Week 7 Story: Why Tortoise's Live on Land and in Water

Why Tortoises Live on Land and in Water

Author's Note: This story is based on the Nigerian Folk Story "How the tortoise overcame the Elephant and the Hippopotamus." In the original, the tortoise tricks both the elephant and hippopotamus into thinking he is stronger than they are. There is another story in which the hippopotamus is tricked by the tortoise so I wanted to create an alternate version of this story where the hippopotamus had learned a lesson and was able to outsmart the tortoise.

The Mighty Hippopotamus (Wikimedia Commons)

The hippopotamus and the elephant have always been good friend. They have both long admired the other for their great strength.

One day when the hippopotamus and the elephant were dining together, the tortoise came along and challenged the elephant to a battle of strength.

"I bet ten thousand rods that you cannot pull me out of the water and onto the shore," the tortoise said to the elephant.

"Foolish tortoise, certainly I am much stronger than you," stammered the elephant. "I bet twenty thousand rods that I can pull you out from the water with no trouble at all."

The next day the tortoise went down to the water with a strong rope that was several hundred feet in length. He tied one end to a large rock at the bottom of the water and left the other end laying on the shore.

When the elephant arrived, the tortoise called out from the water, "I have tied this rope to the end of my leg. Try and pull me out if you think you are strong enough." After he had said this, he sank  below the surface of the water out sight from the elephant.

The elephant then picked up the end of the rope on shore and pulled with all his might. He was surprised to find that the tortoise did not budge. He tried again and was still unable to move the tortoise. After a few more tries, the elephant finally gave up.

As he did this the tortoise, having removed the end of the rope from the rock and attached it to his leg, emerged from the water. The elephant was forced to admit defeat and handed over the twenty thousand rods he owed the tortoise.

The rods the tortoise won from the elephant lasted him quite a while but eventually he began to run low. He decided to challenge to hippopotamus to same test of strength he had beat the elephant in.

The hippopotamus knew of the tortoise and how cunning he was. The tortoise had once tricked one of the hippopotamus's wives into calling out the name of the hippopotamus and caused his entire family to be banished into the water. Knowing his tricks, the hippopotamus devised a plan to ensure the tortoise played fairly.

When the tortoise approached the hippopotamus with the bet, the hippopotamus agreed as long as he could pull the tortoise into the water. Seeing no problem with this, the tortoise consented.

The next day, the tortoise arrived at the water with the rope as before. He tied one end to the leg of the hippopotamus. When the hippopotamus turned his back the tortoise rushed to tie the other end of the rope twice around a strong tree and hid himself at the base of the tree.

The hippopotamus tried to pull the tortoise into the water but he could not so he came up onto the shore. As he did this, the tortoise untied the rope from the tree and onto his leg. Afterwards, he went to greet the hippopotamus having bested him.

When the tortoise reached the hippopotamus, the hippopotamus insisted, "Please give me one more chance. I am very hungry and surely can pull you into the water after I eat. I will even double your reward to forty thousand rods if you can beat me."

Confident in his trick the tortoise agreed. The hippopotamus had caught onto the tortoise's game, however. Having seen which way the tortoise had come, the hippopotamus went towards the tree that the tortoise had tied his rope around. The hippopotamus knocked over the tree and proceeded to eat the leaves from it.

When the hippopotamus finished he returned to the tortoise and declared, "I am ready now. This time you shall not best me."

The tortoise once again tied the end of the rope to the leg of the hippopotamus. Before turning around, this time the hippopotamus demanded that he watch the tortoise tie the rope to his own leg. Figuring he would still have enough time to untie it before the hippopotamus pulled, the tortoise did as the hippopotamus wished and tied the rope to his own leg.

Then as the the tortoise approached the tree he discovered it had been knocked down. The tortoise became so flustered trying to come up with another way to defeat the hippopotamus, he forgot to untie himself from the rope and was yanked abruptly into the water.

The tortoise, unprepared to lose, did not have forty thousand rods to pay the hippopotamus. In punishment the hippopotamus demanded the tortoise's son as payment. So the tortoise's son became a slave and lived in the water with the hippopotamus to serve his every desire. That is why there are tortoises both on the land and in the water.


Story source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell