“Is it you who has stolen my cock?” the king asked the Old Lizard.
But the Old Lizard’s throat had been so badly burnt by the hot palm-tree juice that he could not speak; he could only nod his head up and down.
“Was it the Old Lizard who stole my cock?” the king asked the Old Lizard’s servant.
But the Old Lizard’s servant had burnt his throat so badly by drinking the hot palm-tree juice that he, too, was unable to speak. He could only nod his head up and down.
Then the king spoke to all those who were gathered together at the palace: “Even though the Old Lizard told me the names of my daughters, it appears that he has stolen my cock. Therefore I shall give to the Old Lizard neither my daughters nor the two bags of money.”
So neither the Old Lizard nor the monkey married a daughter of the king nor received a bag of money.
The Superiority of a Man Twenty-five Years Old
Once upon a time a handsome lion and a striped hyena were close friends. One day the lion said to the hyena, “Of all living creatures, which do you dread the most?”
“It is the wild bull I fear,” replied the hyena. “He breaks branches of trees, tramples on ant hills and roars with such a frightening voice that all his enemies tremble.”
The hyena asked the lion which of all living creatures he feared the most.
“More than all and certainly more than a wild bull,” replied the lion, “I fear a man who is twenty-five years old.”
“What nonsense,” exclaimed the hyena. “I will readily defeat twenty-five men each aged twenty-five if you will overcome even one wild bull.”
“We shall meet this evening,” said the lion, “and we shall see.”
That evening the hyena came to meet the lion whom he found busy washing his handsome mane. The two friends greeted each other.
“I hope you have not forgotten our agreement,” said the hyena. “As for me, I am a creature of my words. They are as strong to me as my own bones.”
“Our agreement is not forgotten,” the lion replied. “Choose a wild bull and I will overcome him.”
The lion and the hyena hid themselves by a path. Soon several bush cows appeared and near them a wild bull breaking branches off trees, trampling on ant hills and roaring very loudly. The hyena pointed to the bull and he trembled as he said to the lion, “Try to defeat that one.”
The lion sprang at the wild bull. There was a short fight. The lion easily won: he and the hyena ate the defeated bull for dinner.
The next evening the lion and the hyena went to the same path and hid themselves. Soon a man twenty-five years old appeared. He had a big stick in one hand and some food in a bowl in the other.
“Try to defeat that one,” said the lion.
The hyena rushed at the man but the man paid very little attention and walked calmly on, saying, “Hyena, be more careful. You are raising dust and it is settling on my food.”
The hyena rushed at the man again and again; the man paid little attention, only reproving him for raising so much dust. The lion laughed at the hyena.
When the hyena rushed at the man for a third time, the man became impatient. He hit the hyena with his stick so hard on the head that the top of the stick broke off and hit the lion in the eye.
“Hyena, what did I tell you?” cried the lion as he ran away.
After the hyena recovered from the blow he had received on his head he joined the lion, who was still rubbing his eye.
The two friends decided that in future they would not attack men and certainly never a man twenty-five years old.
The Magic Cooking Pot
There was an old woman who sold the best palm-oil soup in the market. Nobody knew the old woman’s name nor where she lived. Nobody knew how she made such excellent soup nor why the soup was always so hot.
“This is a mystery,” the people at the market would say to each other, but they continued to buy the soup.
Every morning the old woman came into the market-place by the village carrying a big black pot of hot palm-oil soup on her head. Then she sat under a tall mango tree and soon all her soup was sold, for it was so good.
There was a boy in the village called Kalari. He had often enjoyed the old woman’s soup and he wanted to know how it was made. He wanted to know where the old woman lived.
Small boys are often curious and one evening when the market closed, Kalari followed the old woman. He followed her through the village and beside the river. Keeping himself out of sight, he followed her along a path that went up the side of a hill. Kalari began to be afraid. Nevertheless, he forced himself to continue and followed the old woman until she came to a small round hut with mud bricks for the walls and a grass thatch roof.
Outside the hut stood a very large cooking pot.
“It is the biggest pot,” thought Kalari, “that I have ever seen.”
The old woman went inside the hut. Kalari was so curious that he went quietly to the pot and looked inside. It was empty.
Hearing the old woman coming out of the hut, he hid himself behind some thorn bushes. He watched the old woman come out of the hut. She went to the very large cooking pot and, raising her arms above her head, she sang this song:
“Magic pot, magic pot,
Make hot soup for me.
Make hot soup for me.
Make soup of palm-oil.
Make soup of palm-oil.
Make soup with chicken.
Make soup, this soup, for me to sell.
For people to buy.
Magic pot, magic pot.”
From where Kalari was hidden he could soon hear the soup boiling and bubbling, and he saw steam coming from the pot. The smell of the soup was so good that it made Kalari feel hungry. When the old woman went back into her hut, he came softly from behind the thorn bushes.
Kalari looked under the pot. There was no fire beneath it. He looked into the pot: it was full of hot palm-oil soup with chicken.
