Tug of War
An African Folktale
Acknowlegements
The story is a retelling of an African Folktale from the book Thirty -Three Multicultural Tales To Tell by Pleasant DeSpain.
Pictures created by Chandra Valput in The Print Shop program.
A long time ago, Tortoise was walking through the jungle. As he leisurely crossed the river, he was chased out by Hippo, who was trying to take a nap. "Get out of here quickly, Tortoise! Move, move!" he snapped.
Once Tortoise got out of Hippo's way, as quickly as he could, he crossed Elephant's path. "Look out Tortoise! You are moving so slow that I almost stepped on you!" said Elephant.
This made Tortoise very grumpy. He was always being mistreated by all the other jungle animals.
"Well you need to watch where you are going!" yelled Tortoise. "I may be slow but I am strong and mighty too!"
Elephant laughed. "Oh Tortoise, I could have easily stepped right on you and crushed you flat. You had better watch that sharp tongue of yours".
"Well then" said Tortoise "I challenge you to see who is the strongest! I challenge you to a tug of war!"
"Very well. I'd love to make a fool of you" chuckled Elephant.
Tortoise replied, "We will each take a hold of this vine here. You take one end and I'll go down to the river with the other. When I say, "Pull Oh Mighty Beast, Pull", we will both pull. You try to drag me into the jungle and I will try to drag you into the river".
"Fine by me" said Elephant. "I'll show you who's mighty".
Tortoise ran all the way down to the river where Hippo was attempting to continue his afternoon nap.
"Hippo, you chased me out of the river earlier and now I am here to show you that I am mighty too" yelled Tortoise.
Hippo emerged from the water. "Oh yeah?" he said with a laugh.
"Yeah. You hold one end of this vine here and I'll hold the other. When I say, "Pull Oh Mighty Beast, Pull", you try to pull me into the water. And I will try to pull you into the jungle".
Hippo laughed and said, "All right then. Its about time I teach you some manners".
Tortoise walked halfway back into the jungle and yelled at the top of his lungs, "PULL OH MIGHTY BEAST, PULL!"
Both Elephant and Hippo began to pull and pull with all their might. Neither of them would budge.
"Wow, Tortoise is quite strong" thought Elephant.
"Tortoise can pull much more that I imagined" thought Hippo.
But they both kept pulling.
When each beast had had enough, Tortoise yelled, "Stop! The vine is about to break!" Both Hippo and Elephant were glad to stop pulling.
Tortoise ran over to Elephant. "You are strong Tortoise. I will allow you to roam the jungle with me from now on" said a tired Elephant.
Tortoise ran down to Hippo. "I won't chase you out of the water anymore. I will share my river with you", said an exhausted Hippo.
About the Author
Chandra Valput is a graduate student at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University where she is in the process of obtaining her Masters Degree in Elementary Education.
Prior to attending Vanderbilt, Chandra taught kindergarten for two years in Columbus, Ohio. She graduated from Miami University of Ohio in 2005 with a B.S. in Early Childhood Education.
"I have always loved reading ever since I was young" says Chandra. "It is a passion that I have carried into my adult life and one that I hope to instill in my future students".