African Myths and Folk Tales Read online

  “After promising to fight Ejimm and protect our children, my husband ran away, and left them for the monster to kill. I am the one who stood forth fighting, and slew, not only the beast but also her two young. Yet my husband desires to give me only the heads of all these animals. I come, then, to claim my right before our Master.”

  Obassi then asked the husband what he had to say in defense of taking such a large share; but he could not dispute what his wife had said.

  It was clear to Obassi that the wife had the brave heart to defend her children when their father had fled in fear. Obassi scolded the husband for deserting his children. He, then, gave order that from thenceforward no man should claim any property which his wife had risked her life to get.

  Obassi also said, that, should the wife choose to take the other ten children away from her husband, she should be permitted to do so; for she had suffered much for their sakes.

  A woman is sure to risk her life for her children, though there are but few men who will do so.

  It is because of this decision that when a woman leaves her husband and returns to her parents, she may be forced to give up all gifts received from him, but not her children, nor any other thing for which she may have risked her life.

  Hold a true friend with both hands.

  A counsellor who understands proverbs soon sets difficult matters aright.

  Nobody is twice a dunce.

  Remember that all flowers of a tree do not bear fruit.

  The Ingrate

  A very poor hunter was one day walking through the woods in search of food. He came to a deep hole, and found there a leopard, a serpent, a rat, and a man. They had all fallen into the trap and could not escape. When they saw the hunter, they begged him to get them out of the trap.

  At first the hunter did not wish to help out any but the man. The leopard, he said, had often taken his cattle and had eaten them. The serpent very frequently bit men to death. The rat was no good to any one. He saw no wisdom, then, in setting them free.

  However, these animals begged so hard for their lives that at last he helped them out of the pit. All in turn, except the man, promised to reward the hunter for his kindness. The man said he was very poor, and the kind-hearted hunter took him home and cared for him.

  A short time thereafter the serpent came to the hunter and gave him a very effective cure for snake-poison.

  “Keep it carefully,” said the serpent. “You will find it very useful one day. When you are using it, be sure to ask for the blood of a traitor to mix with it.”

  The hunter thanked the serpent very much; he took great care of the powder and always carried it about with him.

  The leopard also showed his gratitude by catching game for the hunter and bringing him food of various kinds for many weeks.

  Finally, one day the rat came to the hunter and gave him a large bundle.

  “These,” said he, “are some native cloths, gold dust, and ivory. They will make you rich.”

  The hunter thanked the rat and took the bundle into his home.

  After this the hunter was able to live in much ease and comfort. He built himself a fine new house and put in it everything needful. The man whom he had taken out of the pit still lived with him and enjoyed everything the hunter had in his home.

  This man, however, was very covetous. He did not want to see the hunter have such a fortune, and only waited the chance to do him some harm. Such a chance soon came.

  Word was given throughout the country that some robbers had broken into the king’s palace and had stolen his jewels and many other treasures. The ungrateful man rushed at once to the king and asked what would be the reward for telling him the name of the thief. The king told him it would be half of the things which had been stolen. The ungrateful man then falsely said that his friend was the thief, although he well knew that the hunter had not stolen anything.

  The honest hunter was rushed into prison. He was then brought into court and asked to explain how he had become so rich. He truthfully told them how he got his wealth, but no one believed him. He was therefore condemned to die the next day.

  Next morning, while the officers of the court were preparing to take his life, word was brought to the prison that the king’s eldest son had been bitten by a serpent and was about to die. Any one who could cure him was begged to come and do so.

  The hunter at once thought of the powder which his serpent friend had given him, and asked the officers to let him use it in curing the king’s son. At first they would not let him try, but finally consented. The king asked him if there were anything he needed for the powder and he replied, “A traitor’s blood to mix it with.”

  The king at once pointed out the wicked fellow who had falsely accused the hunter and said, “There stands the worst traitor, for he tried to sell the head of the friend who saved his life.”

  The man was at once beheaded and the powder was mixed as the serpent had commanded. As soon as it was applied to the wound of the prince the young man became well. In the midst of great joy, the king gave the hunter many honors and sent him home happy.

  The Jealousy of the Blind Man

  TWO brown men were blind, and they both took a walk to find some one or something to help their condition. The one in front found a little horn and he blew it. As soon as he blew it his eyes were opened and he could see. How happy he was to be able to see again the beautiful world!

  He said to the other blind man, “I found a little horn and blew it, and now I can see.”

  He gave it to the blind man to blow, and he blew it and he could see also. He was both happy and thankful that he also could see.

  But as soon as the second man obtained his sight he threw away the horn.

  The man who found it said, “Where is my horn?”

  The other replied, “I threw it away.”

  “Give me my horn,” replied the first man. The second man went and found the horn.

  “Here is your horn,” said the second man as he handed it to the first man.

