woman so much that she finally agreed to go and work on the farm,
although her little sister, whom she had brought from home with her,
implored her not to go, reminding her that their mother had always
told them ever since they were born that she would melt away if she
went into the sun. All the way to the farm the fat woman managed to
keep in the shade, and when they arrived at the farm the sun was very
hot, so the fat woman remained in the shade of a big tree. When the
jealous wife saw this she again began abusing her, and asked her why
she did not do her share of the work. At last she could stand the
nagging no longer, and although her little sister tried very hard to
prevent her, the fat woman went out into the sun to work, and
immediately began to melt away. There was very soon nothing left of
her but one big toe, which had been covered by a leaf. This her little
sister observed, and with tears in her eyes she picked up the toe,
which was all that remained of the fat woman, and having covered it
carefully with leaves, placed it in the bottom of her basket. When she
arrived at the house the little sister placed the toe in an earthen
pot, filled it with water, and covered the top up with clay.
When the husband returned, he said, "Where is my fat wife?" and the
little sister, crying bitterly, told him that the jealous woman had
made her go out into the sun, and that she had melted away. She then
showed him the pot with the remains of her sister, and told him that
her sister would come to life again in three months' time quite
complete, but he must send away the jealous wife, so that there should
be no more trouble; if he refused to do this, the little girl said she
would take the pot back to their mother, and when her sister became
complete again they would remain at home.
The husband then took the jealous wife back to her parents, who sold
her as a slave and paid the dowry back to the husband, so that he
could get another wife. When he received the money, the husband took
it home and kept it until the three months had elapsed, when the
little sister opened the pot and the fat woman emerged, quite as fat
and beautiful as she had been before. The husband was so delighted
that he gave a feast to all his friends and neighbours, and told them
the whole story of the bad behaviour of his jealous wife.
Ever since that time, whenever a wife behaves very badly the husband
returns her to the parents, who sell the woman as a slave, and out of
the proceeds of the sale reimburse the husband the amount of dowry
which he paid when he married the girl.
XXV
_Concerning the Leopard, the Squirrel, and the Tortoise_
Many years ago there was a great famine throughout the land, and all
the people were starving. The yam crop had failed entirely, the
plantains did not bear any fruit, the ground-nuts were all shrivelled
up, and the corn never came to a head; even the palm-oil nuts did not
ripen, and the peppers and ocros also gave out.
The leopard, however, who lived entirely on "beef," did not care for
any of these things; and although some of the animals who lived on
corn and the growing crops began to get rather skinny, he did not mind
very much. In order to save himself trouble, as everybody was
complaining of the famine, he called a meeting of all the animals and
told them that, as they all knew, he was very powerful and must have
food, that the famine did not affect him, as he only lived on flesh,
and as there were plenty of animals about he did not intend to starve.
He then told all the animals present at the meeting that if they did
not wish to be killed themselves they must bring their grandmothers to
him for food, and when they were finished he would feed off their
mothers. The animals might bring their grandmothers in succession,
and he would take them in their turn; so that, as there were many
different animals, it would probably be some time before their mothers
were eaten, by which time it was possible that the famine would be
over. But in any case, he warned them that he was determined to have
sufficient food for himself, and that if the grandmothers or mothers
were not forthcoming he would turn upon the young people themselves
and kill and eat them.
This, of course, the young generation, who had attended the meeting,
did not appreciate, and in order to save their own skins, agreed to
supply the leopard with his daily meal.
The first to appear with his aged grandmother was the squirrel. The
grandmother was a poor decrepit old thing, with a mangy tail, and the
leopard swallowed her at one gulp, and then looked round for more. In
an angry voice he growled out: "This is not the proper food for me; I
must have more at once."
Then a bush cat pushed his old grandmother in front of the leopard,
but he snarled at her and said, "Take the nasty old thing away; I want
some sweet food."
It was then the turn of a bush buck, and after a great deal of
hesitation a wretchedly poor and thin old doe tottered and fell in
front of the leopard, who immediately despatched her, and although the
meal was very unsatisfactory, declared that his appetite was appeased
for that day.
