The Origin of Death (The Chameleon and the Lizard)
Xhosa folktale · iintsomi
Kwesukasukela. In the beginning, when the world was new, the Great One who made all things looked upon the people and wished to send them word about their fate. He summoned the chameleon, the slow unwabu, and gave it a message to carry to humankind: 'Tell the people that they shall not die; they shall live forever.' The chameleon set off, but it walked with its slow, swaying gait, pausing to eat from the leaves of the trees along the way, in no great hurry to deliver such good news. After a time the Great One changed the message, or in some tellings sent a second messenger, the swift lizard, the intulo, with a different word: 'Tell the people that they shall die.' The quick lizard darted off and, being fast, reached the people first and delivered the message of death. When at last the slow chameleon arrived with the gift of eternal life, it was too late, for the word of death had already been received and could not be unsaid. And so, because of the chameleon's dawdling and the lizard's speed, death entered the world and remained among people forever. To this day the chameleon is regarded with unease for the message it failed to deliver in time. Cosu cosu, iyaphela.
The lesson: Delay in doing good can have consequences that cannot be undone; what is lost through dawdling may be lost forever.