Mr Spider Sold A Very Fine Dog

This tale has been adapted from the original for readability:

Once, Spider said he was going far inland to buy plenty cattle. Early one morning, as soon as the first rooster crowed, he got up and walked until the sun was high in the sky. He grew tired, and when he reached a wide grass field he lay down to rest. He had settled close to a lion, but he didn’t know it. The two of them fell asleep.

Before long, some Fula herders came along, driving a large herd of cattle down to market. They didn’t recognise the lion, they had never seen one before. When they came upon it, one man said, “Hey, look. What’s that?”

Another said, “It’s a big dog, isn’t it?”

They stood there staring in amazement. They didn’t notice Spider for a while, because he was so small. But Spider had heard them speaking as he woke, and he caught the part where they called the lion a big dog. He looked at the herd and thought, “How am I going to get those cattle? I need them.”

He got up and greeted the men. They greeted him back, then asked, “Father, this dog here, is it yours?”

Spider said, “Yes, that’s my dog.”

The herders wanted to buy it. They began bargaining, and in the end they offered him all the cattle in exchange for the “dog”. Spider said, “All right, but don’t wake him up yet. He’s far too used to me. If you wake him while I’m still here, he’ll only follow me and he won’t agree to go with you. Let me get well away first, then you can wake him.”

So they handed over the cattle, and Spider set off, driving them ahead of him. When he was a good distance away, the herders went back and started calling to the “dog”. The lion woke, opened its eyes, stretched itself, and then it went for them. It seized one of the men and killed him, and the rest fled as fast as they could.

And Spider went on his way with the cattle. If Spider tells you he can do something, don’t be too quick to doubt him.