Man and Turtle
Let me tell of Turtle of Koka.
Man of Lubi la Suku caught a Turtle in the bush; he came with it to the village. They said: “Let us kill it!”
Some people said: “How shall we kill it?” They said: “We shall cut it with hatchets.” Turtle replied, saying:
“Turtle of Koka,
And hatchet of Koka;
Hatchet not kill me a bit.”
The people said: “What shall we kill him with?” Some said: “We shall kill him with stones.” Turtle, fear grasped him, he said: “I am going to die.” He says by mouth:
“Turtle of Koka,
And stone of Koka;
Stone will not kill me a bit.”
The people said: “Let us cast him into the fire!” Turtle said:
“Turtle of Koka,
And fire of Koka;
Fire will not kill me a bit.
On my back,
It is like stone;
Not there can
Catch on fire.”
The people said: “We will kill him with knives.” Turtle said:
“Turtle of Koka,
And knife of Koka;
Knife will not kill me a bit.”
The people said: “This fellow, how shall we do? How shall we kill him?” These said: “Let us cast him into the depth of water.” Turtle said: “Woe! I shall die there! How shall I do?” The people said: “We have it! We have found the way we can kill him!”
They carry him; they arrive with him at the river. They cast him into the depth. Turtle dives; after a while he emerges. There he is swimming and singing:
“In water, in my home!
In water, in my home!”
The people said: “Oh! Turtle has fooled us. We were going to kill him with hatchets; he says, ‘Hatchet will not kill me a bit.’ We spoke of casting him into the water; he says, ‘I am going to die.’ We came; we cast him into the water; but we saved him.”
This is what caused the Turtle to live in the water: the people were going to kill him; but he was shrewd.