“Now we must go,” said the bridegroom to his bride. He left the village on the path into the forest and she followed him.
After they had travelled for about five miles, Kariba was tired and asked her new husband how far away he lived.
“We are very close,” he replied. “Let us walk faster.”
As they came near the cave where he lived, his appearance began to change. His legs became those of a lion, then his body, then his head. He changed entirely into the lion which he really was.
“We have come to my home,” roared the lion, running and jumping around Kariba. “Now I shall eat you.”
The girl could not speak or cry out, she was so frightened. She did not know that her brother Obian, the hunter, was nearby.
“You will be my food and this will punish the hunter for shooting animals,” the lion cried, preparing to kill the girl by jumping on her.
Suddenly they heard the shot of a gun. The lion was not hit but he became very frightened. Before the gun could be fired again, the lion turned and ran swiftly away. He disappeared in the forest.
“Here I am, your brother who came to save you,” cried Obian, as he came from behind the trees. “Let us escape.”
“Yes, yes,” Kariba cried. “Let us run home.”
As they ran, the day was turning to night. They reached their village in darkness and told their story. All night the villagers kept fires burning and beat drums to frighten away the lion in case he tried to return.
The next day the villagers all met together with Obian, the hunter, and Kariba, his sister.
“Let this be a warning,” Kariba’s father announced to the people. “Let none of our daughters ever marry unknown strangers who come to our village.”
Everyone agreed with these words. Then Obian stood up to speak.
“Every man must take his gun and enter the forest; we will chase all lions and finish with them for ever.”
The lion who had changed himself into a man was watching, hidden in the high grass nearby. When he heard Obian’s words and saw every man collect his gun, he ran swiftly away. He warned all the lions and they fled for ever from that part of the country.
How the Cat destroyed the Rats
Once upon a time there was an old woman who was very much troubled by the large number of rats in her house. The rats chewed the mats, the clothes, the baskets. They gnawed at everything. They even ate her food. At last the old woman could bear it no longer.
“I shall leave this house,” she said to herself. She moved to a lonely plain several miles away from the village, but the rats followed her there.
One day the old woman was sitting beside her hut, which she had made for herself in the lonely plain, when suddenly she saw an enormous cock jumping and running towards her. The nearer the cock came to the old woman the more she became afraid, for she had never before seen such a large fowl.
“Good-day, old woman,” said the cock and the old woman returned his greeting.
“Why are you living alone in this plain?” the cock asked her.
She told him about her trouble with the rats, first in her house in the village and then out in the lonely plain.
“I can help you,” said the cock.
“Ah, yes, but what reward do you want?” asked the old woman.
“Just a handful of corn every hour.”
Instead of giving the cock a handful of corn every hour, the old woman was foolish enough to fill a large basket with corn and put it outside her hut.
As soon as the old woman had gone inside the hut, the cock ate all the corn and then continued on his way.
When the old woman discovered that the corn and the cock were gone and nothing had been done about the rats, she was very angry; but there was nothing she could do. She sat down on the ground outside her hut once again. Then she saw coming towards her a very small cat. It was no bigger than a rat.
“Good-day, little cat,” said the old woman, and the cat returned the greeting.
The old woman told the cat about her trouble with the rats, first in her house in the village and then out in the lonely plain.
“I can help you,” said the cat.
“Yes, but what reward do you want?” asked the old woman.
“I want nothing unless I first get rid of the rats.”
“Now go to the market,” said the cat to the old woman, “and buy some locust bean cakes which you must grind. Then cover my whole body with the ground beans.”
Off to market went the old woman, where she bought the locust bean cakes. Returning to her hut, she ground the cakes to a powder and covered every inch of the cat’s body with the ground-up cakes. The cat crept quietly up to the rats’ hole, lay down on the ground and pretended to be dead.
In the evening, when the rats were beginning to come out from their hole, they saw the cat looking as if he were dead. They ran off to tell the King of Rats.
“We must celebrate the death of the cat,” declared the King of Rats. He commanded all the rats to join him for dancing and drumming.
They were all dancing, singing and beating their drums around the cat that night, when suddenly he sprang up. He jumped on the head of the King of Rats and ate him up. Then the cat, small as he was, turned and attacked all the other rats. Quickly, he ate them all up too. Yet there was no change in his shape, for he was a magic cat.
The old woman was at last freed of her troubles.
“Thank you, good cat,” she said. “Now what reward shall I give you?”
“My reward is inside me,” the cat replied. “My reward has been your rats.”
A Good Fortune in Camels
Ali was a man who longed to go out into the world to see strange lands and seek his fortune.
He said to his wife, “Tomorrow I shall go out into the world.”
She did not want him to go, but she was too wise to try to stop him.
