The Dog and the Tortoise's Friendship

The Dog and Ijapa the Tortoise were great friends. One day, they were both invited to a feast in a faraway village. The Dog, being a fast runner, arrived first and was warmly welcomed. The hosts asked, "Where is your friend?" The Dog, wanting to appear important, replied, "Oh, him? He is my slave. He is slow and will be along later carrying my stool." When Ijapa finally arrived, tired from the journey, the hosts treated him like a slave because of what the Dog had said. They made him sit on the floor and gave him only scraps. Ijapa was deeply insulted but said nothing. On the way home, they had to cross a wide river. The Dog could not swim well. "Please, friend," the Dog begged, "carry me across on your back." Ijapa agreed. Halfway across the river, Ijapa suddenly dived underwater. The Dog yelped, "What are you doing? I will drown!" Ijapa replied from beneath the water, "Is a master not allowed to wash his slave's stool?" He then left the Dog struggling in the water to make his own way home, having taught him a sharp lesson about the price of a treacherous friendship.