him, "Stand up!" And he stood up. Then the Gourd took a leaf, folded
it as a funnel, and dropped a Medicine into his eyes; and he began
to see everything clearly. He said, "This is the only thing which I
can see that this Hova has done for me." He passed by, and entered
the Reception-House again, and sat down. A person came saluting him,
"Mbolo!" He responded, "Ai!" Another came, "Mbolo!" He replied, "Ai!"
They cooked food, and got it ready to bring to him.
During this while, he told his errand, and was given a wife.
Gourd called him. He went out to It: and It directed him, "When you are
going to eat, you must take only one piece of plantain, and a piece of
the flesh of the fowl. Then you dip it into the udika-gravy, and put it
into your mouth; and you will chew it; and when you have swallowed it,
then you leave the remainder of the food." He disregardfully said,
"Yes! Yes!" And he laughed, "kye! kye! kye! I do not know what this
Hova means! And that 'remainder,' shall I give it to It?" And he
entered the house again, and sat down.
The food was set out. Little children came; they said to each other,
"Let us see how he will eat." He took up a piece of plantain, and
put it in his mouth; he took a fowl's leg, put it in his mouth; and
gnawed the flesh off of the bone. He took up another piece of plantain,
dipped a spoon into the udika-gravy, and put it into his mouth; he
took a piece of meat and a plantain, and swallowed them. The little
children began to jeer at him, "He eats like a person who has never
eaten before." He rose; but felt as if his stomach was empty.
He again seated himself, and he and his wife played games
together. Soon he said, "My body feels exhausted with hunger";
food was again made and was set out; he ate. The result was the
same. The evening meal was also prepared; he ate, and finished;
and still was hungry.
In the evening, the Chief of the town called together the tribe and
said to them, "Men! I see that this fellow has no sense; let him
return to his place."
On another day, Njâ said to himself, "Let me try, as the Hova has
advised me, about the food." They cooked; they set it on the table. He
took a piece of plantain, and some flesh of the fowl; he placed them
on a spoon, and dipped them into the udika, and put them into his
mouth. He rose up, saying, "I have finished!" And his stomach felt
replete. Then he thought to himself, "So! is it possible that this
Hova knows the affairs of the Spirits?"
The next time when food was spread on the table, he did the same way;
and his stomach was satisfied.
Another day broke, and his father-in-law said to him, "On the morrow
will be your journey." When the next day dawned, the Chief brought
out the chests containing his daughters, and said, "Now, then! choose
the one that you will take with you."
The Gourd whispered to him, "Do not take the fine-looking one; you
must take the one you see covered with filth." He responded, "Not
I!" The one he chose was the fine one. He took it up, and carried
it away. The town's-people began to cry out (in pretence), "Oh! he
has taken from us that fine maiden of ours!" He was full of gladness
that at last he was married. But, really, he was carrying a woman,
crooked-nosed, and all of whose body was nothing but skin-disease,
and pus oozing all over her.
He went on his journey, on, on, on, on, until the town of the
Tooth. Said he, "Here's your Hova!" The Tooth requested, "Tell me the
news from there." The Gourd whispered to Tooth, "Let this worthless
fellow be! Let him go! He did not marry a real woman. So, he is not
a person."
The man at once went on with his journey, continuously, until he
came to the spring by his own town. Said he, "Let me bathe!" He put
down the chest, and threw his body with a plunge, into the water. He
bathed himself thoroughly, and emerged on the bank. Then he said
to himself, "Now, then, let me open the chest!" The key clicked,
and the chest opened. A sick woman stepped out! He demanded, "Who
brought you here?" She replied, "You." Said he in astonishment,
"I?" "Yes," answered she. He, in anger, said, "Go back! Do not come
at all to the town!" He at once started to go to the town; and the
woman slowly followed.
