The Tortoise Wins the Bride

A great chief announced that his daughter would marry whoever could bring him the Elephant, alive. All the strong hunters and warriors tried and failed. The slow Tortoise then went to the chief and said, "I will bring you the Elephant." Everyone laughed. The Tortoise went into the forest and dug a very deep, narrow pit on the Elephant's path to the river. He covered the top with thin branches and dust. Then he went to the Elephant's home and began to insult him. "You are not as big as they say! Your tusks are crooked! Your feet are clumsy!" The Elephant, enraged by these insults from such a small creature, charged after the Tortoise. The Tortoise ran, very slowly, right over the covered pit. The charging Elephant, blinded by his anger, did not see the trap and fell into the deep pit. He was trapped, unable to climb the narrow walls. The Tortoise went back to the chief. "The Elephant is waiting for you," he said. The chief and his men came and saw the mighty Elephant captured. The chief, true to his word, gave his daughter's hand to the Tortoise, proving again that a clever plan is more powerful than any hunter's spear.