The frog and the mouse - African Legends

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The frog and the mouse

Bura Folktales Legend (Nigeria)

There was a frog and a mouse that were very good friends. Their friendship grew sweeter and sweeter. They did not have the same kind of houses to live in. The mouse lived in a hole in the ground and the frog lived in water. The frog could live in water, but the mouse could not live in water. When they wanted to visit, the frog would have to come out of the water. When their visit was finished, the frog would hop back into the water, and the mouse would run back into his hole in the ground.

One day the frog came out to visit with the mouse. Wickedness entered into his heart. He got some string and tied his foot and the mouse's foot together. He was just in play. Then the frog jumped back into the water with their feet still tied together.

The mouse could not live in water, and it died. After a while the mouse bloated and came to the top of the water. A hawk saw him and, with a swoop, took both the dead mouse and the live frog up into the air. The hawk alighted in a tree and ate both of them. They both met death.

There is a Bura parable which says, "Let a man dig the hole of wickedness shallow because, perhaps, he will fall into it himself."