Greedy Bukki

[Olùkọ́ Ọbádélé]

Greedy Bukki

Once there was a great drought in the savannah. Animals were dying of hunger one after the other. Gaïnde the Lion decided to organize a hunt in the forest. But day after day, they came home empty-handed.

One day, Bukki came across a very thin goat. He left the group, caught the goat, and looked for a secluded spot to hide with his prey. When he came to a far away clearing, he said to himself,

“Here is a good place to hide! The others are very greedy, but this time they won’t even get a taste.” In the meantime, the other animals had stopped to rest for a moment.

“Ah! Get up, my friends!” crieds Gaïnde. “The hyena is gone…he must have found prey somewhere.” Bukki, who had heard the lion’s cry, got up and thought,

“The others could find me at any moment!” So he dug a deep hole, took his prey into it, and swallowed the goat in one gulp. His stomach full, he fell asleep. As night fell, a violent wind started to blow through the forest and covered the hole where the hyena was sleeping, trapping him.

When lion and his group arrived in the clearing and saw traces of the hole, they dug out the unlucky hyena. Then Gaïnde shoved a paw into the hyena’s stomach, and the whole goat popped out of his mouth. Without a second thought, all the starving animals ate the goat and the greedy hyena alive.