Once upon a time, there was a village in the Yoruba kingdom located at the edge of the forest. The people of the village enjoyed the riches of the forest like the wild honey and the bush meat they sold at the market. Only problem was that the village was visited by a large, fearsome leopard every night. The villagers were terrified of him but no one knew how to stop him.

One day, the villagers had a meeting about the leopard. There they decided that they would dig a deep hole to trap the leopard and stop his attacks once and for all. So the next day the villagers started digging. They dug at the edge of the forest where the leopard lived. They dug all day until, finally, the hole was deep enough. They then covered the hole with sticks and palm leaves to hide it.

That night, there was no leopard attack, so the villagers knew that their trap had worked. In the morning, they all went to the hole to make sure the trap had worked. Seeing that the leopard had been caught, the relieved villagers started celebrating and left him in the hole so that he could never attack them again.

The leopard was trapped in the hole for days with nothing to eat or drink. Desperate, he called out to passing animals and people begging them for help. “Please let me out. I promise never to attack people again.” But everyone knew that the leopard could not stop hunting, so no one helped him.

One day a young man was passing through the village, when he heard the leopard calling out. He went over to the hole to see who was making the noise. When the leopard saw him, he begged, “Please help me. I’ve been stuck in this hole for many days with no food or water“. “I’m sorry but I can’t help you because you’ll eat me as soon as you’re out”, the young man responded. “I promise I won’t,” the leopard responded “please help”. Feeling sorry for the leopard, the young man agreed to help him. He went into the forest and came back with a great big branch. He lowered the branch into the hole and helped the leopard climb out of the hole.

Free at last, the leopard thanked the young man. “Thank you for helping me out. I am sorry but I am very hungry and you’re the only thing here that I can eat“. “You can’t eat me.” The young man protested “You promised you won’t“. The two of them argued about this for a while. Eventually, they agreed to find three people to decide for them. If the people said the leopard was right, then he could eat the young man. But if they thought the man was right, then the leopard had to let him go. So the two set off to find three people to judge for them.

The first person they came across was Aja, the hunter’s dog. The young man explained what had happened and asked, “So, do you think it is right for the leopard to eat me after I got him out of the hole?” The dog, who was afraid of the leopard, thought for a minute and then answered, “I’ve always found people to be mean and ungrateful. I help them hunt but they just feed me the bones. So, yes. I think the leopard can eat you”. The leopard was pleased and got ready to eat the man. “We agreed to ask three people“, the man reminded the hungry leopard. “Fine“, he grumbled reluctantly.

A little later, the two ran into Kete kete, the donkey. The young man explained the problem to her and asked, “So, do you think it is right for the leopard to eat me after I freed him?” The donkey who was also afraid of the leopard, thought for a minute and then answered. “I’ve always found people to be mean and ungrateful,” she said. “I carry their heavy load on long journeys and they never, ever say thank you. So yes I think the leopard can eat you.” The excited leopard got ready to pounce, but again, the man reminded him, “We need to ask one more person!” The leopard, hungry and impatient, grumbled, “Fine“.

They didn’t have to wait very long, however, as Ijapa, the tortoise soon appeared. Seeing the tortoise approaching them, the young man’s heart sank, “not another animal. I’m sure he’ll also side with the leopard” he thought. Still, the young man explained the problem to Ijapa and asked, “Do you think it is right for the leopard to eat me after I freed him?” Ijapa thought about it for a minute. “Where is this hole? Can I see it?” He asked them.

The man and the leopard took Ijapa to the hole as requested. “I don’t understand. How were you trapped in the hole? You are a great jumper. I just don’t believe that you couldn’t jump out on your own” Ijapa said. Frustrated, the leopard said “Here, let me show you“, and jumped into the hole. Ijapa then asked, “Was the branch in there too?” “No, it wasn’t“, snapped the impatient leopard. “Please pull it out so that he can give us an answer quickly.” The young man did just that. Then Ijapa smiled, he had tricked the ungrateful leopard into trapping himself in the hole again. “You are an ungrateful animal. The man was kind to you, and you wanted to eat him. Now you’re trapped again and this time no one will help you out“. Ijapa then turned to the young man, “You can go now but next time be careful who you choose to help.”

That was how the clever tortoise saved the young man from the ungrateful leopard.

The End.

The Moral of the Story:
This story teaches us that it is good to be grateful to people who are kind to us. It also teaches us to be wise when we choose to help others.