Hyena: Why Hyena limps

One day a Hyena went with Wakahare to collect honey in the forest,
where men used to hang their beehives from the trees. Wakahare
climbed the tree, extracted big lumps of combs full of honey from
a beehive, and when he was satiated, said to the Hyena: ‘Open your
mouth and I will drop some honey into it.’

The Hyena did so and swallowed the honey with great pleasure
several times, until she was also satisfied. Then Wakahare left the tree and returned to the ground. He asked the Hyena: ‘How did you enjoy the honey?’
‘Very, very much, what bliss, my dear friend.’
‘But remember,’ said Wakahare, ‘this is a kind of sweetness that
must not be evacuated from your body.’
‘Yes, I think it must be so; but how can one prevent it from going out?’
‘I’ll tell you what to do. I will stitch your orifice together with your tail and you may be sure that no sweetness will come out.’
‘Good, my friend, do it for me, please.’

Wakahare fetched a few sharp thorns and stitched the orifice with the tail of the Hyena and went off. After some time the Hyena felt a terrible urge to evacuate. She looked around for help, but nobody was to be found. At last a Jackal happened to pass there. “’Oh, dear friend Jackal,’ said the Hyena, ‘come please, and help me.’ ‘What can I do for you, dear friend?’ ‘Please, release a little bit the stitches which are at the neck of my
tail. I cannot bear it any longer.’ ‘Sorry, my friend, I am unable to do that. I know you have diarrhoea habitually, and don’t want to be splashed with a discharge of that kind.’ And so saying, he went on.

After some time a Serval arrived on his way to the forest. The Hyena beseeched him for help. ‘Sorry, Mrs. Hyena, you are very prone to discharge violently,’ said the Serval, I don’t want to be buried under your excrements.” He too went his way without looking back. Later on a Hare passed by. The Hyena asked again for help, but to no avail.
‘I am very sorry,’ the Hare said. ‘Don’t you see how clean I am? I am going to a feast. I don’t want to soil my dress and get untidy for your dirty business.”

He too went his way leaving the Hyena groaning and tossing on the ground on account of the pain she was suffering. At last, a Crow perched on a tree nearby. Looking down at the Hyena lying still on the grass, he thought she was dead, and began to foretaste a good meal: but as he was planning what to do next, the Hyena opened her eyes and seeing the Crow on the tree, said: ‘Oh dear Crow, dear friend of mine, help! help! please.’

The Crow left the tree and approached the Hyena.
‘What’s the matter with you?’ he asked.
‘Oh please, release a bit the stitches in my tail. I am dying of the
urge of my body and I cannot evacuate.’
‘You say dying–dying?’
‘Yes, help me, please.’
‘But you see, I am only a bird with no paws. How can I help you with that business?’
‘Oh dear try as much as you can and you will succeed.’ ‘I doubt very much, and besides that I am very hungry. I have no
strength to do any work.’ ‘Oh nonsense! My belly is full of meat. You will eat today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow and be satiated.’

When he heard that, the Crow set himself to think and after a little while decided to see what he could do. With his strong bill he succeeded in extracting the first thorn, and truly, two small pieces of meat fell on the ground. The bird devoured them very greedily, and encouraged by the success, began to tackle the job seriously.

After a great effort he succeeded in extracting the second thorn, but alas! a burst of white excrement gushed forth with such vehemence,
that the poor Crow was cast back ten feet and was buried head and all under a heap of very unpleasant matter. The shock was so great, that he remained buried for two days, until a great shower of rain washed the ground, freeing the Crow of the burden.

He remained a full day basking in the sun and regaining strength.
He was so weak that he could not fly. The Crow was washed by the heavy rain, but his neck remained white. That is the reason why crows today have a white collar in their plumage. The Crow very much resented the alteration of his plumage and decided in his heart to take revenge.

One day he heard that the hyenas had arranged for a great dance in a thicket he knew very well. He cleaned himself with great care in the morning dew, put on a beautiful string made of scented roots and proceeded to the meeting place.

On his arrival he was greeted by the hyenas and several of them asked
him to give them some of those little pieces of meat he wore around his body.

They took his ornamental beads to be meat. He refused to give any of the beads away, but rising on his feet with an air of dignity, he said: ‘My dear friends, forgive me this time, I cannot give away this kind of meat, which is specially reserved for our kinship, but I promise you a great quantity of good meat and fat if you follow me to the place I am going to show you.’
‘Where is it?’ they asked anxiously.

‘You see, we birds fly in the air and our deposits of food are not on earth,
but on high for safety’s sake. Look up at the sky and see how many white heaps of fat
we usually store there. That’s where you will find meat and fat in great quantity.’

The hyenas gazed up to the sky and asked: ‘But how can we get there?’
‘I will show you. You can reach there very easily. Now, let us make an appointment.
The day after tomorrow we will meet here again. Tell your people, old and young,
men and women to come here with baskets and bags; there will be meat and fat for all.’

On the day appointed the hyenas came in great numbers. I think the whole population was there. The Crow arrived in due time.
He started by congratulating the crowd on their punctuality, and with great poise said:
‘My dear friends, listen now how we are going to perform the journey
to the place of meat and plenty. You must gr apple one another by the tail,
so as to form a long chain. The first of the chain will hold fast to my tail.’
There was a general bustle among the hyenas, but after a few moments all were in order.
At a given sign, the Crow began to fly, lifting the hyenas one by one till they looked like a long black chain waving in the air. After some time he asked:
‘Is there anybody still touching ground?’
The hyenas answered: ‘No, we are all in the air.’
He flew and flew up into the sky for a long time and asked again:
‘What do you see on earth? Do you see the trees, the huts, the rivers?’
‘We see nothing but darkness,’ they answered.
He flew again for another while and then said to the hyenas nearby:
‘Now, release for a while, that I may readjust my ornaments.’
‘But dear friend, how can we do it? We will surely fall down and die.’
‘I can’t help it. If you don’t release me, I will let go my tail,
I am sure the feathers will grow again.’
‘Oh dear friend, don’t, please don’t for your mother’s sake, we would die, all of us.’

The Crow would not listen at all. He thought the time had come for his revenge. With a sharp jerk he turned to the right. The feathers of his tail tore out, and with them the long chain of hyenas. They fell heavily on the ground and died. One of them escaped with a broken leg. She was pregnant and so saved the kinship from total destruction. That is why hyenas these days limp when they walk.