The Story of the Frog and Hyena
A long time ago, there were men around here who were hunters. One of these hunters had a son.
This man and his son had been hunting down in the valley here but without any luck. Day after day they went to hunt but came back empty-handed.
On the way back from one of these trips, they were climbing the steep hill in the sun. It was very hot as they made their way back to the road.
Just as they were about to reach the top, they came across a frog. The frog asked the man, “I’m a long way from home, could you take me to where you just came from and put me back in the water?”
The man replied, “But I just came from down there! I’m tired, and we didn’t catch any animals. I’m hungry, and it’s so hot, and now you want me to take you all the way back down?”
“Please take me back”, replied the frog. “If you do, I’ll be sure to return the favour someday”.
Well, what could he do? The man picked up the frog and with his son, took it down the hill, back into the valley and placed it back in the water where he belonged. Then, the pair began the arduous trek back up out of the valley.
The next morning, they returned to hunt. This time, finally, they managed to kill an animal. After butchering it, they thought about getting some firewood to roast some of the meat. After struggling to find any wood, the son became impatient.
“Father, I’m very hungry”, he said.
The man told his son to climb the nearest tree and look for a good spot from which to gather wood so they could roast the meat. So, the son climbed to the top of the tree and from his vantage point, he could see a pile of firewood, bundled in the distance.
The boy had no idea that this firewood belonged to the hyena.
So, off they went, arriving at the pile, and coming face-to-face with the hyena.
“We’ve come to use your firewood”, said the man, “My son is very hungry, we’d like to roast some meat”.
“No problem!” Said the hyena, “The wood is there, help yourself. Looks like my lunch has arrived, too”.
As told by Kendege Rosmery
The man and his son set to work roasting the meat. It sizzled nicely until it was ready. Then, the hyena stood up and announced, “Now, you man, tell your son to eat this meat. Then you eat him, and I’ll eat you, and then I’ll be off!”
The man was puzzled, “How could I possibly eat my own son?” He thought to himself. He looked at the hyena, but the animal simply repeated himself,
“Tell your son to eat the meat, then you eat him and I’ll eat you. Now come on, I want to go!”
Well! The man looked at his son, and the son looked back at his father. They didn’t know what to do!
At that moment, the frog rose up out of the ground. It stretched its neck a little and looked at the man.
“What are you waiting for?” Asked the frog. “Tell your son to eat the meat, then you eat him, the hyena eats you, and I’ll eat the hyena and I’ll be off!”
When the hyena heard this, he became confused. “I thought I was in charge here”, he thought. “But now this thing from the ground wants to eat me! What is this?”
Now everyone was scared. The son was scared, the man was scared, and even the hyena was scared! He repeated his instruction.
“Tell your son to eat the meat, then you eat him and I’ll eat you. Come on, I want to go!”
Now the frog came out of the ground some more. This time he stretched his neck even further and with a powerful and dominant voice he announced,
“What did I tell you, old man? Instruct your son to eat the meat, then you eat him, the hyena eats you and I eat the hyena and I’ll be off!”
This time the hyena trembled. He curled his tail between his legs. “This thing wants to eat me! What is it? Where did it come from?” Before he could speak again, the frog charged at the hyena, shouting furiously,
What did I tell you! Your son eats the meat! You eat your son! The hyena eats you! Then I eat you all! Now, come on, I WANT TO GO!”
This was too much for the hyena. He ran! He ran as fast as he could, away from the frog and the man and his son, and off into the forest.
There, he came across more hyenas and knew he must warn them. He told them to stay out of the valley. He told them of the frog with a long neck that wanted to eat all hyenas and wipe them from the Earth.
These hyenas spread the word, warning their friends and neighbours about the frog with the long neck.
I left around this time, when the frog had saved the man and his son. He was telling them, “You see, if you hadn’t taken me back to the water, I wouldn’t have saved you. You’d have been eaten by the hyena!”.
And that’s how the frog saved the man and his son.
