Category: Folktales

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Ethnic Origin

The Origin of the Gbeta

Men tell an ancient story of the first Gbeta man, who was the father of the Gbeta people.

Judu Kuhn To was a member of the Pahn centuries ago, and more; and Pahn settled among the Manii on the upper reaches of the Jedani or St. John River. Judu Kuhn To was a sad and lonely man, for although he was married to a gentle wife, he had no children, and he felt his life was only half the life a man should have.

Youth passed from the childless couple, but they still prayed fervently to Nyiswa that he might bless them with a child: and eventually he did this thing.

In her old age the woman conceived, and Judu Kahn To took her away from the village that their secret might be kept and she could bear her child in peace: for younger women might have laughed at her. He took her to a sick-bush, and all things were made ready for the child.

When it was born a servant who had visited them spread certain reports in the village. She said that although the woman had indeed been sick with a swollen belly, it was actually a sheep who had given birth to the child, and left it at the door of Judu Kahn To. And since the woman was beyond her fertile years, people believed the tale.

The child was called Kangbi (shut door), and everyone except his parents thought he was the miracle-child of sheep.

Kangbi grew up to be a strong and handsome young man, but when he wished to take a wife no girl would live with him; they thought his mother was a sheep. This made Kangbi sad and lonely.

As he was going forth to harvest rice one day he saw a beautiful maiden passing by, carrying a small basket on her head, and he wondered who she was and what lucky man would win her; but when he returned to his house that afternoon she was sitting in his kitchen preparing his evening meal. He was not at all alarmed; it gave him melancholy pleasure to see a lovely maiden in his kitchen, where no maiden had ever been before.

“Greetings, and welcome,” he said. “My name is Kangbi, and this is my house. My food is your food, and my house is your house for as long as you may wish to stay.”

“I thank you for your courtesy,” she said. “I come from Nyiswa. It is said that you are the son of a sheep, and for this falsehood no girl will marry you; so God has sent me to be your wife.”

She said she had no name and that he should call her (name lost). Kangbi gladly took her as his wife. He love her well, and she loved him, and when she bore a son his life was full. The boy was named Gbe.

Gbe had twelve sons, each of whom developed a ‘house’ which eventually became a clan.

Today there are still twelve Gbeta clans; Gbeta means the home or ‘house’ of Gbe.

Kru women still make and use a certain type of basket in memory of the one Nyenema carried on her head.

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Folktales

How Ji Choose a Mate

Leopard’s daughter Ji was the most beautiful of all the animals; the young male animals made love to her, and the other girls were jealous.

Leopard arranged that a great feast should be held in honor of his daughter, and at the feast Ji would choose the animal whom she wished to marry.

The animals washed and dressed in fine raiment and quarreled jealously among themselves as to which among them would win the fair Ji’s hand; there was palaver everywhere and no one’s head was safe.

For a long time Tortoise could not make up his mind whether to go or not; he was a humble animal but was becoming rather tired of being a rubbish heap for everyone else’s rude remarks. He knew he was ugly and did not mind very much. He just became tired of being told so.

But, since he secretly loved Ji, he finally decided he would go to the feast and pay her his respects, for even in affairs of the heart Tortoise was a gentleman. He bathed in a stream and scrubbed his back till it gleamed and glinted with a glass-like polish. He rubbed his paws and his head till they shone, perfumed his shell, and set off for the meeting.

Ji was dancing with Denyne the Antelope when Tortoise arrived, and when the music stopped Tortoise gave her his seat and gravely bowed to her with humble dignity. Among the bold and brash young animals who courted her, Tortoise’s polished manners stood out like flowers on rocky ground.

“A shy and retiring personality,” she thought, “but oh, such pretty manners!”

Antelope tried to talk with her, but she had eyes only for Tortoise’s shining shell. Antelope followed the direction of her gaze, and decided to bring shame on Tortoise. He quickly made up a song, and then began singing in a loud voice for everyone to hear.This was the song which Antelope sang:

“Ne Kwla na? Is this Tortoise? Nynepei wlala ti. All the animals are present. Tee Ji pe wlala ti. All the Leopards are present. Denynepo wlala ti, All the Antelopes are here, O Ji nyene pen. And he comes to look for a wife. A hji ne. All of you see him. Ne Kwla na, This Tortoise here, O sa ten ken. He has no pride.”

