How did it happen? A wife was pregnant, shoe bore a child, Moon, to begin with. She returned, became pregnant again, and this time bore Sun. Far in the wilderness was a man, and he had a pretty daughter.

Sun and Moon grew up and one day went for a stroll. In the wilderness they came upon the pretty daughter, and they asked her, “Where have you got your house? We live in that wilderness,” they said to the girl. “Show us exactly where you live.”

She replied to them, “We live in that wilderness. And there a great many dangerous animals.”

Moon, the elder one of the brothers, said to the girl, “Do you like us? Shall we woo you?”

She said to them, “Yes, I am capable of liking you but may not.”

Sun then asked, “Who is it that does not like us?”

She said, “It is my father.”

Moon said to the girl, “Well, then, we shall wait for two days, and on the third we shall come to your village. We shall send our father’s children.”

They waited for two days, and on the third they sent the children, then they started out for the wilderness. And when they were quite close, they caught sight of the girl far off at the other edge of the jungle. They went to meet her and asked her, “Well, where is your village?”

She said, “Our village is here in the wilderness.”

They asked her, “I, I! Are there people that live in the place where is no hut?”

She said, “Yes, we live in the wilderness, we have no hut.”

They said, “We wish that you would show us where you live.”

The girl said, “All right, then.” And she went on ahead to show them the way.

A big snake then appeared. Sun and Moon said, “Let us not be afraid!” They were not frightened, but went along on their way. When they had got as far as the foot of a certain tree, they found a number of snakes confronting them; but they went farther along and came upon a place full of hairs like horsehair, forming a sort of darkness before them. Nowhere were they able to see any path to take.

Sun said to the girl, “You! Have you brought us here so we should die at your place?”

She said to them, “No, but we have not yet arrived at our village.”

And he, Moon, said to Sun, “Brother Sun, what are we to do now?” They said to the girl, “Tell us if you like us, and whether we are to woo you? We now wish to return home.”

They girl said to them, “Go, and come back the day after tomorrow!”

They went away and returned home.

They reached their home. And Moon loved the girl very much, more than Sun did. The following morning Sun went to herd their father’s cattle, and Moon hid himslef from Sun and went alone into the wilderness to seek the girl and take her to wife.

When he had got there, someone said to him, “Who is it?”

He said, “It is I”

He was asked, “Who are you?”

He answered, “It is I, Moon.”

He was asked, “Whither are you going?

He said, “I am coming hither.”

The other one asked him, “From where have you come?”

Moon said to him, “I come from our village.” And he added, “And you, what are you doing here?”

“I am not doing anything in particular,” said the stranger.

And I, neither am I doing anything in particular – I am just out for a walk,” answered Moon.

The other asked him again, “Why have you come here?”

“Not for anything special.”

The other mad said to him, “I, I? Not for anything special?”

Moon replied, “I, I! I did not come here for anything special! I have come here without any purpose.”

The strange man said, “Why do you ask me what I am seeking, but conceal and refuse to reveal your own business?”

Then Moon was frightened and said to himself, “I do not know these people, and they do not know me. I will return home!”

He returned home and said to Sun, “Brother, when I left you I saw a lot of queer things.”

Sun said to Moon, “Well, lets go some day and you shall show me those things; just now I am busy tending cattle.’

Their mother said to them, “Go ye and find the girl, I will do the hearding.”

They went, and when they got to the wilderness, they saw swords appearing. They fought against the sword but saw no human being. The swords disappeared, and they went on farther and saw trees which grew so densely before them the there was no path. Sun drew his sword and cut down some threes. The trees then disappeared altogether, and they did not see them again. They went farther ahead altogether, and they did not see them again. That went farther ahead and came to a pond; they were close to it. They saw teeth coming up out of the interior of the pond. They approached quite near. Two teeth passed right between them, one passed them to the left and another to t he right. Moon fell back behind Sun; he was frightened.

Sun said to him, “I, I Moon! Are you afraid? You are the elder one, go on ahead, let us walk on!”

“Yes, let us go on then! We are equally brave.”

Then teeth returned into the pond, and Sun and Moon walked on. When they had not got very far, they saw hairs coming up out of the pond. Moon looked at the girl’s father, for it was he, and said to Sun, “My brother, here we shall perish!”

“It cannot be helped!”

The hairs returned, however, into the pond. When they had got close to the pond, again Sun sat down on a tree at the edge of the pond together with Moon. The beard of the girl’s father came up to them but returned into the pond. Bones of dead people came up.

Moon said, “Oh! I am dying!” and suddenly he ran away.

Sun was left behind, alone there, sitting on the tree. The water rose, part of it came on one side of him and part of it on the other; it flowed all around him. He was sitting in the midst of the water, which presently returned to the pond. Sun did not budge from the spot. The water, however, returned to the river. Then smoke rose up out of the water. Sun said, to himself, “I do not intend to die here, although my brother got frightened and ran away. I am going to remain, so that I may see the girl” The smoke ceased, and the water flamed like fire. The fire, however, soon went out.

After that there came out of the water a human being – it was the girl! She came and took the young man by the hand and said to him, “Now we will go home to our place, and I shall give you food.”

The girl said to the pond, “Get out of the way for this man! I am going to cook food for him.” The water drew off the side of the pond, went over to one side.

The girl went and cooked food which she brought and gave the young man, and he ate. She said to him:

“I, it is you that is to take me to wife, because you are a man who is not afraid of anything. And you, now you are my husband because you are not afraid of all the things that were shown you, but your elder brother ran away.”

Then the girl’s father said to Sun, “Take the girl. When you have gone home you are to tarry there with her for five days, and then you yourself and your father are to bring the girl back here!

They started off. Moon had returned and sat down in the compound. He had a sword, and he said, “When Sun comes along with that girl, I shall kill him.”

Then the girl approached, and Sun was walking in the front of her. They came and found that Moon was in the compound. They asked him, “Moon, is there anyone at home in our village?”

“Sun, come here!”

Sun carried a sword. He went forward, and sat down. The mother came out and Sun said to her, “Mother, go and take the girl and conduct her into the village!”