There were two children who were going to the spring. As they went,
they met with her; and they cried out in fear, "Aye! aye! aye! a
Ghost! aye!" And they went back together in haste to the town. The
town's-people asked them, "What's the matter?" They said,
"Come! there's a Ghost at the spring!" The woman continued slowly
coming. Other children said, "Let us go! Does a Ghost come in the
daytime? That is not so!"
As they came on the path, they met her. They asked her, "Who has
married you?" She replied, "Isn't it Njâ?" The children excitedly cried
out shrilly, "A! lâ! lâ!" They went back quickly to the town, saying,
"Come ye! see the wife of Njâ!" The town emptied itself to go and see
her. And they inquired of her, "Who is it who has married you?" She
answered, "Is it not Njâ?" And the shrill cry of surprise rose again,
"A! lâ! lâ! lâ!"
When they reached the town, Njâ rose in anger from his house, picked
up his spear, stood facing them, and threatened with his spear,
"This is it!"
He passed by them into the back-yard, and changed his body to that of
a new kind of beast, with spots all over his skin. At once he stooped
low on four legs; and thrust out his claws; and begun a fight with
the people of the town, as a Leopard. Then he went, leaping off into
the Forest.
From there, he kept the name "Njâ," and has continued his fight with
Mankind. The hatred between leopards and mankind dates from that
time. Some of the people of that country had said to Mbuma-Tyetye
that he would not be able to marry at the town of the Spirits, and
had tried to hinder him. But he did go, and succeeded in marrying a
daughter of Njambu-ya-Mekuku; while Njâ, attempting to do the same,
and not waiting for advice from his brother, and treating with
disrespect the Spirits on the way, failed.
TALE 34
A SNAKE'S SKIN LOOKS LIKE A SNAKE
Persons
Bokeli, Son of Njambe-Ya-Manga
Jâmbâ, Daughter of Njambe-Ya-Madiki
Ko (Wild Rat)
Mbindi (Wild Goat)
Etungi, A Town Idler
Kuba (Chicken)
NOTE
Bokeli was like a snake. When a snake changes and throws off his old
skin, that slough, when it is left lying at any place, is almost as
fearful to see, as the snake itself.
The list of the dowry goods for Jâmbâ is a good illustration of
native exaggeration.
Njambe-of-the-Interior begot a daughter called Jâmbâ. And
Njambe-of-the-Sea-Coast begot a son called Bokeli.
Many men arrived at the town of Njambe-of-the-Interior, asking Jâmbâ
for marriage. There they were killed (Njambe's people were cannibals),
not being able to fulfill the tests to which they were subjected. So,
people said, "Jâmbâ will not be married!"
Finally Bokeli, the son of Njambe-of-the-Sea-Coast, said, "I am
going to take Jâmbâ for marriage." He prepared for his journey; he
went; and he arrived at the town. He at once entered into the public
Reception-House, and sat down. There the people of the town exclaimed,
"A fine-looking man!" And they saluted him, "Mbolo!" The young women
at once went to tell Jâmbâ, saying, "What a fine-looking man has come
to marry you!"
Previous to this, the mother of Jâmbâ, who was lame with sores,
was lying in the house. If a prospective son-in-law laughed in her
presence, she would say to her husband, "He is mocking at me!" Then
that visitor would die. All the men who had come there to marry,
were killed in that way.
Before this (as Bokeli understood the speech of all Beasts and
of Birds) when he entered into the Reception-House, a Cock in the
town spoke to him, and said, "If your hope for food rests on me, you
will not eat! I will not be killed for you; neither shall you eat at
all!" Also a loin of Wild-Goat meat, hanging in the kitchen, said,
"For me, you will not eat!"
But Njambe (who had overheard the Cock, and who was thinking of food
for his guest) ordered, "Today, catch ye Kuba!" But Cock ran off to
the forest. Then the people said, "Take the leg of Mbindi!" The leg
of Wild-Goat protested, "I?" And it rotted. They sought some other
thing to cook for Bokeli; but, there was nothing. So, Njambe sent
his sons hunting to kill wild beasts.
