African Folktales

by Roger Abrahams

  A related theme is that of a “do-unto-others” form of reciprocity—or the lack of it. Here, the African record is a strange one, for as often as not selfish behavior is shown to be the norm, as in “Killed for a Horse.” Bad may be the return for good; in “The Nature of the Beast,” the kind wife is rewarded for releasing the heron, by having it gouge her eye out—an all-too-obvious illustration of how the beneficiary of a good deed may answer his benefactor with scorn or even harm. But, on balance, a kindly act and a long-suffering approach to life lead to eventual repayment and the ultimate triumph of virtue.

  Many of the moral stories and dilemma tales alike focus on aspects of living “correctly” within the family. Thus, in “He Starved His Own Father,” the father dies of hunger because he provided for a lover instead of his wife and son. “The Smart Man and the Fool” has a similar outcome but offers an interesting variation on the subject.

  Another important theme in these tales is that of keeping one’s own counsel. In “Fembar’s Curiosity,” the protagonist dies for having told a secret, and in “A Father’s Advice,” the dying father admonishes his son not to tell his “private affairs” to his wife.

  1 John Gay and Michael Cole, The New Math in an Old Culture (New York, Chicago, and San Francisco: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1967), p. 25.

  17

  The Contest of Riddles

  There was once a king who had only one child, a daughter. When she was still a little girl, she told her father that she wanted to marry a man who was wise in the knowledge of riddles. When she became old enough to choose a husband, her father called the chiefs of all the Abron cantons before him to find the man who would pass her test. Before they went to court, each chief called the men of his village together and had them teach him all the riddles they knew. But when the chiefs arrived at the house of the king, and each recited all his riddles for the princess, she wouldn’t accept any of them.

  Some months later, two young men of a distant village decided to try their luck with the kings daughter. The journey to the court was long, so they took a youth with them to carry their belongings. When they arrived at court, the daughter of the king said that they must wait three days, and then on the fourth day, she would accept one of them in marriage. The first day, she made futu for them, the bread dough that is the staple of life. In the center of the ball of dough, she put a red kola nut. When the two men found the kola, they threw it away, but their serving youth recovered and kept it. On the second day and the third, she again put a red kola nut in the center of the dough ball, and, each time, the two men threw the kola away, and the youth recovered it. On the fourth day, the kings daughter once more prepared futu for the men, but this time she put a small cotton ball in the center of it. When the two men found the cotton ball, they discarded it, as they had the kola, but the youth saved it, as he had saved the kola.

  When the men finally came before the girl, the first of them recounted all the riddles he knew, but when he had finished, the kings daughter said, “I cannot marry you.” Then the second man recounted all the riddles he knew, but when he had finished, the girl said, “I cannot marry you.” The youth, who had stood silent all this time, then asked to speak. The two men refused to give him permission, but the king’s daughter commanded that he have his chance, too. The youth stepped forward, and said, “I have very little to say and so I will not take much of your time. The first day of our arrival, the King’s daughter put a red kola nut in the middle of the futu. On the second and third days, she did the same thing, but on the fourth day, she put in a cotton ball. Now I say that on the first three days she was menstruating, but that on the fourth day she had finished.” The king’s daughter responded that the youth was indeed wise and that she would marry him. The other men were jealous, and announced they were going to leave, and the youth must come with them to carry their things. The king’s daughter replied that they must all stay one more day, so that she and the young man could get married, and they agreed.

  As soon as the marriage was completed, the three men set out for their own village. Along the way, the first man said, “We must kill the youth.” The second said, “No, we cannot, but let us take him back to the village and give him to his parents.” After some argument, they finally agreed to tie the youth to a tree and abandon him, and so they did. Bound up though he was, the boy did not cry, but waited. After some time, a vendor of kola came by. The youth said to him, “Go to the daughter of the king, my wife, and say to her, ‘Untie this kola and guard it or it will surely rot.’ “When the vendor had done so, the girl, without saying a word, ran to her father and asked him to give her two horses. “My husband is tied to a tree, and if I do not go and free him, he will surely die.” And so she rode off and rescued him. From then, they lived happily. Now, my children, which of the two, the youth or the king’s daughter, was wiser in the knowledge of riddles?

  —Abron

  18

  Leopard, Goat, and Yam

  A certain man was running away from his village, and he was taking with him all his property. This consisted of a leopard, a goat, and a yam. Now in time he came to a river where there was only one canoe. It was so small that it was impossible for him to take more than one part of his property with him at a time. Now how did he succeed in getting it all to the other side, for if he left the yam with the goat or the leopard with the goat, the goat would eat the yam or the leopard devour the goat.

  The answer is: He took the goat over first and then the yam. He then recrossed the goat and ferried over the leopard, returning a fourth time for the goat.

  —Hausa

  19

  An Eye for an Eye?