The mother asked him, “This girl, is it you that have taken her to wife, or is it Moon?”

“She is my wife, Moon ran away.” Sun repeated: “Moon ran away.”

The latter grasped his sword. Sun looked up and saw the sword quite close to him, for Moon gave him a cut. And he, Sun, who also carried his sword, slapped Moon, and they fought. Sun was badly cut by Moon.

The mother cried a great deal. She took millet and all kinds of provisions and spoilt them for Moon. And she threw millet and all the other foodstuffs on the fire, saying, “You, Moon, have damaged Sun in this way. May you be destroyed in the same way! And the mother took some milk, and she and her husband poured it into a calabash bowl with millet and beer. Thereupon they blessed Sun, that he would shine brightly for mankind. The girl remained on in the village as Sun’s wife, but Moon had no wife, and he who had formerly been more brilliant than Sun no longer was so.

Ever since that time and even now Moon avoids Sun; they will not agree to approach each other at the same fire, nor to eat food together. When Sun goes down, Moon comes out; when Sun comes out of the village, Moon rapidly runs away. Is not that a curse? Moon has become small, and Sun has become big.

[ AKAMBA ]

When Kintu came first to Ugnada he found there was no food at all in the country. He brought with him one cow and had only the food with which the animal supplied him. In the course of time a woman named Nambi came with her brother to the earth and saw Kintu. The woman fell in love with him and, wishing to be married to him, pointedly told him so. She had to return, however, with her brother to her people and her father, Gulu, who was king of the sky.

Nambi’s relations objected to the marriage because they said that the man did not know of any food except that which the cow yielded, and they despised him. Gulu, the father, however, said that they had better test Kintu before he consented to the marriage, and he accordingly sent someone to rob Kintu of his cow. For a time Kintu was at a loss what to eat, but he managed to find different kinds of herbs and leaves which he cooked and ate. Nambi happened to see the cow grazing and recognized it, and complaining that her brothers wished to kill the man she loved, she went to the earth and told Kintu where his cow was, and invited him to return with her to take it away.

Kintu consented to go, and when he reached the sky he was greatly surprised to see how many people there were with houses and with cows, goats, sheep, and fowls running about. When Nambi’s brothers saw Kintu sitting with their sister at her house, they went and told heir father testing to see whether he was worthy of their sister. An enormous meal was cooked, enough food for a hundred people, and brought to Kintu, who was told that unless he ate it all he would be killed as an impostor. Failure to eat it, they said, would be proof that he was not the great Kintu. He was then shut up in a house and left alone.

After he had eaten and drunk as much as he could, he was at a loss to know what to do with the rest of the food. fortunately, he discovered a deep hole in the floor of the house, so he turned all the food and beer into it and covered it over so that no one could detect the place. He then called the people outside to come and take away the baskets. The sons of Gulu came in, but would not believe that he eaten all the food. They, therefore, searched the house but failed to find it.

They went to their father and told him that Kintu had eaten all the food. He was incredulous, and said that Kintu must be further tested. A copper axe was sent to Kintu by Gulu, who said, “Go and cut me firewood from the rock, because I do not use ordinary firewood.”

When Kintu went with the axe, he said to himself, “What am I to do? If I strike the rock, the axe will only turn its edge or rebound.” However, after he had examined the rock, he found that there were cracks in it, so he broke off pieces of it, and returned with them to Gulu who was surprised to get them. Nevertheless, he said that Kintu must be further tried before they could give their consent to the marriage.

Kintu was next sent to fetch water and was told that he must bring only dew, because Gulu did not drink water from wells. Kintu took the water-pot and went off to a field, where he put the pot down and began to ponder what he must do to collect the dew. He was sorely puzzled, but upon returning to the pot, he found it full of water. So he carried it back to Gulu. Gulu was most surprised and said, “This man is a wonderful being; he shall have his cow back and marry my daughter.

Kintu was told to pick his cow from the herd and take it. This was a more difficult task than the others, because there were so many cows like his own that he feared he would mistake it and take the wrong one. While he was thus perplexed a large bee came and said, “Take the one upon whose horns I shall alight; it is yours.”

The next morning Kintu went to the appointed place and stood and watched the bee, which was resting on a tree near him. A large herd of cows was brought before him, and he pretended to look for his cow, but in reality he was watching the bee which did not move. After a time, Kintu said, “My cow is not there.” A second herd was brought, and the bee at once flew away and rested upon a cow which was a very large one, and Kintu said, “This is my cow.” The bee then flew to another cow, and Kintu said, “This is one of the calves from my cow,” and the bee went on to a second and a third cow which Kintu claimed as the calves which had been born during the cow’s stay with Gulu.

Gulu was delighted with Kintu and said, “You are truly Kintu, take your cows. No one can deceive or rob you, you are too clever for that.” He called Nambi and said to Kintu, “Take my daughter who loves you, marry her, and go back to your home.” Gulu further said, “You must hurry and go back before Walumbe, or Death, comes, because he will want to go with you and you must not take him; he will only cause you trouble and unhappiness.”

Nambi agree to what her father said and went to pack up her things. Kintu and Nambi then took leave of Gulu, who said, “Be sure, if you have forgotten anything, not to come back, because Death will want to go with you and you must go without him.”

They started off home, taking with them, besides Nambi’s things and the cows, a goat, a sheep, a fowl, and a plantain tree. On the way Nambi remembered that she had forgotten the grain for the for the fowl, and she said to Kintu, “I must go back for the grain for the fowl, or it will die.”

Kintu tried to dissuade her, but in vain. She said, “I will hurry back and get it without anyone seeing me.”

He said, “Your brother Death will be on the watch and will see you.”

She would not listen to her husband, but went back and said to her father, “I have forgotten the grain for the fowl, and I have come to take it from the doorway where I put it.”

He replied, “Did I not tell you that you were not to return if you forgot anything, because your brother Walumbe would see you and want to go with you?” Now he will accompany you.”

