West African Folk Tales

by Hugh Vernon-Jackson

  “Why should we?” they asked.

  “If the elephant is killed, the village people will go farther away from their houses,” the wild bush dog replied, “and we shall then be able to catch them and eat them ourselves.”

  The other wild bush dogs agreed that such words were wise; they said they would give help.

  “There are twenty of you here,” said the wild bush dog. “One of you will be the starter; you others will each go to a hiding-place in the grass. You will hide beside the running track which the villagers have been foolish enough to clear. Each will hide one mile apart.”

  The next morning each wild dog was in his position. The leader of the wild bush dogs and the elephant joined the starter at one end of the running track.

  The starter cried “Go!” The elephant and the wild bush dog started running. After they had gone one mile the waiting wild bush dog quickly took the place of the other, and the exchange was unnoticed by the elephant. After the next mile another wild bush dog took the place of the other, and so on for every mile, and never once did the elephant notice. At the end of the race the mighty elephant was utterly exhausted and he fell down dead.

  “Now,” the wild bush dog said, “I shall go and collect my reward.” And he told the other bush dogs that they should watch the paths and the farms, because the villagers would be coming out again and could now be caught.

  But when the treacherous wild bush dog reached the village, he found that the village head and all his people had taken advantage of the time when the elephant and the wild bush dogs were racing. They had packed their loads and their food, their goods and all their belongings, and they had fled. They had all run away to a far-distant place.

  The Story of a Farmer and Four Hyenas

  Once upon a time there was a farmer named Musa, who lived in a village five miles away from the nearest town. He was very pleased when his wife gave birth to a baby boy.

  “It is the custom that you should have very good meals of meat for the next seven days,” Musa said to his wife.

  “With pepper,” his wife replied.

  “Pepper and meat I shall buy for you,” said Musa, “when I go to the town.”

  On the following day Musa walked through the forest and the high grass of the bush to the town which was well known for its market. As Musa approached the market he could hear the drums beating which told him that the butchers had fresh meat for sale.

  First of all, Musa bought a pocketful of red peppers. Next, he went to the butchers.

  “Let me have four legs of a cow,” Musa asked the butchers. “My wife has given birth to a baby boy and I must give her much meat that is sweet for her to eat.”

  “The legs make excellent soup,” said the butchers as they gave the meat to Musa, “together with peppers.”

  Musa paid for the meat, and then spent the rest of the day visiting friends and relatives in the town. In each compound which he entered and to each friend whom he met in the street he said, “My wife has given birth to a boy.”

  Each friend and each relative replied, “I see that you have much meat to take back to her.”

  In the evening, after the priest outside the mosque had called for prayers, Musa left the town for his home. On his shoulders he carried the four legs of the cow.

  Before he had travelled two miles it became dark. Now the part of the country through which Musa was walking was infested with very fierce hyenas. Soon Musa heard their laughing, and he began to walk quickly. Suddenly, in an open space beside the path, there was a rush of feet and movement on the sandy soil, and Musa was looking into the yellow eyes of a hyena. Musa at first stood still with fright, and then suddenly started to run as fast as he could go. The hyena came quickly after him, preparing to attack. In despair Musa threw down one of the cow-legs which he was carrying. While the hyena stopped to eat the meat, Musa ran on.

  Before long, however, Musa heard another hyena laughing. He found another hyena in front of him, on the path. Again, Musa threw a cow-leg to the hyena, and while the hyena stopped to eat the meat, Musa ran on quickly, as quickly as he could go, and faster than he had run before.

  But again another hyena appeared and threatened to attack. This hyena was larger and fiercer than the two others had been. Again, Musa threw a cow-leg to the hyena, and while the hyena stopped to eat the meat, Musa ran on as quickly as he could go.

  Now Musa remembered that there was a small village not far from where he was and nearer than his own village. He turned and followed a narrow path which led to the nearer village, all the time running very fast.

  But for the fourth time a hyena suddenly appeared. This hyena was even larger than the one before had been.

  “I will eat you,” growled the hyena and jumped towards Musa. Without hesitation Musa threw the last cow-leg to the hyena, knowing that there was nothing left to throw for hyenas to eat except himself.

  He ran on and on until to his relief he saw in the distance the glimmering of a light which told him that he had nearly reached the village.

  As he was running towards the light, he found that all four hyenas were now chasing him. He tried to call for help, but he was so breathless that he had lost his voice. Just before the hyenas were near enough to catch him, he managed to reach the village and entered the first house he came to, where there were many people inside the entrance hall, sitting round a brightly burning fire. Musa fell on the floor, unable at first to talk, and breathing hard because he had been running so fast for so long.

  The laughing of the hyenas outside the house told the villagers that Musa had been chased. The villagers seized their knives and axes and ran out to frighten the animals away. When they returned, they gave Musa some food and a place to sleep.

  The next morning Musa thanked his protectors and returned to his own village. He told his wife what had happened and how he had lost the cow-legs.