But even before Antelope had finished his song, Ji crossed over to Tortoise and put her arms around him. She turned to Father Leopard, saying

“Father, this is the animal I wish to marry . . . if he will agree. He is an animal of dignity and noble manners, and I beg that he will let me be his wife.”

So it was that Tortoise won the fair and lovely Ji, and the pride and vanity of other animals grew pale and died.

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Folktales

The Woman Who Knew Her Child

Two women called Tane and Bea were traveling through the forest. Each of them had a baby son, and the two sons were alike as a pair of eggs. They came to a river.

They were crossing the river in a canoe when the canoe sank. They both reached the shore, but only one of the babies was saved. The two women argued.

“He is mine!” Tane declared. “Give him to me!”

“Do I not know my own son?” cried Bea. “Such foolishness you talk!”

“Oh, for shame! You steal my child!”

They could not agree, so they went to a Wise Man. The Wise Man listened, and then said:

“It seems to me that the child belongs to both of you. Therefore it must be cut in half with a knife, and you will each receive a portion. Which half do you each want?”

Tane was silent, but Bea was big-eyed with anger.

“Would you kill the child?” she protested. “He belongs to me, but rather than see him killed I will give him whole to Tane.”

“Ha!” said the Wise Man. “Here we have a thing: one can begin to see the truth. Only she who was not the mother of the child could bear to have him cut in half. Tane is not the mother. The child belongs to Bea, who would rather lose him whole and alive then possess half of him dead.”

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Folktales

How Turtle Drowned Leopard in the Sea

The night sky was bright with glowing stars and a small-small sea breeze was blowing inshore; the moon was a dull and misty orange slipping down behind the edge of the ocean.

Turtle looked outside and saw what a nice night it was, and decided to go for a walk along the beach and lay her eggs. She went quite a long way, waited quietly by a palm until she felt sure no one was watching, then dug a hole in the sand and began to lay her eggs.

Leopard happened to be walking along the beach too. He found Turtle’s tracks, and since he had nothing better to do he followed them to see where Turtle was going. He saw Turtle laying eggs, and began to wonder what the taste of such an egg might be. He crept silently up behind her, took an egg and tasted it.

Turtle’s eggs, Leopard thought, were very good to eat.

As fast as she could lay eggs Leopard ate them; but at last he became too greedy. He could not wait; he reached inside her to get eggs faster . . . Turtle suddenly snapped her shell down hard, and Leopard’s paw seemed to be trapped by jaws of bone.

She dragged him down the beach, into the water, and out among the waves.

Leopard could not escape. He drowned.

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Folktales

The Stupidity of Bug-A-Bug

Two orphan-brothers who were poor went to a rich man and asked for money so that they could trade. The rich man loaned them money, but instead of using it to trade they bought wine and the best food and lived happily for several days.

When there were only two pieces of money left the two orphans agreed that they would have to do something. There was no longer enough money to begin trading, so they resolved to make a farm and plant corn; with the money they gained from the crop they could pay the rich man back.

They made the farm, but when the crop came Bapoh, the bush hen, ate it. The two orphans took Bapoh to the rich man.

“Bapoh ate our crop, and we cannot pay you back.”

Bapoh promised to pay herself, with eggs. But Elephant walked on her nest and crushed the eggs, and Bapoh took him to the rich man.

“Elephant promised to pay with money he earned by working. A Hunter shot Elephant in the foot so that he could no longer work; the hunter took over the debt and said he would pay with the game he killed.

But hunter was lamed when his foot caught in the root of a tree, and since he could no longer hunt the debt was passed on to the tree.

“I will pay with my fruit,” said Tree; but Bug-a-bug (termite) ate the fruit and starting eating the tree as well.

“I cannot pay,” tree said to the rich man. “Bug-a-bug is eating me.”

“I will pay,” said Bug-a-bug. “I will surely pay the debt.”

But Bug-a-bug is a foolish and dull-witted creature, just an eater of wood, and he did not really know what he was saying. The only thing he could do was eat, and since he had to pay a debt he thought he could pay it just by eating. He ate and ate, and he is still eating.

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Folktales

How Vain Antelope Was Humbled

Antelope grew lonely living in the forest by himself, so he went to Deer to ask if he could have Deer’s daughter as a wife.

When he arrived at the house he was well received, and his request met with the approval of both Deer and his wife. They were quite willing to let Antelope marry their only daughter.

