var currentStory="African Stories";
var myTitle="Tales from Central Africa";
var sideTitle=" ";
var defText="Tales from central Africa. Click any chapter on the right. Next, click \"start test\" button and begin typing. ";

var chapter0="There were only two unmarried men in the village. All the rest had found suitable partners, but Kalemeleme was so gentle that he would not stand up for his own rights, or anyone else\'s, while Kinku was so bad-tempered that no one could stand his tantrums for long. Thus these two lived in unhappy loneliness, until one day Kalemeleme took his bow and arrows and going into the forest in the early morning, when the dew was on the grass, he shot a grey wild-cat and a brown wild-cat. ";

var chapter1="On his way home he met Moma, the great rock python, mightiest snake in the forest, and was about to shoot when Moma pleaded, \"Gentle one, have mercy on me, for I am stiff with cold. Take me to the river where it is warm.\" Touched with pity, Kalemeleme took the great reptile on his shoulders to the stream and threw him in. Moma lifted his head above the reeds and said, \"Thank you, gentle one. I have seen your loneliness. Throw in your grey wild-cat and your brown wild-cat and take what the water-spirit gives you.\" ";

var chapter2="Kalemeleme threw his grey wild-cat and his brown wildcat into the river. Immediately the water began to ripple and grow redder and redder until beneath the surface there appeared a great, red, open mouth. He put in his hand and pulled out a gourd. He took it home and opened it, when out stepped... the most beautiful girl that was ever seen, and she was as good as she was lovely. She could weave mats, plait baskets, and make pots; she kept the house so neat, and cultivated the garden so well, she prepared the food so carefully and helped her neighbors so willingly, that soon Kalemeleme and his beautiful wife were the favourites of the village. ";

var chapter3="Kinku came to him and asked, \"Tell me, Kalemeleme, where did you get your wife?\" \"The water-spirit gave her to me,\" Kalemeleme replied, and he told him the circumstances. \"Well, I want a wife too,\" said Kinku, so he took his bow and his arrows and went off into the forest when the sun was boiling hot overhead. He killed a grey wild-cat and a brown wild-cat. On his way home he too met Moma, the mighty python, wilting with the heat under a bush. He was about to shoot when Moma pleaded, \"Mercy, Kinku. Have mercy on me for I am suffocated with this heat. Take me to the river where it\'s cool.\" ";

var chapter4="\"What! Take you, a loathsome reptile? Find your own way to the river!\" \"Very well. Come along.\" And the snake glided through the undergrowth, while Kinku followed. Moma plunged into the water and, lifting his head above the reeds, he called out, \"Kinku. I have seen your loneliness. Now throw in your grey wild-cat and your brown wild-cat and take what the water-spirit gives you.\" Kinku threw in his grey wild-cat and his brown wildcat. At once the water began to ripple and became redder and redder, until beneath the surface Kinku saw a huge open mouth. He put in his hand and drew out a pumpkin. He staggered home with it. ";

var chapter5="It became heavier and heavier as he went, and at last he dropped it. It cracked, and out stepped... the ugliest woman that ever was, and before he could recover from his shock she boxed him soundly on the ears, and taking him by the nose she said, \"Come on, Kinku. I am your wife.\" She didn\'t give him the chance to say \"no\", but pummelled him and biffed him, bullied him and blamed him. She led him a dog\'s life, for she was as lazy as she was hideous. \"Kinku, carry the water! Kinku, cut the firewood! Kinku, cultivate the garden! Kinku, cook the meal!\" while she simply lay about and abused him. Of course Kinku blamed the water-spirit, but had he only known it, he had nobody to blame but himself. ";

var chapter6="Kalulu the rabbit was one day watching the children of Soko the monkey playing in the trees, and saw one monkey reach out his tail and catch his brother round the neck, holding him a helpless prisoner in mid-air. Kalulu thought that this was splendid, and though he had no long tail, he could twist forest creepers into a noose. During the next few days numbers of animals were caught in this way and held fast in the forest thickets, only escaping with difficulty. They thought that it was only an accident, but had they known, it was Kalulu who was experimenting with his noose. ";

var chapter7="At last Polo the elephant decided to make a new village, and, being king of the animals, he called every living thing in the forest to come and help him build it. All came with the exception of Kalulu. He had caught a whiff from the delicious beans which Polo\'s wives were cooking for his dinner, and when the beans were cold Kalulu came out of the bushes and ate them up. Polo was furious when he reached home and found that his beans had been stolen. Whoever could have taken his dinner? ";

var chapter8="Next day he told the lion to lie in wait nearby, and to pounce upon the thief if one appeared. Now Kalulu was hiding in the bushes and heard the plan, so he spent that night in twisting a big noose, which he set in a side path close to the cooking pots. Next morning, when the animals had gone to work on the new village, Kalulu strolled out into the open and began to eat Polo\'s beans, with one eye on the place where he knew that the lion was hiding. ";

var chapter9="Having finished his meal Kalulu ran off, when, as he expected, Ntambo the lion leapt out in pursuit. Kalulu bolted through the noose that he had set, and when Ntambo followed he was caught and swung into mid-air, where he wriggled and squirmed till evening, when the animals returned to the village and set him loose. Ntambo was too ashamed to saythat he had been fooled by a little rabbit, so simply said that some unknown animal had ensnared him. ";