The next day a few more animals brought their old grandmothers, until
at last it became the tortoise's turn; but being very cunning, he
produced witnesses to prove that his grandmother was dead, so the
leopard excused him.
After a few days all the animals' grandmothers were exhausted, and it
became the turn of the mothers to supply food for the ravenous
leopard. Now although most of the young animals did not mind getting
rid of their grandmothers, whom they had scarcely even known, many of
them had very strong objections to providing their mothers, of whom
they were very fond, as food for the leopard. Amongst the strongest
objectors were the squirrel and the tortoise. The tortoise, who had
thought the whole thing out, was aware that, as every one knew that
his mother was alive (she being rather an amiable old person and
friendly with all-comers), the same excuse would not avail him a
second time. He therefore told his mother to climb up a palm tree, and
that he would provide her with food until the famine was over. He
instructed her to let down a basket every day, and said that he would
place food in it for her. The tortoise made the basket for his mother,
and attached it to a long string of tie-tie. The string was so strong
that she could haul her son up whenever he wished to visit her.
All went well for some days, as the tortoise used to go at daylight to
the bottom of the tree where his mother lived and place her food in
the basket; then the old lady would pull the basket up and have her
food, and the tortoise would depart on his daily round in his usual
leisurely manner.
In the meantime the leopard had to have his daily food, and the
squirrel's turn came first after the grandmothers had been finished,
so he was forced to produce his mother for the leopard to eat, as he
was a poor, weak thing and not possessed of any cunning. The squirrel
was, however, very fond of his mother, and when she had been eaten he
remembered that the tortoise had not produced his grandmother for the
leopard's food. He therefore determined to set a watch on the
movements of the tortoise.
The very next morning, while he was gathering nuts, he saw the
tortoise walking very slowly through the bush, and being high up in
the trees and able to travel very fast, had no difficulty in keeping
the tortoise in sight without being noticed. When the tortoise arrived
at the foot of the tree where his mother lived, he placed the food in
the basket which his mother had let down already by the tie-tie, and
having got into the basket and given a pull at the string to signify
that everything was right, was hauled up, and after a time was let
down again in the basket. The squirrel was watching all the time, and
directly the tortoise had gone, jumped from branch to branch of the
trees, and very soon arrived at the place where the leopard was
snoozing.
When he woke up, the squirrel said:
"You have eaten my grandmother and my mother, but the tortoise has not
provided any food for you. It is now his turn, and he has hidden his
mother away in a tree."
At this the leopard was very angry, and told the squirrel to lead him
at once to the tree where the tortoise's mother lived. But the
squirrel said:
"The tortoise only goes at daylight, when his mother lets down a
basket; so if you go in the morning early, she will pull you up, and
you can then kill her."
To this the leopard agreed, and the next morning the squirrel came at
cockcrow and led the leopard to the tree where the tortoise's mother
was hidden. The old lady had already let down the basket for her daily
supply of food, and the leopard got into it and gave the line a pull;
but except a few small jerks nothing happened, as the old mother
tortoise was not strong enough to pull a heavy leopard off the ground.
When the leopard saw that he was not going to be pulled up, being an
expert climber, he scrambled up the tree, and when he got to the top
he found the poor old tortoise, whose shell was so tough that he
thought she was not worth eating, so he threw her down on to the
ground in a violent temper, and then came down himself and went home.
Shortly after this the tortoise arrived at the tree, and finding the
basket on the ground gave his usual tug at it, but there was no
answer. He then looked about, and after a little time came upon the
broken shell of his poor old mother, who by this time was quite dead.
The tortoise knew at once that the leopard had killed his mother, and
made up his mind that for the future he would live alone and have
nothing to do with the other animals.
XXVI
_Why the Moon Waxes and Wanes_
There was once an old woman who was very poor, and lived in a small
mud hut thatched with mats made from the leaves of the tombo palm in
the bush. She was often very hungry, as there was no one to look after
her.
