Angela Carter's Book Of Fairy Tales

by Angela Carter

  So all the girls of the tribe decided to go. Only very small girls remained. As they left, the little sister of Diirawic said, ‘I want to go with you.’

  But they would not let her. ‘You are too young,’ they said. ‘You must stay.’

  ‘In that case,’ she said, ‘I will cry out loud and tell everyone your plan!’ And she started to cry out.

  ‘Hush, hush,’ said the girls. Then turning to Diirawic they said, ‘Let her come with us. She is a girl with a heart. She has already taken our side. If we die, we die together with her!’

  Diirawic accepted and they went. They walked; they walked and walked and walked, until they came to the borders between the human territory and the lion world. They carried their axes and their spears: they had everything they might need.

  They divided the work among themselves. Some cut the timber for rafters and poles. Others cut the grass for thatching. And they built for themselves an enormous house – a house far larger even than a cattle-byre. The number of girls was tremendous. They built many beds for themselves inside the hut and made a very strong door to make sure of their safety.

  Their only problem was that they had no food. But they found a large anthill, full of dried meat, grain, and all the other foodstuffs that they needed. They wondered where all this could have come from. But Diirawic explained to them, ‘Sisters, we are women and it is the woman who bears the human race. Perhaps God has seen our plight, and not wanting us to perish, has provided us with all this. Let us take it in good grace!’

  They did. Some went for firewood. Others fetched water. They cooked and ate. Every day they would dance the women’s dance in great happiness and then sleep.

  One evening a lion came in search of insects and found them dancing. But seeing such a large number of girls, he became frightened and left. Their number was such as would frighten anyone.

  It then occurred to the lion to turn into a dog and go into their compound. He did. He went there looking for droppings of food. Some girls hit him and chased him away. Others said, ‘Don’t kill him. He is a dog and dogs are friends!’

  But the sceptical ones said, ‘What kind of dog would be in this isolated world? Where do you think he came from?’

  Other girls said, ‘Perhaps he came all the way from the cattle camp, following us! Perhaps he thought the whole camp was moving and so he ran after us!’

  Diirawic’s sister was afraid of the dog. She had not seen a dog following them. And the distance was so great that the dog could not have travelled all the way alone. She worried but said nothing. Yet she could not sleep; she stayed awake while all the others slept.

  One night the lion came and knocked at the door. He had overheard the names of the older girls, one of them, Diirawic. After knocking at the door he said, ‘Diirawic, please open the door for me.’ The little girl who was awake answered, chanting:

  ‘Achol is asleep,

  Adau is asleep,

  Nyankiir is asleep,

  Diirawic is asleep,

  The girls are asleep!’

  The lion heard her and said, ‘Little girl, what is the matter with you, staying up so late?’

  She answered him, saying, ‘My dear man, it is thirst. I am suffering from a dreadful thirst.’

  ‘Why?’ asked the lion. ‘Don’t the girls fetch water from the river?’

  ‘Yes,’ answered the little girl, ‘they do. But since I was born, I do not drink water from a pot or a gourd. I drink only from a container made of reeds.’

  ‘And don’t they bring you water in such a container?’ asked the lion.

  ‘No,’ she said. ‘They only bring water in pots and gourds, even though there is a container of reeds in the house.’

  ‘Where is that container?’ asked the lion.

  ‘It is outside there on the platform!’ she answered.

  So he took it and left to fetch water for her.

  The container of reeds would not hold water. The lion spent much time trying to fix it with clay. But when he filled it, the water washed the clay away. The lion kept on trying until dawn. Then he returned with the container of reeds and put it back where it was. He then rushed back to the bush before the girls got up.

  This went on for many nights. The little girl slept only during the daytime. The girls rebuked her for this, saying, ‘Why do you sleep in the daytime? Can’t you sleep at night? Where do you go at night?’

  She did not tell them anything. But she worried. She lost so much weight that she became very bony.

