Category: Folktales

Categories
Folktales

The Lizard and the Catfish

A lizard with an orange-colored head lived in a certain tree close to a river; and he would not marry anyone who did not have a soft, smooth skin.

In the river was a catfish; her skin was soft and smooth, and she was determined to marry someone who had an orange-colored head.

A woodsman came and cut Lizard’s tree, and the free fell down in such a way that it reached to the river bank. Lizard walked along the tree, entering a world he did not know, and came to the river margin.

He saw Catfish down below, her skin so soft and smooth; she looked up and caught sight of Lizard, with his brilliant orange-colored head, and so they fell in love; or thought they did.

Catfish invited Lizard down to her home in the deepest, coolest mud of the river bottom; and Lizard passed a cruel night down there. Catfish likes cool dark places, but Lizard loves sunlight and heat, and he nearly died with cold amid the horrid slime in the river.

In the morning he invited Catfish to his home in the stump of the trees and there poor Catfish lay, dry and hot and swooning, while the sun poured down and burned her delicate skin; and she, too, nearly died.

So Lizard and Catfish sadly agreed that they could never marry, and from that time they live apart; which shows that people should look for more than beauty when they seek a life-long mate.

Categories
Folktales

The Man Who Loved a Lioness

The Chief of a town desired to marry a certain young woman, but she already had a lover and refused the Chief. She was driven away from the town.

The young woman lived in the forest, where she bore a baby boy and in a cave nearby a lioness bore a girl-cub. One day the boy and the lion-girl met in the forest and began playing. they met every day in the forest to play, and learned to love each other.

There came a time when the lion-girl said:

“Tell your mother not to go fishing tomorrow. My mother is going down to the river to hunt.”

The boy begged his mother not to go down to the river to fish, and said he had heard a lion growling there; but his mother did not believe him and she went down there to fish. The Lioness killed her, and carried her meat home to the lion-girl. The lion-girl said:

“You have killed the boy’s mother. I will not eat her meat.”

“The lion-girl went to her friend, the boy, and said:

“My mother has killed your mother.”

“Then I must kill your mother; and then we shall live together in the cave, you and I.”

The lad waited until the lioness slept, and plunged a spear into her heart. She died, and for some years the man-child and the lion-girl lived and hunted together. They learned to love each other very well. But the lad grew restless; as soon as he was a young man he went to his mother’s town and said to the Chief:

“I will be your hunter; I have lived with both feet in the forest and hunt well.”

The Chief agreed. The young lioness would kill deer and the hunter would take them to the Chief. He fell in love with the daughter of the Chief, but knew no way to win her. He told the lioness of this, and though she loved the young man herself she promised she would help.

Soon after, the Chief’s daughter came down to the river, with other maidens, to bathe. The lioness sprang amongst them, roaring, and carried off the daughter of the Chief and hid her in the forest far away. The Chief sent many famous hunters to kill the lioness and recover what might remain of the girl, but all failed.

The young man went to the Chief and declared he would hunt and hunt until he found the girl; He went to where the lioness was hiding her and pretended to attach the beast, which ran away. The girl, who was unharmed, fell in love with this brave young hunter, and the grateful Chief gladly gave her to him.

The young hunter lived inside the town, but often he would tell his wife to stay with her mother overnight, and she would go. There came a time when he told her to do this, and she answered:

“I will not go. You have a lover, and tonight I must find out who she is.”

He told her he had no lover, and ordered her to go. She went to her mother; but in the night she came back to the place where her husband slept, and looking through the door she saw her man in bed with the lioness. She ran to her mother, crying:

“Oh mother, I have married a Kaa-neni!”

She told what she had seen. Her mother went to look inside the hut, and reported this strange thing to the Chief. The Chief gathered hunters and warriors, and they waited outside the hut; at dawn the lioness came outside, and the men threw spears at it.

The lioness fell. The hunter came out of his hut and saw the lioness lying down.

I have died for love of you,” she said, and died.

“Then both of us must die,” the hunter cried in grief, and seizing his knife he plunged it to his heart. He also died. The Chief’s daughter took poison, and she died.

