Chapter 9 laughing hippopotamus

On a tributary of the upper Congo River lived an ancient and noble family of hippopotamuses.They claim their origins go back before there were humans.They existed even in the chaos when the earth was just forming. They have always lived on the banks of this river.So every curve of the river, every bump on the riverbed, every rock on the bank, every tree stump, every collapse is as familiar as knowing their mother.I think they still live there now. Not long ago, the queen of the hippopotamus family gave birth to a baby hippopotamus.She named the baby Kehoe, because the baby hippopotamus was round and fat.So that you don't misunderstand the word "Keo," I'll tell you that in hippo language, it means, "fat and lazy."This does not match the round and fat appearance of little homa.No one dared to remind the queen to pay attention to this problem, because the queen's teeth were long and sharp.

In her opinion, Kehoe is the cutest child in the world. Kehoe is indeed a nice little hippopotamus.He rolled and played in the soft mud on the banks, and sometimes waddled out into the fields to eat wild cabbage leaves.He is happy and content from morning till night. He's the happiest hippo of the old family.His little red eyes are always twinkling mischievously. He always smiles happily, no matter what is funny around him. Therefore, the local blacks called him "Yipy".Means "pleasant person".But they dared not offend him, for his mother, uncles, uncles, aunts and aunts, and cousins ​​lived on the bank of the river, and were all fierce.

These black people live in small villages in the woods.They dared not openly attack this noble family of hippopotamuses.Once it is possible to catch one, they are very fond of hippo meat.It's no secret to hippos.And when the blacks caught live hippos, they used them as horses and rode them through the forest, making hippos slaves. Knowing these things, the hippo attacked the blacks fiercely as soon as they smelled the oily smell on their bodies.Once they have captured a foe, they gouge him through with their sharp teeth, or stomp him into the dirt with their huge feet. This war is constantly going on between hippos and blacks.

There was a black man named Goyer.He lives in a small village in this area.He is the son of the leader's brother and the grandson of the magician.The magician was an elderly man.People thought he was a "boneless strange man".He can coil his body like a snake, and has no skeleton to prevent him from coiling into any shape.He always wagged when he walked, but the blacks respected him a lot. Goyer's hut is made of sticks and dirt.His clothes were a straw mat tied around his waist. He has a certain status here because of his kinship with the chieftain and the magician.He is particularly good at brooding, and often thinks about how to deal with his enemy hippopotamus.Naturally, he will come up with many ways to catch hippos.

He finally worked out a plan.He dug a large hole between two bends of the river, covered the hole with twigs, and finally sprinkled earth on it, smoothing the earth very skillfully.No one would think that there is a big hole under the soil.Goya smiled softly when he saw the project in front of him, and then went home to have dinner. Kehoe has grown into a very sweet child.That night his mother said to him: "I want you to run across this bend and ask Uncle Nikki to come here. I found a strange plant, and I want to ask him if he can eat it." Cheerful baby hippo laughs happily and goes on a mission.Like a kid sent to the grocer for breadcrumbs for the first time, he feels useful.

"Googling, clucking, clucking, clucking, clucking, clucking!" he laughed.If you don't think Hippo laughs like that, go and listen for yourself, and you'll see that I'm right. He rolled out of the mud and ran through the bushes.His mother, half afloat, heard his musical laughter disappear into the distance. Kehoe was so full of joy and joy that he paid no attention to the path under his feet.He was laughing when suddenly, he fell into the deep hole that Goye had dug, and he was terrified.He wasn't badly hurt except for a bump on his nose when he fell into the pit.He stopped laughing and began to think about how to crawl out.He found that the wall in front of him was higher than his body, and he became a prisoner.

Faced with his unfortunate situation, he smiled and immediately fell asleep.He snored and slept until dawn. The next morning, when Goyer came to the edge of the pit and peered down into the lower part of the pit, he called out: "Ah, isn't this happy Ippy?" Kehoe recognized the voice of a black man and raised his head to bite him.Goyer speaks in the hippo language, which he learned from his grandfather, the magician. "Be quiet, little one, you are my prisoner." "Yes, if I can catch you, I'll eat your legs," Kehoe replied, laughing at his own joke, "Google, oogle, oogle, oogle!"

Goyer, a smart black man, left without talking to Hippo.He didn't come back until the next morning.When he leaned over the pit again, Kehoe was too hungry to laugh. "Should you surrender this time?" Gao Ya asked, "Do you still want to fight against me?" "What if I surrender?" Kehoe asked. The Negro scratched his shaggy hair in confusion and said, "That's hard to say, Eppy. You're too young to work. If I kill you for food, I can't get your teeth. Because they Not yet. Hey, you merry little thing, did you fall into my hole yourself? I was going to catch your mother or your uncle."

