The Hippopotamus and Elephant

The Displaced Mother, Rudo, caught a ride with a farmer that was heading in the same direction as Mwami. As they neared the place where the town was supposed to be, the forest started to change. There was something different about it that made Rudo uncomfortable, something about the order. The trees were neat and evenly spaced with wider paths cutting through them. As they drove on, Rudo noticed that the forest was becoming wild again and thought to herself, "I've gone too far. Mwami has always been a twenty minute drive." But she hadn't seen any homes; how could this be? The edge of Mwami had always sat against this road.

She asked the driver to stop, thanked him for the ride, and confirmed that she would find another ride back to Kaori. Steeling herself, she entered the unnaturally organized forest, looking for landmarks that could tell her if she was in the right place. Rudo came upon an iridescent pond, one that she remembered from her childhood. She was overcome by childhood memories, so she knelt down and brought some of the clear water to her lips, savoring the taste. Rudo thought of her son and wished he was here to experience this with her. Before she left this place, she promised herself that she would come back and take some of this water for Kuda and Tatenda. Suddenly feeling exhausted, Rudo leaned back against a tree near the water's edge.

She must have fallen asleep because when she woke up, there stood an elephant, hippopotamus, rabbit, and leopard, whispering to each other. She snapped, "Stop all that whispering. Can't you tell I was trying to sleep?"

They gasped, and Hippopotamus replied, "You can understand us?"

Rudo replied in the affirmative, "People and animals used to share a common language. Only a few people and animals still remember the old tongue. My mother taught me a few phrases, but my husband spoke it fluently. I still struggle with pronunciation, but I can understand you perfectly."

Elephant said, "We've always wondered if we'd meet a human that can speak our tongue! Are you lost, Mother? Can we help you?"

Rudo shook her head, "I cannot call myself a mother. I was displaced from my family and journeyed here to find my brother and hometown. How could you help me, if I don't even know where to start?"

Elephant became nervous. The doubt that Rudo had in herself brought his own self-doubt to the surface. He didn't know if he could help this mother when he barely had the strength to tie with tortoise in a tug of war...

A couple weeks ago, Ngubu the Hippopotamus and Njagu the Elephant heard of the boasts made by small Tortoise. Ekaga the Tortoise who could be crushed by the foot of either giant animal, boasted that his strength matched that of the Hippo and Elephant.

Hippopotamus and Elephant ignored this empty boast because they knew Ekaga would never have the guts to say this to them.

Then, one afternoon, Ekaga approached Njagu the Elephant, and said, "Mwera, how is your family?"

Njagu became angry. "We are not Mwera. We are not equals. Only Hippopotamus has earned the right to call me Mwera because his strength matches mine."

Tortoise knew this would be the reaction but was still hurt by those words. He replied, "I am not afraid of your strength! Although I am small, I am mighty. My strength matches yours! To prove it, I challenge you to a tug-of-war."

Elephant gladly accepted and they agreed on these terms: the next morning, Tortoise would tug on the vine, whoever pulled the other off their feet won, and if the vine snapped, it would be considered a tie.

The next morning Njagu felt a tug and began to pull with all his might, but to his surprise the vine would not give. He pulled and he pulled but did not have the strength to gain a single step over his opponent. At noon, his muscles started to ache. He didn't think he could keep this up for much longer.

Little did Njagu know, Ekaga the Tortoise was a trickster. After talking to Njagu the day before, Ekaga went to the Hippopotamus' pool and challenged him to the same tug-of-war. The trickster then gave Ngubu the other end of the vine that he had first given to Njagu the Elephant. Hippopotamus and Elephant believed they were pulling against Tortoise, but they were actually pulling against the strength of the other.

CRACK!

The vine snapped, forcing Ngubu and Njagu to fall backwards and accept the tie.

The next day, Njagu encountered Ekaga, and they acknowledged each other as Mwera. Njagu could not shake the feeling of shame and defeat he felt at tying with such a small animal. He hung his head and thought, "How can I regain the respect of the animal kingdom? How can I prove my strength once again?"

Author's Note: This entry aims to integrate an African animal folktale into The Unnatural Mother plot. In the original story, the unnatural mother finally comes to a pool that does not have any animals in it. She is tired, so she sits against a tree that grows around her. The animals of the forest - giraffe, elephant, rabbit, and leopard - argue with each other about who will help her. For the animals that are trying to help her, I wanted to write a story about each one's insecurity. For the elephant and the hippopotamus, they are insecure about their strength and struggle with self-doubt. The background of this insecurity comes from an African animal folktale, in which the tortoise tricks the hippopotamus and elephant into engaging in a tug-of-war with each other (instead of with tortoise), resulting in a tie. They believed that they had tied with tortoise, making them equals. "Mwera," or chum, is a term used to address another equal. Mwera is a word in the Mpongwe language. The next story explores the story of the Leopard.

Bibliography:

The Unnatural Mother story from Fairy Tales from South Africa by Bourhill, Drake and Holloway.

A Tug-of-War; Story Source: Where Animals Talk: West African Folk Lore Tales by Robert Hamill Nassau (1914).