Their spirits wander in the forest still, the young woman, and the hunter and the lioness.

Categories
Folktales

How a Wise Man and a Corpse Reformed a Village

In a certain town there lived a woman who was unfaithful to her husband; and although her husband beat her, the woman still continued taking lovers. The husband went to as Wise Man and said:

“Help me stop my wife from taking lovers.”

“What will you give me if I do this?”

“I will give you three hampers of rice.”

The Wise Man agreed. He burned Teri, which is a kind of medicine made of palm oil, charcoal, salt and various magic things, and made two medicines; and was sweet, the other poisonous. and he told the husband what to do.

That night the husband rubbed sweet medicine on his belly.

“What are you doing?” asked his wife.

“I am using medicine to make me strong.” Then he lay down with his wife. In he morning he hid the sweet medicine and handed her the poison, saying:

“I am going on a journey. I shall not be back tonight. Keep my medicine in a secret place, and don’t let anyone use it.”

He went away. That night the faithless woman brought her lover to the house; and wishing that he should be strong she gave him medicine to rub upon his belly. But this was the poisonous medicine; and her lover quickly died. She began to wail and weep, not knowing what to do.

How, the Wise Man had hidden himself outside the house, knowing this would happen; and now he came and said to her:

“I see your lover died. What will you give me if I take the body from your home?”

“I will give you three hampers of corn,” the woman said.

“And will you swear on your mother’s grave to be a faithful wife?”

“I will swear on my mother’s grave.”

The Wise Man agreed to remove the body. In this town there was a thief accustomed to stealing kinjahs of rice at night. The Wise man placed the body in a kinjah and left it by the open door.

The thief, who prowled about at night, saw the kinjah and stole it. He took it to his home and gave it to his wife. She opened it, and found a body in it.

“Eeee! she cried in fright. “Fool, fool! How is this? I see the dead body of the chief’s first son! We will die for this. Aieee!”

She began softly wailing, and the thief sat down and wept. Just then the Wise Man walked in through the door.

“I see someone has killed the Chief’s first son,” he said. What will you give me if I take his body from your house?”

“I will give you three hampers of cassava,” said the thief.

“And will you swear on your mother’s grave to be an honest man?”

The thief agreed to do this. The wise man tied the body in the hamper and carried it outside. He went quietly to a tree in front of the old Chief’s house, and taking the body from the hamper he propped it against the tree. The Chief was a cruel and ill-tempered man, and had made a law that no one in his town was to sing. so now the Wise man hid behind the tree and he began to sing. It was a song of thieves and faithless wives whose bodies were cut up with knives.

The Chief heard the song and rose from his bed in rage, although it was quite a good song, and made the Thief and the adulteress tremble in their houses. He seized his bow and from his door he shot an arrow at the figure by the tree. The arrow pierced his dead son’s heart.

The Wise Man slipped away. The Chief discovered he had shot his favorite son, and on the Wise Man’s good advice he swore on his mother’s grave that he would henceforth let his people sing as and when they wished.

Thus it was that a Wise Man brought death to an adulterer, restored faith in a faithless wife, persuaded a thief to be honest, caused a cruel Chief to repent and filled a songless village with songs of villagers.

Categories
Folktales

How Spirits Guarded Kpademai

Men tell a half-forgotten tale of a secret town called Kpademai. This town was founded by an accomplished warrior called Kpade, and thus its name means “Followers of Kpade.” It lay beside a sweet stream and belonged to the Bondo Loma Clan; they were careful not to let any stranger see it, lest it be attacked.

When anyone in Kpademai died his spirit was seen slowly climbing a nearby hill called Worler Gizi, dressed in his burial shroud; and the path which ascended the hill was kept in good repair by the spirits who lived there.

These ancestral spirits were regarded with pious veneration by the townsfolk and in return the spirits guarded the town and caused the fields to yield abundant crops.

One day a hunter from a hostile clan chanced to discover the secret town when hunting in the forest for black deer, and he reported to the council of his clan, saying the town was rich and the nearby lands were fair and fertile.