As was the custom, the prospective son-in-law was called on during the farming season to help clear the bush. Antelope arrived as night was falling, and Mother Deer offered him some beans. During the farming season when there is no rice, beans are the staple food; but

Antelope was vain, and would not eat the beans. He said he only ate white rice, and that common beans were not fit food for such superior animals as himself. Good Mother Deer apologized.
“I’m sorry, Antelope, we have nothing else.”

Antelope went to bed hungry; and when he rose in the morning he was much hungrier. He was in the kitchen early, watching Mother Deer preparing food. She put a pot of beans on the fire with palm oil, pepper, salt and leaves for seasoning, and then she went to fetch water with her little iron anklets singing ‘clink-clank.’

Antelope crossed to the fire, quietly lifted the palm-butter strainer off the pot, and sucked up bones as fast as he could, even though they were not properly cooked.

In a little while he heard Mother Deer’s anklets singing ‘clink-clank, clink-clank’ as she returned. Quickly he clapped his hat on the pot and put the palm-butter strainer on his head. He was so nervous he did not notice what he had done.

Mother Deer came in and he sat quietly and seriously opposite her with the palm-butter strainer on his head.
Mother Deer saw this, and was amazed.

“But my son!” she cried, “what do you have on your head?”

Suddenly Antelope realized what he had done. Such a fool he had made of himself! He ran out of the door and into the forest, and he never returned.

Those who put themselves in high places are in danger of falling down.

Categories
Ethnic Origin

The Loma and Mende

The Loma and the Mende came from the northeast, skirting the great Mandingo Plateau. They settled among the mountains and High Forests of northern Liberia, a wild and remote watershed where five of the nation’s greatest rivers find their source.

The Loma were a vigorous and warlike people and today they are relied upon to furnish some of the best recruits for the Liberian Frontier Force?

The Loma pressed against the peoples south of them, and were engaged in sporadic feuds with their neighbors. When a powerful Mandingo raiding force came down from the Mandingo homeland in the north, led by a man named Foli, a Loma Chief called Nyakwe joined the raiders with his army.

The Mandingo-Loma combination made a treaty with the Kpelle, attacked the Gola and drove them west into uninhabited forests. The raiders carried the war into Via territory, and it is said that Yabakwa on the Japala Creek was founded by these warriors.

The Loma later turned against the Kpelle, and a warrior called Bau led his people into battle. Amongst many places the Loma captured was Malawo Hill, and here Bau built a town which soon gained the reputation of being the most feared and dreadful place in the land.

The people of this town were known as Gizima, “the People on the Hill,” and they were the most powerful exponents of black magic and the art of poisons known in the land.

This town was also the home of outlaws, renegades and refugees from tribal justice, but has since been made aware of the law and power of the Liberian Government.

Legend tells of a movement south from the High Forests by a group of Loma people who were sent forth to find a route to the sea. They included some hundreds or warriors; they made their way down through Gola and Dey country and established a beach-head on the coast.

They began sending salt back to their people, but the Dey, who had developed the manufacture of salt by boiling sea-water and were jealous of their monopoly attacked and drove them north.

The Loma fought their way north to Gola country, and the Gola pushed them further until they came to the southern limits of their own land. Here they settled and became the Belle.

So much for the legend: but if the facts of the coastal sortie as described are based on truth, it must be pointed out that this group of people did not become the Belle. The Bureau of Folkways has evidence that the Belle belong to the Kru group and came from the east as an organized group.

Once a group of Loma people who knew the use of horses made an alliance with the Mende, hoping to conquer the remaining bulk of the Loma. The attempts failed, and the Loma-Mende group had to fall back behind a huge rock “fossa” called Kpaky fossa.

There are many such granite domes hereabouts and this one is between Bolahun and Kolahun. The defeated band settled here and became known as the Bandi.

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Folktales

The Sun, The Moon and The Stars

When the world was young, the moon was a ball of fire like the sun; some of the stars were the children of the sun, and the others belonged to the moon.

The sun was uncle to the moon, and the moon was nephew to the sun.

There came a time of hunger when the sun said:

“Moon, let us eat our children.”

The moon considered this, and then agreed. The sun brought the first food, one of his own stars, divided it in two and ate its share. The moon ate a small portion of its share and kept the balance.

When it was time for them to eat one of the moon’s children, the moon produced the remainder of the sun’s child and gave half to the sun as his share. The sun was a fool, for only his children were being eaten.

The sun, who had many more children than his nephew, continued to supply his own stars for them to eat. This thing went on, until the sun discovered all his children had been eaten. He was surprised to find the moon still had many left.

