Retold by Mike Peterson, c. 2005

Illustrations by Marina Tay, c. 2005

(From Southern Nigeria)

One day, Lion and Jackal decided to go hunting together. They caught a large eland, and Lion said he would stay to guard it. ?You go get my family,? he said. ?When they have finished, you can bring your family to eat.?

Jackal pretended to go get Lion?s family, but instead, he ran and put his face into a thorn bush so it was all scratched and bloody. Then he came back to where Lion was waiting.

?Your wife didn?t believe me,? he said. ?Look how she scratched me with her claws!?

?What?? Lion roared. ?I?ll go tell her to come right away. You stay here with the food!?

As soon as the angry lion had gone away, Jackal called for his own wife, and they quickly dragged the dead eland to a large stone tower they had built. Then they tied it with ropes and hauled it to the top of the tower.

When the Lion returned, he was very angry, because his wife kept telling him she hadn?t even seen Jackal and certainly hadn?t scratched his face. Now the food and Jackal were both missing.

From the top of the tower, Jackal saw him walking around, trying to find where the food had gone.

Finally, Lion looked up and saw Jackal looking down at him. ?Have you got our eland up there?? he roared.

?Of course,? said the Jackal. ?You know I am too small and weak to protect it on the ground. I was afraid Hyena or Leopard would come and steal it, so I brought it up here. Now my wife is cooking it for us!?

Lion walked around the tower several times. ?How am I supposed to get up there to eat?? he asked.

?That?s easy,? Jackal answered. Then he called over his shoulder. ?Wife! Get our strongest rope and lower it down so Lion can climb it!?

Then he whispered to his wife: ?Find an old rotten rope and give it to me!?

He lowered the rope down and Lion began to climb. But when he was halfway up, Jackal gave the old rope a tug and it snapped.

Lion fell to the bottom of the tower and then rolled down the hillside, bumping over rocks and rolling through thorn bushes.

Jackal went back from the edge of the tower where Lion couldn?t see him. He picked up a stick and started loudly beating an old dried piece of hide, shouting: ?How dare you give me an old rope!?

His wife pretended to scream each time he hit the hide, but really she was laughing.

?Stop that!? Lion cried. ?Don?t! I?m all right, really! Just lower me another rope!?

Jackal went to the edge of the tower.

Then he called back to his wife: ?Give me the strongest rope we have for Uncle Lion!?

Then he quietly said: ?Get me an even older, more rotten rope than the last one!?

He lowered the rope down and Lion began to climb. But when he was nearly to the top, Jackal gave the rope a tug and made it snap.

Again, Lion fell to the bottom of the tower, only this time he had been even farther up, so he hit the ground harder and bumped over even more rocks and rolled through even more thorn bushes.

Jackal went back from the edge of the tower and began to beat the old, dried hide again, shouting at his wife while she pretended to scream. And again she was laughing quietly so Lion did not hear.

?Stop it! Don?t do that!? Lion shouted. ?You are a terrible person, Jackal! Stop it!?

Jackal went to the edge of the tower. ?This is your last chance, Wife!? he shouted. ?Get me the very strongest rope we have!?

And then he said, very quietly, ?Get me the worst rope of them all!?

He lowered the rope again, and again Lion began to climb, and when he was very near the top and could see the fire where Jackal?s wife was cooking the food, Jackal let go of his end of the rope and Lion fell all the way to the bottom, bumped and crashed through the rocks and thorns, and lay in a heap at the bottom of the hill.

Jackal called down to Lion. ?I think you should try one more time!?

But Lion did not answer him.

So Jackal called his children and they all had a lovely dinner of eland