The enemy clan resembled an army under the leadership of a great warrior named Tegrili and the army marched on Kpademai.

On the first day of the battle Tegrili was captured and put to death, but the fight wore on for several days until the spirit Worler Gizi seized and bound the hostile warriors, and killed them in such a dreadful way that the sweet-water stream turned to blood.

Thereafter Kpademai was left in peace and prospers still.

Categories
Folktales

How An Orphan Won a Village and Exchanged It For an Egg

Pardoo Orphan lived in a fine village, but he was the poorest of men. He had no land, no house, no clothes, not even a cooking pot; and he had no family no one cared for him. He begged for food and was driven form the village.

He went to live in the forest, and his health became so poor that blindness closed his eyes and he barely lived by groping on the ground for rotten fruit and nuts. When he was nearly dead he heard a voice which said:

“Pardoo, if I help you, will you promise to help me?”

“Oh yes,” cried Pardoo, not knowing if the voice belonged to man or spirit. He would have promised anything to anyone – for what had he to lose?

“Then lift your face towards the sky.”

Pardoo turned his face towards the sky, and some drops of burning liquid fell on his sightless eyes. Then his eyes were opened: the precious gift of sight had been restored to him, and his heart was filled with joy.

“Close your eyes, Pardoo,” said the voice. Pardoo closed his eyes. “Now open them.”

He saw a bright new town before him where only trees had been.
“This town is yours,” the voice said.

“Thank you. But there are no people.”

He was commanded to close his eyes again, and when he open them the town was stocked with animals and people.

“You have one hundred wives,” the voice went on, “five hundred slaves and a thousand warriors; and such gold as few men ever see. Go, dwell in your town and be chief.”

Pardoo was suddenly clean and clothed in chiefly garments; and he went into his town. Here he lived as Chief in a fine big house; he lived with every comfort and happiness for three full years, and fathered twenty girls and one man-child. He loved his son above all other things.

One day as he was walking beneath a giant cotton tree nearby his house, Chief Pardoo heard a voice above him call:

“Oh Pardoo! Chief Pardoo!”

He looked up, and saw a large white bird upon a branch.

“Pardoo,” said to the bird, “I helped you once. Will you now help me?”

Pardoo agree at once. He would have promised anything to this fabulous bird.

“Here is my nest,” the bird went on, “I have an egg. A single egg. I have no other egg, and treasure this one as you treasure you only son. But now I must leave on a long journey to another place, and wish you to take care of my egg.”

Pardoo promised he would guard the egg as he guarded his only son.

“If the egg should break, fall prey to a snake, be boiled or spoiled or stolen,” said the bird, “a strange and helpless thing will happen to you. Remember this, Pardoo.”

Pardoo set guards about the tree, and the white bird flew away. The bird was away for several seasons; and one day Pardoo’s son saw the egg in the cotton tree. He ran to his father and said he wanted an egg to eat.

His father brought him a hen’s egg.

“Not a hen’s egg, Father,” said the boy.

Pardoo brought a pigeon’s egg.

“Not a pigeon’s egg, Father.”

Pardoo brought eagles’ eggs, hawks’ eggs, palm birds’ eggs and crows’ eggs, but none of them would do.

“Then what kind of an egg do you want?” he cried.

“I want the egg in the cottonwood tree, Father.”

Pardoo turned pale. He dare not touch that egg. “It would give you stomach pains. It is a special egg I have promised to keep safe.”

The lad began to cry. He would not eat and he refused to speak to his father except to say: “If you love that egg better than you love me then just tell me so, and I’ll go and live in a tree myself, somewhere in the forest. Then everyone will be sorry!”

Finally Pardoo weakened, and reluctantly agreed to break his promise. He had the egg brought to him, boiled it, and gave it to his son. His son, who had been spoiled by royal favor, just laughed and threw the egg down on the ground.

The white bird had left a little fly to watch the egg, and now the fly flew away and reported that the egg had been stolen, boiled, and broken. The great bird flew on flapping wings north to the cottonwood tree, and there it came to rest upon a branch. It stood there for a long time gazing at its empty nest, and down at Pardoo’s house, and wept.

