Ijapa and the birds

A Story by Tomi

An African folklore, normally told orally to children to pass down traditions and morals. I've forgotten how exactly this one played out, so it's a bit distorted.

Once upon a time, in the days when the animals still ruled the earth, the lion was king of all land animals while the Eagle reigned in the sky.

So it happened that there was famine in the animal kingdom. The rains had ceased for about two seasons and the animals were dying of hunger. But the Ijapa (the tortoise) observed that the birds of the sky were looking fresh and well nourished. Their plumage were bright unlike the other animals that had their furs and skins looking scraggy.

So Ijapa cunningly accosted the Eagle and asked “hi Mr. Eagle, what are you birds been feeding on? Please help a brother”. The Eagle initially refused but after weeks of Ijapa’s relentless questioning, the Eagle reluctantly told Ijapa that they normally flew to a distant land to get food and water. The Tortoise pleaded to be taken along on their next journey which the Eagle also reluctantly agreed to.

When the time came for the birds to travel, each bird donated a feather to the tortoise the feathers were glued together and stitched to the shoulders of the tortoise to form beautiful wings.

When they got to their destination, the starved tortoise was so surprised to see so much food, he ate all that he could find and greedily filled his sack with whatever he could lay his hands on despite earlier warnings by the birds that he was only allowed to take away just enough food for his wife and children. This got the birds really irritated that they plotted to get back at Ijapa.

While the birds were returning, mid air the birds yanked their feathers off the tortoise one by one leaving Ijapa wingless. The tortoise immediately fell from up in the sky and broke his shell.

His wife helped him gum his shell back and that’s why till today, the tortoise’ shell is patterned roughly.