Two hunters travel into the wilderness in search of game. During their journey, one hunter boasts that he could kill his companion without anyone discovering the crime. His companion reminds him that God would know what happened. Dismissing this warning, the first hunter commits murder. However, the victim’s blood produces a miraculous vine whose enormous grapes give birth to speaking birds. As the birds travel, they expose the murder, ensuring that the killer cannot escape justice.
A Threat in the Wilderness
Two hunters rode into the wilderness in search of game. They travelled together, sharing the journey as they pursued their purpose.
At some point, one hunter turned to his companion and made a chilling declaration. He claimed that he could kill the other man right there in the wilderness and that nobody would ever know what he had done.
His words revealed his willingness to commit a terrible crime. He believed that the remoteness of their surroundings would protect him from discovery. With no human witnesses nearby, he imagined that he could take another person’s life and escape the consequences.
His companion did not accept this reasoning. He answered that even if no person witnessed the crime, God would know.
The response challenged the hunter’s confidence. It reminded him that the absence of human witnesses did not mean that a deed could remain unknown.
Rather than reconsider his threat, however, the first hunter responded defiantly.
The Murder
The hunter dismissed his companion’s warning and called upon God to help the man he was about to kill.
He then drew his weapon and slit his companion’s throat.
The murder took place far from other people, in a wilderness where the hunter believed nobody would discover his actions. His companion could no longer speak or defend himself, and the murderer might have expected the remote location to conceal what he had done.
Yet the story does not allow the crime to disappear into the wilderness.
The murdered man’s blood fell upon the ground. From the very place where the blood touched the earth, enormous vines began to grow.
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The appearance of the vines marked the beginning of an extraordinary chain of events. The ground that had received the victim’s blood would produce something that eventually revealed the truth about his death.
The Miraculous Grapes
The vines grew to an enormous size, and enormous grapes appeared upon them.
These were not ordinary grapes. Their appearance introduced a supernatural element into the story, transforming the place of the murder into the source of an unexpected revelation.
When the grapes burst open, birds emerged from them.
The birds possessed a remarkable ability: they could speak in human language.
They did not remain silent or behave like ordinary birds. Instead, they travelled from place to place, denouncing the murderer and revealing the crime he had committed.
The strange events made it possible for people to learn what had happened in the wilderness. Although the hunter had believed that his companion’s death would remain undiscovered, the speaking birds carried the truth beyond the place where the murder occurred.
The miraculous vines and grapes therefore became the means through which the hidden crime was exposed.
The Murderer Is Discovered
As the birds travelled, they denounced the hunter and his crime wherever they went.
Their testimony brought the truth to light. The murder that had taken place in the wilderness was no longer hidden from the world.
The hunter’s confidence had rested on the belief that no human witness could expose him. He had ignored his companion’s warning that God would know what he had done.
The miraculous events proved that his belief was mistaken. The victim’s blood had given rise to the vines, the grapes had produced speaking birds, and the birds had carried news of the crime to other people.
The story concludes with the murderer’s punishment. Once the truth became known, people sentenced him to death.
The hunter who had believed that he could kill without being discovered was ultimately exposed and held accountable for his actions.
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Moral Lesson
A crime does not become harmless simply because nobody witnesses it. The story warns against murder, arrogance, and the belief that wrongdoing can remain hidden forever. It presents the miraculous speaking birds as agents through which the truth emerges and justice is served.
Knowledge Check
1. Who are the main characters in the story?
The main characters are two hunters travelling into the wilderness.
2. What did one hunter claim he could do without being discovered?
He claimed that he could kill his companion and that nobody would know.
3. How did the second hunter respond to the threat?
He replied that God would know if the murder took place.
4. What grew where the murdered hunter’s blood fell?
Enormous vines grew from the ground where his blood fell, producing enormous grapes.
5. What happened when the grapes burst open?
Birds emerged from the grapes and spoke in human language, denouncing the murderer and his crime.
6. What happened to the murderer at the end of the story?
After the birds revealed the truth, people sentenced him to death.
Source
Adapted from “The Two Hunters,” tale 165 in Laura Gibbs’s Tiny Tales from Africa: The Animals, Volume 2. The published version identifies the story as a folktale from northeastern Algeria.
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