Wakaima and the Clay Man

Wakaima and the Clay Man (1)

Long, long ago, there lived in Africa a rabbit who was called Wakaima.

He was very lazy.
His greatest friend was an elephant who was called Wanjovu.

They lived together on a firm.

Now Wanjovu(elephant) got tired of living with Wakaima(rabbit), who was lazy and did not work at all while Wanjovu worked very hard.

So one day he said,
" Let each have his own farm. You will have yours and I will have mine. Then we will share what we grow. "

Wakaima agreed.

They each selected a plot of ground, prepared the soil and planted the seed.

But instead of working on his farm Wakaima ran off into the jungle and spent the days eating wild fruit and sleeping under the trees.

When evening came he would rub dirt over his paws and face and come into the house groaning, rubbing his back and saying how hard he had worked and how tired he was.

Wanjovu was a good gardener.
He planted and cultivated corn and potatoes, peas and many other vegetables.

When evening came he was really tiredーbut he said nothing about it.

Wakaima, coming in with a stick or two for the fire, his paws and face covered with dirt, would throw himself down before the fire.

" How tired I am ! " he would say.
" The work has been so hard today. I have worked all day without stopping. "

Wanjovu, who really believed him, would prepare supper for them both believed him, would prepare supper for them both.
Then Wakaima would wash his paws and face and sit down to eat.

Now one evening as they sat down to the supper that Wanjovu had prepared, Wanjovu said:
" Wakaima, I am afraid that you work too hard on your farm."

Wakaima shook his head.
" We cannot work too hard, " he said.
" We must have plenty of food to store away before the rains come. "

This went on for weeks.   

(つづく　1/5)