Tales from the Caribbean

by Trish Cooke

  If you do, my stepmother will bury me alive.’

  But, alas, the owl did not take pity on Princess Louisa. Instead the owl pecked at the ripe fig bananas, just as the wicked stepmother was returning from her walk.

  ‘Did I not tell you to guard the fig bananas?’ said Queen Melissa.

  ‘And I tried to stop them, but the owl would not listen to me!’ pleaded Princess Louisa.

  ‘Oh dear,’ said Queen Melissa menacingly. ‘Now I must bury you alive, as I said I would!’ And the evil witch grabbed Princess Louisa and dragged her to the bottom of the palace garden. She dug a hole beside the pepper bush where Princess Louisa had picked the peppers for her father’s meals and threw Princess Louisa in the hole. She buried her alive.

  The next day, when the king and Prince Wilmot came home, the king asked for his daughter. Queen Melissa denied any knowledge of where Princess Louisa was. ‘I haven’t seen her since yesterday. I thought she followed you into town!’ said Queen Melissa.

  The king was very worried and sent out a royal search party to find his daughter but it seemed she was nowhere to be found. The king was very sad, as was Prince Wilmot. The king was so sad that, once again, he lost his appetite and wouldn’t eat. He stayed in bed every day. He missed his daughter dreadfully. The poor king got sadder and sadder, and very thin and weak.

  ‘I know what will make you feel better,’ said the prince. ‘I will make you a meal seasoned with your favourite spice – pepper from the pepper bush.’

  ‘I’ll do it!’ said Queen Melissa, but the king stopped her.

  ‘Let Wilmot do it. He used to watch my beloved wife and my sweet daughter prepare my food so he knows how I like it.’

  So Prince Wilmot went to pick some peppers from the pepper bush to make his father a special meal. But when Prince Wilmot went to pick the peppers, the pepper bush began to sing:

  ‘No, Brother, no,

  Don’t stamp on me!

  No, Brother, no,

  Don’t stamp on me!

  No, Brother, no,

  Don’t stamp on me!

  For my stepmother has buried me alive.’

  Prince Wilmot couldn’t believe what he was hearing. He ran to his sick father’s room at once and told him what he had heard.

  ‘Nonsense!’ said the king. ‘Pepper bushes don’t sing!’ And he sent his son to have a lie down, believing him to be sick.

  ‘Now I will go and pick the peppers,’ said Queen Melissa, and off she went.

  But when Queen Melissa reached the pepper bush and stretched out her hand to pick a pepper, the pepper bush pulled away from her. She couldn’t get her fingers on a single pepper to pick. She tried over and over again but, each time she tried, the same thing happened and she could not pick a pepper. She went back to the king empty-handed.

  ‘Where are the peppers?’ asked the king.

  ‘I couldn’t pick any!’ said Queen Melissa. ‘Every time I tried to take one, I couldn’t get my fingers on it.’

  The king thought Queen Melissa had gone mad and decided to get out of bed and pick the peppers himself. By now he was very weak as he hadn’t eaten for days, and Prince Wilmot got out of bed and decided to go with him. Queen Melissa followed them too. When the king arrived at the pepper bush, he picked some peppers straight away.

  But then, just as before, the bush started to sing in Princess Louisa’s voice:

  ‘No, Father, no,

  Don’t stamp on me!

  No, Father, no,

  Don’t stamp on me!

  No, Father, no,

  Don’t stamp on me!

  For my stepmother has buried me alive.’

  At once Queen Melissa felt nervous. Prince Wilmot, who had heard the singing once before, fetched a shovel and quickly began to dig up the dirt by the pepper bush. There she was, Princess Louisa, alive and well!

  ‘Father, Melissa buried me alive!’ Princess Louisa cried.

  And the wicked witch, Melissa, ran as fast as she could away from the palace and was never seen again.

  Compère Lapin and the Good Sense

  This story is based on a folk tale from St Lucia and the Commonwealth of Dominica

  Now, good sense is something most people don’t have enough of. Good sense tells you to carry an umbrella with you when the clouds look grey, or tells you to look left and right to be safe when you’re crossing a road, or to eat all your greens in order to stay healthy. It has been said that there was a time when good sense grew on trees. They say you could even find it in a flower or a bush, or stuffed in a corner or behind a wall or just sitting there on the ground. Well, so I have heard.

