Ætamba kirilliye, edada honda adada honda?
"Edat hondayi, adat hondayi,
Ætamba gahaka aetamba kaen,
Ætamba mule hayiya baelin,
Owiti maenda paen keliyen,
Pitiye sameyan keruwen,
Man-kadulle yana eññan deggatten,
Uluwasse wadu-hadukan iganagatin,
Hulu-atte baemma kaedin,
Aciriye kaette kaepun baeluwen,
Badahaelaye walande indun baeluwen.
Ralahami, On! Bala-inda hondayi."
There is a variant in the Sierra Leone district, given in Cunnie
Rabbit, Mr. Spider, and the Other Beef (Cronise and Ward), p. 160. A
devil who lived near a town had forbidden traps to be set in the
"bush" [forest and bushes] there. A stranger set a trap, and caught
a pigeon. The pigeon then told him to carry it to his house. When
he had done this, it told him to kill it; then to pluck off its
feathers; then to clean it; to put the pot on the fire; to cut it up;
to cook it immediately; to put in salt; to put in pepper; to taste
the food; and lastly it told him to eat it up. He complied with all
the instructions. In the evening he went to the "bush" again. When
he opened his mouth to speak, the bird flew out, the man died, and
his body was carried off by the devil.
In a Soninka story of Senegambia in Contes Soudanais (C. Monteil),
p. 145, there are incidents of the same type. A hunter met with a
female gazelle, which recommended him to look for a larger animal. He
fired at it, but it did not fall. Then he killed it with a charmed
bullet, saying, "Eh! Who is the stronger?" The animal replied, "Oh,
oh! It is not finished!" It made the same remark when he cut its
throat, when he skinned it, and also when he carried it home and learnt
that his wife and son had died of colic. The man said no more words,
but cut it up and placed it in a pot on the fire, on which it repeated
the words. After cooking it for some hours he found the meat as hard as
at first, and it murmured, "It is not finished." Neighbours seeing him
cooking all day inquired what was in the pot. A voice came from it,
"An antelope that won't be cooked. It is not finished." At last the
man threw a magical powder into the pot, and the meat then became
cooked, and he ate it without any ill result.