Ethiopian Folktales

Narrated by Mohammed Ali Akitoy

A lion, a hyena and a fox had formed a hunting party and they always went hunting. Now one day, when they were hunting the lion caught himself a camel, the hyena caught a cow and the fox caught a goat.

Now, as they were coming back home, they stopped for a rest and the hyena wanted to sleep but the fox said, “Oh you know how the lion’s always unfair, just because he’s so strong, so he’s going to eat the camel, you’re going to eat the cow and I only have a small goat. So let me go hunting and if I get anything else, you and I can split it.”

So the fox left everything with the hyena and he went away. Now the lion woke up and he said, “I’m hungry. How do you think we should split the food?”

And the hyena said, “Well, you caught the camel, so you eat the camel, I caught the cow, so I’ll eat the cow and the fox can eat the goat.”

And the lion said, “You ridiculous creature, you only caught something because I was around, so how dare you suggest splitting the meat three ways?”

And he struck the hyena’s head, which flew off and got stuck up a tree. Then the lion buried the body so that the fox wouldn’t see anything.

Now when the fox came back he had seen the hyena’s head on the tree from far away and the lion said, “Well, Mr. Fox, how do you think we should share the food?”

And the fox said, “Well, to begin with, I’m honoured that you should seek my humble advice. After all, you are the king of the forest. You can have anything you like. But if you do ask for my advice I’ll give it to you.”

And the lion said, “Yes, tell me what I should do.”

And the fox said, “Well, I think that for breakfast you should eat the camel and for lunch you should have the cow and for dinner you should have the goat.”

The lion said, “And you? What will you eat?”

And the fox said, “Oh, that’s no problem. I’ll eat your leftovers.”

And the lion said, “You used to be very stupid. How have you become so intelligent and you’re giving me such a smart reply?”

And the fox said, “Oh, I’ve become more intelligent because I’m not only using my head, I’m also using the hyena’s head.”

And he ran away.