  One day Diirawic spoke to her sister and said, ‘Nyanaguek, my mother’s daughter, what is making you so lean? I told you to remain at home. This is too much for a child your age! Is it your mother you are missing? I will not allow you to make the other girls miserable. If necessary, daughter of my mother, I will kill you.’

  But Diirawic’s sister would not reveal the truth. The girls went on rebuking her but she would not tell them what she knew.

  One day, she broke down and cried, and then said, ‘My dear sister, Diirawic, I eat, as you see. In fact, I get plenty of food, so much that I do not finish what I receive. But even if I did not receive enough food, I have an enduring heart. Perhaps I am able to endure more than any of you here. What I am suffering from is something none of you has seen. Every night a lion gives me great trouble. It is just that I am a person who does not speak. That animal you thought to be a dog is a lion. I remain awake at night to protect us all and then sleep in the daytime. He comes and knocks at the door. Then he asks for you by name to open the door. I sing back to him and tell him that you are all asleep. When he wonders why I am awake, I tell him it is because I am thirsty. I explain that I only drink out of a container made of reeds and that the girls bring water only in pots and gourds. Then he goes to fetch water for me. And seeing that he cannot stop the water from flowing out of the container, he returns towards dawn and disappears, only to be back the following night. So that is what is destroying me, my dear sister. You blame me in vain.’

  ‘I have one thing to tell you,’ said Diirawic. ‘Just be calm and when he comes, do not answer. I will remain awake with you.’

  They agreed. Diirawic took a large spear that they had inherited from their ancestors and remained awake, close to the door. The lion came at his usual hour. He came to the door, but somehow he became afraid and jumped away without knocking. He had a feeling that something was going on.

  So he left and stayed away for some time. Then he returned to the door towards dawn. He said, ‘Diirawic, open the door for me!’ There was only silence. He repeated his request. Still there was only silence. He said, ‘Well! The little girl who always answered me is at last dead!’

  He started to break through the door, and when he succeeded in pushing his head in, Diirawic attacked him with the large spear, forcing him back into the courtyard.

  ‘Please, Diirawic,’ he pleaded, ‘do not kill me.’

  ‘Why not?’ asked Diirawic. ‘What brought you here?’

  ‘I only came in search of a sleeping place!’

  ‘Well, I am killing you for that,’ said Diirawic.

  ‘Please allow me to be your brother,’ the lion continued to plead. ‘I will never attempt to hurt anyone again. I will go away if you don’t want me here. Please!’

  So Diirawic let him go. He went. But before he had gone a long way, he returned and said to the girls then gathered outside, ‘I am going, but I will be back in two days with all my horned cattle.’

  Then he disappeared. After two days, he came back with all his horned cattle, as he had promised. Then he addressed the girls, saying, ‘Here I have come. It is true that I am a lion. I want you to kill that big bull in the herd. Use its meat for taming me. If I live with you untamed, I might become wild at night and attack you. And that would be bad. So kill the bull and tame me by teasing me with the meat.’

  They agreed. So they fell on him and beat him so much that his fur made a storm on his back as it fell off.

  They killed th
e bull and roasted the meat. They would bring a fat piece of meat close to his mouth, then pull it away. A puppy dog would jump out of the saliva which dripped from the lion’s mouth. They would give the puppy a fatal blow on the head. Then they would beat the lion again. Another piece of fat meat would be held close to his mouth, then pulled away, and another puppy would jump out of the falling saliva. They would give it a blow on the head and beat the lion some more. Four puppies emerged, and all four were killed.

  Yet the lion’s mouth streamed with a wild saliva. So they took a large quantity of steaming hot broth and poured it down his throat, clearing it of all the remaining saliva. His mouth remained wide open and sore. He could no longer eat anything. He was fed only milk, poured down his throat. He was then released. For four months, he was nursed as a sick person. His throat continued to hurt for all this time. Then he recovered.

