
My pot that the Clay-diggers gave me,
The Clay-diggers who paid for my hoe,
My hoe that the Antelope gave me,
The Antelope who paid for my peas.
Unable to give back Rabbit's pot, the men took some of their honey and gave it to him.
Then Rabbit came to a village, and there he saw women pounding maize flour. He said to them, "Don't you have any honey to mix with your flour?"
"Well, then," said Rabbit, "you can use some of my honey, but don't use all of it. I'll come back to collect what's left later on."
But when Rabbit came back later that day, he found they had used all the honey; there wasn't any left. When he saw the honey was all gone, Rabbit sang:
Pestle-pounders, give me back my honey, my friends!
The honey that the Honey-harvesters gave me,
The Honey-harvesters who paid for my pot,
My pot that the Clay-diggers gave me,
The Clay-diggers who paid for my hoe,
My hoe that the Antelope gave me,
The Antelope who paid for my peas.
The women took some of their sweet dough and gave it to him.
Rabbit went on and met some boys herding goats.
"Don't you have anything to eat?" Rabbit asked. "You look very hungry."
"No," they replied, "we don't have any food at all."
So Rabbit gave them the sweet dough and said, "You can eat this! But don't eat it all; leave some for me."
But when Rabbit came back later that day, he found they had eaten every single bite; the dough was all gone. When Rabbit saw the dough was all gone, he sang:
Goat-herds, give me back my dough, my friends!
The dough that the Pestle-pounders gave me,
The Pestle-pounders who paid for my honey,
The honey that the Honey-harvesters gave me,
The Honey-harvesters who paid for my pot,
My pot that the Clay-diggers gave me,
The Clay-diggers who paid for my hoe,
My hoe that the Antelope gave me,
The Antelope who paid for my peas.
The goat-herds took a goat and gave it to Rabbit.
Then Rabbit met some young men tending the oxen. "You look even more hungry than the goat-herds," he said to them. "Don't you have anything to eat?"
"No," the cow-herds told Rabbit, "we don't have anything to eat."
So Rabbit gave them the goat and said, "You can kill this goat and eat it! But don't eat it all; leave some meat for me."
But when Rabbit came back later that day, he found they had eaten every last piece of meat; there was nothing left for Rabbit. When Rabbit saw the meat was all gone, he sang:
Cow-herds, give me back my goat
The goat that the Goat-herds gave me,
The Goat-herds who paid for my dough,
The dough that the Pestle-pounders gave me,
The Pestle-pounders who paid for my honey,
The honey that the Honey-harvesters gave me,
The Honey-harvesters who paid for my pot,
My pot that the Clay-diggers gave me,
The Clay-diggers who paid for my hoe,
My hoe that the Antelope gave me,
The Antelope who paid for my peas.
So the cow-herds gave Rabbit an ox. Rabbit continued on his way until he met some people who were tilling the fields of a rich man; the rich man was going to pay them with beer.
"You look even more hungry than the cow-herds," Rabbit said to them. "Don't you have anything to eat?"
"No," the tillers said to Rabbit, "we don't have anything to eat."
So Rabbit gave them the ox and said, "You can kill this ox and eat it! But don't eat it all; leave some meat for me."
But when Rabbit came back later that day, he found they had eaten every last piece of meat; there was nothing left for Rabbit. When Rabbit saw the meat was all gone, he sang:
Workers-for-beer, give me back my ox, my friends!
The ox that the Cow-herds gave me,
The Cow-herds who paid for my goat
The goat that the Goat-herds gave me,
The Goat-herds who paid for my dough,
The dough that the Pestle-pounders gave me,
The Pestle-pounders who paid for my honey,
The honey that the Honey-harvesters gave me,
The Honey-harvesters who paid for my pot,
My pot that the Clay-diggers gave me,
The Clay-diggers who paid for my hoe,
My hoe that the Antelope gave me,
The Antelope who paid for my peas.
But the men were angry at Rabbit; they did not like Rabbit's song at all. They seized Rabbit and beat him.
Then, when Rabbit was knocked unconscious, they thought he was dead, and they threw him away by the side of the road.
But Rabbit was not dead. When he regained his senses, he climbed up a tree, which was right next to where the workers were drinking their beer; no one noticed him there and, when he reached the top of the tree, Rabbit used magic to send all the beer into the ground so that it disappeared. He also made all the water in all the wells disappear so that there was nothing at all to drin. The little ones cried for water and there was none! The men and the women searched everywhere for water, but they couldn't find any. Even the rivers were all dried up! The little ones died, and so did both women and men; only a few survived.
The survivors went to Rabbit and they said to him, "My Lord, we ask for water. We beg you; we are dying of thirst."
Then Rabbit said to them, "Do you see that reed? That tall reed over there?"
The people saw the reed and nodded.
Then Rabbit said, "Pull up this reed; pull it up by the roots."
The people tried to pull up the reed, but they could not; even the strongest among them tried to pull up the reed and failed.
Then Rabbit hopped over to the reed. With a single finger he grabbed the reed and pulled it out of the ground, and then water flowed from the ground, clear and strong, and beer also flowed, pooling into a pond.
Then Rabbit said, "Give me five old women."
The people obeyed, and then Rabbit drowned the five old women in the pond.
Then the people gave Rabbit a parcel of land, and Rabbit became the chief of that land; he ruled over the land and everything in it.
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