“I must taste this,” said Kalari to himself, putting his hand into the pot to select a piece of chicken.
But suddenly the old woman came out of her hut. She saw Kalari and what he was doing.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” cried the old woman. “Oh! Oh! Oh!”
Kalari was filled with fear. He turned and ran down the hillside path as fast as he could. Behind him he could hear the old woman. She was screaming and wailing, shouting and crying.
Kalari ran and ran until he reached the bottom of the hill. He ran beside the river. He ran until he passed the market and reached the village. He ran to the house of his family. He told his parents and the people of the village what had happened. He pointed to the hill. As the people looked at the hill they could see steam rising from it.
“The magic pot,” everyone said to everyone else.
From that day until this the old woman with her pot of chicken and palm-oil soup has never returned to the market. No one has ever gone up the hill to search for her, least of all Kalari. When clouds gather near the top of the hill the village people say to each other, “Look, there is the steam from the magic cooking pot.”
The Tortoise is not as clever as he sometimes thinks
A chief called a meeting of all the people and animals whom he ruled. All the chief’s councillors were also present. He called them together in order to give them laws, one of which was that no one should eat yam for six months.
“Must we ourselves also obey these laws?” the councillors asked the chief.
The chief told them that they also must obey the laws.
One of the councillors was the tortoise. He stood up and asked if the chief, himself, were excluded.
“No,” the chief replied, “why should I be excluded from my own laws?”
“Your honour,” continued the tortoise, “what is the punishment for you if you break one of these laws?”
“If I happened to break one of my own laws,” said the chief, “I should lose my position as your chief.”
The meeting came to an
end and the councillors went off to their own households. So did all the people and the animals who had attended. The chief mounted his horse and went to his own house.
Some days later several of the councillors gathered together secretly to discuss how they might make the chief disobey one of his own laws.
“He would then lose his position and one of us would be chief,” they said.
“I know a way to catch the chief breaking his laws,” said the tortoise.
The other councillors asked what the tortoise’s plan was, but he said he must keep this a secret. Then the lion announced the time and place of the next council meeting.
On that day, the tortoise took a very fresh, fat yam and cooked it. When it was ready, he took the yam and went to a certain shady, isolated place. This place was by the path which the chief would be taking when he came to the meeting. The tortoise left the yam in a bowl by the path. Then he hid himself under some leaves and waited.
Soon the chief came along the road. He was riding his horse slowly and he was hungry. When he saw the bowl he stopped the horse, dismounted and saw the well-cooked, sweet-smelling yam. The chief looked in all directions but he could see no one. He went to the bowl and ate a piece of the yam.
“Chief, have you eaten yam?” the tortoise shouted from where he was hidden under the leaves.
The chief was startled. He looked again in all directions. Again he saw no one. He returned to the bowl and took another piece of yam.
The tortoise shouted again, “Chief, have you eaten yam?”
The chief again looked for someone and then he observed the cunning tortoise under the leaves. The chief apologized, asking pardon of the tortoise and requesting him not to report the matter. But the tortoise refused and paid no attention to the words of the chief.
“We shall have to go to the meeting anyway,” said the chief. So he mounted his horse and the tortoise followed.
They reached the meeting place where the councillors were all waiting. As usual, the chief was given the seat of honour, but when he sat down the tortoise shouted, “Chief, who has eaten yam?”
At once the chief gave up his seat of honour and then the tortoise stopped shouting. The chief sat on a small piece of wood beside the councillors.
Food and drink were brought. When the chief was taking his own share, the tortoise immediately shouted again, “Chief, who has eaten yam?”
Silently, the chief gave what he had to the tortoise and again the tortoise stopped shouting. But the chief had become angry and as soon as the meeting was over, he mounted his horse, saying:
“Remember, councillors, that I am more powerful still than any of you.”
Then he suddenly seized the tortoise and rode away with him.
“Help! Help!” the tortoise cried, but neither the lion nor any of the other councillors came to his rescue.
After riding for some time, while the tortoise complained incessantly, they reached a very rocky place. The rocks there were hard and sharp.
“Now you will be punished,” cried the chief and he flung the tortoise against the rocks.
From that day until this, the tortoise has always moved awkwardly as if he still feels his body full of pain.
The Greedy Hare
A hare was invited to go and eat at the house of his wife’s family. Wanting a companion on the way, he arranged for one of the lambs of a neighbouring sheep to go with him. They started on their journey.
Although the hare was glad of a companion he did not want to share the meal that was awaiting him. So the hare played a trick. He and the lamb came to two stones lying beside the path. The hare told the lamb to hide the stones and to be sure to remember where they were hidden.
“We shall soon be needing the stones,” said the hare.
As soon as the hare finished speaking he started to run very fast. The lamb followed with difficulty. They passed a gourd and the broken pieces of an old pot. The hare called to the lamb to hide these articles and to be sure to remember where.