  The trouble with good sense was that it wasn’t easily visible. It did have a blue hue, which you could see shimmering if you squinted but, because it was so difficult to spot, some folks could not get their hands on it easily.

  The animals in the forest would compete on a special day every year called Good Sense Day to see who could find and collect the most good sense, and the winner would get a trophy for his or her efforts.

  Now Compère Lapin was a troublesome rabbit, always trying to get more than his fair share of anything he could get his hands on. When Good Sense Day arrived that year, Compère Lapin woke up with a fine plan. Not only did he want to collect the most good sense, Compère Lapin wanted to have all of the good sense for himself! The thing was, Compère Lapin didn’t want to collect the good sense himself. He wanted to relax while everyone else collected the good sense for him.

  So on the day of the annual competition Compère Lapin watched as all the animals scurried around the forest trying to collect as much good sense as they could. While they all scurried around, he did nothing but relax in the sun. The rest of the animals were not impressed.

  ‘That rascal Compère Lapin thinks he can get away with doing nothing whilst we do all the work!’ said Compère Dog.

  ‘Well, he’d better not think he’s getting any of my good sense!’ clucked Compère Cockerel.

  ‘Or mine,’ said Compère Goat.

  When all the animals had collected as much good sense as they could carry, Compère Owl did his best to count up to see who had the biggest pile. It was announced that Compère Duck was this year’s winner and, as Compère Owl presented him with the Good Sense trophy, Compère Lapin took the opportunity to step forward and say, ‘Wait! Wait! There’s a problem!’

  No one was really surprised to see Compère Lapin step forward, as they knew he was up to something. They were curious, though, to hear what he had to say.

  ‘The problem,’ said Compère Lapin, ‘is storage. Every year we collect all this good sense and we have piles and piles of it, but nowhere to put it! When all that good sense is left hanging around, it could cause all sorts of accidents.’

  The other animals could not recall any accidents being caused by the lack of storage for good sense. But no one wanted to be thought uncaring, so they all agreed that finding some storage for the good sense was a great idea.

  ‘Well,’ said Compère Lapin, ‘I suggest we put it all in one place and have someone look after it.’

  ‘Good idea!’ said Compère Turtle. Compère Frog and all the other animals agreed.

  ‘Just give me all your piles of good sense,’ said Compère Lapin, ‘and I’ll look after it all for you.’

  Well, the animals weren’t sure about that! Compère Lapin wasn’t very trustworthy and they were reluctant to hand over all the good sense they had collected just like that.

  ‘How do we know you won’t steal it from us?’ Compère Frog croaked.

  Compère Lapin was taken aback. ‘I’m not a thief,’ he said angrily. ‘But just to prove that I have no interest in your good sense, I will give everyone a receipt.’

  The animals talked amongst themselves and agreed that getting a receipt from Compère Lapin was a good idea. At least they would know which good sense belonged to whom. So all the animals gave the good sense that they had collected to Compère Lapin, and Compère Lapin gave each o
f them a receipt. It seemed like a perfect plan and everyone was happy – but especially Compère Lapin, who had no intention of giving any of the animals back their good sense, receipt or no receipt!

  Once Compère Lapin had everyone’s good sense and all the animals had gone home, he poured it all into a big iron cooking pot. He decided he would hang the pot at the top of a big tree in the centre of the forest, far out of the reach of the other animals. He laughed at how foolish they had been, handing over their good sense for him to take care of. Well, he was going to take care of it all right! Now all the good sense belonged to him!

  Compère Lapin dragged the big iron cooking pot to the tree at the centre of the forest. But as he tried to climb the tree, pot in hand, he found the pot was far too big. Compère Lapin didn’t listen to the good sense telling him that it wasn’t a good idea to be climbing so high with a big pot, and it wasn’t long before he lost his balance and dropped the pot. All of the good sense that had been collected scattered all around the forest.

