“Build fires in your huts at night,” advised the old man, “and heat your knives.”
That night they all built fires in their huts and heated the knives until they were red hot.
In the middle of the night the leopard arrived. He went first to the chief’s hut but when he saw the fire, he crept away. He went to the next hut and to the next until he had been near every hut. But at each hut the sight of the fire made him turn away. He was preparing to leave the village when his hunger drove him back.
The leopard approached the hut of the old man. He was the one who had advised the people to buy knives and collect firewood in order to light fires and to heat their knives.
The leopard jumped on to the roof of the hut and began to tear a hole in the grass.
“Here is our enemy the leopard,” cried the old man to his family. “Help me pile stones.”
The old man and his family piled stones for him to stand on. As the leopard forced his way through the grass roof so that he could jump into the hut, the old man seized his red-hot knife from the fire. He plunged the knife into the leopard, again and again.
“Now the leopard will no longer attack us,” cried the old man. “He is dead and we can live without fear, and sleep peacefully in our huts at night.”
So the people of that village decided that the old man should be their chief because of his wisdom and his bravery.
A Father’s Warning
There was once a man and his son who always went hunting together. When they went hunting, the women in their compound kept all the dogs and horses tied up. The only animals not tied up were the horses on which the man and his son were riding.
One day, while out hunting, the man and his son met a strange woman. Her body was covered with a great many mouths, and she was cooking food in a large pot. As she cooked she fed the mouths. The air was filled with complaints from the impatient mouths: “Feed me.” “Feed me.” “I haven’t had enough food.” “Feed me.”
When the man and his son saw this sight, the son called out, “Oh, what a terrible woman. What a terrible sight!”
The woman became very angry. She rushed at the man and his son, but they fled from her. Thereupon she changed herself, she and her many mouths, into many fast-flying birds. But the man and his son changed themselves into even faster flying birds. They flew back to the safety of their family home.
The strange woman was still angry, but she had a plan. She changed herself into a beautiful girl, more beautiful than any other girl in that country. Then she went to the village of the man and his son, carrying a large basket on her head.
In front of the chief’s house the strange woman in the form of a beautiful girl called together all the young men of the village. She placed her large basket on the ground.
“Throw stones,” she told the young men. “Whoever succeeds in knocking over the basket will be allowed to marry me.”
All the young men wanted to marry the beautiful girl and so each one threw stones at the basket as best he could.
“Don’t enter this competition,” the hunter advised his son. “There is some hidden wickedness here.”
But the son ignored his father’s advice. Unlike the other young men who threw large stones, he threw a small stone at the basket. Immediately the basket fell over. The young man was therefore declared the winner of the contest. He was married to the beautiful girl and they lived in his family’s compound.
After some days the beautiful girl said that she wanted her husband to take her back for a visit to her own village. The young man agreed.
“Tie up all the animals,” the young man told the women in the compound. “But if the dogs cry, release them.”
The young man mounted a handsome horse. Then he and his wife travelled to his wife’s village. They arrived before dark and the young man was given a place to sleep.
In the middle of the night the young man was woken up. The leg of a man came up from under his bed.
“Go. Go,” warned the leg. “Otherwise you will lose your life.”
Without waiting for anything, the young man jumped up, ran to his horse, mounted and began to ride off.
The wife heard the young man leaving. She ran after him.
“Come back! Come back!” she shouted, but the young man paid no attention.
Quickly the beautiful girl changed herself into a mighty bird. She flew after the young man and his horse. She turned herself into the strange woman again, with the many hungry mouths all over her body. She pulled off one of the legs of the horse and she ate it. Then she pulled off another leg of the horse and she ate that too. Yet the remarkable horse was still running and carrying the young man on its back. The strange woman came again and again, until she had eaten the four legs and the body of the horse. Because there was nothing left for the young man to ride he quickly climbed up a tall tree.
The strange woman waited under the tree.
“When you come down from the tree we will eat you,” cried the woman, “I and my many mouths.”
“Yes. We will eat you,” cried all the mouths.
Meanwhile, the dogs tied up at the young man’s home began to howl and cry. The women in the compound remembered their instructions. They untied the dogs. The dogs rushed out. They found the tree with their master, the young man, clinging to its branches. Then they saw the strange woman beneath the tree and attacked her. They totally consumed every part of her, that strange woman and all her protesting mouths.
The young man came down from the tree. He gasped with relief and thankfulness for his escape. Then he saw his horse waiting for him, complete with its four legs and its body. He mounted the horse, and followed by his dogs, he returned home.
“You did well to release the dogs when they cried,” he told the women in the compound. He provided them with a feast of goats, chickens and rice for them to eat and enjoy.
“You were right to warn me,” he said to his father. “I know that in future I should follow your advice.”
The Lion is not the King of Men
Once upon a time the lion summoned all the wild animals to his palace.
