THERE was once upon a time a man, and he took an axe and went into the forest to look for honey. He found a bees' nest in a tree, so he climbed up and began to cut a hole to get at the honey.
Whilst he was in the tree a second man came up; he was a hunter, and he had been looking for game, but had found none. When the hunter saw that man in the tree he asked him, "What are you cutting?"
The man replied, "I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit down there and wait for it."
So the hunter sat down, and presently a buffalo came up and, seeing the man in the tree, asked, "What are you doing?"
He replied, "I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit down there beside the hunter."
So the buffalo sat down, and presently a lion came up, and he, too, asked what the man was doing, and the man told him to sit down on one side and wait.
Presently an eland came along and asked the man what he was doing in the tree. He answered, "I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit down there by the lion and wait for it."
So the eland sat down, and presently a leopard came along, and he also the man told to sit on one side and wait for the honey.
Then came up a bushbuck, and the man told him to sit down by the leopard and wait.
Then a gennet came up and asked the man what he was doing. The man replied, "I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit over there by yourself and wait for it."
So the gennet sat down and waited, and presently a guinea fowl came along and asked the man what he was doing. The man said, "I am looking for honey. If you want any, sit down by the gennet and wait for it."
After that the man went on cutting the tree, and at last made a hole and looked in, and he found that there was no honey in the nest.
All those sitting round asked him, "When are you going to give us our honey?"
The man said, "There is no honey in this nest, but there is no need for you to go hungry. If you are fools it is your own faults."
Then that hunter turned and killed the buffalo, and the lion seized the eland, and the leopard caught the bushbuck, and the gennet got the chicken.
So they were very glad, and said to that man, "You have done very wisely to-day."
That is all.
