The tortoise and the squirrel were best of friends;
they lived together full with happiness and love. They even love themselves more to the extent that they like doing their business together make profit and share equally among themselves with no quarrel.
The tortoise and squirrel were dealing in pot selling business together. The squirrel was much in love with palm kernel as food and it was his favorite food.
On a fateful day, tortoise and squirrel fell short of food because the business was bad that they couldn’t make sales in which they can use in feeding themselves. The two were so hungry but they believed that they will surely make sales in the next day and they will buy themselves food to fill the stomach when they get to the market. The two slept that night with empty stomachs.
It was another fateful morning, tortoise and squirrel woke up so early, and they were so empty that they couldn’t live up to the strength of doing the house chores before gong to the market. All they were concern of is making sales so that they can get something to eat. They decide to go to the market very early so that they can make more sales quickly before other people start arriving the market for their sales. They started the advertising their goods right from their doorsteps.
On getting to the market, thee was no one in the market, squirrel look straight to the other corner and found his beloved and favorite palm kernel, he told tortoise to let them go and get some part of it so that they could feed themselves but tortoise disagreed with him completely, tortoise do not buy the idea of taking the palm kernel because it does not belong to them.
But squirrel was so hungry that he got tempted, he lied to tortoise about going to the toilet bet he gently sneak to the place were the palm kernel was located not knowing that the owner which is Mole was already watching him where he hid and watch squirrel steals the palm kernel. The mole gently sneak to squirrel back and caught him, instead of squirrel apologizing he decide to engage in a fight with mole so that people won’t label him as a thief.
They fought hard for a very long time but no one emerged as the winner because the two were strong.
Tortoise did not notice anything for a long period of time not until someone came to inform him about his friend squirrel engaging in a fight with mole.
Tortoise in no haste took a big mortar stick with no aim of settling the dispute but to go and defend his friend in fighting mole so that they can conquer mole together all because of the love he has for his friend.
On getting there he never listen to any story that got the two of them into fight but rather he joined squirrel in the fight against mole. The mole was opportune to drag tortoise closer and he bites his nose to the extent that tortoise nose was on the verge of falling to the floor. Tortoise was full of bloodshed, squirrel became powerless and stop the fight.
Tortoise walked away crying for help but unfortunately no one wanted to help because they believed that tortoise did not do the right thing and he was punished for his wrong deed.
Tortoise walked away singing:
YORUBA VERSE
Asin toun Tokere
Audience: Jo mi Joo
Awon Lonjo ja
Audience: Jo mi Joo
Ija re mo wa laa
Audience: Jo mi Joo
Asin bu mi nimu je
Audience: Jo mi Joo
Egbami lowo ree o
Audience: Jo mi Joo
ENGLISH VERSE
The mole and squirrel
Audience: Jo mi Joo
The two were fighting
Audience: Jo mi Joo
I came to settle the dispute
Audience: Jo mi Joo
The mole bite me in my nose
Audience: Jo mi Joo
Please save me from him
Audience: Jo mi Joo
That was how the tortoise nose became crooked.
The folktales has a lesson:
One should not steal
One should not be greedy
One should be patient
One should not be partial in settling dispute