There was big palaver. The sun and the moon decided to live apart. The moon took his fire and divided it among his stars, so that each one had a lamp and the sun could not devour them secretly; and that is why the sun is hotter than the moon.

And because of the big palaver the moon shines only at night, attended by his children with their lamps, for the moon is afraid that his uncle might come and eat him.

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Folktales

The Three Sisters Who Saw God

In a village there lived three sisters. The eldest was called Porofa after the men’s Poro Society. The second was known as Sandofa after the women’s Sande Society. The third was named Weiva, which meant adulteress.

While walking through the forest by a lonely path these three sisters saw Ngala bathing in a pond. Ngala had a narrow waist, as small as the wrist of a wasp, and since he did not care that men should know of this he always wore a heavy girdle.

But he had taken off his girdle to bathe, and when Porofa politely coughed to let God know she and her sisters were approaching, he quickly seized his girdle, put it on, and flung his robes about him.

As Porofa drew nigh and was passing with her face averted modestly, Ngala asked:

“O maiden, did you look upon me as I bath?”

Porofa said she had not, for she had no wish to hurt Ngala’s feelings. Sandofa likewise said no. But when Ngala asked Weiva if she had looked upon him, she laughed and mockingly replied:
“Oh yes, indeed I saw you. You have a funny waist just like a wasp!”

Ngala blessed Porofa and Sandefa, and through them he blessed the Poro and Sande Societies, promising that they and their secrets would always be honored and respected.

But he cursed Weiva. He cursed her and her children and laid the stain of ill fame and lifelong shame upon her face. And that is why immortality can never be kept secret, and why wicked women such as Weiva are shunned by worthy people.

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Folktales

Two Maidens and Their Lover

Orphan fell in love with two young girls who lived in different towns; he loved them equally, and they loved him too.

All the young girls in these two towns were to be joined to the women’s powerful Sande Society on a certain day; on that day each town would hold a feast, with song and dance and palm wine, and Orphan wished to be present at each feast.

On the appointed day he set out from his village and came to a place where the road forked, leading to each of the towns where he wished to go.

“What shall I do?” he asked himself. “Which way shall I go?”

“If I go to one girl and other will think less of me, and I could not hear to lose the love of either. Better to die in happiness than live in disappointment.”

He decided to kill himself; he ate a poisonous fruit from a nearby tree, and died. In their different towns each of the two girls waited for their lover, and when he failed to come the first went forth to meet him. When she found him dead beside the road she grieved until her heart seemed near bursting; and being unable to live without her lover she, too, ate a poisonous fruit from the tree, then flung herself on Orphan’s body, and so died.

Soon after the second maiden came and found her lover and her rival dead beside the road. She cast herself upon the ground beside them wailing and weeping, and swooned away. After a time she rose, and wild with grief she fled back to her town and summoned a powerful medicine man. With haste she hustled and hurried him to the place and begged him to bring her lover back to life.

The medicine man took leaves form the poisonous tree and crushed them. He caught the juice in a snail shell. He cut the flesh above the heart of Orphan and the lifeless girl, poured in the juice, and uttered certain magic words.

For some moments nothing happened, and the second girl decided she herself would die if Orphan could not live again; but then the bodies began to stir, and Orphan and the girl with him came back to life.

The two girls and their lover shed tears of happiness; Orphan embraced both of them, and they clung to him. But then the girls drew away, glancing jealously at each other, and turned beseeching eyes on Orphan.

“You must choose one of us,” they said to him. “You cannot have us both, we love you too much for that. Oh Orphan, you must choose!”

One girl had killed herself for love of him. The other girl had saved his life, and saved her rival’s too.

Which girl should he choose?

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Folktales

The Three Brothers Who Worked for God

There were three brothers who worked for Ngala. They worked for many years and then he gave them their reward. He had three gifts, and let them choose which they should have; the gifts were wealth, Life and Wisdom.

The eldest brother desired riches and chose wealth. The second one feared death and chose life.

The youngest brother placed his trust in Wisdom.
The first brother abused wealth by gambling and purchasing depravity, so wealth lost all respect for him and went away, leaving him poor.

The second brother misused his Life with evil companions, drink, laziness and gluttony, so life lost all respect for him and went away, leaving him dead.

The youngest one in his Wisdom lived honestly and well and earned the love and respect of men. Wealth and Life came to him and stayed, and enjoyed full and fruitful years of honor, happiness and peace.

If a man possesses Wisdom, all things will come to him.

