African Folktales

by Roger Abrahams

  They arrived at Nkuba’s. Nkuba asked him: “My friend Mwindo, you acted wrongly when you dared to kill my friend Dragon, when you roasted his eyes so that the odor drifted up to me, so that I smelled it in the air. If only you had made the odor descend to earth, then I would not have been angry.” Nkuba still said to Mwindo: “I have rescued you many times from many dangers, so now you show that you are equal to me.”

  Mwindo arrived there at Nkuba’s. He felt there much cold, and the icy wind there was strong. No house! They lived there in wandering, no settling in one spot. Nkuba seized Mwindo, he climbed up with him to Rain. When Rain saw Mwindo, he told him: “You, Mwindo, never accept being criticized. Word of your toughness, your heroism, we surely have heard those stories. But here there is no room for your heroism.” Rain fell upon Mwindo seven and seven times more. He made hail fall upon him, and he soaked him thoroughly. Mwindo said: “This time I am in trouble in every way.” Nkuba lifted Mwindo up again. He had him ramble across Moon’s territory. When Moon saw Mwindo, he pointed at him: “We heard you were tough, but here in the sky there is no room for your pride.” Moon burned Mwindo’s hair. Mwindo complained: “O, father Shemwindo, bless me, and may my scepter not get out of my hands.” Nkuba lifted Mwindo up again. He went and climbed up with him to the domain of Sun. When Sun saw Mwindo, he harassed him with heat. Mwindo lacked all means of defense against Sun—his throat became dry, his thirst strangulated him. He asked for water. They said to him: “No, there is never any water. Now we advise you to grit your teeth and take it.” After Sun had made Mwindo sustain these pains, Nkuba lifted Mwindo up. He went and and made him arrive in the domain of Star. When Star saw him, he pointed him out. He told him: “We have heard that surely you are very tough, but here there is no room for your heroism.” Star ordered Rain and Sun to come.

  All—Nkuba, Rain, Sun, Star—all those gave Mwindo but one message: “We have respect for you, just that much. Otherwise, you would vanish right here. You, Mwindo, you are ordered to go back. Never a day should you kill an animal of the forest or of the village or even an insect like a centipede. If one day we learn the news that you begin to kill anything of these forbidden things, then you will die, then your people will never see you again.” They pulled his ears seven times and seven more, saying: “Do you understand?” And he: “Yes, I have understood.” They also said to Mwindo: “It is Nkuba here who is your guardian. If you have done wrong, it is Nkuba who will give us the news, and that day he will seize you all at once, without any chance to say goodbye to your people.”

  After Nkuba had made Mwindo ramble everywhere through the sky, they gave him the right to return home. On his return, Mwindo had by then spent one year in the sky, seeing all the good and all the bad things that are there. Nkuba raised Mwindo up. He returned with him home to Tubondo. Mwindo threw sweet words into his mouth. He sang:

  Mwindo was already arriving

  Where Shemwindo had remained.

  Where Shemwindo had remained

  Mwindo was already arriving.

  He who went away returns.

  Shemwindo brought forth a hero.

  What will die and what will be safe,

  O my senior sister, may it join Mwindo!

  My friend Nkuba, be victorious.

  Let me go to Tubondo,

  To Tubondo, village of my mothers.

  May I see my mother,

  I descend here in Tubondo,

  In father’s village, my dearest one.

  The will says: “Mwindo, if you kill an animal, then you die.”

  O Mwindo, never try again!

  From now on may you refuse meat.

  Nkuba said:

  “Never try again.”

  When Nkuba was returning with Mwindo, he went on slowly descending with him. He went and let him down in the very middle of the village place of Tubondo. When his father, Shemwindo, saw his son being brought back by Nkuba, he rewarded Nkuba with a maiden dressed with a bracelet of copper, Nkuba’s metal. They also gave him the prescribed white fowl. It is there that the custom of celebrating the cult of Nkuba originated. From then on they always dedicated to him a maiden wearing a copper bracelet. After Nkuba had received his gift, he returned to his domain in the sky.

