Part 9

The hare then went home, but made up his mind to go with the parrot, so that very night he hid himself in the parrot’s bag. At daylight the parrot put his bag round his neck and flew off with his family to the island. He then began to gather the palm nuts, and to fill up his bag. Now the palm-tree where the parrot was overhung the river, and the hare, thinking he would pay the parrot out for refusing to bring him, made a hole in the bottom of the bag so that the nuts dropped through into the water as fast as the parrot put them into the bag. When the parrot began to eat some of the nuts, the hare eat some also, and when the parrot dropped the kernel the hare dropped his at the same time through the hole in the bag. The parrot did not notice this, as he thought that some of his family were also eating close at hand, so he continued to put nuts into the bag, but could not understand why it was that the bag did not get full. At last the parrot thought there must be a hole in the bag, so he looked inside and found the hare there.

Then the parrot said, “My friend, what are you doing in my bag? Did I not tell you that I would not take you to the place where I got my food from? You must have hidden yourself in my bag without my knowledge.” He then pulled the hare out of the bag, and having placed him on the top of the palm-tree, flew off to the next tree, where he was joined by the rest of his family, to whom he related the way in which he had punished the hare, and shortly afterwards they all flew home, leaving the hare on the island.

The hare managed with some difficulty to climb down the tree, but when he reached the ground he was afraid to cross over to the land from the island, as he thought the alligators or big fish might catch him. He looked all round the island for a place to make his house in, but it was all wet, as the river was high; so the next day he determined to swim across the river, and risk being eaten. But before the hare started he threw some small bits of dried stick into the river and watched the fish come up and look at them. When he saw that he was bigger than the fish, he said, “They cannot eat me,” and without much fear jumped into the water and began to swim across.

The fish came round the hare and saluted him, saying, “Go on your way in peace.” Just as he got near the land, however, he came across a large female alligator, who asked him where he came from and where he was going. When he said that he was swimming from the island towards the land the alligator caught him, saying, “I want you to do me a service first, and then I will let you go.”

She then took the hare to her house at the bottom of the river, where she introduced him to her husband, and said, “This man can paint our children, and make them look nice to all people.” At this time the alligators were grey-coloured without any markings, and had for some time been wanting to change their colouring.

Then the hare said, “I see you have many young alligators here, and I will paint them all for you, but you must not look at me while I am doing it. I will paint one of your children every day and show it to you, but you must first of all build me a house, into which you must put all your children, with plenty of food and firewood.”

The next day the alligators built the house, and did everything the hare told them, a small hole being left in the wall of the house so that the hare could show the alligators each child as he painted it. The hare then went into the house and shut the door carefully. That day he painted the alligators’ eldest son with long-dark stripes across his body, and when he had finished he held the young alligator up to the hole for his parents to see, and asked them if they were satisfied. The old alligators told the hare that he had painted their son very well, and they were pleased. So the hare put the young alligator on the ground and closed the hole.

That evening the hare killed one of the young alligators and eat it. The next day he held up the alligator he had already painted to the hole for the old ones to see, and then put it down again, closing the hole as before. When night came he again killed another young alligator and eat it. The same thing happened every night until the hare had eaten all the young alligators except the one he had painted and showed to the parents each morning.

The hare then told the alligators that he had finished painting all their children, and wanted to go home, but he told them that they must not go into the house until after he had gone, as if they did his ju-ju would be broken and all the painting would be spoiled. He also asked them to allow him to be rowed across the river by an iguana, who is deaf and cannot hear anyone shouting.[6]

The alligators agreed to this, and told the iguana to bring his canoe and paddle the hare across the river. They then gave the hare presents of fish and yams, and said good-bye to him. The hare then got into the canoe and pushed off, and the iguana commenced to paddle him over.

When they had gone a little distance the father alligator went to the house where the hare had been, and when he looked in he found only his eldest son who had been painted, so he asked him where the other children were, and his son replied that the hare had eaten one of his brothers or sisters every night until he was the only one left. When the alligator heard this he was wild with rage, and went up the bank and called to the iguana to bring the hare back; but as he was deaf, the iguana took no notice. When the hare heard the alligator shouting and waving from the bank, he attracted the iguana’s attention and made him understand that the alligator was so pleased at the good work he had done that he wished the iguana to row faster, so he paddled harder than before.

Seeing that the canoe did not return, the alligator dived into the river and swam after the canoe, but before he could catch it the hare had jumped to the land and ran up the bank. The alligator then scrambled up the bank to where the hare was sitting, and asked him why he had killed and eaten his children, and told the hare he should kill him. The hare acknowledged that he had done wrong, but asked the alligator not to kill him at once, as his body was so small it would not be worth eating. He then advised the alligator to dig a pit and put sharp stakes, with their points upwards, in the bottom. The hare said, “If you do this, and then throw me up in the air as high as you can, so that my body will fall into the pit on the sharp stakes, then I shall die in great pain, and in three days’ time my body will be much swollen and will then be better worth eating.” The alligator thought this a good plan, and agreed to what the hare said, so he dug a pit and put the sharp sticks in the bottom. The alligator then threw the hare into the air as high as he could, and he fell into the pit, but was careful not to be caught on the sharp sticks. The hare then commenced to scream with pain, pretending to be in great agony. So the alligator said, “Now I have got you, you cunning hare!” and walked away to the river. The alligator then swam home and told his wife, who was mourning her children, of the revenge he had taken upon the hare.

The next morning he went to the pit to see if the hare had grown any larger, but when he looked in he found that the hare had disappeared. He then made enquiries from some other animals about the hare, and they told him that he was alive and they had seen him running home.

