Tigre folktales

THE TALE OF THE TWO DONKEY-OWNERS.
Two men met each other on the road; and each of them had a donkey. Then the men greeted each other: the donkeys,also, putting their mouths together sniffed at each other. And the one man asked his fellow saying: We have gtected each other. Why have the donkeys also put their heads together?" The other man answered him: 'Doest thou not know this? The donkeys have sent a strong donkey to the Lord to enter their plaint before him, that is to say, that the Lord should free them from under [the tyranny] of men. Now they ask each other saying: Has the messenger-donkey returned or not'?" And it is said that all donkeys ask each other about this matter putting their mouths together. By this tale it is seen that every creature longs for liberty.

THE TALE OF THE BOAR AND THE ELEPHANTS.
Once upon a time a boar, who had got into the middle of a herd of elephants, dug into the ground and ate. And there came to the elephants a hunter, and he pointed his gun at one [of the] male[s]. When he shot, the bullet missed the elephant, but struck the boar. And the elephants said to him: 'Art thou struck, boar!" He said: 'If it were not an accident why should, of all these, [the bulletl have struck me?" The herd fled, but the boar died on the spot. And men say as a proverb when they encounter something (evil) while in the midst of many Iconipanions]: "It is an accident, said the boar; in the midst of a herd of elephants he was struck."

THE TALE OF THE SCHOLAR AND THE I GUENON.
. A scholar was writing in a solitary place, and all the mistakes that he made, he scratched out with his knife. And while he was writing in this way, a guenon looked at him. And the scholar arose a little for some reason. But the guenon came down from his place and trying to write like the scholar, smeared what the scholar had written.
Thereupon when the scholar returned he found his book smeared, and he was very sad. But he said to the guenon: "All right, if thou doest the same that I do." And he took the knife and whetted it well. And when it had become sharp, he rubbed the blunt [back], while the guenon was looking, against his throat, put the knife into its place and went away as before. Thereupon came the guenon; and taking the knife and wishing to do the same as the scholar had done, he rubbed the sharp edge against his throat, cut his throat and died. In this way the guenon met [his] fate, wishing to do the same as the scholar. [This is what] they say. This is told by the people of Kabasa

THE TALE OF A HEN.
A family had a chicken. Now (once), when guests came to them, they wished to kill the chicken, that is to say, in ,order to give a meal to the guests. But they did not find the knife with which to kill it; then they set the chicken free. When the chicken was free, it scratched the ground with its feet, and uncarthed the knife. When its masters saw the knife, they killed the chicken with the knife which it had found itself, and they gave a meal to their guests. And they say,as a proverb: "The chicken scraped out the instrument that killed it."

THE TALE OF THE PURE-HEARTED ONE AND THE ONE WITH THE BLACK SOUL.
Two men, who, were called "light" and 'dark", were on the road together; and when it grew evening, they spent the night at the same place. The dark one thought in his heart: "If 'I sleep in a good place and the light one on the edge, [of the road], if then the lion comes, he will take him, but I shall be safe." And the dark one slept in a good,place, as he had planned; but the light one slept on the side next to the road. And when they were sleeping, the lion came to them: the lion took the dark one and killed him; then he ate [him]. But the light one woke up safe in the morning. And until the, present day the place is called 'the resting place of the light and the dark." And men say as a proverb: 'Be pure-hearted and sleep on the road!"
According to another version the place is called: "the resting place of the wise and the stupid" (labeb wa-geul)and the proverb: "God protects the stupid" ('egel agelul räbbi 'aqqebbo). The place is on the direct road from Gäläb to Asmara, between Comarat and Qeruh, a large bowlder of granit on the left of the road, as one travels southward (see fig. i).

THE TALE OF THE ELEPHANT AND THE LEOPARD AND HIS SON.
The leopard had left his son in a certain place. And to the son of the leopard there came the elephant: the trod on him with his foot, crushed him and killed him. And a lamenter informed the leopard saying: "Thy son is dead!" The leopard asked the lamenter saying: 'Who has killed my son?" He replied: 'The elephant has killed thy son." The leopard, however, said: 'The elephant has not killed my son, the goats have killed him.
" The messenger replied : 'No, the elephant has killed thy son." The leopard: No, no, no! It is nobody but the goats who killed my son. This is the deed of the goats" Then the leopard went and made a slaughter among the goats in order to avenge his son. Although, the leopard knew that the elephant had killed his son, he took:, - because he was not so strong as the elephant, - the goats as a pretext for his revenge and killed them.
And until the present day it is like this: if a man is wronged by some one.who is stronger than he, and,he finds no means to overpower him, he rises against him who is weaker than he. And they say as a proverb: 'The goats do this, said the,leopard."