“We shall soon be needing them,” cried the hare.
At last they reached the house of the hare’s wife’s family. After many greetings and good wishes, palm kernels were brought to be eaten. At once, the hare told the lamb to fetch the hidden stones. The lamb went as fast as he could, but that was not very fast because he was so tired after his long run with the hare. When the lamb returned, the hare had eaten three-quarters of the palm kernels. The hare said to the lamb, “To be fair, I shall give you half of what remains.”
Then the hare’s wife’s family brought loaves of bread for the hare and the lamb to eat. Immediately the hare told the lamb to fetch the gourd and the broken pieces of the old pot. By the time the lamb returned, only one small loaf of bread remained.
“To be fair,” said the hare, “I shall give you half of the loaf that remains.”
The lamb was very hungry by the time he and the hare started on the return journey, while the hare’s stomach was full. The lamb decided that he would not accompany the hare on journeys again.
The next time the hare was going to visit the house of his wife’s family, he asked a friend of his, a bird, to accompany him. The bird had beautiful feathers, with two long tail feathers, and he was of the royal family of birds.
On their way they saw two stones. The hare told the bird to hide the stones.
“We shall soon be needing the stones,” he said. But the bird had a bag with him and he put the stones into the bag instead.
Then the hare started to run very fast. But the bird flew above the hare, travelling even faster than the hare.
They reached a gourd and the broken pieces of another old pot. The hare called to the bird to hide these articles.
“We shall soon be needing them,” he said.
The bird put them inside his bag, then flew on, closely following the hare.
When the hare and the bird reached the hare’s wife’s family’s house, the bird hung the bag outside the door. After the usual greetings and salutations palm kernels were brought.
“Fetch the stones,” the hare ordered the bird.
The bird went out to his bag and quickly brought the stones to the hare, then ate half the palm kernels. Loaves of bread were brought.
“Fetch the gourd and the broken pieces of the old pot,” ordered the hare.
The bird went out to his bag and quickly brought these articles to the hare, then ate half the loaves. Next the hare’s wife’s family brought some beans.
“I shall take these to my wife,” said the hare, who did not wish to share them with the bird. He poured them into a bag of his own.
“I shall leave you now,” said the bird, pretending to fly away, but he returned very quietly and hid in the hare’s bag.
The hare thanked his wife’s family, took up his bag, and started on the return journey.
“At least I shall have all the beans for myself,” he thought, and when he reached his home he entered very carefully so that his wife would not see the bag. But when he opened the bag he could not see a single bean, not even a grain. There was only the bird, who quickly flew out of the bag laughing at the hare and crying: “I have much enjoyed your company, you greedy hare. I hope you have enjoyed mine.”
The Tortoise and his Broken Shell
There was a famine in a certain town. Every creature in that town was hungry except a dog who knew of a tree in the nearby forest which supplied him with food. No one but the dog knew where he obtained his food.
Now there lived in the town a tortoise and his wife. They were so hungry they would watch the dog to see what he threw away and then they would eat the scraps. Finally the tortoise and his wife spoke to the dog: “Neighbour dog, we can no longer endure our sufferings of hunger. Tell us where you obtain your food.”
After they had begged the dog many times to tell them, he at last revealed his secret, on the strict promise that they would tell no one. They promised. The dog showed them the tree in the forest on which the food grew and a
llowed them to eat there.
But the tortoise and his wife abused their good fortune. They went to the tree when they knew the dog was not there. They ate until they could hardly move and when they did go away, they took with them an enormous basket filled with food.
One day when the dog went to the tree to have his breakfast he noticed that a great portion of the food was gone. The dog hid himself and watched to see who might come. As he watched he saw the tortoise and his wife approaching.
The tortoise and his wife were pushing their enormous basket. The dog waited until they began to pick the food from the tree. Then he jumped out at them, barking furiously.
“Now I will kill you,” shouted the dog to the trembling tortoise.
The tortoise begged for mercy, then turned and ran until he found a swamp in which to hide. But the dog chased him and taking a big stick tried to catch the tortoise. Every time the tortoise was struck with the stick he sang in pretended joy and every time the dog missed him he cried as if in pain. Then a wise man came to watch the dog and explained the tortoise’s trick. The dog quickly managed to catch hold of the tortoise after that, dragged him out of the swamp and threw him so hard against the side of a very hard tree trunk that his shell was cracked and broken.
The dog left, thinking the tortoise would die. But tortoises are strong little creatures and the tortoise began to recover. A passing traveller knocked his foot against the tortoise thinking it was a stone. Always cunning, the tortoise cried out, “Look what you have done. You have broken my shell.”
“My job,” said the traveller, “is to repair broken articles.”
“If that is your job,” said the tortoise, “you should be able to repair my shell.”
The traveller produced his tools from the bag he was carrying. He put together the many pieces of broken tortoise-shell. Even today we can see that the shell of a tortoise is of many pieces which have been put together.
West African Folk Tales Page 10