Then it called Pardoo and said:

“O weak and foolish Pardoo, you have broken your word and killed my egg. You are weak, Pardoo, you cannot keep a promise; and he who makes and breaks a promise has not the right or might to be a chief!”

Pardoo was suddenly blind again, a beggar in evil-smelling rags; and his tongue was twisted so he could not speak. His own son threw stones at him, his people drove him from the town, and he wandered in the forests till he died.

Never make a promise unless it can be kept; then keep it well.

Categories
Ethnic Origin

The Origin of the Mah and the Gio

They sat in a round thatched house in Gbloyi town, hard by Liberia’s northern border; outside twilight was knitting the shadows into night, and inside the house firelight lacquered the arms and faces of a wise old man and a youth.

The old man was Bai Tee, the oldest living member of the Mah group (commonly called Mano) and Keeper of the Banner, lean and stooped with age but a study of natural dignity and full with the richness of his years; he gazed into the fire and as memories crowded in upon him his slow words tolled the knell of years gone by.

Konmah, a young, vigorous College student proud of his Mano ancestry, listened carefully and translated.

“We came,” the old man said, “from the northeast; from a far, far place which men now call Sudan. Perhaps four hundred years age, or five — no one really knows — there was a town up in Sudan called Beainfenten, and this was the town from which all Mano people came.

In this town there lived two brothers who were strong warriors, and who therefore were respected by all men of that place; their names were Nyan and Sae.

“Men loved Nyan, although he was not rich; but even though was rich few men loved him well. Many strangers came to visit Nyan, and for the necessary feasts he would take cattle from his brother, and kill them; and Sae was vexed. Often and often Nyan took Sae’s cattle, so one day Sae told his sons to go with slaves to a certain far place, cut down the high bush there, and build a town; and this was done.

Sae went to live with his wives, and his sons and their wives, and his slaves and their wives, in this new town.

“Nyan could now find no cattle to kill for the strangers who came to visit him, and he wondered what he should do. In his town of Beainfenten there was a man called San, and the family of San was also richer than Nyan’s own family.

Nyan traveled to the east to a certain Wise Man, bearing gifts, and asked what he should do in order that his family might become richer than the Sans. The Wise Man said that he must sacrifice the leading member of the Sans, and only then would his family become richer.

“When Nyan returned to Beainfenten, Son of the San family asked him what the Wise man said, but Nyan did not want to reveal the answer at that time. He said:

“I must make a sacrifice. The answer is in me and concerns you, but it will not come out on my tongue just now.”

San said: “Give me one ram, and then make your sacrifice!”Nyan then took San into the forest to a lonely place, and the two men sat to rest in a shelter beside the path.

“O Nyan,” San asked, “what is the sacrifice you must make?”

“I must kill you, O San. That is the sacrifice.”

“I have lived, I am old, I must soon die: to kill me is nothing. Before you kill me, O Nyan, you must promise me that your family will always honor and protect my family, and your sons and their sons must see to it that my descendants never live in poverty, shame, or danger.”

“I agree,” said Nyan. “It shall be so.”

The old man then arose, took off his robe and said it on the ground, and he lay on it. Nyan killed him. He placed San’s head in a bowl of brass and carried it to Beainfenten, and there San’s family assembled and dug a grave in the center of the town.

San’s head was buried, and precious stones were thrown on his grave; Nyan killed four cows and gave a feast for the San family, and ever since that day the Mano people have honored and protected his descendants.

“While those things were happening Nyan’s brother Sae had fallen sick in his town. His sons went to a diviner to ask what should be done, and the diviner said that Sae should make a sacrifice with four kola nuts. These nuts could not be found, although people searched in many places, until one of Sae’s sons went into the forest to hunt.

While there he saw the hole of a possum (giant rat) and dug; he found and killed the animal, but also discovered four whit kola nuts. He took the nuts to Sae, who made sacrifice and became well. Sae therefore said to his family:

“The four white kola nuts from the possum’s hole have saved my life. the possum has been killed; let the animal be buried, and let no member of our family ever kill another possum.”

