The Dog's Loyal Sacrifice: How the Tortoise Got its Shell Pattern

Once upon a time, all animals were living together in unity. They were eating whatever they can find together. This went on for a very long time until something happened that caused a lot of havoc among the animals.

What happened was that there was a lot of famine without any more food or green grass for the animals to eat. This happened because the animals have not had rain for a long time in their area. The animals then decided to have a meeting on what to do to keep them and their offspring alive. At the meeting, the animals unanimously decided that they should be killing the old ones among them one by one to eat together to keep the famine away. The older animals agreed with this decision and the animals were bringing their elderly for consumption as it gets to their turn. Soon most of the elderly animals were gone. Some of the animals decided not to submit their mothers for such decision taken. The dog was one of these animals. When the dog realized that it was getting to its turn, it took its mother to a big Iroko tree, they both climbed on the tree until they were able to touch the sky.

The dog then took its mother to heaven and they both ate till they were full, and the dog came back to earth. When he got back, the dog met his friend the tortoise who asked him about his mother and the dog informed the tortoise that his mother is dead and that the tortoise should come and see where he buried her ( the dog had quickly dug a grave behind their house and covered it with the freshly dug sand as soon as he got back from hiding his mother). When the tortoise saw the freshly dug grave, he believed that the dog’s mother was in the grave. Soon afterwards, the animals informed the dog to bring his mother that it was his turn. The dog told them that his mother is dead, and they should come and see where she was buried. The tortoise confirmed this, and the animals were okay with this.

It came to pass that the dog was hungry and he ran to the iroko tree and started singing “mother, mother send the rope down for me. All animals kill their mothers for food but I the dog took my mother to hide in heaven; mother send the rope down”. His mother sent the rope and the dog speedily climbed up to feast and dine with his mother. As soon as he finished eating, the dog came down satisfied and happy. The animals were all looking stunt and always hungry. The animals were surprised that the dog was looking plump and good. They asked the dog what he was eating that is different from their food because he was looking plump and fresh. He told them that he has been eating the broth of palm kernel and that is why he has been very plump. The tortoise asked his friend to give him the broth. The dog did, and the tortoise was very full after drinking the broth. After a while, the tortoise became very hungry again. The tortoise then started suspecting the dog that he was not telling the truth.

The tortoise started monitoring the dog without the knowledge of the dog. One fateful day, the dog went to the iroko tree as usual when he was hungry and started singing : “mother, mother send the rope down for me. All animals kill their mothers for food but I the dog took my mother to hide in heaven; mother send the rope down”. His mother sent the rope and the dog speedily climbed up to feast and dine with his mother. As soon as he finished eating, the dog came down satisfied happy and went to bed. As soon as the dog slept, the tortoise emerged from his hiding place behind the bush and went to the iroko tree spot. He started singing: “mother, mother send the rope down for me. All animals kill their mothers for food but I the dog took my mother to hide in heaven; mother send the rope down”. Dog’s mother sent the rope down wondering whether her son was not full. The tortoise climbed up so slowly that dog’s mother had to look down to see why it was taking her son so long to climb up. To her amazement, she saw that it was the tortoise that was climbing up and not her son. The tortoise was about three quarter to the top. Then dog’s mother cut the rope and the tortoise came crashing down with his back broken in pieces. The big working ants were passing by and the tortoise pleaded with them to help put his back together. They agreed and after they fished, the back skin was no longer the same. The back skin was no longer smooth but very rough. This is the reason why the tortoise back skin is very rough till today.