Why Lion does not eat fruit

(A Hambukushu story)

Mbwawa, the jackal, one day discovered the delicious fruit of the thaa tree. But as he sat there enjoying his meal, he hear Lion roaring in the distance. He thought to himself, "Lion sounds hungry. I hope he does not come this way and find all my lovely fruits." He began to worry, since Lion, as everyone knows, has a huge appetite and being king of beasts, is entitled to steal anyone's meal.

Lion did come near, but crafty Mbwawa had thought up a trick to stop Lion from eating his thaa fruit. As soon as Lion was near enough, Mbwawa began to eat the fruit as fast as he could making sure Lion was watching this display of greed. Suddenly, Mbwawa collapsed in a heap on the ground, writhing and groaning, and then he lay still as if dead. Lion, of course, thought the fruit must be poisonous, so he went on his way and was soon out of sight.

Mbwawa got up, and remembered where he had seen the skeleton of another jackal lying near by. So he fetched and placed the bones under the thaa tree on the spot where he had pretended to die. Satisfied with his clever trick, he went home.

A few weeks later, Lion passed by and saw the thaa tree, laden with juice looking fruit. He walked over to the tree, but stopped with he saw the pitiful remains of jackal. The bones had been scattered by scavengers, and Lion then remembered seeing Mbwawa eating the fruit. He vowed to himself that he would never touch fruit again.

Since that day, lions have never touched the fruit of the thaa tree, or indeed of any other tree. This made the jackal, and the other animals of the bush, very happy. Now they could eat as much fruit as they wanted without having to share it with the lion's enormous appetite.