Week 9 Story: An Even Trade

(Menacing crocodile; source: Needpix)

Once upon a time, there lived a young woman who was unable to provide food for her two children. She had to rely on her friends and neighbors for sustenance but she was afraid she was becoming too much of a burden on them. Therefore, she resolved to think of ways to procure food.

After much deliberation, an idea struck her mind. She went to cut some palm-kernels and collect palm nuts. After wandering in the woods for a while, she came upon a leopard that was resting under a tree. She approached the leopard and offered him half of her palm nuts. The leopard was very pleased with this treat and said, “If you continue to bring me these nuts regularly, I will ensure that you have my protection.”

“It is not protection I require, great leopard; it is food for myself,” she replied.

“Very well,” the leopard stated and they parted ways.

Satisfied with the success of her plan, the woman begins the journey back home. On the way, she spies a crocodile by the bank of a nearby river. I still have half of my palm nuts, she thought. I already have food from the leopard but it wouldn’t hurt to have some more.

She approached the crocodile and offered him the remainder of her palm nuts. The crocodile enjoyed this delicacy and asked her what she wished for in return.

“I hope to strike an even deal with you, great crocodile. If I bring you these palm nuts regularly, will you provide me with food?”

“Very well,” said the crocodile and both parties went on their way.

A few months had passed wherein the lady, leopard, and crocodile all upheld their ends of the deal. Everyone was satisfied with their share; the leopard and crocodile got their palm nuts and the woman was left with an overflowing abundance of food.

Slowly, however, word began to spread in the woods about a new delicacy: dogs. Neither the crocodile nor the leopard had seen a dog before but they itched to try it. So each approached the woman and asked her bring them dogs rather than palm nuts. The woman assured them that she would see to it, despite knowing that there was no way she could feasibly produce enough dogs for the animals to feed on daily.

After ruminating on her options, she came up with a plan: neither the leopard nor the crocodile had seen each other before so she would simply set up a scenario where each thought the other creature was a dog. In one fell stroke, she would be rid of both irritating animals and their persistent demands!

The next day when the leopard came to deliver food and demanded his promised dog, the woman instructed him to go wait in a field where she would bring one. When the crocodile came along, she gave him the same instructions. Both animals happily went to the field, excited for a delicious meal.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the woman, her children had gone to play in the woods and had stumbled upon the very field in which she’d directed these animals. They stood at the edge of the trees, watching these magnificent creatures talk to each other.

“There must be my dog! I cannot wait to taste its flesh” said the crocodile, seeing the leopard waiting at the center of the field.

Upon hearing this call, the leopard opened his eyes to watch the crocodile creeping towards him. “A dog?! Why, you are a dog! I am a leopard.”

“A leopard? That is impossible, I have been sent here by a woman to feed on a dog,” exclaimed the crocodile.

“You must be lying, for a woman sent me here to do the same,” responded the leopard.

The two animals began to circle each other suspiciously, waiting for the other to pounce. Suddenly, they heard a rustling from the trees. They snapped their heads to the side to survey their surroundings and found two creatures observing their quarrel.

“Those must be the dogs the woman left for us,” said the crocodile.

“You’re right,” declared the leopard. “There are two of them, one for each of us.”

Saying so, the animals pounced upon the screaming children, killing them with ease and feasting on their flesh.



Author’s note: The original story was about a man who had trouble finding a way to feed himself and his wives. He comes up with the same plan that this woman does and makes a deal with a leopard and a crocodile. When both animals begin demanding dog meat, the man hatches the same plan as this woman and pits the leopard against the crocodile. Both animals die while fighting and the man has a happily ever after ending. It didn’t strike me as fair that the man should get away completely unscathed while the animals that helped him in a time of need wound up dead. So in this story, I altered the narrative a little bit and had a mother struggling to feed her kids. I thought it was fitting that the woman should lose something dear to her in the process of tricking the animals.

Bibliography. Notes on the Folklore of the Fjort by Richard Edward Dennett (1898).