The tortoise was aware that every day the hippo and his seven wives went to the river to drink water and wash themselves. The hippo walked first with the seven wives following him. One such day, when the hippo along with his seven wives had gone for a bath in the nearby river, the tortoise made a small hole in the ground and waited for them.
After a while, the tortoise noticed that five of the hippo’s wives had moved ahead along with the hippo, leaving behind two wives. The tortoise quickly came out of his hole and buried himself half into the sand leaving the other half exposed.
While the two wives were walking, the first wife accidentally bumped her feet against the shell of the tortoise. She immediately cried out loud, “Oh Istanim, my dear husband, please come and help me. I have hurt myself.”
The tortoise finally heard the name of the hippo and went home happily.
The next time when the hippo organised one of his usual feasts, the tortoise told the hippo that now he knew his name. The hippo asked him to tell his name. The tortoise asked the hippo to promise that he would not hurt the tortoise upon hearing his name. The hippo promised so.
“Isantim is your name,” the turtle said loudly. All the guests at the feast cheered loudly at the tortoise and sat down to enjoy their meal.
As per the promise, the hippo left with his seven wives after the feast. He went into the nearby river and started living there and never returned to land. Since then, hippos can be seen on the land only at night, while they stay underwater all day long.