  The girls remained for another year. It was now five years since they had left home.

  The lion asked the girls why they had left their home. The girls asked him to address his questions to Diirawic, as she was their leader. So he turned to Diirawic and asked the same question.

  ‘My brother wanted to make me his wife,’ explained Diirawic. ‘I killed him for that. I did not want to remain in a place where I had killed my own brother. So I left. I did not care about my life. I expected such dangers as finding you. If you had eaten me, it would have been no more than I expected.’

  ‘Well, I have now become a brother to you all,’ said the lion. ‘As an older brother, I think I should take you all back home. My cattle have since multiplied. They are yours. If you find that your land has lost its herds, these will replace them. Otherwise they will increase the cattle already there, because I have become a member of your family. Since your only brother is dead, let me be in the place of Teeng, your brother. Cool your heart and return home.’

  He pleaded with Diirawic for about three months. Finally she agreed, but cried a great deal. When the girls saw her cry, they all cried. They cried and cried because their leader, Diirawic, had cried.

  The lion slaughtered a bull to dry their tears. They ate the meat. Then he said to them, ‘Let us wait for three more days, and then leave!’

  They slaughtered many bulls in sacrifice to bless the territory they crossed as they returned, throwing meat away everywhere they passed. As they did so, they prayed, ‘This is for the animals and the birds that have helped keep us healthy for all this time without death or illness in our midst. May God direct you to share in this meat.’

  They had put one bull into their big house and locked the house praying, ‘Our dear house, we give you this bull. And you bull, if you should break the rope and get out of the house, that will be a sign of grace from the hut. If you should remain inside, then we bequeath you this hut as we leave.’ And they left.

  All this time the people at home were in mourning. Diirawic’s father never shaved his head. He left the ungroomed hair of mourning on his head and did not care about his appearance. Her mother, too, was in the same condition. She covered herself with ashes so that she looked grey. The rest of the parents mourned, but everyone mourned especially for Diirawic. They did not care as much for their own daughters as they did for Diirawic.

  The many men who had wanted to marry Diirawic also neglected themselves in mourning. Young men and girls wore only two beads. But older people and children wore no beads at all.

  All the girls came and tethered their herds a distance from the village. They all looked beautiful. Those who had been immature had grown into maturity. The older ones had now reached the peak of youth and beauty. They had blossomed and had also become wiser and adept with words.

  The little boy who was Diirawic’s youngest brother had now grown up. Diirawic resembled her mother, who had been an extremely beautiful girl. Even in her old age, she still retained her beauty and her resemblance to her daughter still showed.

  The little boy had never really known his sister, as he was too young when the girls left. But when he saw Diirawic in the newly arrived cattle camp, he saw a clear resemblance to his mother. He knew that his two sisters and the other girls of the camp had disappeared. So he came and said, ‘Mother, I saw a girl in the cattle camp who looks like she could be my sister, even though I do not remember my sisters.’

  ‘Child, don’t you feel shame? How can you recognise people who left soon after you were born? How can you recall people long dead? This is evil magic! This is the work of an evil spirit!’ She started to cry, and all the women joined her in crying.

  Age-sets came running from different camps to show her sympathy. They all cried, even as they tried to console her with words.

  Then came Diirawic with the girls and said, ‘My dear woman, permit us to shave off your mourning hair. And all of you, let us shave off your mourning hair!’

  Surprised by her words, they said, ‘What has happened that we should shave off our mourning hair?’

  Then Diirawic asked them why they were in mourning. The old woman started to cry as Diirawic spoke, and said, ‘My dear girl, I lost a girl like you. She died five years ago, and five years is a long time. If she had died only two or even three years ago, I might have dared to say you are my daughter. As it is, I can’t. But seeing you, my dear daughter, has cooled my heart.’

  Diirawic spoke again, saying, ‘Dear Mother, every child is a daughter. As I stand in front of you, I feel as though I were your daughter. So please listen to what I say as though I were your own daughter. We have all heard of you and your famed name. We have come from a very far-off place because of you. Please allow us to shave your head. I offer five cows as a token of my request.’