  The first man was jealous because the second man could see, and he thought by blowing again he could be made to see much better than the other man. So he blew his horn again and became blind.

  As soon as he saw that he was blind, he handed the horn to the second man, saying, “I have fixed my eyes better than yours; you fix yours now.”

  The second man replied, “I do not wish to blow again: I am satisfied with my sight. Before, I could not see at all and I am thankful for the sight I have obtained; you keep the horn.”

  The first man became enraged and demanded that the second man must blow or fight.

  “I cannot blow, so we must fight, then,” said the second man, whereupon he ran away and left the jealous man helpless and blind.

  His ingratitude and jealousy had caused him to lose his sight. He was not thankful for the blessing which he had received. He wanted more than his companion had received.

  “Jealousy is self-love.” One should not love himself. He should love others. In the end jealousy harms the jealous man himself. Africans, therefore, warn against jealousy and fear it as a green-eyed monster.

  The Race for a Wife

  A man had a daughter who liked all the creatures of the forest. Each of them was trying to secure the daughter for his wife, and the daughter was unable to decide which one she wanted.

  They all went to the father for his consent. Each one explained to the father how he was the best man for his daughter. Everybody was singing his own praise.

  The father told them to wait, that he would place his daughter in the old field, and that the one who reached there first should have his daughter.

  They all agreed to enter the race. Each one began to plan how he could do his best to reach her first.

  When they all assembled the fox said, “We must catch the deer and tie him, or he will win the race, as he can run much faster than any of us.”

  The Spider unties the Deer.

  So they all combined and tied
the deer and started on the race.

  After they had gotten on the way the spider came along and saw the deer tied fast.

  The spider asked, “What are you doing tied?”

  The deer told him how all the animals had combined to tie him in order to keep him from winning the race and securing the daughter of the old man.

  The spider then said, “If I let you loose what will you pay me?”

  The deer said that if he won the race he would give the spider their first daughter for a wife. The spider then untied him and jumped on the deer’s horn.

  The deer, then, ran and ran and finally passed all the other animals. When he got in the old field near the old man’s house the spider jumped down and ran to the girl before the deer could reach her.

  The deer said that the girl belonged to him because he had brought the spider and without him the spider could not have got there at all. The spider said she was his because he was the first to go up to the girl and claim her, and if he had not untied the deer he could not have entered the race at all, so they submitted the matter to the judge, who decided that the spider won the race and therefore was entitled to the old man’s daughter.

  The Deer and the Snail

  The deer said to the snail, “I can run faster than you.”

  “You cannot,” replied the snail. “You cannot tell what one can do by looking at him.”

  “I will bet you that I can,” said the deer.

  “What will you bet?” asked the snail without any fear. He had a plan for winning the race.

  “Let us see who can run first to a town across the plain,” said the deer, “and the one who loses, he and all his people shall be servants to the other and his people.”

  “I agree,” replied the snail. “Let it be so.”

  The snail went and told all his people about the race. He stationed them at a certain distance apart along the way they were to run, and had one snail stop in the town to which the race was to be made.

  The snail knew he could not run, and so he sought the help of all his people. But the deer felt so confident of winning the race against the snail that he did not tell any of his people.

  The Deer and the Snail in a race.

  Having gotten all his people arranged, the snail told the deer that he was ready for the race. Off they went.

  About a mile away the deer came to a river, and when he got there the snail’s brother cried out, “I am here too and you must carry me across.”

  “All right,” said the deer, “but I have not started to run yet.”

  The deer ran to the next river and a snail cried out again,” I am here and you must carry me across.”

  The deer carried him across, and said, “I see I must run to beat you.”

  So the deer began to do his best in running.

  When he got to the next river the snail cried out, “I have been here a long time, deer. What have you been doing so long? You must carry me across too.”

  The deer carried him across, and started on his last run to the town.

  The deer ran and he ran; at length all exhausted he reached the town, and as soon as he entered he saw the snail. The deer hallooed and ran away without waiting for the judge to decide the race. And ever since that day when the deer sees the snail he is afraid and he runs.

  Ohia and His Sorrows

  There once lived upon the earth a poor man called Ohia. He had a wife named Awirehu. This unlucky couple had had one misfortune after another. No matter what they took in hand trouble seemed to lie in wait for them. Everything they did met with failure. They became so poor that at last they could scarcely obtain a cloth with which to cover their nakedness.

  Finally, Ohia thought of doing a thing at which many of his village had succeeded. He went to a wealthy farmer near by and offered to cut his palm trees to make wine from the sap.

  Ohia planned to catch the sap in pots. When this would be ready for the market, his wife would sell it. The money received for it would then be divided equally among the three.

  When this plan was laid before the farmer, he readily agreed to it. Not only so, but he gave Ohia some earthen pots in which to collect the sap, for the poor man was not able to buy anything.

