Story II The vulture and the turtle

Once upon a time the Vulture met the Turtle.

-"Say Turtle, we are having this great meeting on the other side of the river. Would you like to come"?
- "Sure I would, but I cannot get there. I can't swim. However, I need to ask you to take this bag that my wife sent and carry it to the other side of the river".
The vulture agreed but just before he lift the bag lying on the ground, the turtle slipped in. Soon after the vulture reached the other side of the river, the turtle quickly left the bag without letting the vulture the chance to see it. He was surprised to see the turtle had managed to cross the river and finally come to the meeting.
After the meeting the turtle asked him again:
- "Say Vulture, now that you brought the bag from my wife to this side of the river, would you be so kind to take it back?"
Still wondering how the turtle got there, the vulture accepted to carry the bag once again. As he flew, he began thinking that the bag was a little too heavy. More, he could not stop wandering about how the turtle finally managed to cross the river considering it could not swim. He thus decided to look inside the bag and see what he had been carrying. So he opened the bag and saw the turtle was hiding inside. Utterly upset about having been fooled by the turtle, he left the bag right there on the ground and flew back home alone. Still away from home, the turtle needed to find another lift over the river so he decided to tell his story to other vultures in hope that he would get some help. The vultures agreed to give him a ride back home; they gave the turtle a stick and said:
-"Turtle, you need to hold this stick tightly while I carry you over the river. Beware that you cannot speak. Just hold on to this stick tightly using your mouth. Should you make the mistake to speak, you will certainly fall."
While they were flying over the river some chickens saw the turtle and laughed at it:
-"Hahaha. Come and see a turtle flying!"
Annoyed by their laughter the turtle said:
-"Oh! Shut up!"

The Turtle then fell in the river where she remained up to present days. Today the Turtle is rarely seen leaving the water.

This is how the Turtle left the solid ground to live in the waters and this is another story related by Nicholas, a man from the Treesleeper Tribe. 

Monica A

Stories from Namibia I

They say the jackal is a very cunning animal...

One day the jackal and the hyena were sitting by the fire. While they were resting, the jackal said:
- Hear me, Hyena! Let's kill our mothers and eat them.
The hyena went home and killed his mother. The jackal, however, led his mother farther away in a cave, took an old animal skin and showed it to the hyena as a sign of his mother's death. As the two animals were eating the hyena's mother by the fire, the jackal burst into laughter.
- Why are you laughing, Jackal? Asked the hyena.
- Well, I was just thinking of how we both killed our mothers.
Days went by. The Jackal sneaked out every day to where  his mother was and brought her food. The hyena saw him going back and forth daily and he began to wonder: "What is the Jackal doing every day? Why is he going again and again to that cave with food"? So, he decided to follow the Jackal only to find himself  struck with great surprise when he saw the jackal's mother alive. He killed her and went back by the fire. When the Jackal returned to the hidden cave he found his mother dead  and cried bitterly. As he also arrived back to the fire, the hyena asked:
- Why are you crying, Jackal?
- I am not crying. My eyes are teary because of all this smoke! Said the Jackal.

This is the end of the first story as I have written it down after meeting Nicholas, the Treesleeper.

PS. Today I tried to remember this story as I was chatting with some of my colleagues. My memory slightly failed me when I named the animals in the story. It was a hyena not a lion...

Regards,

M
- 

Pe drum spre/ in Africa. Din paginile unui jurnal prea scurt

Am deschis un jurnal prafuit pierdut printre carti si am alunecat brusc printre sunetele trecutului. S-au scurs doi ani de cand tacerea a invaluit paginile acestui blog. Doi ani de cand sunt acasa, in Romania. A trecut prea mult timp, am uitat prea mult. Europa ucide suflete. Africa ucide trupuri. Nu stiu ce e mai rau.

Din Africa, multi ar vrea sa urce in Lumea Alba. In Europa sunt blocuri cu pereti grosi de beton, multe haine, prea multe, bani si mancare; toate acestea mentin trupuri, vieti. 

Eu vreau sa cobor spre sud, in Lumea Neagra, sa fug de locul unde cred ca viata e prea adesea moarta si sufletele se pierd intre lucruri desarte, uitand ceea ce este frumos si adevarat. Ciudat cum noi oamenii nu suntem niciodata multumiti cu ceea ce avem: eu as vrea sa cobor, ei sa urce sau poate e invers.

Imi amintesc adesea de lumea de acolo, din Africa. Am stat prea putin pentru a o cunoaste, dar suficient cat sa tanjesc dupa o revenire. Pana voi gasi drumul inapoi, las aici cateva pagini dintr-un jurnal prea scurt. Jurnalul celor 3 luni si jumatate in care am stat in Namibia.

Revin maine cu una dintre povestile lui Nicholas, un barbat din tribul Treesleeper (San/ Bushmen). Pe Nicholas l-am intalnit intr-o dimineata in timp ce faceam autostopul spre Grootfontein. (Da! Am facut autostopul insotita de un prieten si am intalnit oameni buni! Nu! Nu cred in mitul "bon sauvage"! Trecand peste vulnerabilitatea etica a termenului, cred ca oameni buni si rai sunt si aici si acolo). Pe Nicholas viata mi l-a scos in cale doar cateva ore. Pacat! As fi putut invata atat de mult de la el...

Sper ca in urmatoarele zile sa gasiti in aceste povestiri o faramita de intelepciune si un gram cunoastere. Caci cunoasterea fara intelepciune este zadarnica si nimiceste omul in loc sa-l inalte.

Pe curand,

M