  Compère Lapin was vexed. He hopped around angrily, moaning about how he had lost all the good sense he had tricked the others into handing over.

  When the animals in the forest each came to Compère Lapin bringing their receipts and asking for their portion of good sense, Compère Lapin told them he had tried to keep hold of the good sense for them but, despite his efforts, it had decided to flee from him, so they would have to wait until next Good Sense Day to get some more. The animals were not happy and vowed they would never let Compère Lapin trick them again!

  Compère Lapin Looks for Wisdom

  This story is based on a folk tale from St Lucia and the Commonwealth of Dominica

  One day Compère Lapin went to see God and said, ‘You’re the wisest of them all! If only I could be wise like you!’

  ‘No one can be wise like me,’ said God.

  ‘That’s just not fair!’ said Compère Lapin. ‘Keeping all that wisdom for yourself is just GREEDY!’

  Well, God thought about what Compère Lapin said. God liked to be fair and he certainly wasn’t greedy.

  ‘Very well,’ God said. ‘If you can pass some tests then I will give you some wisdom!’

  Compère Lapin was intrigued, ‘What are these tests?’ he asked.

  ‘There are three impossible tasks,’ said God. ‘If you can do these three tasks, I will give you some wisdom. First, bring me the scales of the greatest, biggest sea fish. Second, bring me milk from a wild cow. Third, bring me two teeth from the mouth of a living crocodile.’

  Now, Compère Lapin wasn’t one to be beaten and, although the tasks that God had set him seemed to be impossible, he was ready to take on the challenge.

  ‘Very well,’ said Compère Lapin. ‘I will bring you the scales of the greatest, biggest sea fish, and I will bring you milk from a wild cow, and I will bring you two teeth from the mouth of a living crocodile.’

  Compère Lapin had no idea how he was going to get those things and bring them to God. He went home to think up a plan.

  Compère Lapin liked to play his drum when he had a problem. Tapping a rhythm on his drum always helped him to relax. His children liked to listen to him play too, as they liked to dance. So as Compère Lapin played his drum, his children danced.

  Suddenly an idea came to him. Compère Lapin ran out of his house, still carrying his drum, and ran all the way to the edge of the sea. Once there, he began to play his drum, making rhythms that called all the fish in the sea to come up and dance. At first little fish appeared, popping their heads out of the water one by one. They came out of the water and danced all around Compère Lapin, but he was far from satisfied.

  ‘This music is for the great big sea fish,’ said Compère Lapin. ‘Surely there are bigger fish than you in the sea?’

  ‘Play louder!’ said the little fish. ‘The bigger fish are lower down in the sea so they cannot hear you!’

  So Compère Lapin played his drum even louder and more rhythmically than before. Larger fish popped their heads out of the water and then they too came out of the water and danced all around him. But still Compère Lapin wasn’t satisfied.

  ‘This music is for the great big sea fish,’ said Compère Lapin. ‘Surely there are bigger fish than you in the sea? Where is the greatest, biggest fish of all?’

  ‘Play louder!’ said the larger fish. ‘The great big fish is lower down in the sea so he cannot hear you!’

  So Compère Lapin played his drum even louder and more rhythmically than before. At last, the greatest, biggest fish of all popped his head out of the water. Compère Lapin was overwhelmed by its great size. The greatest, biggest fish of all did not dance and he would not come out of the water. He simply watched.

  Compère Lapin called out to the greatest, biggest fish of all: ‘Great One, come and play the drum while I dance!’ And the greatest, biggest fish of all came out of the water and played Compère Lapin’s drum while he danced. After a while Compère Lapin stopped dancing and said, ‘Now I will play the drum while you dance!’

  And so Compère Lapin played the drum while the greatest, biggest fish of them all danced. Then Compère Lapin said, ‘I am tired. I will lie down and take a rest while you watch over me,’ and Compère Lapin lay down and rested and the greatest, biggest fish of all watched over him. After a while Compère Lapin said, ‘Now you rest and lie down and I will watch over you.’ And the greatest, biggest fish of all lay down.

  As soon as he did so, Compère Lapin knocked unconscious the greatest, biggest fish of them all, and removed his scales. Compère Lapin took the scales and presented them to God.