Nambi tried to steal away without Walumbe, but he followed her. When she rejoined Kintu, he was angry at seeing Walumbe, and said, “Why have you brought your brother with you? Who can live with him?”

Nambi was sorry, so Kintu said, “Let us go and see what happen.”

When they reached the earth Nambi planted her garden, and the plantains grew rapidly, and she soon had a large plantain grove in Manyagalya. They lived happily for some time and had a number oif children, until one day Walumbe asked kintu to send one of the children to be his cook.

Kintu replied, “If Gulu comes and asks me for one of my children, what am I to say to him? Shall I tell him that I have given her to be your cook?”

Walumbe was silent and went away, but he again asked for a child to be his cook, and again Kintu refused to send one of his daughters, so Walumbe said, “I will kill them.”

Kintu, who did not know what he meant, asked, “What is it that you will do?” In a short time, however, one of the children fell ill and died, and from that time they began to die at intervals.

Kintu returned to Gulu and told him about the deaths of the children, and accuse Walumbe of being the cause. Gulu replied, “Did I not tell you when you were going away to go at once with your wife and not return if you had forgotten anything? But you allowed Nambi to return for grain. Now you have Walumbe living with you. Had you obeyed me you would have been free of him and would not have lost any of your children.”

After some further entreaty, Gulu sent Kaikuzi, another brother, to assist Nambi, and to prevent Walumbe from killing the children. Kaikuzi went to the earth with Kintu and was met by Nambi, who told him her pitiful story. He said he would call Walumbe and try to dissuade him from killing the children. When Walumbe came to greet his brother they had quite a warm and affectionate meeting, and Kintu told him he had come to take him back, because their father wanted him.

Walumbe said, “Let us take our sister too.”

But Kintu said he was not sent to take her, because she was married and had to stay with her husband. Walumbe refused to go without his sister, and Kaikuzi was angry with him and ordered him to do as he was told. Death, however, escaped from Kaikuzi’s grip and fled away into the earth.

For a long time there was enmity between the two brothers. Kaikuzi tried in every possible way to catch his brother Walumbe, but he always escaped. At last Kaikuzi told the people to remain in their houses for several days and not to let any of the animals out, and he would have a final hunt for Walumbe. He further told them that if they saw Walumbe they must not call out or raise the usual cry of fear.

The instructions were followed for two or three days, and Kaikuzi got his brother to come out of the earth and was about to capture him, when some children took their goats to the pasture and saw Walumbe and called out. Kaikuzi rushed to the spot and asked why they called, and they said they had seen Death. Kaikuzi was angry, because Walumbe had again gone into the earth. So he went to Kintu and told him he was tired of hunting Death and wanted to return home. He also complained that the children had frightened Walumbe into the earth again. Kintu thanked Kaikuzi for his help and said he feared nothing more could be done, and he hoped Walumbe would not kill all the people.

Form that time Death has lived upon the earth and killed people whenever he can, and then he escapes into the earth at Tanda in Singo.

[ BAGANDA ]

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Once some children, at their mother’s behest, very gently approached the sun’s armpit. As the sun lay sleeping. They went to lift up the sun’s armpit.

At the same time, another woman ordered her children to do the same thing. She told them that if they approached ever so gently and drew up the sun’s armpit, then the rice of the Bushmen would become dry, and the sun, as it proceeded from place across the sky, would cause everything to become bright. For this reason it was that the old woman, their mother, coaxed her children to do as she asked. “But, children,” she said, “you must wait for the sun, who is making us so cold, to lie down to sleep. Then approach him gently and, all together, lift him up and throw him into the sky.” Thus, indeed, did both of the old women speak.

And so the children approached the sun. They first sat down and looked at him in order to determine whether, as he lay there, he was looking at them. Finally they saw him lying there very quietly, his elbow lifted up so that his armpit shone upon the ground. Before the children prepared to throw him up into the sky they remembered what the old woman, their mother, had said: “O children, going yonder, you must speak to him when you throw him up. You must tell him that he must be the sun – the sun who is hot and who, as he passes along the sky, causes the Bushmen rice to become dry – the sun who is hot as he stands above in the sky.”

Thus had their mother, the old woman, whose head was white, spoken. They had listened and were going to obey her.

When all was in readiness, they took hold of the sun, all of them together, lifted him, raised him, even though he was hot to touch, and threw him up in the sky, addressing him as they threw him up: “O sun, you must altogether stand fast and you must proceed along your way – you must stand fast while you are hot.”

Then the children returned to their mother, and one of them went to her and said, “Our companion, who is here, this one, took hold of him. So did I. Then my younger brother and my still younger brother, they all took hold of him. ‘Grasp hold of him firmly,’ I said, ‘and throw him up. Grasp the old man firmly and throw him up.’ Thus I spoke to them. Then the children threw him up, the old man, the sun.”

Then another one of those who had been resent – a younger indeed – he also spoke to her and said, “Oh, grandmother, we threw him up, the sun, and we told him what you had told us, that he should altogether become the sun, the sun who is hot, for us who are cold. And we addressed him thus: ‘O my grandfather, sun’s armpit! Remain there at that place. Because the sun who is hot so that the Bushmen rice may dry for us, so that you may make the whole earth light, that the earth may become warm in the summer, that you may altogether make heat. For the reason, you must shine everywhere. You must take away the darkness. You must come indeed so that the darkness will go away.'”

And thus it is. The sun comes, the darkness departs; the sun sets, the darkness comes and, then, at night the moon comes. The moon comes out; it brightens the darkness and the darkness then departs. It has taken the darkness aways and now it moves along, continually brightening the darkness. And the the moon sets and the sun, following, comes out. The sun now drives away the darkness, indeed drives away the moon as it stands there. The sun actually pierces the moon with his knife and that is why it decays. Therefore the moon said, “O sun! leave the backbone for the children!” And the sun did so.

Then the moon painfully went away painfully returned home. He went home to become another, a moon which is whole. He again comes to life although is had seemed that he had died. He becomes a new moon and feels as though he had put on a new stomach. He becomes large; he is alive again. Then he goes along as night, feeling that he is the moon once more. Indeed he feels he is a shoe, the shoe that Mantis threw into the sky, and ordered to become the moon.

