(The Bad Boy)
Once upon a time in a certain village lived a man and his wife who were
childless. One day, however, when the husband was away hunting, the
woman had a baby son. She was greatly troubled at her husband’s
absence, because she was unable to let him know of the child’s arrival.
In that country it is the custom for the father to give the baby its
name when it is a week old. As the time approached for the naming, the
woman wondered to herself what name she could give the child if her
husband did not return in time. To her amazement, the child himself
answered, “My name is Quarcoo Bah-boni.” As he was only a week old she
was astonished to hear him talk. The next day she got a greater
surprise. She had been grumbling because her husband was not there to
go to the farm for her and fetch food. The baby announced, “I will go
to the farm”—which he did.
When he was a few weeks old, she was one day very busy. She laid him
down on the bed while she went on with her task. In a few minutes
several boys came up to her in great anger. “Your son has been beating
us and ill-treating us in the street,” said they. “My son!” she cried.
“Why, my son is only a tiny baby. He is lying asleep on my bed.” To
convince them she went indoors to show them the baby. Imagine her
surprise when he was nowhere to be seen! She had to apologize to the
boys and beg them to forgive the child. Shortly after, he came in and
put himself to bed.
He continued these mischievous tricks till his mother could no longer
endure them. So she turned him out of the house and forbade him to
return. He departed in great glee.
After walking a few miles, he came to a building where a goat, wolf,
tiger, lion, and elephant lived very happily together. These animals
were all sitting round their fire when he approached. After many polite
speeches, he begged their permission to stay and be their servant, as
he was motherless. The animals, after a little discussion, agreed to
this, thinking that he would be able to help them in many ways. He was
given a seat and some food, which he ate with great relish.
These five animals usually took it in turns to go out to their farm—a
few miles away—every morning, to bring home food for the day. It being
Goat’s turn, he asked Quarcoo to come with him to carry back the load.
The basket was accordingly handed to the little boy and he set off
meekly after the goat. When they reached the farm, Quarcoo set down the
basket and ran off to play. He paid no heed at all to the goat’s calls
for assistance, but went on quietly playing. At last the goat was so
annoyed that he came up to Quarcoo and boxed his ears. To his great
astonishment, the boy gave him such a blow that he fell to the ground.
Quarcoo then proceeded to beat him till he cried for mercy. Nor would
he stop his blows till the goat had promised to finish the work, carry
home the load, and tell no one what had happened. Having promised this,
the goat was allowed to go free. By this time the poor animal’s face
was bruised and swollen.
When the time came to go home the goat had to pack up the load and put
it on his head. Then they set out.
As soon as they came in sight of their cottage, Quarcoo took the basket
from the goat and he himself carried it into the cottage.
The other animals all exclaimed in wonder when they saw the goat’s
face, and asked him how it had happened. “I was unfortunate enough to
get into a swarm of bees when I was working. They stung me,” answered
the poor goat.
Next day it was the wolf’s turn to go to the farm. He also returned,
much bruised and swollen. Goat (guessing what had happened) listened
with a smile to the excuses made by Wolf to the others.
Goat and Wolf afterward talked the matter over and wondered much at the
strength of the little boy.
Each day another animal took his turn at the farm, and each day he
returned in the same condition as his friends had done. At last all the
animals had been, and all now came together to discuss how best they
might get rid of Quarcoo Bah-boni.
They made up their minds that, early the following morning, they would
start off together and leave the boy in possession of the house. They
prepared a big basket of food and set it ready.
Unfortunately for them, Quarcoo had heard their discussion and decided
that he also would go with them. He quietly got himself a large leaf,
rolled it round him (for he was very tiny) and laid himself down in the
basket of food.
At dawn the animals got up very quietly. Goat, being the youngest, was
given the basket to carry. They started, feeling very thankful to get
away from the tiresome boy—never dreaming that they were carrying him
along with them.
When they had gone a fair distance Goat, feeling very hot and tired,
sat down to rest for a little while. As soon as the others had gone out
of sight, he opened the basket, meaning to have some food unknown to
his friends. His greed was rewarded, however, by a terrible blow on the
face. He then heard the words, “Shut the basket at once, and say
nothing to the others.” He obeyed and hurried after the others in fear
of this terrible boy.
As soon as he reached them he called out, “Wolf, Wolf, it is your turn
now to take the basket. I am very tired.” Wolf took the load at once.
They had not gone far when Wolf began to think of all the nice things
in the basket and he also said he was going to rest a little while in
the shade. Having got rid of the others in this way, he hastily opened
the basket. He was greeted by Quarcoo in the same way as Goat had been,
and speedily closed the basket and followed the others. In this way
each animal got his turn of carrying the basket, and each was punished
for his greed.
Finally, Elephant’s turn came. When he rejoined the others and asked
some one to relieve him of his load they cried out, “If you do not want
to carry it any farther, throw it away.” He did so, and they all took
to their heels. They ran for several miles and only stopped when they
came to a huge tree, in whose shade they sat down to rest, being quite
breathless.
Quarcoo, however, had got there before them. He had quietly stepped out
of the basket, taken a short cut across country and arrived at the tree
some time before them. He guessed that they would probably rest
there—so he climbed up into the branches. There he remained, hidden
among the leaves, while the animals sat on the ground below.
There they discussed Quarcoo and all the trouble he had caused them.
They blamed Goat for having been the one to persuade them to take the
boy as a servant. Goat being the youngest of the company had the
domestic work to do and he had welcomed the idea of help. Goat
indignantly denied being the cause of all their troubles, saying: “If I
am really to blame for the admission of Quarcoo—let him appear before
us.” Quarcoo promptly jumped down from the tree and stood in front of
them. They were so alarmed at his appearance they scattered in all
directions. The wolf ran to the woods—the tiger into the heart of the
forest, the elephant to Nigeria, the lion to the desert, and the goat
to the abode of human beings. That is the reason why they live now in
these various places instead of all together as they did previously.