"Googling, clucking, clucking, clucking," Kehoe laughed again, "you'd better let me go, black person, because I'm no use to you." "I won't let you leave here easily." Gao Ya claimed, he thought for a while, and added, "Unless you make a condition with me." "Negro, please tell me, what kind of conditions? I'm very hungry now." Kehoe said. "Unless you dare to swear by your grandfather's teeth, you will return to me and become my prisoner today, one year later." The young hippo thought for a moment, and he knew that swearing on his grandpa's teeth was a very serious matter.But he was too hungry, thinking that today is still far away a year later, he smiled nonchalantly and said:

"Well, if you let me leave here, I would swear on my grandfather's teeth that I will return here one year later and be your prisoner." Goyer was very happy.By then, he knew, Kehoe had almost grown up.So he set about digging out one end of the hole and filling it with soil until a slope formed in the hole for the baby hippo to climb up. Kehoe was so delighted to reach the ground that he couldn't help laughing again.After laughing, he said: "Goodbye, Goya, we will meet again today, one year from now." He swayed and walked to the river to find his mother for breakfast.Goyer also returned to his village.

In the next few months, whether Gaoye was lying in his hut or hunting in the forest, he could always hear the laughter of the hippopotamus from a distance. "Guck, gag, gag, gag!" But he just smiled and thought to himself, "A year will be over soon!" Every member of the family is overjoyed that Kehoe has returned safely to his mother.Because this little hippo is especially loved in the family.Everyone cried when he told them that a year later he had to be a black prisoner again.Their tears raised the river several inches. Everyone was in mourning, and Kehoe was just laughing.A great meeting of the Hippo family was held to discuss this very seriously. Uncle Nikki said: "Since he has sworn on his grandfather's teeth, he must keep the oath. Our task is to try to save him from death, or slavery." Everyone agrees, but none of the hippos can figure out how to save Kehoe.Months passed, during which time the whole Hippo clan, except Kehoe himself, became very sad and melancholy. Finally, Kehoe only had a week of free time.His mother became very tense and anxious, so the Hippo family held a second meeting.At this time, the smiling little hippo has grown up, and his body is 15 feet long and 6 feet high.His sharp teeth are whiter and harder than everyone else's. "If there is no way to save my child," his mother said, "I will die in grief." At that time, many relatives made stupid suggestions.Uncle Nep, who was a big, bright hippopotamus, said at once: "We must now go to Greencomoke and implore his help." The hall was silent.For it was quite a brave thing to go to the mighty Greencomrok. But maternal love made the queen fearless. "If Uncle Nepe would accompany me, I would go to him myself," she said decisively. Uncle Nep was treading the dirt lightly with his fore hooves thoughtfully, wagging his short tail back and forth now and then. "We have always been loyal to Greencormork, and have great respect for him," said Uncle Nepe, "so I see no danger in going to him. I will go to him with you." The rest of the hippos agreed by snorting, because in this way, they didn't have to go. In this way, the Queen and Uncle Nepe set off with Kehoe.They let Kehoe swim among them. They swam for two days, and it was not until sunset on the second day that they came to a rock wall, at the bottom of which was a cave where Greencomoke dwelt. This terrible animal was part beast, part man, part horse, part fish.He was born with this world, and after years of practice, he became like a wizard, a magician, a fairy, and a fairy.Humans don't know his existence, only the ancient beasts know him and are afraid of him. The three hippos stopped in front of the cave.They saluted Greencomoke by placing their fore hooves on the bank and submerging their bodies in the water.Then, the entrance of the cave became dark quickly, and the monster swam towards them quietly. They dared not look at him, and bowed their heads between their legs. "Oh, Greencomoke, we have come to you to implore your mercy and kindness!" Uncle Nep spoke first, and then he told the monster the story of how Kehoe had been caught, and had promised to return to the Negroes when the time came. "He must keep his word," sighed the monster. Kehoe's mother sighed deeply. "But I'd like to help him defeat the Negro and set him free," Greencomock continued. Kehoe smiled. "Lift the sole of your right foot," Greencomoke ordered. Kehoe obediently raised the sole of his right foot, and Greencomoke licked Kehoe's sole with his long, furry tongue.Then, placing his four skinny hands on Kehoe's head, he grunted for a while in a language that neither man, beast, bird, nor fish could understand, and then he said in the hippopotamus language: "Now your skin is so hard that no one can hurt you anymore. You are stronger than ten elephants. You walk faster than the wind. Your thoughts become very sharp. You scare black people, you put all fear on the cloud.Among the hippos, you are the strongest! " Then Greencomoke moved closer to Kehoe and whispered a few more words into his ear.Kehoe felt the fiery breath of Greencomoke burning him.A few moments later, Greencomoke swam back to his cave.The three hippos thanked him loudly, slipped into the water, and headed home. Kehoe's mother