  When Mwindo had rested, he assembled all his people. He told them: “I, Mwindo, the Little One Just Born He Walked, performer of many wonderful things, I tell you the news of the place from where I have come in the sky. When I arrived in the sky, I met with Rain and Moon and Sun and Kubikubi Star and Lightning. These five personages forbade me to kill the animals of the forest, of the rivers, and of the village, saying that the day I would dare touch a thing in order to kill it, that day the fire would be extinguished. Then Nkuba would come to take me without saying farewell to my people, then the return would be lost forever.” He also told them: “I have seen in the sky things unseen which I cannot divulge.” When they had finished listening to Mwindo’s words, those who were there dispersed. Shemwindo’s and Nyamwindo’s many hairs had gone “high as that,” as the long hairs of the ghost of the forest, and in Tubondo, the drums had not sounded anymore, the rooster had not crowed anymore. On the day that Mwindo appeared there, his father’s and his mother’s long hairs were shaved, and the roosters crowed, and that day all the drums were being beaten all around, throughout the earth and in the sky.

  When Mwindo was in his village, his fame grew and traveled widely. He passed laws for all his people, saying:

  May you grow many foods and many crops.

  May you live in good houses, may you moreover live in a beautiful village.

  Don’t quarrel with one another.

  Don’t pursue another’s spouse.

  Don’t mock the invalid passing in the village.

  And he who seduces another’s wife will be killed!

  Accept the chief. Fear him. May he also fear you.

  May you agree with one another, all together, no enmity in the land nor too much hate.

  May you bring forth tall and short children—in so doing you will bring them forth for the chief.

  After Mwindo had spoken like that, he went from then on to remain always in his village. He had much fame, and his father and his mother, and his wives and his people! His great fame went throughout his country, it spread into other countries, and other people from other countries came to pay allegiance to him.

  Part V

  Making a Way Through Life

  Introduction

  L

  ooking at these stories only in terms of the types of narrative that are unique to Africa, may leave the impression that the courtship-quest sort of tale, so common in the West, is seldom found there. In fact, however, a very great part of the repertoire of the subcontinent is given over to such stories. But because they draw upon the complex cultural institutions of courtship, marriage, and the correct manner of keeping a household, such tales are often extremely difficult to understand for an outsider—even another African. Too much esoteric information is required. Nevertheless, there are a few tales sufficiently accessible to at least illustrate the type here.

  Many of the stories in this chapter employ the same language and situations we have seen in the wonder tales. And like them, they are told both for purposes of entertainment, and to impart practical and moral instruction about correct behavior. Some, like the first tale, “Salt, Sauce and Spice, Onion Leaves, Pepper, and Drippings,” are fanciful in theme and spirit, and directly concerned with courtship tests. “The Cloth of Pembe Mirui,” on the other hand, focuses on the question of how to keep a wife, whom you love, happy.

  A number of these stories are directly concerned with the fortunes of women successfully making their way through life by means of marriage and otherwise. For instance, both “The Child in the Reeds” and “A Woman’s Quest,” are unusual in that a woman plays the active role. The former concerns a child hidden away in the reeds, a similar situation to that in “Mandu,” but this time the child is a girl. She goes through initi
ation, and after a short period emerges fully grown. In the latter story, there is also a turnabout. A handsome man is pursued by women, and it is they who must journey, undergo trials, and obtain a magical helper.

  “The Three Sisters” is also concerned with the role of women. This story is an African King Lear, a pointed tale of what happens when a man’s favoritism towards one of his three daughters-in-law results in jealousy on the part of the other two and the subsequent death of the first.

  Some of the stories in this section are, like those in section three, concerned with the doings of Trickster, but this time when he’s courting. Tales like “Chameleon into Needle,” maintain the comical style of the earlier stories, but they are included here not for their humor, but for the insight they provide into the details and intense feelings of the courtship process. The similar tale, “The Wooing Battle,” treats the same themes and uses some of the same characters, but does it in a more serious tone.