var chapter10="Next day Mbo the buffalo was set to watch the beans of his chief, but Kalulu had set a great noose between two palm trees. When Kalulu had finished his meal of the chief\'s beans and was strolling away, the buffalo burst out at him, but the rabbit ran between the two palm trees, and when the buffalo followed he was caught by the noose and swung into mid-air, where he wriggled and squirmed till evening, when the animals returned to set him loose. Mbo the buffalo was so ashamed that he would not say how he had been outwitted, merely remarking that there must be some misdoer dwelling among them. ";

var chapter11="The leopard, the lynx, the wart-hog and the hunting dog were all fooled in the same way, and still Kalulu stole Polo\'s daily bowl of beans. At last Nkuvu the tortoise, wiser than the rest, went privately to King Polo the elephant and said, \"If your wives will smear me with salt and put me into your dinner of beans tomorrow, I will catch the thief.\" Next day Nkuvu was secretly smeared with salt and hidden in the beans. The worthless rabbit again determined to get his dinner without working for it, and having set his noose, he sauntered up to the cooking pots when all the animals were out at work and began to eat. ";

var chapter12="He thought that the beans were even nicer than usual. They were so deliciously salty. But before Kalulu could finish, Nkuvu had bitten tightly on to his foot. The rabbit screamed, he pleaded, he threatened and offered bribes, but all to no purpose. Nkuvu said nothing, but simply held on to Kalulu\'s foot, and when the animals returned from the building of the new village Kalulu was still a prisoner. ";

var chapter13="At once the animals saw who the thief really was, and they determined to pay him back exactly as he had treated them. For six days he had to do without any dinner, and every day they went off to work leaving Kalulu tied by a noose to a tree. By the time that this punishment was finished the rabbit was so thin that the animals took pity on him and let him go, warning him that it was better to work for his food than to steal it, and that though a thief may escape for a time, he will at last surely be caught. ";

var chapter14="It was not often that the tortoise and the eagle met, for the one spent his days in the clouds and the other in the under a bush. However, when the eagle heard what a warm-hearted little fellow the tortoise was, he went to pay a call on him. The tortoise family showed such pleasure in his company and fed him so lavishly that the eagle returned again and again, while every time as he flew away he laughed, \"Ha, ha! I can enjoy the hospitality of the tortoise on the ground but he can never reach my eyrie in the tree-top!\" The eagle\'s frequent visits, his selfishness and ingratitude became the talk of the forest animals. ";

var chapter15="The eagle and the frog were never on speaking terms, for the eagle was accustomed to swooping down to carry a frog home for supper. So the frog called from the stream bank, \"Friend tortoise, give me beans and I will give you wisdom.\" After enjoying the bowl of beans the frog said, \"Friend tortoise, the eagle is abusing your kindness, for after every visit he flies away laughing, \'Ha ha! I can enjoy the hospitality of the tortoise on the ground but he can never enjoy mine, for my eyrie is in the tree-tops.\' Next time the eagle visits you, say, \'Give me a gourd, and I will send food to your wife and children too\'.\" ";

var chapter16="The eagle brought a gourd, enjoyed a feast, and as he left he called back, \"I will call later for the present for my wife.\" The eagle flew away laughing to himself as usual, \"Ha ha! I have enjoyed the tortoise\'s food, but he can never come to my eyrie to taste of mine.\" The frog arrived and said, \"Now, tortoise, get into the gourd. Your wife will cover you over with fresh food and the eagle will carry you to his home in the treetops.\" Presently the eagle returned. The tortoise\'s wife told him, \"My husband is away but he left this gourd filled with food for your family.\" ";

var chapter17="The eagle flew away with the gourd, little suspecting that the tortoise was inside. The tortoise could hear every word as he laughed, \"Ha! ha! I share the tortoise\'s food but he can never visit my eyrie to share mine.\" As the gourd was emptied out onto the eagle\'s eyrie, the tortoise crawled from it and said, \"Friend eagle, you have so often visited my home that I thought it would be nice to enjoy the hospitality of yours.\" The eagle was furious. \"I will peck the flesh from your bones,\" he said. But he only hurt his beak against the tortoise\'s hard back. ";

var chapter18="\"I see what sort of friendship you offer me,\" said the tortoise, \"when you threaten to tear me limb from limb.\" He continued, \"Under the circumstances, please take me home, for our pact of friendship is at an end.\" \"Take you home, indeed!\" shrieked the eagle. \"I will fling you to the ground and you will be smashed to bits in your fall.\" The tortoise bit hold of the eagle\'s leg. \"Let me go, let go of my leg, let go of my leg,\" groaned the great bird. ";

var chapter19="\"I will gladly do so when you set me down at my own home,\" said the tortoise, and he tightened his hold on the eagle\'s leg. The eagle flew high into the clouds and darted down with the speed of an arrow. He shook his leg. He turned and twirled, but it was to no purpose. He could not rid himself of the tortoise until he set him down safely in his own home. As the eagle flew away the tortoise called after him, \"Friendship requires the contribution of two parties. I welcome you and you welcome me. Since, however, you have chosen to make a mockery of it, laughing at me for my hospitality, you need not call again.\" ";


allChapters=new Array(chapter0,chapter1,chapter2,chapter3,chapter4,chapter5,chapter6,chapter7,chapter8,chapter9,chapter10,chapter11,chapter12,chapter13,chapter14,chapter15,chapter16,chapter17,chapter18,chapter19);