was filled with joy.Uncle Nep shuddered at the memory of his glimpse of Greencomoke.Kehoe, on the other hand, laughed heartily. He was not satisfied with swimming between the two respected elders, so he dived into the water and swam around them, and his cheerful laughter was everywhere along the way. All the members of the Hippo family rejoiced, and praised the kindness and help of the holy Glencomoke to their Queen's son.At last the day came when Kehoe went alone to the Negro, kissed good-by by all the members of the family, and no one feared for his safety. Kehoe walked away refreshed, until he disappeared in the depths of the forest for a long time, and members of the Hippo family could still hear him laughing "Guck, Gul, Gul, Gul". Gao Na was already counting the days.He knew today was Kehoe's day.To his surprise, his captive had grown enormous.He is grateful for the clever condition he put forward a year ago. Kehoe grew so fat that Gornar decided to eat him.That is to say, keep as much as possible for yourself, and you can also sell the remaining wreckage to fellow countrymen. So he picked up a knife and tried to pierce the hippo's body, but the hippo's skin was so hard that the knife became blunt immediately.He tried other methods, but Kehoe was unharmed. Hippo was absolutely delighted now, and he laughed so hard that the whole forest echoed with his laughter, "Guck, gurg, gurg, gurg!" At this point Gornar decided not to kill him, because he It is unkillable. He wanted to use him as a pack animal, and he rode on Kehoe's back, ordering him to move forward.Kehoe sped across the village, his eyes twinkling with joy. The other blacks were also very excited to see Gonar's captives.They asked permission to ride on the hippo's back.Gornar agreed with them to pay with their bracelets, shell necklaces, and small gold jewellery.In this way he acquired a bunch of jewelry.Twelve blacks climbed onto Kehoe's back and rode at the same time.One of the Negroes closest to Kehoe's nose called out: "Run, mud dog, run!" Kehoe broke into a run, as fast as a phoenix, and left the village, through the forest, and down to the river bank.The black people cried out in fear, and the hippo laughed wildly and continued to run forward. Then, ahead of them, on the other side of the river, Greencomock's hole was seen, and Kehoe jumped in and dived to the bottom, leaving the Negro struggling in the water.Greencomoke heard Kehoe's laugh and knew what he was doing.Kehoe floated on the surface and spouted a jet of water from his throat, and there was no black person on the water. Keo returned to the village alone, Takano asked in surprise: "Where are my brothers?" "I don't know," Kehoe replied, "I took them to a faraway place, and they stayed there, and I came back." Gao Na wants to ask more questions, but another group of black people can't wait to climb on the back of the laughing hippo.These people paid Gao Na, climbed on the hippo's back, and the black man sitting in the front said: "Run, mud ghost, run!" Kehoe ran on the same route as before, and led them to the mouth of Glencomoke's Cave, and then returned to the village alone. Gao Na became anxious.He wondered the fate of his companions, for he was the only Negro left in the village.He climbed on the hippo's back and yelled: "Run, water pig, run!" Kehoe smiled happily, "Guck, gurg, gurg, gurg!" and ran like the wind. This time, he kept running towards the river bank where his family lived.Reaching there, he jumped into the water, dived to the bottom, and let Gona float in the middle of the river. The black man began to swim towards Ho's right bank, where he found Uncle Nep and half the Holy Family waiting to step him into the soft mud.He turned and swam to the left bank, where stood the queen, Kehoe's mother, and Uncle Nikki, staring, waiting to tear him apart with their teeth. Gao Na yelled in fear, aimed at the hippo swimming beside him, and shouted: "Help me, Kehoe! Help me, I am willing to break free from your slavery!" "That's not enough." Kehoe laughed. "I am willing to serve you forever!" Gao Na screamed, "I am willing to do everything for you!" "If I allow you to leave here now, will you come back to me today, a year from now, as my slave?" Kehoe asked him. "Willing! Willing! Willing!" Gao Na cried. "Swear on your grandpa's bones!" Kehoe ordered, remembering that the old black person had no teeth, so he couldn't swear with them. Gao Na swears on his grandfather's bones. Kehoe swam up to Gona and let him climb onto his back.In this way they came to the bank of the river.He told his mother on the shore and all members of the family that he had made an agreement with Gao Na, and today, one year later, Gao Na would come back as his slave. Therefore, the black man was allowed to leave here safely.The happy hippo is living with his family again and is very happy. A year passed, and Kehoe began to wait for Gao Na's return, but he did not come back, and there was no news from him again. It is said that the negro traveled thousands of miles to another country with his parcels of tin, shell necklaces, and gold and silver jewellery.The ancient and sacred Hippo family does not know this country.Gao Na became the leader there by virtue of his wealth, and everyone there bowed to him. He is arrogant and unreasonable during the day.At night, he tossed and turned in bed, restless, unable to sleep all night.Because he is always condemned by his conscience. He had sworn on his grandfather's bones, and his grandfather had no shoulders.