“His wish is honored to this day by his descendants.

“Thus there were at that time the families of Nyan, Sae, and San living in their town, and when Nyan and Sae were old with grandchildren a certain thing took place:

“Sae had three grandsons called Lomia, Zama, and Sanben, and he had also one granddaughter. Lomia became a great warrior and leader, but he broke one of the secret Poro Society’s laws, and people demanded that he be killed. The wise man and tribal elders all decreed that Lomia should die, but Sae was not willing that this should happen, and planned his grandson’s escape.

When a meeting was held so that the matter could be discussed, Sae concealed Lomia where the young warrior could see and hear, discover his danger, and escape.

“Lomia fled that night, with his two brothers and his sister; other members of his family also went with him, and slaves his grandfather gave him. He decided to travel south and west in search of rich new lands, and adventurous young men of the San and Nyan families went with him. It was a strong and warlike band equipped for war which marched southwest from the Sudan; and many were the battles which they fought.

They overcame the Ge and enslaved them, and brought them down to a river which was the Mani River of today. Here they fought and defeated the local people, and Lomia built a town called Napa (“Na” means my father, “pa” means town) near Mount Nimba.

“In time they crossed the river and build a town named Gumpa after Gum, who was Lomia’s favorite wife. This town is the important frontier town of Ganta today; it is the oldest town of the Mah, the traditional axis of defense and attack and the core of commercial enterprise.

“The San family settled in Sanniquellie; the descendants of Nyan keep their ancestor’s promise, and at any time a San man may enter a Mah house to find food and shelter. The Mano people will not permit any of San’s descendants to be hungry, in danger, or in shame.

The remnants of the Ge, whom Lomia’s people had enslaved and almost absorbed, branched off to find land of their own and became the Gio. The Gio, Ge, Gwei, Gbe, Da and Ngere are all the same people.

“Lomia had a son called Fynia. Fynia was the boldest warrior in the land, and although in those days great warriors were natural tribal leaders he had no wish to sit in council — he preferred to fight. He became general of the Mano army and built a town called Gbloyi, this town is which we sit, commanding the road south southwest to the Kpelle.

The Kpelle was a powerful neighboring people; fierce fighting persisted for many years between the Mah and these neighbors. With the aid of Sanbeh, Lomia’s brother, Fynia enslaved many of the Kpelle, and the descendants of these slaves now live on the eastern edge of Gio land at Tappita.

“Fynia’s son was another warrior-leader, called Membiasagbli. He was so fierce he would kill any stranger who entered Mah land, and many and great were his victories in war.

Membiasagbli is buried in Gbloyi town; a tall tree grew out of his grave, and all important local meetings are held under this tree, for any talk made under this tree is always sure of success.”

Categories
Folktales

How One-Leg Became Thousand-Legs

In the beginning the world had no water. There were no seas, no rivers or lakes, no pools or springs; and the animals became thirsty. They all gathered in one place to discuss what they should do, and agreed that any creature who could cause water to appear on earth would be rewarded.

Frog tried, Dog tried; Goat and Deer and Leopard tried. Every animal in the world tried to do something, but none of them succeeded in doing anything at all.

Then a small, thin animal who had only one leg announced that he would try, but he wanted to know what his reward would be if he succeeded. The other animals only laughed at him, for those days nearly everyone had five legs, and only this absurd little creature walked on a single leg.

“Don’t worry about rewards,” they said. “Everyone has failed and you will fail too. You only have one leg; what can you do?”

“One-leg walked to and fro and round and round praying very hard; and before very long dark clouds began to gather. No one else had thought of praying to Walah, the Sky-god.

Rain began to fall and kept on falling for a week, and as one-leg walked about the land he left behind him rivers and streams, springs and lakes; and the rivers and streams emptied into a big hole which became the sea.

“How happy the animals were! The land was green, they were no longer thirsty; they played and gamboled in the water, and some animals loved it well enough to take it as their home: but no one wished to give One-leg his reward.

