The Girl Who Married A Lion. Alexander McCall Smith
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Leopard tied up their mouths and wrapped them in leaves. Now they were bundles ready to take off to the party, where Leopard and her cousins would eat them. Unknown to Leopard, though, Guinea Fowl and Wild Cat had returned from a journey, and they watched in dismay as they saw what Leopard was doing. They were saddened by the thought that Goat’s happy children would no longer be jumping up and down in the grass and singing their goat songs that they all so liked to hear. They could not believe that Leopard would be wicked enough to do such a thing, but now they saw it all before their very eyes.
Shortly afterwards, Goat returned from the other side of the river, bearing a fine new dress which she had bought for Leopard. Leopard was very pleased with this, as she was a vain person who liked to wear fine dresses and admire her reflection in the water.
While Leopard was busy trying on her new dress, Guinea Fowl and Wild Cat crept round to the place where the parcels were stored and they took the leaves off Goat’s children.
“You must go and hide,” they said to the children. “Make sure that Leopard doesn’t see you, though, for she is very wicked.”
Goat’s children, shocked by what had happened to them, went off into the bushes, stifling their tears as they did so. Guinea Fowl and Wild Cat did not go with them, as they had business to do. Seeing Leopard’s children nearby, they went over to them and very quickly overpowered them. It was not difficult to do that, as Leopard’s children were weak and sickly. Then they wrapped them in leaves – the very leaves which only a short time ago had been wrapped around Goat’s children.
It was now time for everybody to set off to the party. Leopard, who was pleased with herself in her new dress, did not bother to find out where her children were and had no idea that they were inside the parcels which she was carrying. So when Guinea Fowl and Wild Cat asked her what was in these parcels, she replied only that there was good meat for them to have at the party.
When they arrived at the party, Leopard told her cousins that they should put the parcels into the pot unopened. She did not want Goat, who was there, to see that her children were being put into the pot. Guinea Fowl, though, realised the danger that they were in, and she whispered to Goat and Wild Cat that they should all run away before the parcels were taken out of the pot.
Later when Leopard took out the parcels and opened them, she saw that her own children were inside and had been cooked. This made her cry out in anger and run back to their place by the hills, so that she might catch Goat and her children and punish them. But they had left by the time she got there, and that is why even to this day we see leopards searching for goats.
Then a terrible thing happened, which spoiled the happiness of the family. The girl had gone to fetch water from the river and was walking back to her hut with a large calabash on her head. Suddenly she began to feel that she was being followed. At first she did nothing, but then, when the feeling became quite strong, she turned round and looked behind her. There was nothing to be seen, although the tall grass moved and there was a faint sound, rather like that which a creature makes when it scurries through a bush.
The girl continued on her way. After she had taken a few more steps she again heard a noise. This time she swung round more sharply, dropping the calabash to the ground. There was a man behind her, crouching down, half in the grass, half out of it.
The girl was frightened by the sight of the man, but she tried not to show her fear. He smiled at her, and rose to his feet.
“You must not be afraid of me,” he said. “I am just walking in the grass.”
The girl could not understand why a man should wish to walk in the grass, but she did not say anything. The man came up to her and reached out to touch her.
“You are a nice, fat girl,” he said.
The girl was now very nervous and moved away from the man’s touch.
“My father’s place is just there,” she said. “I can see the smoke from his fire.”
The man looked in the direction of the huts.
“If that is so,” he said, “I can walk with you to your father’s place, where I can eat some food.”
The girl walked ahead of the man and soon they came to the circle of huts under the trees. There the stranger waited at the gate while the girl went in to tell her father that there was a man who wished to eat some food. The father came out, called to the man, and invited him to sit on a stone under one of the trees. Food was made by the girl’s mother and given to the man. He took it, and put it all into his mouth in one piece. Then he swallowed, and all the food was gone. The girl had not seen a man eat in this way before and wondered why he should be so hungry.
After the man had eaten, he got up and said goodbye to the father. He looked around him before he left, as if he was trying to remember what the family looked like and what they owned. Then he walked off and was soon obscured by the tall grass that grew in that part.
The girl went to stand by her father’s side.
“That was a very wicked man,” said the father. “I am very sorry that he visited this place.”
“I am sure he will not come back,” the girl said. “He was going somewhere else when I met him.”
The father shook his head sadly.
“Now that he is here,” he said. “We shall have to leave. I shall tell your brother to collect his sleeping mat and get ready for us to go to some other place.”
The girl could not believe that the family would be leaving the place where they had lived for so long and of which she felt so fond. She tried to persuade her father to stay, but he was convinced that they were in great danger by staying where they were.
“It is better to move now,” he said, “than to regret it later.”
The girl wept, but her tears were ignored by her father. Soon he had all the family’s possessions loaded on his back and was calling out to the others to follow him on the path.
“I shall not come with you,” the girl said defiantly. “I have been happy in this place and see no reason to move.”
The girl’s mother pleaded with her to go, but the girl refused. Eventually the father became impatient.
“If you must stay,” he said, “then you should at least go and live in a cave in the hillside. There is a place there where there is a large rock which can be used as a door. At night you must roll that rock in behind you and let nobody into the cave.”
The girl agreed to this, as she knew that nearby cave. It was comfortable and cool, and she thought she would be happy there. As the rest of the family disappeared down the path that led to their new place, she took her mat and her pots to the cave and set them on a ledge at the back. Then, since it was beginning to get dark, she rolled the rock in the front into position. Inside the cave, it was pitch black, but the girl felt safe and she slept well that first night.
The next day, the girl’s brother paid her a visit to see how she was. She told him of how comfortable she had been in the cave and of how well she had slept.
“I am safe there,” she explained. “The rock blocks the mouth of the cave and I shall open it to nobody. If you come, though, you should sing this song and I shall know