  The son of a chief once heard tell of the beautiful daughter of another chief and set off to visit her. And as he traveled, he met a young fellow. He said, “Young man, I’d like you to come with me, for I’m off to seek a wife.” “Oh, no,” said the other, “for I have a father who has nothing, neither gown nor trousers nor loincloth; and this leather loincloth that you see me wearing is all that we have between us, my father and I. If my father is going out from our hole in the baobab tree, then he takes it and puts it on; and I do the same when I’m going out.” “Where is your father?” asked the chief’s son. “Over there, in the hole in the baobab tree.” And the chief’s son asked to be taken to him.

  And off they went. When the boy got to the hole in the baobab tree, he said “Daddy, look! I was out walking, I met the son of a chief who said, he wanted me to go with him to seek a wife. But I answered that I must come and tell you first and hear whatever you had to say about it.” “By all means go along with him,” answered his father. And the chief’s son said, “Take the leather loincloth off and give it to your father.” And the chief’s son had a traveling bag opened and a gown taken out, and trousers, and a turban, and a cap, and a sword, and a sword sling, and all these together were given to the other. And he had him shaved and bathed, too.

  And so they took the road and traveled till they reached the other town. When word was brought to the chief’s daughter that she had visitors, they were taken to lodgings. She had food prepared for them—three rams were slaughtered, and chickens, too.

  Soon the chief’s daughter rose and came to them. But when she got there, her heart went out to the servant of the chief’s son, he whose father lived in the hole of the tree. And she spoke and said that he was the one she loved. “No, no!” he said, “I wouldn’t dare. See, here’s my master.” “No,” she answered, “You’re the one I love.” But again he protested that he and his father had nothing, but lived in a hole in a baobab tree, and added, “Even the clothes that I’m wearing were given my be the chief’s son here.” “Oh,” she replied, “is that all?”

  She sent home to her father’s compound, asking for two carrying bags, one with a gown, and one with trousers; and she sent for a turban, as well. All her wishes were conveyed to her father, who got together everything she had asked for, and handed it over to her. Then she said, “Take
those things off, and return them to him. Take these and put them on.” “Very well,” he answered, and did as she had said. He collected the chief’s son’s clothes, and returned them to him.

  So the chief’s son set off home alone, leaving the son of the man with the leather loincloth. For the chief’s daughter had decided it was he that she loved. Then she went and told her father, saying, “Father, today I want to be married.” “Very well,” he said, and so they were married.

  Time passed and her father died. His large estate was duly divided and she inherited it all as he had no sons or other daughters. Her mother left the chief’s compound and had a separate compound built for herself. Then the girl said to her husband, “Where is your father? Let someone go and fetch him, and let him and my mother be married.” And he answered, “He’s back there in the hole in the baobab tree.”

  They went and fetched him, and when they returned, the marriage duly took place. And so they lived for some time.

  But after a while there came a time when the elder couple had a quarrel and the father of the girl’s husband knocked his wife down, striking out one of her eyes. The girl then said, angrily, “Your father has quarreled with my mother and knocked her eye out. If you value our marriage, you’ll go and put out one of your father’s eyes. If you don’t, take your leather loincloth, and you and your father can go back to your hole in the baobab tree. But if you do, then let our marriage continue.” Well, here was a nice problem! He had been quite destitute. If he put out his own father’s eye, he might continue to live with his wife; but if he didn’t, then he must go back with his father to the hole in the baobab tree, whence they had come!

  —Hausa

  20

  Wondrous Powers: Mirror, Sandals, and a Medicine Bag

  An old man had three children, all boys. When they had grown up to manhood, he called them together and told them that now he was very old and no longer able to provide, even for himself. He ordered them to go out and bring him food and clothing.

  The three brothers set out, and after a very long while they came to a large river. As they had gone on together for such a time, they decided that once they got across they would separate. The eldest told the youngest to take the middle road, and the second to go to the right, while he himself would go to the left. Then, in a year’s time, they would come back to the same spot.

  So they parted, and at the end of a year, as agreed, they found their way back to the riverside. The eldest asked the youngest what he had gotten during his travels, and the boy replied: “I have nothing but a mirror, but it has wonderful power. If you look into it, you can see all over the country, no matter how far away.” When asked, in turn, what he had gotten, the second brother replied: “Only a pair of sandals that are so full of power, that if one puts them on one can walk at once to any place in the country in one step.” Then, the eldest himself, said: “I, too, have obtained but little, a small calabash of medicine, that is all. But let us look into the mirror and see how father fares.”

  The youngest produced his mirror, and they all looked into it and saw that their father was already dead and that even the funeral custom was finished. Then the elder said: “Let us hasten home and see what we can do.” So the second brought out his sandals, and all three placed their feet inside them and, immediately, they were borne to their father’s grave. Then the eldest shook the medicine out of his bag, and poured it over the grave. At once their father arose, as if nothing had been the matter with him. Now which of these three sons has performed the best?