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Folktales

How a Wuni ate Nine Evil Spirits

An evil spirit lived in a hole in the ground, as evil spirits do, and he had a wife and seven children. When hungry season came and there was nothing left to eat, the seven children cried:

“Father, find us something to eat, or we will die!”

The wicked spirit went out to see what he could find, and when walking along a road he overtook a man who carried a kinjah of rice on his back.

“Stranger,” he said politely, “since we travel the same way I will help you. Place your burden on my back, and rest awhile.”

The man willingly agreed to this, but as soon as he had the kinjah strapped securely on his back the spirit started running. He ran so fast the man could not keep up, and escaped into the forest with the load of rice. He was feeling proud and happy as he drew near to his home, for evil spirits love stealing even better than they love eating, and he made pleasant noises for his family to hear.

Also he sang a song:

“Put on the pot and make it hot to cook what I am bringing. I bring a prize, a fine surprise, Which makes a song for singing.”

The rice was cooked and the happy family ate till their stomachs swelled. In the days which followed the spirit went out regularly to find men who carried burdens of food, and he always managed to steal something and bring it home. He was too lazy to grow his own food, and too dishonest to buy any.

For several months he continued stealing, and finally things came to such a pass that men in a nearby town asked their Head Mawni to help them rid the land of this cunning thief.

The Mawni Society is the most secret and important of all Loma tribal societies, and the Head Mawni in every town possesses at least one Wuuni. A Wuuni is an unseen something which has no respect for evil spirits and will catch and devour one whenever it can; and it talks Loma through its Head. Mawni calls upon it only in cases of great need.

The Head Mawni of this town talked to his Wuuni and put it in a kinjah which appeared to be full of rice. The Mawni put the kinjah on his own back, and singing lustily to attract the spirit’s attention he walked through the forest.

Soon the spirit appeared, stole the kinjah and ran away. As he drew near his home he made pleasant noises for his family to hear, and sang a song:

“A bag of rice is rather nice and better if it’s stolen; Let’s fill the pot and eat the lot until we’re fully swollen”

The Wuuni laughed quietly to himself, and a shiver trickled down the spirit’s spine. The Wuuni softly sang:

“An Evil Thing should never sing while bearing bags untied; They might have nice instead of rice, Or something worse, inside.”

The spirit heard someone singing and hurried quickly to his hole. His family gathered around while he untied the kinjah – and out jumped the Wuuni!

The spirits cried out in alarm, and huddled in one corner of the hole.
“Give me food, snarled the Wuuni. The spirit trembled, and pushed his wife across. The Wuuni tore her to pieces and cracked her bones.

“More!” he demanded. The helpless spirit pushed his children across one by one, although they cried out bitterly against his treatment, and when all seven had been swallowed the father spirit tried to make himself as small as possible.

“O Evil Thing,” the Wuuni sang, You’ve stolen, lied, and cheated. All those who do such things as you, must be severely treated.”

But he did not eat the spirit at once, for the Head Mawni had requested him to bring the thief back to the town that night. The spirit, of course, was the undead part of a man who had died in the town some years before; and the family to which he had belonged, and the Head Mawni, wanted to find out why he had been doing such wicked things instead of helping with the crops.

As is the custom in such cases a two-roomed house was chosen as the place of the trail; the descendants of the spirit gathered in one room, and the Head Mawni, the Wuuni, and the evil spirit entered the other one, which was quite empty except for a few dry sticks.

The Head Mawni asked the spirit why he had been so wicked since he left his mortal body.

“My family was unkind to me,” the spirit complained. I told them my spirit would trouble them when I died, but they only laughed. They made me suffer. When I died they neglected my grave. Why should I love such people?”

His family and descendants in the next room hotly denied this, and gave examples of their kindness to him. The Wuuni could be heard crying, “Let me kill him” in a nasal voice. The spirit argued bitterly with the people in the next-door room, but finally judgment was given against him, and it was decided that he must die.

“Can I kill him?” the Wuuni asked excitedly.

“You can kill him,” the Head Mawni agreed. The spirit shrilled in panic. The people in the next-door room heard the Wuuni cracking his bones as if they were dry sticks of wood, and then heard the sounds of eating.

When they went in later the Wuuni had already gone away, and not even a crumb lay on the floor to mark the passing of the evil spirit. There was only the Head Mawni and a few broken sticks. The spirit no longer existed even as a spirit, and would never return to trouble the town again.

Thus an evil spirit suffered a terrible death and justice was done, as it always is done with liars, thieves, and cheats.