The two friends
Bura Folktales Legend (Nigeria)
There
were two mice and they were true friends. One of the mice was a bush
mouse whose name was Yizum. The other was a house mouse whose name was
Nkinki. They were sweet friends.
One day the two mice met.
Yizum said to Nkinki, "Friend, I want you to come and spend the day with
me. Then they went to the bush and entered the house of Yizum which he
had dug under a rock. Yizum showed his bed and his rest room to Nkinki
and then hurried out to get food for his guest. He brought beans in
the hull, the seeds of a tree, peanuts and many kinds of good food. He
then sat down and said to Nkinki, Let us eat the food which I have
brought." Nkinki gave a sigh of agreement and tasted the food, but it
was not sweet to him like the food which he had at home. However, he
was brave and ate, even though it was difficult, because if he refused
to eat, his friend might say that it was just his mean-ness.
When they
had finished eating, Nkinki said to Yizum, "Friend, I am surprised
(swallowed) how you live such a hard life in the bush like this. You
have to eat common seeds of trees which are really not food at all. If I
should have such a hard life as you have, better had my mother never
given birth to me." He made fun of Yizum about his food. When it came
time for Nkinki to go home, Yizum decided to go with him to see how he
lived and to see the inside of his house. Nkinki said, "I will have to
go home." Then Yizum said, "I want to go with you and see the inside of
your house."
As they went along the road they talked. When
they came into the village they went by a compound and saw a lot of good
food just poured out on the ground. They saw mush and meat and bones
and dry sprouted corn which it seemed people had thrown away. Because
on that day a mourning had been completed for someone. They began to
eat, and the food tasted very good to Yizum. He decided in his heart
that if he could find a sweet place to live like Nkinki had he would
like it, for there was no trouble about food. After a little, while
they were eating, they heard a slight sound like something coming, and
behold! a cat was creeping up behind them. Before they could turn, the
cat was already onto them and about to catch them. They ran with all
their might so that the cat would not catch them, but even then the cat
almost caught them. Just in time, they saw a hole in the wall of a
house and they put themselves in it. Both of them were trembling,
because they were very much afraid. The cat had almost caught them. If
they had not made their legs go so fast, the cat would have caught them
easily.
As soon as Yizum could get his breath, he said, "Yah!
Friend Nkinki, if your life is like this in the village, if your insides
are like this every day, this place would not be sweet to me, not even
for a little. I would rather live in the bush and eat the seeds of the
trees. For me, I will go back and live in the bush and be happy." And
he went out and ran off into the bush.