“Long may you live, and greetings,” said the animals when they were all assembled.
The lion acknowledged their greetings and said, “I have called you here so that we may plan how best to combat the cruelties and injustices of men against animals.”
After some discussion, the elephant suggested that they should start a school so that the young animals could be taught everything their elders knew.
“Which one of us,” the lion asked, “would be the best teacher?”
“I will be their teacher,” said the hyena.
The lion asked the hyena what he would teach the young animals.
“I would teach them to open their mouths very wide,” said the hyena, “so that they might howl and show their teeth. The men who hunt us would become very frightened.”
But the hare objected. He complained that small creatures like himself would not be able to frighten men in that way. The hyena could offer no arguments against this.
“Let us teach the young animals to hide in the grass beside bad smelling things,” the hare suggested.
The elephant laughed at the hare.
“You poor little creature,” she said, “how can you expect me to hide like that?”
All the animals laughed at the hare’s suggestion.
“I will be the teacher,” said the jackal.
The lion asked the jackal what he would teach the young animals.
“I would teach three things from my own behaviour,” said the jackal. “When I search for food I always consider whether the food I see is in such places as might properly be expected. In that way I am not caught by traps.”
The animals nodded their heads at this wisdom.
“Secondly,” continued the jackal, “when I go to a pool or a stream to drink I look to see if anyone is near. Even if no one is near I still do not bend my head to the water.”
The hare ask
ed how he was able to drink.
“I put my tail in the water,” replied the jackal. “Then I go a short distance away and suck the water from my tail. I repeat this until my thirst is satisfied.”
The hyena asked how the jackal slept at night.
“I am coming to that,” the jackal replied.
“Tell us quickly,” ordered the lion.
“At night,” the jackal continued, “I always cry out from one place and then go to another. Then amongst trees and bushes which are close together and where the leaves are very dry I go to sleep. If anything steps on the dry leaves, I hear the noise in time to wake up and run away.”
All the animals praised the jackal for his wisdom.
“Jackal,” declared the lion, “you shall be the teacher of our young animals.”
The young animals were brought together to a school and they all paid attention to the lessons of the jackal, all except the lion cub.
“What is a mere man?” the lion cub would ask. “I hope one day to meet a man and kill him by scratching his body with my sharp claws.”
One day the lion cub and a small hare went walking together after they had finished school. Suddenly they saw a man approaching. The lion cub stood still watching, not knowing that it was a man.
“What a strange creature,” the lion cub thought.
When the man reached the lion cub, the man knelt on the ground and greeted the lion cub with the politeness animals show towards lions.
“You are very different in appearance from other animals,” said the lion cub. “Why have I never seen you at my father’s palace?”
The man answered respectfully, “I do not go to the palace to greet your father the lion because I am ashamed. Unlike other animals, I haven’t got much hair and I haven’t a tail.”
The lion cub then ordered the man to make a grass hut for him.
“I need protection from the sun,” said the lion cub.
The man agreed and made a good, strong hut of sticks and ropes. The young hare who had been with the lion cub did not help, because he had run away.
“Please enter the hut, honoured lion cub,” suggested the man. “See whether you find it comfortable.”
When the lion cub had gone into the hut he told the man to close the door. The man did so, then started collecting twigs, leaves and grass which he piled around the sides of the hut. Then he set fire to the grass and the hut started to burn.
“Oh, hairless creature,” cried the lion cub, “open the door and save my life.”
“Today, boastful lion cub,” replied the man, “you have met a man. Do I see you killing me with your claws? Instead you are in my power.”
“I was wrong, I was wrong,” the lion cub cried. “I apologize for my foolishness. I beg you to release me.”
“Very well,” the man agreed, opening the door of the burning hut and allowing the lion cub to escape from the flames. “Only remember, lions may be the kings of animals; but lions are not the kings of men.”
The Hare and the Crownbird
One day the hare and his friend the crownbird went together on a journey. They were going to visit the house of the hare’s uncle.
They travelled over hills and through valleys, until they came to a river. Beside the river there was an old woman washing herself.
“Please,” the old woman asked the hare, “help me to wash my back.”
“I will not,” the hare replied.
Then the old woman saw the crownbird who was following the hare. “Please,” the old woman asked the crownbird, “help me to wash my back.”
“Yes, I will,” the crownbird replied and began to help the old woman.
“Why do you bother yourself on such a task?” the hare said to the crownbird. “I will leave you to do this unrewarding job.”
So saying, the hare continued on his journey.
After the crownbird had finished helping the old woman, she said to him, “Dip your wings and your legs into the water of this river.”
The crownbird did so. Then the old woman told him to remove his wings and legs from the water. He did so. On his legs he discovered bracelets of great value and on the tips of his wings there were precious rings.
“Dip your beak into the water of this river,” said the old woman.