One-leg threatened to cause all the water to dry up, so a council was held and everyone decided to give him one of their legs. Those who had a fifth leg pulled it off, leaving only little bits of skin behind which became tails, and One-leg found he had so many legs and feet he scarcely knew what to do.

He was not permitted to eat them, so he sat down to look at them for a long, long while and thought, and finally decided on a thing. He fixed them underneath his belly, and kept stretching and stretching himself until he had put on a thousand legs. He still has them, and he is called Thousand-legs.

Categories
Folktales

Three Animals Who Made Ku

Leopard, Man and Dog one day made Ku; that is they agreed to work together to cut and plant a common farm. Leopard said:

“We will not eat rotten meat in our Ku. The meat which is fresh and has no maggots, that we will eat.”

They worked in the forest cutting their farm and became hungry.

Man and Dog showed Leopard the day when he should hunt and pay his ku. Leopard went into the forest and killed a bush hog. He brought the bush hog to Man and Dog saying:

“My people, come here. Come and cut the little meat I have caught and eat it with cassava.”

The three ku members made a fire and cooked the meat in a big pot. They all ate. Man and Dog went back to the forest to cut farm, and Leopard continued to hunt. He killed two red deer and one black one. He brought them back and showed them to Man and Dog.

“My people,” he said, “here is a thing for you.” They cooked and ate the meat, and the three ku members went into the forest to cut the farm. When they were hungry again, Dog said:

“Leopard, let us show Man a day to pay his ku.”

“No,” said Man. “Not yet.”

Man and Leopard showed Dog a day to pay his ku. Man said:

“As for me, I will set my trap when my time comes. I cannot catch meat bare-handed.”

Leopard said: “What you say is true.”

They showed Dog two day, and Dog went to hunt. Man and Leopard went to cut farm. Dog hunted in the forest and killed a red deer, and brought it to Man and Leopard.

“My ku people,” he said, “here is something to go with your boiled cassava.”

Leopard knew Dog, so he went and scratched the meat on the head.

“It is still fresh.” They roasted and ate the deer with cassava. Man and Leopard went back to cut farm and Dog hunted again. He killed one black deer and a bush hog, and brought them back.

“Here is another something to eat,” he said. Leopard saw that it was fresh meat. They cooked the meat with rice and ate, and all three went to cut farm. When hunger came again, Dog said:

“Man, you have two days to pay your ku.”

“No, the days you have shown me are short. Show me four.”

Dog said no, but Leopard gave man three.

“Brother Leopard,” said Dog, “you are the big member of the ku, let it be as you say.”

They gave man three days. Man said: “Fine. My hand is under it (I agree).”

Man set his trap in the forest but no meat came. The first day passed. The second day passed, and he grew worried, for he had not paid his ku. He went for a walk in the forest and began cutting palm nuts. An old lady heard him there and said:

“Who is that cutting nuts?”

“It is I.”

“What are you doing there?”

“I am cutting nuts.”

“Come here.” Man went there. “Cut the grass around my kitchen.

“Old woman,” said Man, “I am in ku with Leopard and Dog. In this ku we cannot eat rotten meat. They showed me three days to pay ku-meat, and two have gone, so I must catch meat in my trap today.What time do I have to cut grass around your kitchen? What time do I have to set my traps?”

She said: “Cut the grass. A person doesn’t ever know what can bless him.”

He cut the grass and cleaned about the kitchen, but then it was too late to set his trap. The old lady came and said:

“You have done well for me, and now I will do well for you, bring two pots from my left, and rice, and the little meat you find there.”

Man did this. He cooked the food and they ate. The old woman took a horn from a small bag.

“There is black powder in this horn. As soon as you go into the forest you will see a black deer. Show him the horn and wish him dead, and he will be dead.”

Man thanked her. He went into the forest, saw a black deer and showed it the horn of black powder. “I kill you,” he said, and the deer fell dead. Man gave the black deer to the old woman, and went away with the horn to hunt for his ku.

Back at the farm Dog was saying to Leopard:

“Let us catch man and eat him. He cannot catch meat for his ku.”