Then, the mother of Jâmbâ called for Bokeli, saying, "He must come; let
me see him." So, he entered into her house, and he sat down. They began
to converse. It was but a little while then that the mother said to her
daughter, "Search for me on the drying frame (over the fire-place);
you will find Ko there; take it for the guest, and cook it." The
Wild-Rat spoke, saying, "If it is I, he will not possibly eat!"
At this, Bokeli broke into a laugh. The mother was displeased, and
said, "You are laughing at me!" Bokeli replied, "No!" But, the woman
flung into a rage, and threw herself down on the ground, ndi! She
exclaimed, "Ah! Njambe! He laughed at me! Catch him! And let him go
to die!"
They laid hold of him, and brought him out of the house. They were
about to go a little further to the end of the town, when he suddenly
pretended he was a corpse, and leaving his body, his spirit went back
home, and assumed another body. They became quiet, all of them being
startled. When they moved him, he was as cold as cold victuals. They
said, "What shall we do here?" Some of them advised, "Let us take
Jâmbâ and this corpse, and let us go together to his father, and
explain, 'Bokeli is dead, but this woman is his wife.'" Others said,
"What! lest his father will kill us!" Then they decided, "Not so! but,
let us send as messenger some Etungi (useless person; no loss if he
should be killed) to the father's town."
The Etungi went on that errand. When he arrived at Bokeli's town,
he met Bokeli sitting at the village smithy, and, not recognizing
him, was intending to pass him by. Thereupon, Bokeli called to him,
"Brother-in-law! what are you doing? You have found me sitting here,
but you seem about to entirely pass me by. Though all your family do
not like me, come in to the Reception-House." The Etungi thought to
himself, "Ah! I am dead! Is not this a brother of Bokeli?" Bokeli
called to his mother, and told her, "Bring out that food of mine
quickly that is there! My brother-in-law has come; he feels hungry!"
They set the food as soon as possible. And the Etungi ate.
Bokeli asked him, "Where are you going to?" The Etungi replied, "I'm
on my way going to tell Njambe that his son Bokeli is dead." Bokeli
said to him, "This is I." Then he gave the Etungi a shirt and a cloth
and a hat, as proofs of his reality.
The Etungi returned to his town. And he reported to the people in the
town, "Bokeli is not dead; I met him at the bellows, working." They
thought he was lying, and they said, "Let him be beaten!" But the
Etungi replied, "True! see ye this shirt, and the cloth, and this
hat!" He added, "He that doubts must first go and see."
Then went Kombe. When he arrived, he found Bokeli at the bellows. When
Bokeli saw him coming, he arose at once, and went to his mother
in the house; he seized a machete, and cut down a plantain bunch,
yo! And he said to his mother, "Make haste to cook it!"
Kombe had by that time entered the Reception-House. Bokeli welcomed
him, sa-a! and said, "Sit down!" Kombe sat down. Food had been cooked;
and he ate. Kombe then says, "I'm going back!" Bokeli at once put
down at his feet the dowry for Jâmbâ, cloths, shirts, hats, etc,
etc. Kombe carried away the things. And having arrived at his town,
he says, "It is true!"
Their father Njambe directed, "Come ye! over there with a present
as a propitiation!" Then he gathered goats, fowls, ducks, plantains,
dried meats, fishes, all sorts and kinds. He ordered, "Make ye a bier,
and carry the corpse. I am going, even if I die!" (He still had a
doubt about the real Bokeli.) They did so. They carried the presents,
and they went, going on the journey.
When those in front had arrived at the half-way of the road, the father
said to his children, "You must now remain here. I shall first go to
the town. If you hear a sound of guns, you will know that I am killed;
then ye must go back." The father Njambe took Jâmbâ to accompany him,
and his wives with him.
When Bokeli saw them coming, at once the cannon were loaded, and were
fired in a salute of welcome, and all the guns and musical instruments
sounded, and people saying, "The bride is come!"
