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Folktales

Why Woman Has No Devil

When God brought Devil to earth he decided to give it into the keeping of Woman. “For,” he said, “She can keep things better than Man.”

When he reached earth he found all the people sitting together in one place. He put Devil down before all the people and said: “Wait, I will return soon,” and went away.

While he was gone a small boy came running and told them there were plenty of mushrooms down the road. All the women ran down the road to find mushrooms. God returned and found only a man watching Devil. He said:

“Oh, the woman hold mushroom palaver hard and have already forgotten Devil. If I give them Devil they will be sure to lose him. Therefore I will give Devil to Man, and Woman can find her ‘devil’ where the mushrooms are.”

The only devil the woman found was a tortoise eating a mushroom. They brought it back, ate the flesh, and began to beat the shell and dance. Man said:

“Ah, that is the woman’s devil!

How when the Devil comes to town he cries:

“Women, go inside and hold mushrooms palaver!”

Women are not allowed to go see Devil.