Man came. Dog mocked him, and said he would be eaten because he could catch no meat.

“I bring a bush hog,” Man said. “Also two black deer, and three red deer. This can be our ku-meat for today.”

“Is what you say true?” asked Dog.

“What I say is true,” said man. “Let us eat.”

They went to the meat, and Leopard scratched the heads. “The meat is good.” They cooked and ate. Man went into the forest and returned with four more deer. The ku ate again. That evening Dog said:

“Let us go to a secret place where we can talk ku business, and hang heads together.”

They went to a secret place.

“The things which killed the meat,” Dog said. “Let us show them to each other.”

Leopard scratched a tree with his claws. “That is what killed my meat,” he said.

Dog bit the tree with his teeth. “That is what killed my meat.”

Man said: “Leopard, the thing I have is bad.”

“Show it to us,” said Leopard, “so that we may know.”

“No.”

“We will kill you if you don’t.”

“Then I will show it.” Man showed his horn of black powder to Leopard and said, “Leopard, I kill you.” Leopard fell down dead and stayed there. Dog was afraid. He stood up wagging his tail and begging Man.

“Because you asked me to show you the thing that killed my meat,” said Man, “and I showed it to Leopard and he fell down and died, is that why you beg me?”

“I beg you, my good friend, do not kill me!”

“I will not kill you. You eat your own thing. We will go into town.”

Dog and Man went to town. Dog wags his tail when he greets people because of that day long ago.

Categories
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.

Categories
Folktales

Big Bird in the Kola Tree

Big Bird lives in the forest and sits in a kola tree. He bites, and he has big pepper. Spider found the tree and began climbing in it to get nuts.

Big Bird put pepper in Spider’s eyes and Spider fell to the ground. He lay there for a time with bad eyes; then he rose and returned to his town. He said to Black Deer:

“Let us go and pick kola nuts.”

They went together to the tree. Spider told Black Deer to climb. Deer Climbed up into the branches and found Big Bird sitting there.

Big Bird threw pepper in his eyes and he fell to the ground and began to cry. Spider took a big stick and began to beat him. Deer could not see, the pepper burned his eyes. He begged Spider not to beat him, but Spider kept on beating him and at last he killed Deer. He cut the meat and carried it home to his family.

Next day Spider said to Red Deer: “Let us go to pick kola nuts.”

Red Deer went with him. Red Deer fell from the tree with pepper in his eyes, and Spider killed him and cut the meat. In this way many animals died.

One day Spider invited Pigmy Antelope to pick kola nuts in the forest. Antelope is a wise animal who knows too many secrets. He went with Spider to the kola tree. He saw the tracks of many animals leading to the tree, but none led away from it.

Antelope thought there must be a Thing in the tree which ate animals. When Spider asked him to climb he said:

“Spider, this kola tree belongs to you. You know where the best nuts are. You climb first.”

Spider began climbing. He tried to hide from Big Bird, but Big Bird saw him there and dropped much pepper in his eyes. Spider also had pepper, and threw his pepper in Big Bird’s eyes. Spider fell down. Big Bird fell down. Antelope killed Big Bird, and when Spider could see again he said:

“Antelope, you’ve killed Big Bird. That makes big palava.”

They dug a hole and buried Big Bird, and Spider said again:

“Give me all your kola nuts and I will tell no one what I have seen.”

Antelope gave all his nuts to Spider and they returned to town. But after a little while Spider went back to the kola tree and took Big Bird. He carried Big Bird home that night and gave the body to his wife to cook. He tied a rope about his leg and said:

“Wife, when Big Bird is cooked, pull on this rope and I will come.”

He went outside to play. Antelope saw the rope tied to his leg and thought about it. He cut the rope and tied it to his own leg to see what might happen. Presently he felt someone pulling on the rope, and went into Spider’s house. All was darkness; he could see nothing, and no one could see him. Spider’s wife heard him there, and said:

“Spider, here is your rice and meat.”

Antelope ate. When he had finished all Big Bird and the rice as well he went outside. Spider became hungry and went in to his wife.

“Where is my rice and meat?”