  —Togo

  21

  The Devil Comes Between Them

  A youth once saw a maiden and told her that he loved her; she saw him and told him the same. So the young fellow went and picked up his sleeping mat, took the girl by the hand, and went off with her into the bush. There the boy spread out the mat and invited the girl to sit. The two sat and chatted. Iblis the devil came by that way, seized the boy, killed him, and then cut off his head. The girl could do nothing but sit on the mat and lament.

  Meanwhile both mothers and both fathers were searching for their son and daughter. An old woman told them where they should look for them. Thanking her, they went quickly off down the road, where, the boy’s parents found their son killed, with his head taken off. At this, they began to lament, as well.

  Suddenly, up came Iblis again. He made a river of fire, and a river of water, and a river of black-hooded cobras, and in this last he placed a land monitor. Then he went up to the group—the girl’s mother and her father, and the boy’s mother and his father, and the girl herself—and said to them, “Would you like me to help you recover your son and bring him back to life?” “Of course!” they answered. “Very well,” he said, “You, the boy’s mother, must go into the river of fire, and then into the river of water, and then into the river of cobras, where you must seize the land monitor and bring it out.” But the boy’s mother answered, “No! I’m not going into a river of fire to be burnt up, nor am I going into the river of cobras, to be thoroughly bitten.” Iblis said, “Had you gone and captured the land monitor, I’d have helped you with your son.”

  Whereupon the girl said, “Is that so? If that land monitor is captured and brought here, will the boy come to life?” “Yes,” said Iblis. Up jumped the girl and swam across the river of fire. Then she plunged into the river of water and swam till she was through it. Then into the river of cobras, where pushing aside the slithering snakes, she seized the land monitor. Back she came through the rivers, and handed the lizard to Iblis.

  Then, said Iblis, “So! So you’ve got the land monitor for me?” And the boy came to life and stood up. Then Iblis spoke again, saying, “Now, if this land monitor is slaughtered, the boy’s mother will die, but if it isn’t slaughtered, the girl’s mother will die.”

  Well then—is the boy going to slaughter the land monitor, so that his own mother dies, or will he spare it, so that the girl’s mother dies? Which of the two will he choose do you think?

  —Hausa

  22

  The Quality of Friendship

  Two young men, each named Kamo, knew of each other, but had never seen each other; one lived in the East and one in the West. The young man from the West went to the man who told fortunes by cutting sand, and said, “I want to go over and see my friend whom I have never seen, and I want you to cut sand, so that I will know whether I will meet good or bad luck.” The man cut sand and told him that if he went to see his friend, he would not find him home, but would meet him on the path, and that when he reached the country of his friend, he must not go out at night, no matter who called, because if he did, he would surely die and never be able to return home.

  Not satisfied with what the fortune-teller had said, the young man went to another, who also cut sand, and then told him the same thing that the first fortune-teller had told him. Hearing the same words from two different fortune-tellers, he finally believed them, and said, “I will now go to see my friend, but I will keep in mind what I have been told.”

  He walked three days and met his friend, but, of course, he did not recognize him, and he asked the other where he was going. The young man from the East answered: “My name is Kamo. I am going to see my friend in the West, who is also named Kamo.” The young man from the West replied, “That’s me! I was going to see you.” So Kamo from the East said: “You have walked three days and I have only walked one. Come back with me to my place.”

  Whereupon both Kamos went East together. On the night they arrived, a big snake swallowed Kamo of the East. That Kamo cried and cried from within the belly of the big snake until Kamo of the West heard him and woke up. He wanted to help his friend, but he remembered that the fortune-tellers had told him that he must not go out at night. He sat down, but thought to himself, “I know I’ll meet trouble if I go out, but how can I stay when my friend is in distress?” And so he went outside and found that the snake had swallowed all but the head of his friend. Taking his knife, then, Kamo from the We
st killed the snake by ripping his mouth open. In doing so, some of the blood from the snake flew into his eyes and he at once became blind.

  Now Kamo from the East was free, but he was sorry for his friend who had done so much for him and had been blinded in doing it. So Kamo from the East went to find a fortune-teller. The man cut sand, and told him, “You have one son; go and cut his throat, and take his blood for your friend to wash his face, and then his sight will be restored.” Kamo from the East went home and killed his son. Kamo from the West washed his face in the blood of his friend’s son, and immediately his sight was restored and his trouble was at an end.

  Who was the greater friend, Kamo of the East or Kamo of the West?

  —Vai

  23

  The Four Champions

  The Horny Head champion, the Penis champion, the Farting champion, and the Testicles champion set off on a journey together. They came to a town, where they lodged in the compound of the chief. Bundles of corn were sent to feed them from the chiefs storehouse—but the town had nowhere to thresh it!

  Then the Horny Head said, “May the chief’s life be prolonged! Here we are and yet they’re looking for a place to thresh. Let them come and do it on my head!” So they came and undid the bundles on Horny Head’s noggin.