[From Tales, Customs, Names and Dirges of the Tigre Tribes by Enno Littmann, 191
[From Tales, Customs, Names and Dirges of the Tigre Tribes by Enno Littmann, 1915. See item #128 in the Bibliography.]
The fox and the elephant were together. When they started, the elephant said to the fox, “Where are you going, fox?” The fox answered him, “I am going with you.” The elephant, however, said to him, “Stay here; you cannot endure hunger and thirst.” But the fox said to him, “I can endure it; I shall not say to you that I am hungry or thirsty.” And the elephant said to him, “Very well then.” And they went together about a day’s journey.
Then the fox said to the elephant, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” But the elephant replied, “Didn’t you tell me you wouldn’t be thirsty? How is this now?” And the fox said to him, “When did I think that we should go through such a dry country?” The elephant said, “Go then, drink from that water-pit there and come back!” And the fox went and, after having drunk, he filled up the pit and returned to the elephant. And the elephant asked him, “Have you had a drink?” but the fox replied, “No, I found the pit filled up.”
Thereupon after they had marched awhile, the fox said to him, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” The elephant said, “Go then, drink from such and such a well; then come.” The fox went, drank, filled up the well, and said, “I found nothing in it; it was filled up.”
And again after they had marched on awhile, the fox said to him, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” The elephant said to him, “Go then and drink from such and such a well; then come!” And that one also the fox covered up and said, “I found nothing.”
While the fox spoke thus and the elephant showed him every well, they came into a country which the elephant did not know. The fox said to him, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” The elephant answered, “I do not know the wells of this country. But there is water within my belly; enter here through my behind, and when you’ve had a drink, come back without turning right or left.” So the fox entered through the behind of the elephant, drank from that water, and came back in his tracks.
Afterwards when they had marched on from there, the fox said to the elephant, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” And the elephant replied, “Enter into me as before, and when you’ve had a drink, come back! ” The fox entered into him, and on his return after he had drunk, he saw the fat in the belly of the elephant swinging; he tore a bite off from the fat and ate. The elephant said to the fox inside him, “Fox, how could you betray me? May you be betrayed likewise!” But the fox sat there inside the elephant in order to eat from the fat. The elephant said, “Why don’t you come out?” The fox said, “How am I supposed to come out?” The elephant replied, “Go out the way you came in!” The fox said, “If I do that, you’ll poop on me!” The elephant said, “Come out through my mouth!” The fox said, “Uncle, if I do that, you’ll break me into pieces with your tusks.” “Come out through my foot!” “If I do, you’ll squash me.” “Come out then through my ear!” “Then the wax of your