That is what the sun has done – made all the earth bright. And thus it is that the people walk while the earth is light. Then people can see the bushes, can we see other people. They can see the meat which they are eating. They can see the springbok, can hunt it in summer. It is when the sun shines, like wise, that they can hunt the ostrich. And so – because the sun brightens the earth, because he shines upon the path of men – the Bushmen steal up to the gemsbok, steal up to the kudu, travel about in summer, and go visiting one another. Because the sun shines hottest upon the path of men in summer, they always go shooting and hunting then, for they are certain to espy the springbok. It is in the summer that they lie contented in their little homes made of bushes, and they scratch up the earth. All day they do when the springbok comes.

The people of whom we speaking were the Bushmen, the men of the early race. It is they who first inhabited this earth and it was their children who worked with the sun, who threw the sun up and made him ascend so that he might warm the earth for them, and that they might be able to sit in the sun.

The sun, they say, was originally a man who lived on earth. In the beginning, he gave forth brightness for a space just around his own dwelling. As his shining was confined to a certain space just at and around his own house, the rest of the country seemed as if the sky were very cloudy – as it looks now, in fact, when the sun is behind thick clouds. This shining came from one of the sun’s armpits as he lay with one arm lifted up. When he put down his arm, darkness fell everywhere; when he lifted it up again, it was as if day came. In the the day, the sun’s light used to be white, but at night, it was red like fire. When the sun was thrown up into the sky it became round and never was a man again.

The same is true of the moon. He too, was once a man who could talk. But today neither the sun nor the moon talk. They just live in the sky. Then Spider said, “I shall go on to Sun’s village in order to bring him. ” Hut Moon said, “Let me first get you something to eat.” And Spider replied, “Ho!” So Moon masked up some yam for him to eat. Then Spider set out for Sun’s village. When he reached Sun’s village, he said to him, “Your father says you must come along with me.” And Sun said, “It is well, I and you shall go, but let me get you something to eat first.” Spider replied, “Ho!” So Sun went and caught a sheep. When he came back, he said to Spider, “I would have wished, had my father come here, that he should have seen what I was doing; if it were good, or if it were bad, in either case he would have seen. Since, however, he has not come and you have come, it is as if father had come. Therefore here is this, my sheep, that I shall kill so you may eat.”

And he killed the sheep and prepared it beautifully for Spider to eat. After the meal Spider said, “Let us go on a fallen tree.” When they got there, Spider said to Sun, “Your father has blackened a stool at his home. He wishes you to succeed to that stool, so he has pulled up a yam and if you know its name, he will take the stool and give it to you. Now this yam is called ‘Terminus.’ And in order that you may not forget its name, I shall cut a shirt drum for you, and make a mpintini drum to go with it, so that when they beat the short drum and the mpintini drum then you will never forget this word, for the shirt drum will speak out and say:

‘Firi bomo!

Firi bomo!”

Then the mpintini drum will say:

‘Kintini bomo!

Kintini bomo!”

So they set off to go to the sky-god’s town. First they reached Moon’s village and took him along; then they reached Night’s village and took him along. All the way they played the mpintini drum. When they reached the outskirts of the town Spider saw a man, and he sent him off to tell the sky-god that they were coming. There upon the sky-god called on assembly together, and soon Spider and the others arrived and saluted every one. Spider now gave the spokesman the news, saying, “The chief’s errand on which I was sent I have performed; I have brought them.” And the sky-god said, “My children, the reason I caused you to be sent for this: I have blackened the stool standing there and I have also pulled up the yam over there. I shall now take this stool and give it to him who sees and names the yam. Because my eldest child is Night, let him try first.” Then Night said, “It is called ‘Pona.” And all the people shouted, “Y-e-e-e.” Again the sky-god spoke, “My second child is Moon, therefore let him give its name.” And moon said, “It is the yam called ‘Asnate.’ ” The people shouted, “Y-e-e-e-e.” Again the sky-god spoke, “My child, the third one, is Sun, therefore let him name it.”

Now’ I forgot to say that the dance music was going on:

“Kintnkyi Bomo!

Kintinkyi bomo!”

and Spider was turning cart-wheels.

Then Sun rose up and stood there, and took hold of the yam, and he said, “Oh, as for this, since ever I began to walk beside my father and was very small, he used to tell me its name, and I have not forgotten; it is called ‘Terminus” And the tribe shouted three times, “E!E!E!”

Then his father rose up and stood there and said, “You, Night, you are the eldest, but the words which I told you you have allowed yourself to forget, because you did not pay attention to my words. Because of this, it it now decreed that wicked things only will be done during your time. And you, Moon, the words with which you and I walked and I told you, you too did not follow. It is decreed therefore that only children will play during your reign. As for you, Sun, when I said words to you, you did not forget; you listened to my advice, so you are to be the chief. Should any one have any matter to settle, let it be heard in your time. Household cases. however, may be heard in the evening.

“So take the path which I have set you and if Zeno wishes to trespass upon it, may Diawerigne, the circular rainbow seen at times around the sun, throw itself around you, so that Moon may not be able to come and touch you. Again, if the rainclouds gather, the sky-god’s bow will be cast on the sky that your children who are under you may see when I have cast it so that the waters will not overflow and carry them away.

“One more thing. These words which were formerly known as the “Sayings of the Sky-God.” now since the spider, has been able to read these words in my head, let them be known henceforth as “The Sayings of Spider.”

[ ASHANTI ]

There once was a certain woman who bore eleven children. Every day when she got up and cooked food the children ate it all and the mother did not get any of it. She pondered long about the matter, and went off to the plantation and spoke to the silk-cotton tree, saying, “I shall send my eleven children to come beneath you here to pluck pumpkins; and when they come, pluck off eleven of your branches and kill those children of mine.”

The silk-cotton tree said, “I have heard, and I shall do it for you.”

The mother then went home and said to her children, “You must go to the plantation beneath the silk-cotton tree; there are pumpkins there. Go pick them and come back.”