The children of Njambe who were left on the way, when they heard
the sounds of the cannons and guns, said to themselves that their
father was killed, and they scattered and hid themselves. But he
hastily started and went back to the place where he had left them;
and he found nobody there. He called them; and they came out of their
hiding. He commanded, "Throw away this thing (the supposed corpse);
take up the goods; come to the town of Bokeli."
Then they went to the town. They found Jâmbâ and her husband Bokeli
sitting and playing. And they were treated with much kindness. Oxen
and pigs were killed; they ate; they drank; and had great fun and
very much enjoyment.
Njambe-of-the-Interior then said that he was ready to journey back
to his town. But his friend Njambe-of-the-Sea-Coast said, "Not today,
but tomorrow in the morning; then I will give you the dowry."
On the next day, they delivered the dowry; five millions of spear-heads
(an iron currency); knives also, a million; one thousand hats; one
thousand shirts; one hundred cloths; bags and trunks one hundred; bales
of all kinds of white man's things; and native things in abundance;
cattle also in abundance. Then they went away with them to their town.
And Bokeli and Jâmbâ remained in the seaside town with their marriage.
PART THIRD
FANG TRIBE
FOREWORD
In this Part, are tales told me by an old Batanga man, of the Banâkâ
Tribe. He could not give me the time to come to my room, and tell
me, sentence by sentence, as the other two narrators had done. But,
having some education, he wrote the stories in his native language,
and, at my leisure, I translated them. The translation is literal,
except when the short phrases, clear to native thought, would have
been an imperfect sentence to an English eye; or, where an allusion
to well-known native customs, perfectly obvious to a native, would
have been obscure to most readers. In such cases, I have sacrificed to
clearness the concise native idiom. To a student of higher criticism,
the sentences which are mine will reveal themselves. In my literal
translations of the native, I have used very simple short words,
mostly of Anglo-Saxon origin. In my own paraphrases, words of Latin
origin have appeared.
Some tales of this Part are of Fang origin from the Bulu Tribe of the
interior. My Batanga friend told me he heard them from Bulu people
visiting at the Coast, and he wrote them as they were then current on
the coast. After I had translated them from his Banâkâ vernacular,
I found, and pointed out to him, that some of them had already been
printed in Fang, as specimens of Bulu idioms, in a published Grammar
of the Bulu-Fang Language ("Handbook of Bulu, by G. S. Bates"). This
explanation is proper to be made, that while, unknown to me, Mr. Bates
was collecting direct from his Bulu informants in the interior,
my Batanga friend had collected for me, from his Bulu visitors; and
the tales were in my possession, translated into English by myself,
before I saw Mr. Bates' book, or even knew of its existence.
TALE 1
CANDOR
Persons
Ngiya (Gorilla)
Ingenda (A Small Monkey)
Gorilla, among all Beasts, was derided and jeered at by them. They
called him "Broken-face."
So, he spoke to Ingenda of the Monkey Tribe, and ordered it, "Just
examine for me this face of mine; whether it is really so, you
tell me." The monkey was afraid to refuse, and afraid also to tell
the truth. So it ascended a tree; and, as it went, it plucked the
fruits. It said to Gorilla, "I must first eat before answering your
question; I feel hungry." (As an excuse to give itself time to escape.)
So Ingenda went; and, by the time it had eaten two of the fruits, it
was near the tree-top. Then it called to Gorilla "Look here! with your
face turned upward." So the Gorilla looked, with its face upward. And
Ingenda, being in a safe place, acknowledged, "It is really so, really
so." Gorilla was angry; but was helpless to revenge itself on Ingenda
for its candid statement; for, he had no way by which to catch him. And
Ingenda went off, leaping as it went from tree-top to tree-top.
TALE 2
WHICH IS THE BETTER HUNTER, AN EAGLE OR A LEOPARD?
