A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

The tortoise lives in a pool and is explicitly called little, despite the fear it produces. A traveller who has already attacked a toad and a lizard sits on a flat rock nearby. The tortoise releases a flood that makes him abandon his spear and blankets. He seeks help from an elephant, explaining that a creature in the water has taken his belongings. When that rescuer approaches, another release of water drives it away. The accompanying crickly, crackly noise becomes part of the terrified witnesses’ description.

A buffalo promises to retrieve the spears, but retreats at the same disturbance. The man next encounters a crab and scoffs at its ability to do what the larger animals could not. He even threatens to kill it if it fails. Nevertheless, the crab goes to the pool and demands the spears. When the tortoise sends water out again, this challenger enters instead of fleeing. The two struggle in the water until the tortoise concedes that neither has overcome the other.

The proposed resolution is shared residence. The crab first refuses, but the tortoise offers the recovered spears if it will stay. The crab takes them to the man, receives his thanks, then returns to live in the water with the tortoise. The tale expressly gives that agreement as the explanation of crabs’ aquatic life. It does not kill the pool’s inhabitant or award victory to either wrestler. The blankets abandoned in the opening are not mentioned in the final return of the spears.

Kidd’s published Gazaland account represents flood-producing agency, a noise, a small tortoise’s body and speech. It supplies no enormous shell, teeth, real species or origin for that power. The man’s earlier claim to have killed a toad before it speaks is separately explained in a footnote as usage for serious injury; it is not imported as a resurrection power of this tortoise. The complete account was mediated through Douglas Wood’s translation and Kidd’s editing.

Explicitly small tortoiseLives in a poolReleases floodsMakes a frightening cracking noiseWrestles a crab without victoryAgrees to shared residence
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Origins & earliest records

Kidd VII tale XI is a Tshindao-speaking Gazaland narrative, with Douglas Wood credited as translation intermediary. No individual storyteller is identified in the inspected episode.

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Records & interpretation

VII, Surprise Stories, XI, The Crab Who Helped a Man to Get His Spears, complete pp. 247–249: pool flood and abandoned belongings p. 247; elephant and buffalo retreat p. 248; equal struggle, returned spears and shared residence p. 249. Preface x and introduction223–224 explain mediation.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Savage Childhood: A Study of Kafir Children

    Dudley Kidd, compiler and editor; Douglas Wood, credited translation intermediary · 1906

    VII, Surprise Stories, XI, The Crab Who Helped a Man to Get His Spears, complete pp. 247–249: pool flood and abandoned belongings p. 247; elephant and buffalo retreat p. 248; equal struggle, returned spears and shared residence p. 249. Preface x and introduction223–224 explain mediation.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Historical collected tale, mediated translation and editorial accountKidd1906 — complete flood-tortoise episodeResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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