The children set off. They went and reached the silk-cotton tree. Number Eleven said, “Number One, stand still; Number Two, stand still; Number Three, stand still; Number Four, stand still; Number Five, stand still; Number Six, stand still; Number Seven, stand still; Number Eight, stand still; Number Nine, stand still; Number Ten, Stand still; and I Number Eleven, I have stood still.”

Number Eleven then addressed them saying, “Do you not know the sole reason why Mother said we must go and pick pumpkins?”

His brother’s answered, “No.”

Thereupon he said, “She has told this silk-cotton tree that, when we go there, he must pluck off branches and beat us. Therefore all of you cut sticks and throw them against this silk-cotton tree.”

They cut the sticks and threw them against the silk-cotton tree. Pim! pen! pim! pen! was the sound they made. The silk-cotton supposed that the children had come. He took off eleven of his branches and let them fall to the ground. Little Number Eleven said, “You have seen – had we gone on there, the silk-cotton tree would have killed us.”

They picked up the pumpkins and took them to their mother. She cooked them. And at once the children had eaten all! Their mother said, “Ah! as for this matter, I cannot bear it! I shall take these children and give them to the sky-god.”

The next morning, when things became visible, she went and told the sky-god all about it, saying, “The children to whom I have given birth eat so fast and so much that when I wish to eat, I can’t get anything. Hunger is killing me. Therefore, I implore you, let the children be brought and killed, so that I may get something to eat.”

The sky-god said, “Is that really the case?”

The woman said, “I am speaking with a head, the inside of which is white.”

So the sky-god picked out messengers, and they went and dug a large pit in which they placed broken bottles. The sky-god himself went and fetched a snake and a leopard, put them in the pit, and covered it over. And now the messenger went to call the children.

No sooner did they reach the place where the pit lay, than Number Eleven said, “Number One, stand still; Number Two, stand still; Number Three, stand still; Number Four, stand still; Number Five, stand still; Number Six, stand still; Number Seven, stand still; Number Eight, stand still; Number Nine, stand still; Number Ten, stand still; and I myself Number Eleven, I have stood still. You must pass here, but you must not pass there.”

His brothers said, “Why, when a wide path lies there, must we pass through the bush?”

Now, as they were going along, they all carried clubs. Number Eleven said, “Throw one of these clubs upon this path.” They threw a club upon the path, and it fell through into the pit. Yiridi was the sound of its fall. Number Eleven said, “There you are! You see! Had we passed there, we should all of us have died.”

So they took a bypath and went off to meet the sky-god. The sky-god had caused holes to be dug, covered over, and stools placed upon them, so that when the children came to sit on them, they would fall into the holes. Soon the arrived before the face of the sky-god. Hep spoke to them: “Stools are set there. You may go and be seated upon them.”

Then Number Eleven siad, “Who are we that we should be able to sit upon such very beautiful stools? So, sire, we are going to sit aside here.”

Thereupon the sky-god gazed at the children and he said to himself, “I shall send the children to Death’s village.”

The next morning, when things became visible, he called the children and said, “You must go to Death who lives yonder and receive from her a golden pipe, a golden chewing-stick, a golden snuff box, a golden whetstone, and a golden fly-switch.”

Number Eleven said, “You are our master, wherever you will send us, we shall go.”

The sky-god said, “Be off!”

So the children set out for Death’s village. When they arrived there, Death said, “Why, when no one must ever come here, have. you come here?”

They replied, “We were roaming. about and came here quite by chance.” Death said, “Oh, all right then.”

Now Death had ten children. With herself, they made eleven. When things began to disappear – that is, when it became dark – Death divided up the children one by one and gave one to each of her children, while she herself and Number Eleven went to rest. When it was dark, Death then lit up her teeth until they shone red so that she might seize Number Eleven with them.

Number Eleven said, “Death, I must not yet asleep.”

Death said, “When will you be asleep?”

Number Eleven said, “If you were to give me a golden pipe to smoke for a while, then I might fall asleep.”

And Death fetched it for him.

A little while later, Death again lit up her teeth in order to go and seize Number Eleven with them.

Number Eleven said, “Death, I am not yet asleep.’

Death said, “When will you be asleep?”

Number eleven said, “If you were to bring me a golden snuff box, I might go to sleep.”

And Death brought it to him.

Again, soon afterward, Death was going to seize Number Eleven.

Number Eleven said, “I am not asleep.”

Death said, “When will you asleep?”

Number Eleven said, If you were to go and fetch golden chewing-stick for me so that I might chew it for a while, then I might fall asleep.”

Death fetched it for him, A short time passed, and Death was about to seize him.

Number Eleven said, “Grandmother, I am not yet asleep.”

And Death said, “Then when will you be asleep?”

Number Eleven said, “Grandmother, if you were to go and bring me a golden whetstone, then I might sleep.”

And Death went brought it. Again, soon afterward, Death rose up once more.

Number Eleven said, “Oh, Grandmother, I said I was not yet asleep.”

Death said, “And what will be the day when you will be asleep?”

Number Eleven said, “If you were to go and take a calabash full of holes and go and splash water in it and boil some food for me to eat, then I might sleep.”

Death lifted up a strainer and went off to the stream. When she slashed the water into it, the holes in the strainer let it pass through. Now Number Eleven said to his brothers, “Rise up and flee away.” Then they rose up and fled, and Number Eleven went and cut a plantain stems and placed them where his brothers had lain and took cloths and covered them over.

Now Death was at the stream splashing water. And Male Death called to Female Death, saying, “Ho thee, Death!”

She replied, “Adwo.“

He said, “What are you doing?”

She replied, “Alas, is it not some small child whom I have got! When I am about to catch him, he says, ‘I am not yet asleep.’ He has taken all my things, and now he says, I must take a strainer and splash water.”

Male Death said, “Ah, are you a small child? If you pluck leaves and line the inside of the strainer and then splash water, would it not be all right?”

Female Death said, “Oh, how true!”