Persons
Mbela (Eagle)
Nje (Leopard)
Eagle and Leopard had a discussion about obtaining prey.
Eagle said, "I am the one who can surpass you in preying." Leopard
said, "Not so! Is it not I?"
Then Eagle said, "Wait; see whether you are the one to surpass me in
preying." Thereupon he descended from above, seized a child of Leopard,
and flew up with it to his nest.
Leopard exclaimed, "Alas! what shall I do?" And he went, and went,
walking about, coming to one place, and going to another, wishing
to fly in order to go to the rescue of his child. He could not fly,
for want of wings; therefore it was the other one who flew up and away.
So it was that the eagle proved that he surpassed the leopard in
seeking prey.
TALE 3
A LESSON IN EVOLUTION
Persons
Unyunge (The Shrew-Mouse)
Po (A Lemur)
NOTE
The development of the Shrew's long nose, and of the Lemur's big eyes.
Shrew and Lemur were neighbors in the town of Beasts. At that time,
the Animals did not possess fire. Lemur said to Shrew, "Go! and take
for us fire from the town of Mankind." Shrew consented, but said,
"If I go, do not look, while I am gone, toward any other place except
the path on which I go. Do not even wink. Watch for me."
So Shrew went, and came to a Town of Men; and found that the people
had all emigrated from that town. Yet, he went on, and on, seeking
for fire; and for a long time found none. But, as he continued moving
forward from house to house, he at last found a very little fire on a
hearth. He began blowing it; and kept on blowing, and blowing; for,
the fire did not soon ignite into a flame. He continued so long at
this that his mouth extended forward permanently, with the blowing.
Then he went back, and found Lemur faithfully watching with his eyes
standing very wide open. Shrew asked him, "What has made your eyes
so big?" In return, Lemur asked him, "What has so lengthened your
mouth to a snout?"
TALE 4
PARROT STANDING ON ONE LEG
Persons
Njâku (Elephant)
Koho (Parrot)
Iwedo (Death)
NOTE
In former times, in the days of Witchcraft, it was the custom not to
bury a corpse until the question was settled who or what had caused
the death. This investigation sometimes occupied several days; during
which time decomposition was hindered by the application of salt,
and even by drying the remains in the smoke of a fire.
Elephant built his own town; and Parrot built also his.
Then the children of Parrot went a-hunting every day; and when they
came back, the town had wild meat in abundance, hida! hida!
One day Elephant announced, "I must go on an excursion to the town of
Chum Koho." He arrived there and found him, with that fashion of his,
of standing with one leg bent up under his feathers hidden. His friend
Elephant asked him, "Chum! what have you done to your leg?" He answered
him (falsely), "My children have gone with it a-hunting." Elephant
being astonished said, "On your oath?" He replied, "Truly!"
Then Elephant said, "I came to see you, only to see. I'm going
back." The other said, "Yes; very good."
Elephant returned to his town, and said to his children, "Arrange
the nets today; tomorrow for a hunt!"
The next day, the children made ready. And he, ashamed that a small
Bird should do a greater act than himself said, "Take ye a saw,
and cut off my leg." His children did not hesitate at his command,
as they were accustomed to implicit obedience. So, they cut it off;
and they carried with them, as he directed, the leg, on their hunt.
When they were gone, to their father Elephant came Death, saying,
"I have arrived!" People of the town cried for help, "Come ye! Njâku
is not well!" But, the children were beyond hearing, being still away
at the hunt. During their absence, Elephant died. When they arrived,
they found their father a corpse.
People wondered, saying, "What is this? Since we were born, we have
not heard this, that hunting is carried on with the legs of one who
remains behind in the town." When others, coming to the funeral, from
other towns, asked the children, "Who was the person who counseled
you such advice as that?" they said, "Himself it was who told us;
he said to us 'Cut.' So we cut."
