A Stone That Wore A Beard

This tale has been adapted from the original for readability:

One day, Spider went off into the deep bush to set his traps, and there he came across a great stone with a thick beard. But it was not a real stone at all, it was a devil that had taken the shape of one.

People said that if anyone pointed at that stone and said, “That stone’s got a beard,” they would drop to the ground right beside it and be close to death. And so it happened to Spider. He saw it, cried out in surprise that the stone had a beard, and at once he fell where he stood. He could not get up all day, and when he finally managed to move a little, he dragged himself home.

Spider, being Spider, decided he could use this to his advantage. He went to Deer and said, “Friend, come with me, I’m going to check my traps.” Deer agreed, and they set off together. When they were close, Spider stopped and said, “You go on ahead, I’ll show you the way.” Deer went first, saw the stone, and blurted out, “Good grief, look at that stone, it’s got a beard.” Straight away he fell to the ground, helpless. Spider rushed in, killed him, carried him home, and he, his children, and his wife ate well.

After that, Spider did the same thing again and again. He called Gazelle, asked him to come along to the traps, let him walk ahead, and as soon as Gazelle spoke about the bearded stone, down he went. Spider killed him too.

At last Spider went to Clever Rabbit and tried the same trick. “Friend,” he said, “come with me to my traps.” They walked until they were near the stone, and Spider said, “Go on ahead and see if anything’s been caught.” Clever Rabbit went forward, saw the stone, and said nothing at all. Spider waited, listening for the words, but none came. So Spider called out, “What do you see?” Clever Rabbit replied, “I don’t see anything.” Spider pressed him. “You don’t see that stone over there?” Clever Rabbit said, “What stone?” Spider tapped his own chin and said, “Doesn’t your father have one like that?” But Clever Rabbit kept quiet.

Spider grew impatient and tried to feed him the words. “You must say, ‘The stone has pl…’” Clever Rabbit repeated, “The stone has pl…” Spider snapped, annoyed. “No, no. You must say, ‘That stone has plenty b…’” Clever Rabbit echoed, “That stone has plenty b…” Spider leaned in, triumphant. “Can’t you say, ‘That stone has plenty beard’?” And so Clever Rabbit said it at last.

The moment he did, both of them fell flat to the ground, stuck there and close to dying, unable to get up. Then Turkey came along and found them. Turkey helped Clever Rabbit to his feet and let him go on his way. But he hesitated over Spider and said, “I could lift you up, Spider, but later you’ll lie about me. You’ll say you found Turkey fallen here, and you were the one who helped him.”

Spider promised he would not do any such thing. He begged and begged until Turkey finally hauled him up as well.

From that day on, Clever Rabbit kept his wits about him. And Spider, for all his tricks, never managed to get the better of him again.