She plucked leaves, placed them inside, and splashed the water and went off. Number Eleven said, “Death, you have come already? Boil the food.” Death cooked the food; she lit up her teeth in order to kill Number Eleven’s brothers and cook them for food. When she went, she did not examine them carefully, and she herself killed all her own children.

The next day, very, very early, when things became visible, Death rose up and sat there by the fired. Number Eleven said, “Grandmother, a tsetse fly is sitting on your breast.”

Death said, “Fetch the fly-switch which is lying there and kill it for me.”

Number Eleven saaid, “Good gracious me! A person of your consequence – when a tsetse fly settles on you and a golden fly-switch lies there – you would use this only thing! Let me fetch the golden fly-switch and come and kill it.”

Death said, “Go and fetch it from the room.”

Number Eleven went and brought it. He purposely drove the fly away; he didn’t kill it. Number Eleven said, “Oh, today, where this tsetse fly will rest, there I shall rest with him.”

The number Eleven went to the room and took his bag in which lay the golden pipe and all the things. He said, “Grandmother Death, nothing will suffice save that I get the tsetse fly, put it in this bag, and bring it to you.”

Number Eleven set off – yiridi! yiridi! yiridi! He reached the end of the town and siad, “Ho, there, Grandmother Death! Pardon my saying so but if you were not a perfect fool, could I have found a way to escape, and could I have made you also kill all your children? As for me, I am going off.”

Death said, “You, a child like this! Wherever you rest, there I shall rest!”

Number Eleven leaped off – yiridi! yiridi! yiridi! and death, too, went to chase him.

As Number Eleven was going, he overtook his brothers who were sitting on the path. They were making a bird-trap. Number Eleven said, “Have you not gone yet? Death is coming, so let us find some way to escape.”

Now Death came upon them. Number Eleven took medicine and poured it on his brothers, and they went on top of a silk-cotton tree. And Death stood at the foot of the silk-tree. She said, “Just now I saw those children, and where have they gone?

Number Eleven was sitting above. He said to his brothers, I am going to make water upon her.”

His brothers said, “E! she is seeking us to catch us, and we have fled and come and sit here and yet you say, ‘I am going to make water on her.'”

Number Eleven would not listen, and he made water over Death.

Death said, “Ah, there you are! Today you have seen trouble.” Death said, “You, child, who are sitting up there, Kyere–he-ne, Kyere-he-ne!” Thereupon one of the children fell down. “Kyere-he-ne!” a second one fell down. Soon there remained only Number Eleven.

Death said, “Child, Kyere-he-ne!” and Number Eleven leaped and descended on the ground, kirim! And Death then went on top of the silk-cotton tree.

Number Elven said, “You, great big woman, you too, Kyere-he-ne!”

And death, also, came down, tum! She was dead.

Number Elven went and plucked medicine, rolled it between his palms, and sprinkle it on his brothers, and they rose up. Number eleven was going to throw the medicine awaye, when some of it dropped on Death, and Death awoke. She said, “You have killed me, and you have also awakened me. Today you and I will have a chase.”

They they all started to run off at once, kiri! kiri! kiri! Now Death was chasing them. As they were going, there lay before them a big river in flood. When Number Eleven and his brothers reached it, the brothers knew how to swim and they swam across. Number Eleven alone did not know how to swim. The children stood on the other side; they cried and cried and cried; their mouths became swollen up. As for Number Eleven, he turned into a stone.

Death reached the river. She said, “Oh, these children! You stand there! Let me get a stone and hit your swollen mouths.” Death, when she looked down, saw a stone lying there. She picked it up and threw it. As the stone was travelling, it said, “Winds take me and set me on the other side.” It alighted on the other side. Number Eleven said, “Here I am!”

Death said, “Ah, that child! I have no further matter to talk to you about. All I have to say to you is this: Go and remain at home and change into one of the lesser gods, and, if anyone whom I wish to take comes to where you are, do you inform me. If I so desire, I will leave him and make you a present of him; but what I wish in exchange you must receive it for me.”

That is how the Komba, the lesser gods, came into the world. They are descended from the small child Number Eleven.

[ ASHANTI ]

Amon was married to Keti, the barn-door fowl, but after a while he took to himself four other wives. Keti, of course, retained her rights as head wife, and the other four wives obeyed her.

One day Amon called the four newcomers together and asked each one what present she would give in return for his raised her above other women in the tribe. The first one promised that she would always sweep his compound for him and keep the place neat and tidy; the second said she would always cook for him and never complain when there were many visitors; the third agreed to spin cotton for him and to bring him all the water he might require; and the fourth one said that she would bear him a child of gold.

This last promise pleased Amon, and every day he killed a sheep for this woman. But the child was long in coming. Just when Amon’s patience was giving out. the woman conceived, and Amon detailed Keti to tend and care for her.

So Keti took the woman into her hut and, when the time of delivery was at hand, Keti told her that, whatever else she did, she was to be sure to shut her eyes when the child was born and not to open them until she was told to do so. The woman obeyed, and Keti hurried out and brought back a big pot.

Now it happened that the woman bore twins. The first one to be born was made entirely of silver, and Keti at once took the babe and placed it in the pot. The second child of gold, and Keti placed it in the pot. The she hurried outside and found two frogs. Running with these, she placed them on the couch and then told the mother to open her eyes and see her children.

Then Keti hastened out of the hut with the pot and ran with it as fast as she could to the far, far bush, where she found a dead odum tree. There she hid the pot with the two babies and then returned swiftly to Amon’s compound, passing by his hut on the way. She told her husband that the children had been born and asked him to go with her to see his offspring.

Amon at once arose and went to the hut where the mother was lying. To his consternation and anger, he found two frogs instead of the expected child of gold. He gave orders that the frogs were to be killed at once and that the woman should be sent into the furthermost corner of his kingdom.

Now Amon has a certain hunter whose hut was situated in the far bush. He happened to be out hunting on the day the children were born and his chase led him to the odum tree. There his eye was attracted by the glitter of the golden child and he cried out, “Why, what is this?”