“Are you mad? How many birds did you give me?”

She told him he had eaten all his food. Spider refused to believe her, and began to beat her. She cried out, and people came.

“What is the matter?” asked Antelope.

“Oh, she cooked crabs and now she can’t find them,” Spider said.

“All this fuss just for a few crabs?”

“It wasn’t crabs! cried Spider’s wife. “It was Big Bird Spider brought me Big Bird to cook, and I cooked. Now Big Bird seems to have eaten the rice I cooked with him, and walked away.”

The cooking of Big Bird caused palaver in the town. Spider was ashamed, and people beat him. He had to go away from the town and live in another place.

Categories
Ethnic Origin

Why Gbea Never Eat Chimpanzee

One night during Hungry Season when Chimpanzee was starving he kept walking around and round in one place in the forest saying:

“I am so hungry I cannot sleep. I am really so very hungry that I could not possible sleep.”

When the moon arose he found he was walking around a tree, and presently he climbed into the tree and went to sleep. He did not realize it was a kola tree bearing many nuts. In the morning he saw that he was in a kola tree and looked in surprise at all the nuts about him. He became disgusted with himself, saying:

“Last night I was so hungry I could not sleep, and I walked around this tree many times. I was too stupid to see that it was a kola tree. When I became tired of walking I climbed into the tree and slept; and still I was too stupid to know it was a kola tree, abounding with fine nuts. I will never eat kola nuts again, or at least not till tomorrow.”

Kola nut are the Tien, or taboo of the Gbea Clan; and when the Gbea saw Chimpanzee sitting in the tree without eating any nuts they thought such nuts must be his Tien also, and that he was therefore their brother-by-Tien.

That is why the Gbea never eat Chimpanzee.

Categories
Folktales

The Boy Who Danced: Liberian Cinderella Story

There lived a little orphan boy who had two older sisters; he was a gentle and good-natured lad, but his sisters were cruel and unkind to him. He was only given scraps of food to eat, and his sisters beat him every day and made him to do their work. They were ashamed of him because he had so many yaws and ugly sores.

The two girls excelled at dancing, and whenever there was a feast in any nearby town they were invited; the little boy could always beg to go with them but they would only beat him and give hem extra work to do. On such occasions he would take of his yaws and sores, hide them in a spot, and slip away to dance disguised as a handsome youth.

Before the feast was over he would hurry home, and when his sisters came they would be surprised to find their ragged brother knew of everything which had happened at the dance.

“How do you know these things?” they would ask.

“I dreamed while you were gone, “ he would reply. They would beat him for dreaming, and send him about his work.

One day a poor old lady came to the house; the two sisters drove her from their door, but the boy saw she was hungry, and gave her the poor food he had. On this day a great feast was being held in a neighboring town; the little boy begged to go, but his sisters went without him.

After they had gone he took off all his sores and yaws and put them in the spot, and slipped away. The old woman had secretly been watching him and after he had gone she burned the yaws and sores and threw the ashes in the river.

At the feast the two girls saw a handsome youth who danced better than anyone else, and after a little while they went to him and begged that he would marry them.

“Be patient,” he said. “Wait until the end of the feast.”

He knew he would not be there at the end of the feast. He danced so well that people brought him gifts such as a sheep, and a goat, an cow, and rice, palm wine and oil and other things; and when he left he took them home. He went to the old woman saying:

“I have brought you things which you may keep; for you are poor, and old, and thus my mother might have been. But you must go away, lest my sisters steal your things and beat you.”

He went to find his yaws and sores, but they were gone.

“I took your things,” the woman said, “those ugly things you wore upon your skin. I burned them, and threw the ashes in the river; for now you have no need of them. Know that I am the spirit of your mother, Son, and through you will be blessed a hundred times for your kindness and pure heart; your cruel and wicked sisters shall never find their way back to this house.”

Before the boy could answer her, his mother had disappeared.

He found his single sheep had become a hundred sheep, his goat a hundred fine fat cows. He went into the night and called his sisters, but they never found their way back to their home and no many could say where they had gone.