The next morning, Ali set out on foot and walked until he found someone who would employ him for a short time. From that job he went to find another and then another, and so on until he had visited many strange lands. Of the money that he earned, he spent one-third on food and saved the other two-thirds. At last his thrift was rewarded and he was able to buy three camels with his savings.
As Ali was walking along with his three camels, he met another traveller.
“Greetings,” said the traveller.
“Greetings to you,” Ali answered.
They told each other where they came from and then the traveller said, “If you give me a present, I shall tell you something of value.”
Ali gave the traveller one of the three camels.
“Do not go across any river which you do not know,” said the traveller. “Wait until someone else goes first.”
The man thanked the traveller, saying he was grateful for the advice. After going a short way, Ali met another traveller. They also greeted each other, and then the second traveller said, “If you give me a present, I shall tell you something of value.”
Ali gave the traveller one of the two remaining camels.
“Do not rest,” the traveller warned, “under a tree which has a big hole in it.”
Ali thanked him, saying he was grateful for the advice. When Ali continued his journey, he met a young boy. After they had greeted each other the young boy said, “If you give me a present, I shall tell you something of value.”
So Ali gave the young boy his last camel.
“Be patient,” said the boy. “Do not show your first feelings of anger.”
Ali thanked him, saying he was grateful for the advice. They parted and Ali, with no more camels, went on his way. He had not gone far before he met two camel drivers with thirty camels.
“Please help us with our camels,” the camel drivers asked Ali, “so that each of us will have ten camels to lead.”
Ali agreed and the three of them set off together with the camels. They came to a river which had flooded the fields on each side of its banks. The first camel dr
iver took off his clothes and entered the water to look for the crossing. He fell into a deep part of the river and was not seen again. So the second camel driver and Ali did not cross there, but went on and found a safe crossing.
On the other side of the river they came to a forest. By that time the sun was setting and the men were tired. They looked for suitable trees to shelter them for the night. The camel driver took his sleeping mat and put it under a tree with a big hole in it. But Ali remembered the advice he had received and he moved away from that tree. In the middle of the night, a large snake came out of the hole in the tree and killed the sleeping camel driver.
When daybreak came, Ali saw what had happened. He was very sad and sorry for the two camel drivers. He set out and asked everyone he met if they knew where the camel drivers lived. He wanted to return the camels to their families. But no one could tell him and he lost patience. He controlled his anger, however. In time he realized that no one knew where the camel drivers had lived.
So Ali collected the thirty camels and went back to his own part of the country, to his home and to his wife. She was overjoyed to see him.
“You have not only seen much of the world,” said his wife, “but you have returned safely.”
“Yes,” Ali replied, “and my good fortune in camels will bring us riches for the rest of our lives.”
The Fisherman and the Ring
A long time ago there lived a young man whose father was a teacher.
“I wish to be a fisherman,” said the young man to his father. The father protested, for he thought that his son would not make much money nor become well known. But when he saw that his son was determined, he reluctantly gave him his blessing.
Thereupon the young man bought nets and all the equipment that fishermen need. Then he built himself a hut by the river. At first he caught few fish, but with practice he became more successful and caught many more. The young man sold his fish in the market and gave the money to his father.
Then war came to that district.
“Help to defend our people,” said the teacher to his son. So the young man left his fishing, took up his bow, his arrows and his spear and successfully fought the marauding enemies. By the time the fighting was over, there had been many losses in the village. But the young man survived and he returned to the river and became a fisherman again.
One day the son was in his canoe on the river when he saw a movement on the surface of the water. Quickly he threw his net and caught a fish that was bright red. To his surprise, the fish spoke to him, for no fish had ever spoken to him before.
“Do not kill me,” begged the fish.
“All right,” said the fisherman. “Just this once I will let you go.”
“Thank you,” said the fish. “For your kindness you deserve a reward.”
“I should like money,” said the fisherman, putting the fish back into the river.
The fish swam away, returning after a short time with a ring in his mouth.
“Take this ring,” said the fish. “You can buy anything you want with what the ring gives you.”
With trembling hands the fisherman took the red fish’s ring. Excitedly he returned to the shore and rushed into his hut by the river bank. After closing the door, he turned the ring in his hand and said, “Please may I have money to buy a new boat?” Money appeared before him.
“May I have some to give to my father?” More money appeared before him. The fisherman ran back to his village and to his father. He became the richest man in that village and the last days of the old teacher’s life were happy because his son had become so successful.
Then war came again to that district. The village was attacked. During the fighting the fisherman called to his ring, “Oh, ring, turn our village which they are attacking into the place of destruction for our enemies. Turn our attackers into stone.”
Immediately the enemy were turned into a mountain which one can see behind the village. To this day the villagers speak of the fisherman, the talking fish and his magic ring.