In the olden days the moon used often to come down to the earth,
although she lived most of the time in the sky. The moon was a fat
woman with a skin of hide, and she was full of fat meat. She was quite
round, and in the night used to give plenty of light. The moon was
sorry for the poor starving old woman, so she came to her and said,
"You may cut some of my meat away for your food." This the old woman
did every evening, and the moon got smaller and smaller until you
could scarcely see her at all. Of course this made her give very
little light, and all the people began to grumble in consequence, and
to ask why it was that the moon was getting so thin.
At last the people went to the old woman's house where there happened
to be a little girl sleeping. She had been there for some little time,
and had seen the moon come down every evening, and the old woman go
out with her knife and carve her daily supply of meat out of the
moon. As she was very frightened, she told the people all about it, so
they determined to set a watch on the movements of the old woman.
That very night the moon came down as usual, and the old woman went
out with her knife and basket to get her food; but before she could
carve any meat all the people rushed out shouting, and the moon was so
frightened that she went back again into the sky, and never came down
again to the earth. The old woman was left to starve in the bush.
Ever since that time the moon has hidden herself most of the day, as
she was so frightened, and she still gets very thin once a month, but
later on she gets fat again, and when she is quite fat she gives
plenty of light all the night; but this does not last very long, and
she begins to get thinner and thinner, in the same way as she did when
the old woman was carving her meat from her.
XXVII
_The Story of the Leopard, the Tortoise, and the Bush Rat_
At the time of the great famine all the animals were very thin and
weak from want of food; but there was one exception, and that was the
tortoise and all his family, who were quite fat, and did not seem to
suffer at all. Even the leopard was very thin, in spite of the
arrangement he had made with the animals to bring him their old
grandmothers and mothers for food.
In the early days of the famine (as you will remember) the leopard had
killed the mother of the tortoise, in consequence of which the
tortoise was very angry with the leopard, and determined if possible
to be revenged upon him. The tortoise, who was very clever, had
discovered a shallow lake full of fish in the middle of the forest,
and every morning he used to go to the lake and, without much trouble,
bring back enough food for himself and his family. One day the leopard
met the tortoise and noticed how fat he was. As he was very thin
himself he decided to watch the tortoise, so the next morning he hid
himself in the long grass near the tortoise's house and waited very
patiently, until at last the tortoise came along quite slowly,
carrying a basket which appeared to be very heavy. Then the leopard
sprang out, and said to the tortoise:
"What have you got in that basket?"
The tortoise, as he did not want to lose his breakfast, replied that
he was carrying firewood back to his home. Unfortunately for the
tortoise the leopard had a very acute sense of smell, and knew at once
that there was fish in the basket, so he said:
"I know there is fish in there, and I am going to eat it."
The tortoise, not being in a position to refuse, as he was such a poor
creature, said:
"Very well. Let us sit down under this shady tree, and if you will
make a fire I will go to my house and get pepper, oil, and salt, and
then we will feed together."
To this the leopard agreed, and began to search about for dry wood,
and started the fire. In the meantime the tortoise waddled off to his
house, and very soon returned with the pepper, salt, and oil; he also
brought a long piece of cane tie-tie, which is very strong. This he
put on the ground, and began boiling the fish. Then he said to the
leopard:
"While we are waiting for the fish to cook, let us play at tying one
another up to a tree. You may tie me up first, and when I say
'Tighten,' you must loose the rope, and when I say 'Loosen,' you must
tighten the rope."
The leopard, who was very hungry, thought that this game would make
the time pass more quickly until the fish was cooked, so he said he
would play. The tortoise then stood with his back to the tree and
said, "Loosen the rope," and the leopard, in accordance with the rules
of the game, began to tie up the tortoise. Very soon the tortoise
shouted out, "Tighten!" and the leopard at once unfastened the
tie-tie, and the tortoise was free. The tortoise then said, "Now,
leopard, it is your turn;" so the leopard stood up against the tree
and called out to the tortoise to loosen the rope, and the tortoise at
once very quickly passed the rope several times round the leopard and
got him fast to the tree. Then the leopard said, "Tighten the rope;"
but instead of playing the game in accordance with the rules he had
laid down, the tortoise ran faster and faster with the rope round the
leopard, taking great care, however, to keep out of reach of the
leopard's claws, and very soon had the leopard so securely fastened
that it was quite impossible for him to free himself.