  “Only the pocket of peppers have I brought you,” he said.

  “Better that you lose everything,” his good wife replied, “as long as you return safely yourself to your wife and child.”

  The next day Musa went back to the market in the town. He had only enough money left to buy one cow-leg. He told everyone his misfortune and his adventure, and there was no one who did not help him. The money he was given was enough to buy three more cow-legs.

  The drums were beating and the butchers were again selling meat. Musa bought four cow-legs once more, thanking his good fortune. Not waiting for the night, but in the sunshine of the afternoon he hurried back to his village. On the way he thought he heard hyenas in the grass, but he was not sure; he thought he saw yellow eyes, but he was not sure. But he reached home safely. Thick soup was made for his wife. She grew strong. The baby boy grew well, and Musa and his family lived happily ever after.

  The Greedy but Cunning Tortoise

  Once upon a time there lived on a hill an old and selfish tortoise. He was also a cunning tortoise.

  This old, selfish, and cunning tortoise had a wife who knew how to cook delicious food and how to make very good soup.

  The tortoise and his wife had a large compound. In it they kept dogs, cats, goats, hens, and ducks. Some belonged to the tortoise, and some belonged to his wife.

  Now as well as being old, selfish, and cunning, the tortoise was also greedy. One by one he killed and ate all his share of the dogs, cats, goats, hens, and ducks. His wife cooked this food for him but he gave her very little of it to eat, for he wanted to eat as much as he could by himself. The tortoise’s wife did not mind. “It is the way of my husband’s character,” she thought, “and I am used to it.”

  After the tortoise had eaten his share, he said that he would like to start eating the dogs, cats, goats, hens, and ducks which belonged to his wife.

  “No,” said his wife. “I will not let you eat my animals.” She would not listen to his begging. “Nor will I let you eat my hens and my ducks,” she said.

  The tortoise planned to deceive his wife and by trickery
to obtain what he wanted. He pretended to be very ill.

  “Go quickly and pray,” the tortoise told his wife, “and ask how I can be cured.”

  As soon as his wife had gone into the woods to pray, the tortoise left the mat on which he had been lying, and by another path went to the place where he knew his wife would pray. He hid himself in a hole and waited for his wife to come. When she arrived, the tortoise heard her ask how she could cure her husband’s illness.

  “No one can help your husband,” the tortoise replied from his hole, speaking in a strange, deep voice, “but you yourself.”

  His wife prayed again, asking how she could help him.

  “Unless you give your husband your fattest goats and fattest animals, and also your fattest hens and ducks,” the tortoise answered, “your husband is sure to die.”

  The wife was very grateful for an answer to her prayer and she hurried off on her way home.

  As soon as she had gone the tortoise crawled out of the hole and ran as fast as he could by a short path and reached his house before his wife returned. There he lay down again on his mat and pretended still to be sick.

  When his wife came back, she told the tortoise what she would do to help him.

  “It is good news,” said the tortoise. “Now bring me your fattest goats and fattest animals, and also your fattest hens and ducks.”

  When the wife brought her fattest animals and birds, the tortoise took them off into the woods. He told his wife not to follow, and he walked slowly like a sick man until he was out of sight of his wife. Then he ran very fast.

  When the tortoise reached a small farm which he had in the middle of the woods, he killed all the fat animals as well as the fat hens and fat ducks. He cut them into small pieces and put them into a large black pot which he kept at his farm. He built a fire between three large stones and then put the pot of meat on top.

  As the meat was cooking, the smell became very sweet. The tortoise thought, “I shall enjoy eating this meat very much.”

  The tortoise then went away from the fire to look for crickets in their holes, because he wanted to eat crickets together with all his meat. While he was looking for the crickets a large and ugly creature all covered with long hair crawled out of one of the cricket holes.

  “I smell your food cooking,” said the ugly creature. “Carry me to where your food is cooking, tortoise.”

  The tortoise refused.

  “Greedy tortoise,” the creature cried angrily and said some magic words. At once, the tortoise’s mouth and nose began to close. “Unless you do what I say,” said the creature, “your mouth and nose will never open again.”

  The tortoise led the creature to where his meat was cooking. His mouth and nose opened, but not until the creature had eaten all the meat, every piece of it, and the tortoise was left with nothing.

  “Now take me to your house,” the creature said.

  The tortoise took the ugly, hairy creature back to his house, and all the people were frightened of it. It lay down in the tortoise’s room and went to sleep. While the creature slept the tortoise and his wife set fire to the room and burnt it down.

  When the fire had burnt itself out, the tortoise looked inside the room. There were blackened ruins. The creature was inside, well roasted and smelling like very good-tasting food.

  “I shall eat the roasted creature,” the greedy tortoise said.

  His wife advised him not to, but he ignored her.

  When he had finished eating the creature, the head of the tortoise began to grow larger and larger. If the walls of his burnt room had not crumbled, the tortoise would not have been able to get out because his head became larger than the little doorway.