The Magic Crocodile
There was once a very big cave. It was divided into two parts, the top part being dry and the bottom part filled with water. In the bottom part there lived a crocodile.
The crocodile did not live alone in the cave, for various other wild animals stayed there too. They lived in the dry part and various water creatures swam in the part which was filled with water. The crocodile spent most of his time in the water, but sometimes he would emerge from the cave for a short distance.
One day a hunter went near the cave in search of animals. He saw the crocodile resting in the sunshine outside the mouth of the cave. The hunter aimed his bow and arrow at the crocodile but immediately his eyes became blind.
When the hunter let the arrow fall from the bow his eyes opened again. He could see the crocodile smiling with pleasure at the cleverness of his trick.
The hunter did not stay, but ran back to his village and told the people what had happened.
“As I pointed my arrow at the crocodile,” the hunter declared, “I became blind. The arrow fell out of my bow and then I could see again.”
The people in the village grew very excited. Nearly half of them took up their bows and arrows and went off towards the cave.
“We shall catch that crocodile,” they all shouted.
When the villagers came near the cave they saw the crocodile where the hunter had seen it, resting in the sunshine outside the cave. The very moment that each villager put an arrow in his bow and aimed at the crocodile, he became blind.
“Take your arrows from your bows,” cried the hunter, and when they did so, the eyes of the villagers could see again.
“No man can harm me,” said the crocodile, looking at the villagers. He got up from his resting-place and went back into the cave where all the animals praised him for guarding them so well.
“We will live our own lives in our village,” declared the disappointed villagers as they returned to their homes. “That crocodile will remain in his cave. There is nothing we can do to change this.”
However, some of the young men were not satisfied with this. From time to time, an exceptionally brave youth would return to the cave determined to kill the crocodile. But he never succeeded.
“Be blind with your bows and arrows,” said the crocodile with a smile. Neither he nor the villagers had ever seen or heard of guns in those days long ago.
The Contest between Fire and Rain
Once upon a time there was a king who had a beautiful daughter. Her beauty increased as she grew to the age of marriage and she was considered to be the most beautiful girl in the world.
Many men wanted to marry the king’s daughter, but the first two to ask for her in marriage were Fire and Rain.
Rain went first to the king’s daughter to ask if she would marry him, and she agreed; but Fire had gone first to the king to ask to be allowed to marry his daughter, and the king had agreed.
The king sent word that his daughter was to come to see him.
“I have promised to give you in marriage to Fire,” the king told her when she came into his room.
“Your Majesty,” the king’s daughter replied, “but I have already promised to marry Rain.”
“What shall we do?” cried the king and his daughter. “We are caught between two promises.”
It was then that Rain arrived in order to visit the king’s daughter; soon after that Fire arrived with the same intention. Rain and Fire were each determined to outwit the other.
Then the king said, “I have decided on the day of marriage for my daughter.”
“To me?” asked Fire.
“To me?” asked Rain.
“To the winner of a race on the day of the marriage,” said the king. “To him I will give my daughter.”
There was great excitement amongst the people. Some said Fire would win; others said Rain would win. The king’s daughter said to herself that whoever won the race, she would keep her promis
e to marry Rain.
When the day came for the race and for the marriage, it was very windy. The king made a sign and a drum was beaten. The race began. At first Fire was winning, for he was carried rapidly along by the wind. As for Rain, there was no sign of him in the sky. Fire continued to race faster and faster until it seemed to everyone that he would certainly win. When Fire had almost reached the place where the king sat with his daughter, Rain was at last seen preparing himself in the sky. It seemed to everyone, however, that he was too late. But when Fire was just about to win the race, Rain started to fall very heavily. Fire was quenched before he could reach the end of the race and Rain was declared the winner.
The king therefore gave his daughter to Rain to be his wife and there was much rejoicing.
Ever since that time when water quenched flames, there has been enmity between Rain and Fire.
The Wise Old Man and the Ferocious Leopard
This is an old story about a very ferocious leopard. At night he would come near the village huts where people lived. Any man, woman or child whom the leopard saw would be attacked. Even to leave their hut for a few minutes was impossible during the night, unless they were accompanied by men with flaming torches.
The leopard grew steadily bolder until at last he would force his way through the grass roofing of the huts and attack an entire family. Finally, those people who had donkeys or horses packed up their belongings and left the village and went to live elsewhere. But there were still many old people, poor people, and children who were left to the mercy of the leopard.
At last one old and experienced man went to each family.
“Buy knives,” he advised them, “and collect firewood.”
The people went to the nearest town and bought knives and they also collected bundles of firewood which the women brought back to the huts.
West African Folk Tales Page 7