  Finally, “The Old Woman with Sores” and “How it Pays Sometimes to be Small,” illustrate some of the problems of establishing understanding across cultural lines. These stories, which come not from a village setting, but from the forest Pygmies of the Ituri, relate familiar kinds of tales of wooing and winning. The first story, however, also concerns itself with problems these small hunting and foraging people have in dealing with their larger neighbors, especially those who constantly try to take advantage of them. The second concerns the getting of honey as the basis of a bride-price payment. This is especially significant because the Ituri are the honey gatherers for their sedentary gardening and cattle-keeping neighbors, and, as a result, are involved in complicated exchange-relationships with them. Thus, in both stories, an intricate social drama is reenacted for us, but one which is fully comprehensible only when we recognize that the Pygmies must constantly overcome the stereotypical view of them held by their neighbors.

  80

  Salt, Sauce, and Spice, Onion Leaves, Pepper, and Drippings

  This story is about Salt, and Sauce and Spice, and Onion Leaves, and Pepper and Drippings. A story, a story! Let it go, let it come. Salt and Sauce and Spice and Onion Leaves and Pepper and Drippings heard a report of a certain youth who was very handsome, but the son of the evil spirit. They all rose up, turned into beautiful maidens, and then they set off.

  As they were going along, Drippings lagged behind the others, who drove her still further off, telling her she stank. But she crouched down and hid until they had gone on, and then she kept following them. When they had reached a certain stream, where they came across an old woman who was bathing, Drippings thought they would rub down her back for her if she asked, but one said, “May Allah save me that I should lift my hand to touch an old woman’s back.” The old woman did not say anything more, and the five passed on.

  Soon Drippings came along, encountered the old woman washing, and greeted her. She answered, and said, “Maiden, where are you going?” Drippings replied, “I am going to find a certain youth.” And the old woman asked her, too, to rub her back, but unlike the others, Drippings agreed. After she had rubbed her back well for her, the old woman said, “May Allah bless you.” And she said, too, “This young man to whom you are all going, do you know his name?” Drippings said, “No, we do not know his name.” Then the old woman told her, “He is my son, his name is Daskandarini, but you must not tell the others,” then she fell silent.

  Drippings continued to follow far behind the others till they got to the place where the young man dwelled. They were about to go in when he called out to them, “Go back, and enter one at a time,” which they did.

  Salt came forward first and was about to enter, when the voice asked, “Who is there?” “It is I,” she replied, “I, Salt, who make the soup tasty.” He said, “What is my name?” She said, “I do not know your name, little boy, I do not know your name.” Then he told her, “Go back, young lady, go back,” and she did.

  Next Sauce came forward. When she was about to enter, she, too, was asked, “Who are you?” She answered, “My name is Sauce and I make the soup sweet.” And he said, “What is my name?” But she did not know, either, and so he said, “Turn back, little girl, turn back.”

  Then Spice rose up and came forward, and she was about to enter when she was asked, “Who is this, young lady, who is this?” She said, “It is I who greet you, young man, it is I who greet you.” “What is your name, young girl, what is your name?” “My name is Spice, who makes the soup savory.” “I have heard your name, young woman, I have heard your name. Speak mine.” She said, “I do not know your name, little boy, I do not know your name.” “Turn back, young lady, turn back.” So she turned back, and sat down.

  Then Onion Leaves came and stuck her head into the room. “Who is this, young girl, who is this?” asked the voice. “It is I who salute you, young man, it is I who salute you.” “What is your name, little girl, what is your name?” “My name is Onion Leaves, who makes the soup smell nicely.” He said, “I heard your name, little girl. What is my name?” But she didn’t know it and so she also had to turn back.

  Now Pepper came along. She said, “Your pardon, young man, your pardon.” She was asked who was there. She said, “It is I, Pepper, young man, it is I, Pepper, who make the soup hot.” “I have heard your name, young lady. Tell me my name.” “I do not know your name, young man, I do not know your name.” He said, “Turn back, young maid, turn back.”