The crownbird did so, and when the old woman told him to bring out his beak, he brought out beautiful clothing made of finely woven wool.
“Now once again,” the old woman said. “Dip your wings into the water of this river.”
Again the crownbird did as he was told, and bringing out his wings at the old woman’s command, he found a very beautiful horse standing beside him.
“The bracelets, the rings, the clothing, the horse—all are for you,” said the old woman to the crownbird. “I am grateful for the way you behaved when I asked you for help.”
The happy crownbird mounted his new horse. It was a fast one and they soon caught up with the hare.
“How amazing,” cried the hare. “You have bracelets, rings and fine clothes and you are riding a beautiful horse.”
“Yes,” replied the crownbird, “all this because of the old woman by the river.”
Then he told the hare what had happened.
“Continue on your journey,” the hare cried. “I’m going back to that old woman.”
So he turned and ran off in the direction of the river.
When the hare reached the river, the old woman was still there. “Please let me help you,” he said, smiling at her.
“Shall I take another bath?” the old woman asked angrily. “Shall I ask you again if you will help wash my back?”
“Yes, yes,” cried the hare. “I will very willingly help you.”
At first the old woman refused to be helped, but then because the hare continued to beg her to let him help she agreed. When the hare had finished helping her, she told him to put his legs and paws in the water of the river. The hare did so. When he withdrew them, they were covered with old and dirty bracelets and broken rings.
“Try again,” said the old woman. But when the hare again withdrew his paws from the water of the river he held old and dirty clothing.
“Try again,” repeated the old woman. But when for the third time the hare withdrew his paws from the water, he brought out the worst of all, a horse which was very ugly, short and thin.
The hare, with his dirty old bracelets, rings and clothing, mounted on his worthless horse and continued on his journey. The horse moved very slowly. Goats move better than that horse. Night had fallen by the time the hare reached his friend the crownbird at the house of the hare’s uncle.
“I have learnt my lesson,” the hare admitted. “It is better to give help than to refuse.”
The Forgiving Wife
Okeke was a trader. Every day he would visit markets to buy goods which he would later sell.
Now Okeke had a neighbour who was also a trader. This neighbour enjoyed playing tricks and was deceitful.
One day the neighbour returned from the market before Okeke. He went to Okeke’s house. Okeke’s wife, whose name was Ugbala, thought she heard her husband coming and put out bowls of food. The neighbour quickly ate the food and then went away to his own house.
“Where is my meal?” Okeke asked when he returned home.
Ugbala said she had already brought out bowls full of food. Okeke and his wife then argued and quarrelled.
The next day the neighbour again returned early and went to Okeke’s house. Again Okeke’s wife thought she heard her husband and brought bowls of food. The neighbour quickly ate the food, as he had done the day before, and then went away to his own house.
“Where is my meal?” Okeke demanded when later he returned home.
Ugbala protested that she had already brought it to him. Again there was disagreement between them.
On the third day, Okeke’s neighbour once more returned from market early and went to Okeke’s house. Again he ate the food which Okeke’s wife had prepared
, and then went away. When Okeke came home to find his wife still insisting that she had already fed him, Okeke became very angry.
“I’ll send you away, you troublesome woman,” Okeke declared.
He gathered together the clothing and the shoes Ugbala had worn at their wedding. He threw the clothing and the shoes into a small canoe. Then he put his wife into the canoe and pushed it out into the river. The river was in flood and the water was moving very fast. The canoe quickly floated away.
Many miles down the river some fishermen were mending their nets. They looked up at the canoe and Ugbala saw them. She cried out for help and the fishermen were able to seize the canoe. They rescued the wife with her wedding clothing and her shoes.
“You are a fine woman,” said one of the men. “Will you stay here and marry me?”
“No,” Okeke’s wife replied. “I shall go back to the land where I was born. I shall return to my father’s house.”
Ugbala set off on her journey with her belongings. She walked many miles. Finally, she reached her own country and her father’s house.
“I wish to be a trader,” she told her father. Now her father was a rich man and so he gave her money. She bought goods in one place and sold them in another, and as she always made a profit it was not long before she too became rich.
Meanwhile Okeke had not been successful in his trading. He was forced to borrow from his neighbours, but still he was unsuccessful. To settle the debts, the neighbours took Okeke’s house and Okeke lost all that he had. He still went from market to market. He no longer went as a trader, however, but as a beggar.
One day Okeke reached the market near Ugbala’s home. She saw him begging for food to eat. His clothing was ragged and his body was dirty. She sent a servant to bring him to her. The servant brought Okeke, but he did not recognize her.
“Take care of this man,” Ugbala told her servant. “Bring him water for a bath. Call a barber to cut his hair. Give him new clothing and whatever he wants to eat and drink. Let him rest and sleep on a good bed.”
West African Folk Tales Page 8
