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Main > South African folktales > Fairy tale "Ou' Wolf lays a Trap"

Ou' Wolf lays a Trap

‘I’ll bet you b’lieved I was a-gun’ to carry dat honey for you!’ ses he.

“‘An’ I’ll bet you tink I should ha’ trusted you if dere’d bin honey here!’ ses Ou’ Wolf.

“‘An’ I know you tink all de time I b’lieved dere was honey here!’ sniffs Ou’ Jackalse. ‘I know dere’d be no honey, or you wouldn’t ha’ showed me. But I knowed dere’d be sometin’—an’ dere is. Dere’s better eatin’ still; dere’s cubses.’

“‘An’ dere’s mo’,’ ses Ou’ Wolf; ‘dere’s deir mammy. Dere’s de leopard. An’—Allah Crachty, here she come!’

“You should ha’ seen Ou’ Wolf get out o’ dat.

“De leopard come an’ look, an’ de leopard put its paw on de stone. ‘What’s dis doin’ here?’ ses it, an’ it growl till it give Ou’ Jackalse wits a scrick.

“He hatto do sometin’ an’ be sharp about it too. He speak up quick an’ lively. ‘I put dat stone dere. You better not to shift it. I see Ou’ Wolf a-smackin’ his lips, tinkin’ what a nice dinner he was goin’ to make off ’n your cubses. So I yust got inside an’ pull dis stone agin de door to keep him out an’ save your little cubickies. If you look you’ll see his spoor.’

“De leopard look, an’ sure enough dere’s Ou’ Wolfs spoor. ‘Allah man!’ ses it. ‘An’ so dat Ou’ Wolf want to get my cubses while I’s out a-huntin’, hey?’

“‘He is dat,’ ses Ou’ Jackalse inside. ‘An’ he reckon if he cahnt get ’em to-day he’ll do it anoder day. So you better to leave de stone dere an’ le’ me hand out your cubses troo de winda to be suckle’ an’ put back. Den I’ll watch ’em while you go huntin’ agen, an’ I’ll keep on like dat till dey’s big enough to see an’ go wid you a-huntin’.’

“‘Dere’s sense in dat,’ ses de leopard. ‘I’ll yust do dat. Hand me out de cubses.’

“So Ou’ Jackalse he hand out one cub, an’ when it’s had enough he take it back an’ hand out anoder; an’ he do dat way till all four bin out an’ feed. ‘Now you look ahter ’em agen till I come back,’ ses de leopard, an’ off it go agen.

“Ou’ Jackalse he sit down and look roun’. ‘Well,’ ses he, ‘dere never was no honey here, but dis dat’s here is near as sweet an’ a big lot better—dese’s cubses; fat cubses; yuicy cubses.

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