Man and Turtle

 Let me tell of Turtle of Koka.

 

Man of Lubi la Suku caught a Turtle in the bush; he came with it to the village. They said: "Let us kill it!"

 

Some people said: "How shall we kill it?" They said: "We shall cut it with hatchets²." Turtle replied, saying:

 

  "Turtle of Koka,

  And hatchet¹ of Koka;

  Hatchet not kill me a bit."

 

The people said: "What shall we kill him with?" Some said: "We shall kill him with stones." Turtle, fear grasped him, he said: "I am going to die." He says by mouth:

 

  "Turtle of Koka,

  And stone of Koka;

  Stone will not kill me a bit."

 

The people said: "Let us cast him into the fire!" Turtle said:

 

  "Turtle of Koka,

  And fire of Koka;

  Fire will not kill me a bit.

  On my back,

  It is like stone;

  Not there can

  Catch on fire."

 

The people said: "We will kill him with knives." Turtle said:

 

  "Turtle of Koka,

  And knife of Koka;

  Knife will not kill me a bit."

 

The people said: "This fellow, how shall we do? How shall we kill him?" These said: "Let us cast him into the depth of water." Turtle said: "Woe³! I shall die there! How shall I do?" The people said: "We have it! We have found the way we can kill him!"

 

They carry him; they arrive with him at the river. They cast him into the depth. Turtle dives; after a while he emerges. There he is swimming and singing:

 

  "In water, in my home!

  In water, in my home!"

 

The people said: "Oh! Turtle has fooled us. We were going to kill him with hatchets; he says, 'Hatchet will not kill me a bit.' We spoke⁴ of casting him into the water; he says, 'I am going to die.' We came; we cast him into the water; but we saved him."

 

This is what caused the Turtle to live in the water: the people were going to kill him; but he was shrewd.

1 hatchet   

n.短柄小斧；v.扼杀

参考例句：

• I shall have to take a hatchet to that stump.我得用一把短柄斧来劈这树桩。
• Do not remove a fly from your friend's forehead with a hatchet.别用斧头拍打朋友额头上的苍蝇。

2 hatchets   

n.短柄小斧( hatchet的名词复数 )；恶毒攻击；诽谤；休战

参考例句：

• Hatchets, knives, bayonets, swords, all brought to be sharpened, were all red with it. 他们带来磨利的战斧、短刀、刺刀、战刀也全都有殷红的血。 来自英汉文学 - 双城记
• They smashed all the carved paneling with their axes and hatchets. 圣所中一切雕刻的、们现在用斧子锤子打坏了。 来自互联网

3 woe   

n.悲哀，苦痛，不幸，困难；int.用来表达悲伤或惊慌

参考例句：

• Our two peoples are brothers sharing weal and woe.我们两国人民是患难与共的兄弟。
• A man is well or woe as he thinks himself so.自认祸是祸，自认福是福。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。