  Now only Drippings was left. When the others asked her if she was going in she said, “Can I enter the house where such good people as you have gone and been driven away? Would not they the sooner drive out one who stinks?” They said, “Rise up and go in,” for they wanted Drippings, too, to fail.

  So she got up and went in there. When the voice asked her who she was, she said “My name is Drippings, little boy, my name is Batso, which makes the soup smell.” He said, “I have heard your name. There remains my name to be told.” She said, “Daskandarini, young man, Daskandarini.” And he said, “Enter.” A rug was spread for her, clothes were given to her, and slippers of gold. And then of Salt, Sauce, Spice, Onion Leaves, and Pepper, who before had despised her, one said, “I will always sweep for you,” another, “I will pound for you,” another, “I will draw water for you.” another, “I will pound the ingredients of the soup for you,” and another, “I will stir the food for you.” They all became her handmaidens. And the moral of all this is that it is from such common things that our most blessed foods are made. So just as such common stuff may be transformed under the right circumstance, if you see a man is poor, do not despise him. You do not know but that someday he may be better than you. That is all.

  —Hausa

  81

  The Old Woman with Sores

  One day a young Pygmy decided to go and look for a wife. He heard that there was a beautiful girl of marriageable age only two villages away, so he set off in that direction. As he passed the first village, an old woman called out to him. “Come here young man!” she cried. The young Pygmy turned around to see who was calling him, and he saw an old, old woman, sitting on the ground, hugging her knees. Horrible to look at, she was readied unto sickness and all covered with sores. He answered her: “You are very ill, Mother, and I don’t want to get sick. I am passing through on my way to get married and I won’t go near you!” “Very well then, go ahead,” said the old woman, and the young man went to the next village.

  When he reached the next village, he saw a kind-looking elder sitting outside his house, singing. The young Pygmy greeted him and sat down. The elder went on singing for a while, then said: “There’s a young girl here, looking for a young man just like you!” The Pygmy was delighted at his good fortune, and said: “Fine I’ll sleep here, then.” Then, the two of them made songs together for that is what Pygmies are known for. When evening came, the young Pygmy went in and slept with the girl. When he was fast asleep, the elder crept into the room and killed him.

  The next morning, one of the y
oung Pygmy brothers said: “Our brother went down the road and hasn’t come back. I’ll go and follow him.” And he left by the same path. As he passed the first village, the diseased old woman was still sitting on the ground, hugging her knees. “Come here, young man!” she called. The Pygmy looked around to see who was summoning him, and then he hurried on all the more quickly, saying: “You are all covered with sores, old woman, and I don’t want to get sick. I won’t come near you!” “Very well then, go ahead,” croaked the woman.

  The Pygmy went on until he reached the next village, where he saw the kind-looking elder sitting outside his house, singing. “Have you seen my brother?” asked the young Pygmy after they had exchanged greetings. “Oh yes!” answered the man. “He came yesterday and passed the night here. He is out walking in the village just now. Why don’t you sit down awhile?”

  So the young Pygmy sat down, and the elder told him that there was a fine young girl in the house, looking for a husband just like him. The Pygmy was delighted. “Fine!” he said, “I’ll sleep here then.” And the two of them started singing away together. Night fell, and the Pygmy went into the young girl’s room and slept with her, as his brother had done. While he was sleeping, the elder crept in and killed him, too.

  The third Pygmy was very worried when neither of his two brothers returned, and the next morning he set off to find them. As he passed the first village, the old woman with sores was sitting on the ground, hugging her knees. She looked up and called out: “Come here, young man!” The young Pygmy turned to see who was speaking to him, and went up to the old woman. “Well, mother, what can I do for you?” he asked. “There is a wicked old man in the next village,” said the woman. “He sits outside his house and sings. He traps young Pygmies like you by telling them of his beautiful daughter. He has killed your two brothers, and when you go in to sleep with his daughter, he will try to kill you.”