The children answered him, “We are the children of Amon” But he could not believe that.

He took some of the dust that had fallen from their bodies, however, and put it into his bag. Then he took up the children and carried them to his hovel. There he kept them secretly, not did he tell any man of what he had found.

And every time the hunter wanted money he would gather some of the children’s dust. Thus he became a very rich man. Instead of having a solitary hovel in the bush, he built a huge compound and round him there gathered a great town.

Now not very far away there lived Spider. One day he went into the bush to gather some white ants for his fowls and he came across the new town. He was astounded to see that in the place where he expected a hovel there was so much wealth and so many people. His curiosity aroused, Spider entered the town to learn how the change had come about. By sheer accident he espied the former hunter playing with the children. At once Spider knew that the latter were the lost children of Amon, and he hurried back home to send a message to their father. But the hunter has also seen Spider, and he knew full well that that busybody would betray his secret. Therefore he called the children and told them that, as they claimed they were the children of Amon, he proposed to take them to Amon.

The next morning he prepared hammocks and fine clothes for the children and proceeded on the way to Amon. On the road the children called their foster-father and told him that he must collect some stones withe which to play wari, as they themselves could not speak to their father, but that the stones would tell him the whole story.

The man did so, and they arrived before Amon. There the hunter placed stools and asked Amon if he would play a game of wari with him. Amon agreed, but the silver child said, no, he himself wished to play, that the stones would tell the story for which they had come.

Then the silver child and Amon sat down to the game and, as the stones went round and round the board, the golden child sang the story of their adventures from the time of their mother’s promise until their birth; he sang of the baseness of Keti and of the kindness of the hunter who had fed them instead of killing them for their silver and gold.

Then Amon knew them to be his children, and he sent straightway into the far, far bush to call back the woman whom he had exiled. When she arrived, she was dirty over and her hair was uncut and unkempt. Amon himself washed the woman, and when she was clean and nice again he sent for Keti.

Great was Amon’s wrath. He tied the evil fowl Keti, his first wife, by he foot to a stick and cured her. Then he threw her down from the sky and gave orders that every time the fowl wished to drink she would first have to raise her head to him and beg. Further, Amon gave orders that every man would in the future sacrifice fowls as the ordinary sacrifices to the gods.

Are not these things done to this day?

As for the children – once every year they are washed , and dust from them falls upon the earth. Some falls on men, and these are the lucky ones who become wealthy.

[ KRACHI ]

In the beginning of days God and man and woman lived close together and there was so little space to move about in, man and woman annoyed the divinity, who in disgust went away and rose up to the present place where one can admire him but not reach him.

He was annoyed for a number of reasons. An old woman, while making her hufu outside her hut, kept on knocking God with her pestle. This hurt him and, as she persisted, he was forced to go higher out of her reach. Besides, the smoke of the cooking fires got into his eyes so that he had to go farther away. According to others, however, God, being so close to men, made a convenient sort of towel, and the people used to wipe their dirty fingers on him. This naturally annoyed him. Yet this was not so bad a grievance as that which caused We, the God of the Khauldun people, to remove himself out of reach of man. He did so because an old woman, anxious to make a good soup, used to cut off a bit of him at each mealtime, and We, being pained at this treatment, went higher.

Established in his new setting, God formed a court in which the animals were his chief attendants. Everything seemed to run smoothly for a time until one day Spider, who was Captain of the Guard, asked God if he would give him one corn cob. “Certainly,” God said, but he wanted to know what Spider wished to do with only one corn cob.

And Ananse said, “Master, I will bring you a hundred slaves in exchange for one corn cob.”

At this, Wati laughed.

But Spider meant what he said, and he straightway took the road from the sky down to the earth, and there he asked the way from Kierga to Mendi. Some men showed him the road and Spider set out. That evening he had gone far as Tarikh. There he asked the chief for a lodging, and a house was shown him. And when it was time to go to bed, he took the corn cob and asked the chief where he could put it for safekeeping. “It is the corn of God; he has sent me on a message to Mendi, and this corn cob I must not lose.”

So the people showed him a good place in the roof, and everyone went to sleep. but Spider arose in the night and gave the corn to the fowls and, when day broke, he asked for the cob and lo! It was all eaten and destroyed. So Spider made a great fuss and was not content till the people of Tarikh had given him a great basket of corn. Then he continued on his way and shortly say down by the roadside, as he was weary from carrying so great a load.

Presently there came along a man with a live fowl in his hand which he was bringing back from his field. Spider greeted him and they soon become friends. Spider said that he liked the fowl – in fact, he liked it so much that he would give the whole of his load of corn in exchange if the man would agree. Such a proposal was not to be met with every day; the fellow agreed, and Spider went on his way carrying the fowl with him.

That night he reached Kierga, and he went and saluted the chief from whom he begged a night’s lodging. This was readily granted and Spider, being tired, soon went to bed. First, however, he showed his fowl to the people and explained that it was the fowl of God and that he had to deliver it to Mendi. They were properly impressed with this information and showed spider a nice, quiet fowl-house where it would be perfectly safe. Then all went to bed.

But Spider did not sleep. As soon as he heard every one snoring, he arose and took his fowl and went outside the village and there sacrificed the poor bird. Leaving the corpse in the bush and placing some of the blood and feathers on the chief’s own doorpost, he went back to bed.

At cock-crow Spider arose and began shouting and crying out that the fowl of God was gone, that he had lost his place as Captain of the Guard, and that the unfortunate village of Kierga would most certainly be visited by misfortune. The hullabaloo brought everyone outside, and by this time it was daylight. Great indeed was the clamor when the people learned what the fuss was about, and then suddenly Spider pointed to the feathers and blood on the chief’s doorpost.

There was no use denying the fact – the feathers were undoubtedly those of the unfortunate fowl, and just then a small boy found its body. It was evident to all that their own chief had been guilty of a sacrilege too dreadful to think about. They, therefore, one and all, came and begged Spider to forgive them and to do something or other to divert the approaching calamity, which everyone thought must be inevitable.

Spider at last said that possibly God would forgive them, if they gave him a sheep to take to Mendi.

