Then he exclaimed, "I've come here in hunger; and does my coco-nut
fall into the water to be lost?" He said to himself, "I'll leave here,
and drop into the water, and follow the nut." So, he plunged down,
splash! into the water. He dove down to where the nut had sunk, to get
it. And he was carried away by the current. Following the nut where the
current had carried it, he came to the landing-place of a strange Town,
where was a large House. People were there in it. And other people
were outside, playing. They called to him. From the House, he heard a
Voice, saying "Take me! take me! take me!" (It was a Drum that spoke.)
At the landing-place was a woman washing a child. The woman said
to him, "What is it that brought you here? And, Kudu, where are you
going?" He replied, "There is great hunger in our town. So, on my way,
I came seeking for my mushrooms. Then it was that I saw a coco tree;
and I climbed it; for, I am hungry and have nothing to eat. I threw
down the nuts. One fell into the river. I followed it; and I came
hither." Then the woman said, "Now then, you are saved." And she added,
"Kudu! go to that House over there. You will see a Thing there. That
Thing is a Drum. Start, and go at once to where the Drums are."
Others of those people called out to him, "There are many such Things
there. But, the kind that you will see which says, 'Take me! take
me!' do not take it. But, the Drum which is silent and does not speak,
but only echoes, 'wo-wo-wo,' without any real words, you must take
it. Carry it with you, and tie it to that coco tree. Then you must
say to the Drum, 'Ngâmâ! speak as they told to you!'" So, Tortoise
went on, and on, to the House, and took the Drum, and, carrying it,
came back to the river bank where the Woman was. She said to him,
"You must first try to learn how to use it. Beat it!" He beat it. And,
a table appeared with all kinds of food! And, when he had eaten,
he said to the Drum, "Put it back!" And the table disappeared.