  ‘Daughter,’ said the woman, ‘I shall honour your request, but not because of the cows – I have no use for cattle. Night and day, I think of nothing but my lost Diirawic. Even this child you see means nothing to me compared to my lost child, Diirawic. What grieves me is that God has refused to answer my prayers. I have called upon our clan spirits and I have called upon my ancestors, and they do not listen. This I resent. I will listen to your words, my daughter. The fact that God has brought you along and put these words into your mouth is enough to convince me.’

  So she was shaved. Diirawic gave the woman beautiful leather skirts made from skins of animals they killed on the way. They were not from the hides of cattle, sheep or goats. She decorated the edges of the skirts with beautiful beads and made bead designs of cattle figures on the skirts. On the bottom of the skirts she left the beautiful natural furs of the animals.

  The woman cried and Diirawic pleaded with her to wear them. She and the girls went and brought milk from their own cattle and made a feast. Diirawic’s father welcomed the end of mourning. But her mother continued to cry as she saw all the festivities.

  So Diirawic came to her and said, ‘Mother, cool your heart. I am Diirawic.’

  Then she shrieked with cries of joy. Everyone began to cry – old women, small girls, everyone. Even blind women dragged themselves out of their huts, feeling their way with sticks, and cried. Some people died as they cried. Drums were taken out and for seven days, people danced with joy. Men came from distant villages, each with seven bulls to sacrifice for Diirawic. The other girls were almost abandoned. All were concerned with Diirawic.

  People danced and danced. They said, ‘Diirawic, if God has brought you, then nothing is bad. That is what we wanted.’

  Then Diirawic said, ‘I have come back. But I have come with this man to take the place of my brother Teeng.’

  ‘Very well,’ agreed the people. ‘Now there is nothing to worry about.’

  There were two other Teengs. Both were sons of chiefs. Each one came forward, asking to marry Diirawic. It was decided that they should compete. Two large kraals were to be made. Each man was to fill his kraal with cattle. The kraals were built. The men began to fill them with cattle. One Teeng failed to fill his kraal. The other Teeng succeeded so well that some cattle even remained outside.


  Diirawic said, ‘I will not marry anyone until my new brother is given four girls to be his wives. Only then shall I accept the man my people want.’

  People listened to her words. Then they asked her how the man became her brother. So she told the whole story from its beginning to its end.

  The people agreed with her and picked four of the finest girls for her new brother. Diirawic then accepted the man who had won the competition. She was given to her husband and she continued to treat the lion-man as her full brother. She gave birth first to a son and then to a daughter. She bore twelve children. But when the thirteenth child was born, he had the characteristics of a lion. Her lion-brother had brought his family to her village and was living there when the child was born. The fields of Diirawic and her brother were next to each other. Their children played together. As they played, the small lion-child, then still a baby, would put on leather skirts and sing. When Diirawic returned, the children told her, but she dismissed what they said. ‘You are liars. How can such a small child do these things?’

  They would explain to her that he pinched them and dug his nails into their skins and would suck blood from the wounds. Their mother simply dismissed their complaints as lies.

  But the lion-brother began to wonder about the child. He said, ‘Does a newly born human being behave the way this child behaves?’ Diirawic tried to dispel his doubts.

  But one day her brother hid and saw the child dancing and singing in a way that convinced him that the child was a lion and not a human being. So he went to his sister and said, ‘What you bore was a lion! What shall we do?’

  The woman said, ‘What do you mean? He is my child and should be treated as such.’

  ‘I think we should kill him,’ said the lion-brother.

  ‘That is impossible,’ she said. ‘How can I allow my child to be killed? He will get used to human ways and will cease to be aggressive.’

  ‘No,’ continued the lion. ‘Let us kill him by poison if you want to be gentle with him.’