       The Long Grass Whispers -       
    The Clever Iguana, A Zulu Tale.    
   The day was young but the sun was   
already beating down on Kalulu the     
rabbit. As he idly watched the flies   
and mosquito dance around his long ears
he wondered what he could do to break  
the monotony. There must be someone he 
could talk to. Sure enough, Nkhandwe   
the jackel soon trotted up along the   
path which wound past rabbit's resting 
place. 'Oh jackal! How good to see you.
Why do you look so morose?'            
   'I've just been trying to catch that
blasted Iguana.'                       
   'Really?' said Kalulu in surprise,  
'why should you want to catch Gondwa?' 
   'Don't you know? Haven't you heard? 
Gondwa has offered a bag of beans to   
any animal clever enough to catch him. 
He boasts he is far too clever to be   
caught. The conceit!'                  
   'Hmmm. I could do with some beans.' 
said rabbit thoughtfully, scratching   
his long floppy ears.                  
   'So could I!' said Nkhandwe, 'but my
plan failed. I rolled a crocodile egg  
up to the mouth of his cave, hid in the
long grass and waited. Bye and bye I   
see Gondwa's head as he pears at the   
egg. Oho! A crocodile egg says he. And 
a crocodile egg where no crocodile egg 
has a right to be. He peers around and 
then says - Is that jackal spoor which 
leads to that clump of long grass. Then
he laughs and goes back into his cave.'
   'Poor jackal,' laughed Kalulu. 'But 
I think I can get that bag of beans no 
matter how clever Gondwa thinks he is.'
   'Good luck!' said Nkhandwe as he    
sloped off dejectedly in the direction 
of his cave. Kalulu scratched his ears 
once more then gathering some useful   
things from his cave he loped leisurely
towards Gondwa's cave. When outside he 
tethered his goat to one of two trees  
outside. His dog he tied to the other  
and then set down a bowl in front of   
both animals. Garu the dog looked quite
unhappy when he realised Kalulu had put
a bowl of grass in front of him. Goat  
was equally unhappy on realising his   
bowl contained porridge and he looked  
hungrily at Garu's bowl. Garu whined   
and scratched at his rope, but could   
not reach the porridge. Kalulu pulled  
thoughtfully on his floppy ears and lay
down under the shade of a nearby bush. 
The sun had climbed high into the sky  
when Gondwa heard a whining outside his
cave. He peered out to see the animals 
looking hungry and miserable. 'What is 
the matter with that stupid rabbit?' he
asked himself in surprise. 'Everybody  
knows that dogs eat porridge and goats 
prefer grass.' So saying he threw some 
egg shell at the sleeping Kalulu. The  
sleepy rabbit rubbed his eyes and then 
looked at Gondwa. 'Why do that?' he    
asked the Iguana. 'Because you are very
stupid. Look at your two animals. They 
have been given the wrong food. Baru   
much prefers porridge and goats like   
grass. 'Of course not! Those are my two
animals and I know what they like to   
eat!' replied Kalulu scornfully. 'Look!
 I'll show you.' said Gondwa, annoyed. 
So saying he stepped out of his cave   
and swapped the two bowls. As he sat   
back on his haunches to point out his  
superior intellect to Kalulu he felt a 
flick against his neck. He realised in 
horror that he had been noosed. 'A big 
bag of beans, you promised!' laughed a 
pleased rabbit. Gondwa wistfully cursed
his short sightedness but was pleased  
to see that Baru now ate his porridge  
and Goat munched happily on his grass. 
'Well, I was right about Baru and Goat'
he reassured himself philosophically.  
                                       
                                       
**