  ‘Fine,’ said God. ‘You have two more tasks. Now go into the woods and bring me milk from a wild cow.’

  Compère Lapin had no idea how he was going to get milk from a wild cow.

  But he went home and picked up a small gourd to carry the milk, and set off to the woods. He wandered around, trying to think of a way to get the milk until he stumbled on a large softwood tree and suddenly had an idea.

  Compère Lapin climbed to the top of the tree and, once at the top, he began to call for a wild cow. ‘Wild cow! Wild cow! Come and get me if you can, wild cow!’

  Everyone in the forest knew that wild cows were not to be messed with.

  ‘Who is calling me in such a disrespectful way?’ called a wild cow.

  ‘It’s me, Compère Lapin, you weak, pathetic wild cow!’

  The wild cow followed the sound of Compère Lapin’s voice and charged into the centre of the forest. She looked for Compère Lapin but couldn’t see him anywhere.

  ‘Where are you? I can’t see you!’ she said.

  ‘I’m up here in this tree!’ said Compère Lapin.

  ‘You had better come down here so I can mash you up!’ said the wild cow.

  ‘Mash me up?’ laughed Compère Lapin. ‘I’ve heard that you’ve lost all your strength and you couldn’t even hurt a tiny little fly!’

  ‘That’s a lie!’ said the wild cow. ‘I am the strongest beast in the woods!’

  ‘You are so weak!’ laughed Compère Lapin from his great height in the tree. ‘You couldn’t even knock this tree down!’

  ‘Oh yes I can!’ said the wild cow.

  ‘Let me see you do it then,’ goaded Compère Lapin.

  The wild cow couldn’t wait to show Compère Lapin that she could knock down the tree. She put her head down and charged, horns first. But, because the bark of the tree was soft, her horns went deep into the trunk and stuck fast.

  ‘I’m stuck!’ she said. ‘My horns are stuck in the tree!’

  ‘Are you sure?’ asked Compère Lapin.

  ‘Yes, I’m certain,’ said the wild cow, trying to move her head.

  ‘Well, if you’re sure then I’ll come down,’ said Compère Lapin.

  When Compère Lapin got down from the top of the tree, he took the milk from the wild cow. When his small gourd was full of milk he presented it to God.

  ‘Fine,’ said God. ‘You now have only one
more task to complete. But this task is truly impossible. There is no way you can bring me two teeth from the mouth of a living crocodile!’

  Compère Lapin had no idea how he was going to complete this third and final task, but he knew if he did then God would give him wisdom. He needed to find a way to get the two teeth from a living crocodile.

  He went home to think and while he was bathing Compère Lapin had a brilliant idea. He asked his wife to bring him all the soap in the house and then when she had done this he marched over to a trail that he knew Compère Crocodile used on the hill that led to the river. Compère Lapin spread soap on the trail from Compère Crocodile’s house at the top of the hill all the way to the bottom of the hill, and at the bottom of the hill he placed a large rock. Then he called out: ‘Compère Crocodile! Compère Crocodile! Come quickly! At the bottom of the trail there is a dead rabbit to eat!’ And then he lay down near the rock and pretended to be dead.

  Just as he had expected, Compère Crocodile came out of his house and saw Compère Lapin lying down at the bottom of the hill. He immediately started down the hill to eat Compère Lapin but as he did so he began to slip on the soap. He slipped faster and faster until he crashed into the large rock. When his big jaw hit the rock two teeth were knocked out and Compère Lapin jumped up and caught the teeth. He brought them to God and God was amazed.

  ‘You brought me the scales from the greatest, biggest sea fish, milk from a wild cow, and two teeth from the mouth of a living crocodile!’ said God.

  ‘That’s right,’ said Compère Lapin. ‘I brought you the three impossible things you asked for and you promised me wisdom in return.’

  God pondered on what Compère Lapin had said.

  ‘It required great wisdom for you to get these three impossible things,’ said God. ‘You already have wisdom!’

  Compère Lapin thought about what God had said. It was true: while he had been looking for wisdom, he hadn’t realized that he had used wisdom to complete the three impossible tasks and had what he was looking for all along!