  Now the cunning tortoise planned a way by which he could exchange his big head for a small one. He saw a ram on his way to the river to take a bath. At that time rams had very small heads. The tortoise followed the ram.

  “I too shall have a bath in the river,” said the tortoise to the ram.

  “Very well,” the ram replied.

  In those days it was the custom for animals to take off their heads and leave them on the river-bank before entering the water. The ram and the tortoise took off their heads. While the ram was bathing the tortoise quietly climbed out of the river; he fitted the ram’s small head to his neck and very quickly ran away.

  When the tortoise reached home, he and his wife put their belongings in baskets and ran away from the hill on which they lived. They went to a faraway valley.

  “We shall build our new house here,” said the tortoise, and they did.

  Meanwhile, the ram had finished his bath, but on leaving the river found that his head had been taken away. Angry as he was, he had to have a head, so he put on the big one which the tortoise had left.

  The ram ran to where the tortoise had once lived.

  “Where is that cunning tortoise?” the ram cried, but no one knew where the tortoise and his wife had gone.

  Promising himself that one day he would find and punish the tortoise, the ram went away. But he never found the tortoise and he had to keep his big head. That is why the ram’s head is big and the tortoise’s head is small: it is an exchange of heads.

  The One-legged Man and the Tortoise

  There was a tortoise who lived near a certain village where the people were very prosperous, but he was not very well off himself. The tortoise planned how he would steal food from the prosperous villagers.

  First, he killed a giant rat, and used its skin for making a drum and the bones for making flutes.

  When the tortoise had finished making his drum and his flutes, he called his friends from the village to come for a feast. They came at night when the moon was high and round. When they had arrived, the tortoise gave them food, and then gathering them in the courtyard of his compound he started to play his drum. Whilst he himself played his drum, his children played the flutes. At the sound of the drum and flutes the villagers began to dance, for they could not help themselves. They danced until they were exhausted, and even then they danced until they lost their senses. As the dawn was breaking, the tortoise told the villagers to go home, and as they left they thanked the tortoise for his kindness.

  After two weeks, the tortoise found that he and his family had no more food to eat.

  “Now is the time,” the tortoise said to his wife, “to prove the trick which I have planned.”

  The tortoise and his wife took the drum and the flutes and went to the prosperous village where there was plenty of food. They hid among high grasses and bushes not far from the village well, but where the people could not see them. When evening came, the tortoise started to make music with his drum and there was also the sound of flutes.

  When the people heard the drumming they left their work. They left whatever they were doing. They left their food and started to dance. While they were dancing the tortoise told his wife and family to go into the empty houses and take away as much food as they could. Then the tortoise and his family hurried away in the darkness.

  After the drumming and dancing was over, the village people found that much of their food had gone, and so they were hungry.

  Again and again the tortoise would come to the village at evening time and play his music. Again and again the people could not resist the sound of the drumming and they left everything in order to dance. Each time the tortoise and his family would steal what food the villagers had collected.

  The people went to their king, and told him what was happening to them, complaining that they were losing their food.

  “Please give us help to find out the trouble and rid us of it,” the people begged, “otherwise we shall all have to run away and leave your village.”

  The king called to his palace all his councillors and the important men of the village and they discussed ways in which they might find out who was doing the drumming. They chose a powerful wizard to find out for them, but the next night, when the drumming started and the wizard went towards the sound
to find out who was responsible, he too was caught by the music and started to dance. Meanwhile, the tortoise’s family were carrying away the food of the village.

  The king again called to his palace all his councillors and the important men of the village. He also called everyone else in the village to come.

  “I will give one hundred pounds,” the king declared, “to the man who finds out who is drumming and stealing our food.”

  After he had spoken those words, a one-legged man, leaning on a piece of stick, came slowly forward until he was in front of the king.

  “May your life be long,” the one-legged man said to the king. “I will find out who is drumming and stealing the food.”

  At the sight of the one-legged man offering to try for the reward, many people laughed and many said he was foolish. But the one-legged man again asked for permission to try, and the king agreed.

  “I wish you success in trying to find out who is drumming and stealing our food,” said the king. “I order you to try.”

  On that same night the tortoise came again to the village. Again he played his drum, and while the people danced his family began stealing the food. Only the one-legged man did not dance. He heard the music and he wanted to dance, but with only one leg he could not. Therefore he went into the tall grass, where he saw the tortoise drumming. After this he went into the houses, where he saw the family of the tortoise carrying away the food.

  The next day the one-legged man went to the palace to see the king.

  “May your life be long,” he said to the king. “I have found out who is drumming and stealing your food.”

  “Speak,” ordered the king. “Tell us who is causing us this great trouble.”

  “The tortoise,” said the one-legged man.

  When they heard the news, the villagers were filled with wonder at the trick which the tortoise had played on them. They rushed, all of them, to the tortoise’s house and drove him and his family away. They drove them so far away that the tortoise could never return.