Then, on farther investigation, the people said, "The blame belongs
to Koho," so, they called Parrot to account. But, Parrot said, "It
is not mine. I did not tell him to cut off his leg." So, the charge
was dismissed. And the burial proceeded.
TALE 5
A QUESTION OF RIGHT OF INHERITANCE
Persons
Utati-Mboka (A Sparrow)
Koho (Parrot)
A Man
NOTE
Sparrow based his claim on the grounds of companionship, and community
of interests.
Parrot's claim is based on a very common line of argument in native
disputes not only about property, but in all questions of liability.
Parrot and Sparrow argued about their right to inherit the property
that a Man had left.
The Sparrow said, "The Man and I lived all our days in the same
town. If he moved, I also moved. Our interests were similar. At
whatever place he went to live, there also I stood in the street."
The Parrot spoke, and based his claim on the ground that he was
the original cause of the Man's wealth. He said, "I was born in the
tree-tops; then the Man came and took me, to live with him.
"When my tail began to grow, he and his people took my feathers; With
which they made a handsome head-dress; Which they sold for very many
goods; With which they bought a wife; And that woman bore daughters;
Who, for much money, were sold into marriages; And their children
also bore other children; Wherefore, for that reason, it is that I
say that I caused for them all these women, and was the foundation
of all this wealth."
This was what Parrot declared.
So, the people decided, "Koho is the source of those things." And he
was allowed to inherit.
TALE 6
TORTOISE COVERS HIS IGNORANCE
Persons
Kudu (Tortoise)
Iheli (Gazelle)
Nje (Leopard)
A Vine
NOTE
It is customary for men to do some service for their fathers and
mothers-in-law.
Tortoise arose and went to the town of his father-in-law
Leopard. Leopard sent him on an errand, saying, "Go, and cut for me
utamba-mwa-Ivâtâ." (The fiber of a vine is used for making nets.)
Then he went. But, while he still remembered the object, he forgot
the name of the kind of Vine that was used for that purpose. And he
was ashamed to confess his ignorance. So, he came back to call the
people of the town, and said, "Come ye and help me! I have enclosed
Iheli in a thicket."
The people came, and at once they made a circle around the spot. But
when they closed in, they saw no beasts there.
Then Tortoise called out, "Let someone of you cut for me,
utamba-mwa-Ivâtâ." (As if that was the only thing needed to catch
the animal which he had said was there.)
Thereupon, his brother-in-law cut for him a vine which he brought
to him, saying, "Here is an Ihenga vine which we use for making
nets." Whereupon Tortoise exclaimed, "Is it possible that it was the
Ihenga vine that I mistook?"
TALE 7
A QUESTION AS TO AGE
Persons
Asanze (A Shrike)
Kudu (Tortoise)
And other Animals
Njâbâ (Civet)
Uhingi (Genet)
Edubu (Snake)
NOTE
Differences in age as revealed by differences in taste for food.
Shrike was a blacksmith. So, all the Beasts went to the forge at
his town. Each day, when they had finished at the anvil, they took
all their tools and laid them on the ground (as pledges). Before
they should go back to their towns, they would say to the Bird,
"Show us which is the eldest, and then you give us the things, if
you are able to decide our question."
He looked at and examined them; but he did not know, for they were
all apparently of the same age; and they went away empty-handed,
leaving their tools as a challenge. Every day it was that same way.
On another day, Tortoise being a friend of the Bird, started to go to
work for him at the bellows. Also, he cooked three bundles of food;
one of Civet with the entrails of a red Antelope; and one of Genet;
and one of an Edubu-Snake. (Suited for different tastes and ages.) Then
he blew at the bellows.
When the others were hungry at meal time, Tortoise took up the
jomba-bundles; and he said, "Come ye! take up this jomba of Njâbâ
with the entrails, and eat." (They were the old ones who chose to
come and eat it.)
Again Tortoise said, "Come ye! take up the jomba of Uhingi." (They
were the younger men who chose to pick it up and eat it.)