  In great delight Ohia and his wife went to work. They cut down the trees and prepared them. They set the pots underneath to catch the sap. Before daybreak on market day, Ohia went out, with a lighted torch, to collect the wine and prepare it that his wife might take it into the town.

  To his great surprise, on arriving at the trees, instead of finding his earthen pots filled with the sweet sap, he saw them lying broken in pieces on the ground.

  Misfortune had overtaken him again. He secured new pots and found them broken the same way the second day. He had the same experience again but he got other pots only to find them gone in the same way.

  This was sad but he took courage and set his pots in order for the last time. When night came, he stayed among the trees to watch for the thief. Midnight passed and nothing happened, but about two o’clock in the morning a dark form passed him on the way to the nearest palm tree. A moment after he heard the sound of a breaking pot. He crept up to the form and found out that the thief was a bush deer. It carried on its head a jar into which it was pouring the wine from the pots. Ohia tried to seize the bush deer, but it was too quick for him and escaped, dropping his pot on the ground.

  The deer was so swift that it outran Ohia, but he followed and followed until he came to the top of a hill in the midst of a great gathering of animals of which the lion was king. Ohia had run into this group of animals so suddenly that he knew not what to do or say. King Lion ordered that Ohia be brought before him to be punished for disturbing the peace of the animals.

  Ohia begged for a chance to explain the affair. King Lion agreed to listen to him. Ohia then told the story of his poverty and how he finally found out how to make palm wine which the bush deer was stealing.

  The animals were pleased with this story and agreed that the deer was guilty. The deer was punished. King Lion, each morning, it was learned, had given the deer a large sum of money to purchase palm wine for them. The deer had stolen the wine and kept the money for some other purpose.

  To make up for Ohia’s losses, King Lion offered him, as a gift, the power of understanding the language of all animals. This, said he, would speedily make Ohia a rich man. But he gave him this secret on the condition that Ohia must never—on pain of instant death—let any one know about his wonderful power.

  The poor man, much delighted, started for home. When he arrived he at once began to make palm wine and had no more of such troubles with his pots. He and his wife were, therefore, happy.

  One morning, while he was bathing in a pool near his home, he heard a hen and her chickens talking together in the garden. He listened, and heard a chicken tell the mother hen about three jars of gold buried in Ohia’s garden. The hen told the chicken to be careful, that her master might not see her scratching near the gold, and thereby discover it.

  Ohia pretended not to notice what they were saying, and went away. As soon as the mother hen and her brood had gone, however, he came back and began to dig in that part of the garden.

  To his great delight he soon found three jars of gold. In them was enough money to keep him in comfort all his life. He was careful, however, not to mention his treasure to any one but his wife. He hid it safely inside his home.

  Soon Ohia and Awirehu had become one of the richest couples in the country. They owned a large amount of property. Ohia thought he could afford now to keep a head housekeeper to relieve his wife; so he hired one.

  Unfortunately, the new woman did not at all resemble Awirehu, who had always been a good, kind, and honest wife. The new woman was very jealous and selfish. In addition to this, she was lame and always thought that people were making fun of her.

  She had the idea that Ohia and Awirehu—when together—were accustomed to laugh at her. Nothing was further from their thoughts, but she refus
ed to believe it. Whenever she saw them together she would creep up and listen outside the door to hear what they were saying. Of course, she never heard them say anything about her.

  At last, one evening, Ohia and Awirehu had gone to bed. His wife was fast asleep when he heard a conversation which amused him very much. Two little mice were arranging to go to the larder to take some food as soon as their master—who was watching them—fell asleep.

  Ohia, taking this to be a good joke, laughed outright. The lame woman heard him, rushed into the room, and accused him of making fun of her again to Awirehu.

  The astonished man, of course, denied this, but she said again and again that it was true. The jealous woman said that, if he were laughing at an innocent joke, he would at once tell it to her. But Ohia could not do this without breaking his promise to King Lion.

  His refusal, however, made the woman more suspicious, and she did not rest till she had told the chief about the whole matter. As he was a friend of Ohia, the chief tried to persuade him to tell what the joke was and set the matter at rest. Ohia would not agree to do such a thing. The troublesome woman gave the chief no peace till he called Ohia to answer her charge before the assembly in the public square.

  As there was, then, no other way out of the difficulty, Ohia prepared for death. He first invited all his friends and relatives to a great feast, and bade them farewell. Then he put his affairs in order. He gave all his gold to the faithful Awirehu, and his property to his son and servants. When he had finished, he went to the public square where the people of the village were assembled.

  He first took leave of the chief, and then began his story. He spoke of his many misfortunes, of his pursuit of the deer, of the secret which was given him, and of his promise to King Lion. Finally, he explained the cause of his laughter which had annoyed the lame woman. While thus speaking he fell dead, as King Lion had warned him.