All this time the leopard was calling out to the tortoise to let him
go, as he was tired of the game; but the tortoise only laughed, and
sat down at the fireside and commenced his meal. When he had finished
he packed up the remainder of the fish for his family, and prepared to
go, but before he started he said to the leopard:
"You killed my mother and now you want to take my fish. It is not
likely that I am going to the lake to get fish for you, so I shall
leave you here to starve."
He then threw the remains of the pepper and salt into the leopard's
eyes and quietly went on his way, leaving the leopard roaring with
pain.
All that day and throughout the night the leopard was calling out for
some one to release him, and vowing all sorts of vengeance on the
tortoise; but no one came, as the people and animals of the forest do
not like to hear the leopard's voice.
In the morning, when the animals began to go about to get their food,
the leopard called out to every one he saw to come and untie him, but
they all refused, as they knew that if they did so the leopard would
most likely kill them at once and eat them. At last a bush rat came
near and saw the leopard tied up to the tree and asked him what was
the matter, so the leopard told him that he had been playing a game of
"tight" and "loose" with the tortoise, and that he had tied him up and
left him there to starve. The leopard then implored the bush rat to
cut the ropes with his sharp teeth. The bush rat was very sorry for
the leopard; but at the same time he knew that, if he let the leopard
go, he would most likely be killed and eaten, so he hesitated, and
said that he did not quite see his way to cutting the ropes. But this
bush rat, being rather kind-hearted, and having had some experience of
traps himself, could sympathise with the leopard in his uncomfortable
position. He therefore thought for a time, and then hit upon a plan.
He first started to dig a hole under the tree, quite regardless of the
leopard's cries. When he had finished the hole he came out and cut one
of the ropes, and immediately ran into his hole, and waited there to
see what would happen; but although the leopard struggled frantically,
he could not get loose, as the tortoise had tied him up so fast. After
a time, when he saw that there was no danger, the bush rat crept out
again and very carefully bit through another rope, and then retired to
his hole as before. Again nothing happened, and he began to feel more
confidence, so he bit several strands through one after the other
until at last the leopard was free. The leopard, who was ravenous with
hunger, instead of being grateful to the bush rat, directly he was
free, made a dash at the bush rat with his big paw, but just missed
him, as the bush rat had dived for his hole; but he was not quite
quick enough to escape altogether, and the leopard's sharp claws
scored his back and left marks which he carried to his grave.
Ever since then the bush rats have had white spots on their skins,
which represent the marks of the leopard's claws.
XXVIII
_The King and the Ju Ju Tree_
Udo Ubok Udom was a famous king who lived at Itam, which is an inland
town, and does not possess a river. The king and his wife therefore
used to wash at the spring just behind their house.
King Udo had a daughter, of whom he was very fond, and looked after
her most carefully, and she grew up into a beautiful woman.
For some time the king had been absent from his house, and had not
been to the spring for two years. When he went to his old place to
wash, he found that the Idem Ju Ju tree had grown up all round the
place, and it was impossible for him to use the spring as he had done
formerly. He therefore called fifty of his young men to bring their
matchets[8] and cut down the tree. They started cutting the tree, but
it had no effect, as, directly they made a cut in the tree, it closed
up again; so, after working all day, they found they had made no
impression on it.
[Footnote 8: A matchet is a long sharp knife in general use throughout
the country. It has a wooden handle; it is about two feet six inches
long and two inches wide.]
When they returned at night, they told the king that they had been
unable to destroy the tree. He was very angry when he heard this, and
went to the spring the following morning, taking his own matchet with
him.
