In the morning as soon as it was dawn, the king assembled all his people, and went to bring forth the man from his prison. He had his bottle with him. He was set down in the forum. Some said, “Fetch the spear to kill him”. He produced his bottle. The people who sat there when he held it up were dead and gone! The man took all the property and called his friend the Rat and divided it with him. 51. HIDE AND SEEK. The honey bird and the bat formed a friendship. The honey bird said, “Let us play at hiding”. So the bat went under the trees near the river (or lake) (nyasa). Then came the likuse and swallowed the bat, a crocodile swallowed the likuse, and a hippopotamus swallowed the crocodile.[69] The honey bird was going about in search of his friend, but without finding him. As he was returning from his search he met a hippopotamus and shot it. The hippopotamus died. The honey bird went away to the village to call the people to cut up the meat. Many people collected and went to that meat. As they were cutting it up, they found the crocodile in the inside (chitumbo) of the hippopotamus. On opening the crocodile they found the likuse, on opening the likuse they found the bat. The bat came forth and said, “You have gained”. Next the honey bird went away. It went into a hole (in a tree) of bees. The bat then went about in search of its friend. In returning from this, it found bees. The bat then said, “I will go away to the village”. Then it took fire and said, “I will fetch my bees (honey) I found there”. It carried the fire to the tree and began to fell the tree, which came down. As it looked at the bees, it found the honey bird there. It said, “Take care, take care, we are going to burn”. So the honey bird came out of the tree. The bat and the honey bird then sang. Both went home to the village laughing. When they arrived porridge[70] was cooked and they feasted. The honey bird and the bat said, “Let us hide again”. The honey bird had a gun, the bat had a bow. The honey bird went to the bush, and killed a buffalo, and then went inside his gun, and the meat just lay there. The bat came and found the meat lying, but did not see where its owner had gone. Though he called, all was silent—the owner came not. The bat went to the village to call the people, saying, “I have found meat yonder, which the honey bird has slain, but I have not found where he has gone himself, only the gun is lying there”. An offering was then pounded by his wives and put on the top of the buffalo he had slain. The honey bird then came out of the gun, and cut up the buffalo, and it was carried to the village. The honey bird said, “Cook the hearts[71] that we may eat,” and they were cooked. All the people that carried ate the hearts (mitima).