“Sheep!” creid the people. “We will give you any number of sheep so long as you stop this trouble.”

Ananse was satisfied with ten sheep and he went his way.

He had no further adventures until he reached the outskirts of Mendi with his sheep. He was a little tired, however, and sat down outside the village and allowed his sheep to graze. He was still resting when there came toward him a company of people, wailing and weeping. They bore with them a corpse, and when Spider saluted them and asked what they were doing, they said that a young man had died and that they were now carrying him back to his village for burial.

Spider asked if the village was far, and they said it was far. Then he said that it was more than likely that the body would rot on the road, and they agreed. He then suggested that they should give him the corpse and in exchange he would give them the ten sheep. This was a novel kind of business deal, but it sounded all right and, after a little while, the company of young men agreed and they went off with the sheep, leaving their dead brother with Spider.

The latter waited until nightfall and then walked into town, carrying with him the corpse. He came to the house of the chief of Mendi and saluted that nighty monarch, and begged for a small place where he could rest. He added:

“I have with me as companion the son of God. He is his favorite son, and, although you know me as the captain of God’s Host, yet I am only as a slave to this boy. He is asleep now, and as he so tired I want to find a hut for him.”

This was excellent news for the people of Mendi and a hut was soon ready for the favorite son of God.

Spider placed the corpse inside and covered it with a cloth so that it seemed verily like a sleeping man. Spider then came outside and was given food. He feasted himself well and asked for some food for God’s son. This he took into the hut where, being greedy, he finished the meal and came out bearing with him the empty pots.

Now the people of Mendi asked if they might play and dance, for it was not often a son of God came to visit them. Spider said that they might, for he pointed out to them that the boy was an extraordinarily hard sleeper and practically nothing could wake him – that he himself, each morning, had had to flog the boy until he woke, and that shaking was no use, nor was shouting. So they played and they danced.

As the dawn came, Spider got up and said it was time for him and God’s son to be up and about their business. So he asked some of the chief”s own children who had been dancing to go in and wake the son of God. He said that, if the young man did not get up, they were to flog him, and then he would surely be aroused. The children did this, but God’s son did not wake. “Hit harder, hit harder! cried Spider, and the children did so. But still God’s son did not wake.

The Spider said that he would go inside and wake him himself. So he arose and went into the hut and called to God’s son. He shook him, and then he made the startling discovery that the boy was dead. Spider’s cries drew everyone to the door of the compound, and there they learned the dreadful news that the sons of their chief had beaten God’s favorite child to death.

Great was the consternation of the people. The chief himself came and saw and was convinced. He offered to have his children killed; he offered to kill himself; he offered everything imaginable. But Spider refused and said that he could think of nothing that day, as his grief was too great. Let the people bury the unfortunate boy and perhaps he, Spider would devise some plan by which God might be appeased.

So the people took the dead body and buried it.

That day all Mendi was silent, as all men were stricken with fear.

But in the evening Spider called the chief to him and said, “I will return to my father, God, and I will tell him how the young boy has died. But I will take all the blame on myself and I will hide you from his wrath. You must, however, give me a hundred young men to go back with me, so that they can bear witness as to the boy’s death.”

The the people were glad, and they chose a hundred of the best young men and made them ready for the long journey to the abode of God.

Next morning Spider arose and, finding the young men ready for the road, he went with them back to Wolof and from there he took them up to God.

The latter saw him coming with the crowd of youths and came out to greet him. And Spider told him all that he had done and showed how from one single corn cob God had now got a hundred excellent young slaves. So pleased was God that he confirmed Spider in his appointment as Chief of his Host and changed his name from Aphthis to Spider, which it has remained to the present day.

Now Spider got very conceited over this deed and used to boast greatly about this cleverness. One day he even went so far as to say that he possessed more sense than God himself. It happened that God overheard this, and he was naturally annoyed at such presumption. So, next day, he sent for his captain and told him that he must go and fetch him something. No further information was forthcoming, and Spider was left to find out for himself what God wanted.

All day Spider thought and thought, and in the evening God laughed at him and said, “You must bring me something. You boast everywhere that you are my equal, now prove it.”

So next day Spider arose and left the sky on his way to find something. Presently he had an idea and, sitting down by the wayside, he called all the birds together. From each one he borrowed a fine feather and then dismissed them. Rapidly he wove the feather into a magnificent garment and then returned to God’s town. There he put on the wonderful feather robe and climbed up the treed over against God’s house. Soon God came out and saw the garishly colored bird. It was a new bird to him, so he called all the people together and asked them the name of the wonderful bird. But none of them could tell, not even the elephant, who knows all that is in the far, far bush. Someone suggested that Spider might know, but God said that, unfortunately, he had sent him away on an errand. Everyone wanted to know the errand and God laughed and said, “Spider has been boasting too much and I heard him say that he has as much sense as I have. So I told him to go and get me something.” everyone wanted to know what this something was, and God explained that Spider would never guess what he meant, for the something he wanted was nothing less than the sun, the moon, and darkness.

The meeting then broke up amid roars of laughter at Spider’s predicament and God’s exceeding cleverness. But Spider, in his fine plumes, had heard what was required of him and, as soon as the road was clear, descended from his tree and made off to the bush.

There he discarded his feathers and went far, far away. No man knows quite where he went, but, wherever he went, he managed to find the sun and the moon and the darkness. Some say that the python gave them to him, others are not sure. In any case, find them he did and, putting them into his bag, he hastened back to God.

He arrived at his master’s house late one afternoon and was greeted by God who, after a while, asked Spider if he had brought back something.

“Yes,” said Spider, and went to his bag and drew out darkness. Then all was black and no one could see. Thereupon he drew out the moon and all could see a little again. The last he drew out the sun, and some who were looking at Spider saw the sun and they became blind, and some who saw only a little of it were blinded in one eye. Others, who had their eyes shut at the moment, were luckier, so they lost nothing of their eyesight.

Thus it came about that blindness was brought into the world, because God wanted something.

[ KRACHI ]