When the Ju Ju tree saw that the king had come himself and was
starting to try to cut his branches, he caused a small splinter of
wood to go into the king's eye. This gave the king great pain, so he
threw down his matchet and went back to his house. The pain, however,
got worse, and he could not eat or sleep for three days.
He therefore sent for his witch men, and told them to cast lots to
find out why he was in such pain. When they had cast lots, they
decided that the reason was that the Ju Ju tree was angry with the
king because he wanted to wash at the spring, and had tried to destroy
the tree.
They then told the king that he must take seven baskets of flies, a
white goat, a white chicken, and a piece of white cloth, and make a
sacrifice of them in order to satisfy the Ju Ju.
The king did this, and the witch men tried their lotions on the king's
eye, but it got worse and worse.
He then dismissed these witches and got another lot. When they arrived
they told the king that, although they could do nothing themselves to
relieve his pain, they knew one man who lived in the spirit land who
could cure him; so the king told them to send for him at once, and he
arrived the next day.
Then the spirit man said, "Before I do anything to your eye, what will
you give me?" So King Udo said, "I will give you half my town with the
people in it, also seven cows and some money." But the spirit man
refused to accept the king's offer. As the king was in such pain, he
said, "Name your own price, and I will pay you." So the spirit man
said the only thing he was willing to accept as payment was the king's
daughter. At this the king cried very much, and told the man to go
away, as he would rather die than let him have his daughter.
That night the pain was worse than ever, and some of his subjects
pleaded with the king to send for the spirit man again and give him
his daughter, and told him that when he got well he could no doubt
have another daughter but that if he died now he would lose
everything.
The king then sent for the spirit man again, who came very quickly,
and in great grief the king handed his daughter to the spirit.
The spirit man then went out into the bush, and collected some leaves,
which he soaked in water and beat up. The juice he poured into the
king's eye, and told him that when he washed his face in the morning
he would be able to see what was troubling him in the eye.
The king tried to persuade him to stay the night, but the spirit man
refused, and departed that same night for the spirit land, taking the
king's daughter with him.
Before it was light the king rose up and washed his face, and found
that the small splinter from the Ju Ju tree, which had been troubling
him so much, dropped out of his eye, the pain disappeared, and he was
quite well again.
When he came to his proper senses he realised that he had sacrificed
his daughter for one of his eyes, so he made an order that there
should be general mourning throughout his kingdom for three years.
For the first two years of the mourning the king's daughter was put in
the fatting house by the spirit man, and was given food; but a skull,
who was in the house, told her not to eat, as they were fatting her
up, not for marriage, but so that they could eat her. She therefore
gave all the food which was brought to her to the skull, and lived on
chalk herself.
Towards the end of the third year the spirit man brought some of his
friends to see the king's daughter, and told them he would kill her
the next day, and they would have a good feast off her.
When she woke up in the morning the spirit man brought her food as
usual; but the skull, who wanted to preserve her life, and who had
heard what the spirit man had said, called her into the room and told
her what was going to happen later in the day. She handed the food to
the skull, and he said, "When the spirit man goes to the wood with his
friends to prepare for the feast, you must run back to your father."
He then gave her some medicine which would make her strong for the
journey, and also gave her directions as to the road, telling her that
there were two roads but that when she came to the parting of the ways
she was to drop some of the medicine on the ground and the two roads
would become one.
He then told her to leave by the back door, and go through the wood
until she came to the end of the town; she would then find the road.
If she met people on the road she was to pass them in silence, as if
she saluted them they would know that she was a stranger in the spirit
land, and might kill her. She was also not to turn round if any one
called to her, but was to go straight on till she reached her father's
house.
Having thanked the skull for his kind advice, the king's daughter
started off, and when she reached the end of the town and found the
road, she ran for three hours, and at last arrived at the branch
roads. There she dropped the medicine, as she had been instructed, and
the two roads immediately became one; so she went straight on and
never saluted any one or turned back, although several people called
to her.