When the hare got home, he went to the parrot and told him what had happened to him, and warned the parrot that he should do his best to kill him for leaving him on the palm-tree to the danger of his life, unless for the future the parrot lived by the waterside, as that was where he got his food from. Then the parrot was frightened, and moved his house to the top of a high tree on the island. Ever since that time the parrots have made their nests on high trees on islands, and when they are flying high up in the air you can hear them laughing at the hare, saying, “We are out of your reach, you cannot harm us now.” And even at the present time you can see that the young alligators have stripes across their bodies, but the skin of the old ones, which is very rough, does not show the marks made by the hare, except on the tail part.

Told by Ennenni, an Okuni woman.--[28.6.10.]

XXIII.--WHY EDIDOR KILLED HER HUSBAND AND HER LOVER.

Edidor was a very pretty Okuni girl. She was a good dancer and singer, and won the love of plenty of young men, but although she liked to enjoy herself with them, she would not marry any of them. At last, however, she met a man called Ode, to whom she took a great fancy, and married him. Ode was a fine young man, and many women wanted him, but he would have nothing to do with them, and did not marry any other wives, as Edidor asked him to look upon her alone. Ode had three children by Edidor, the first-born being a boy, and the other two girls.

After a time Edidor got tired of Ode and ran away to one of the Inde towns, leaving her children with her husband. She went about from one man to another as she had done before she was married, and attended all the dances and plays until at last Ode heard where she was. He then took his three little children to his father-in-law, asking him to look after them for him, as he was going to Inde to try and get Edidor to return to him. The old man did not want Ode to get his daughter back, as he preferred her to walk about and go with different young men, as in that case he would receive numerous presents from them, whereas Ode, having paid his dowry, never gave him anything. He therefore sent a message secretly to Edidor informing her that her husband was going to look for her, and advising her to try and kill him, so that the children would become his property, as he knew his daughter would not want to look after them.

When Ode was ready he got into a small canoe and started down river for Inkum, but he had only gone a little distance when the canoe sank, and Ode swam to the shore. He looked upon the sinking of the canoe as a bad omen and a warning to him not to go that day.

When he returned home his friends encouraged him to make another attempt to get his wife back, and advised him to take a larger canoe, which would not be so likely to upset. Ode started off in a big canoe the following morning; but when he got to the other side of the river he heard a kingfisher making a noise on his right-hand side, in a bush overhanging the river. Not knowing what this omen might mean, he stopped at Okanja, which is only a little way lower down the river on the same side as Okuni, and went to see a friend of his who was known to be clever at reading signs, and told him that the kingfisher had made a noise on his right-hand as he was going down the river. The man then said to Ode, “What kind of a child did you first get when you were married?” And Ode told him that his first-born child was a boy. Ode’s friend then said, “Your good fortune depends on your left.[7] You will meet with much opposition where you are going, and you will not bring back what you are going to seek.” So Ode returned to his canoe and paddled on with much suspicion in his heart. He landed at Inkum, and went to see a friendly chief called Aigonga, to whom he told his story and asked him for help. The chief gave Ode one of his boys to show him the way overland to Inde and they started off together.

Unfortunately for Ode, his wife Edidor had consulted a ju-ju man called Ekum at Inde, who had a very powerful medicine which enabled him to see what was going to happen, and this man told Edidor that her husband was on his way to catch her and take her home, and that if she wanted to stay at Inde she should hide herself at once.

When Ode arrived at Inde he searched all over the towns, but could not find his wife. He then asked some of the people what had become of her, and they told him that the previous day she had been seen talking to a very powerful ju-ju man, and that if he were wise he would leave his wife alone and go home at once, as his life was probably in danger. But Ode would not go home, and got an Inde boy to show him the place where the ju-ju man lived. Ode then asked Ekum what had become of his wife Edidor. Ekum did not at first reply, but gave Ode one sharp stick and one blunt stick, and after a time said, “Touch your body with the sharp stick and also with the blunted one; if you feel any pain with the sharp stick, go home at once and do not bother me any more; if you do not feel any pain, come to me to-morrow morning and ask me any questions you like concerning your wife.”

The Inde boy who had gone with Ode, directly they had gone a little distance from the house, strongly urged Ode to go home, as the sticks the ju-ju man had given to him were known to be very dangerous, and if he went there again Ekum would probably either poison him or call upon the lightning to kill him, which he was quite capable of doing. The boy also said that by far the best thing Ode could do was to ask his father-in-law to help him to recover his wife, and not to come to Inde himself again. Ode thought the advice good, and returned to Okuni with the two sticks Ekum had given him; these he gave to his father-in-law, telling him what had happened, and at the same time asking him to try to get Edidor back for him. When he saw that Ode’s life had been in danger and that he had escaped, the old man repented, and told Ode to stay at Okuni and he would try to make Edidor return to him. He therefore sent a messenger to Inde to tell Edidor to return at once to Okuni. But Edidor was enjoying herself too much, and had no desire to return to her husband. The ju-ju man also had taken a fancy to her, and when he found that Edidor’s father had been trying to persuade his daughter to return to her husband, he put some ju-ju into her food which made her take an intense dislike to her husband. When Edidor’s heart had turned and she found that she hated Ode, Ekum made some strong poison, which he gave to Edidor and told her to put it in her husband’s food, and that when he was dead she should return and marry him.

The next day Edidor started off for Okuni, taking the poison with her, and intending to kill her husband on the first opportunity, but when she reached the house Ode produced their three children and talked to her very kindly until her heart was cold. Edidor then lived with Ode for a month, until the ju-ju man, finding she did not return to him, made another strong ju-ju, which at once made Edidor want to go back to him at Inde. She therefore packed up her things, and was starting off for Inde when Ode seized her and said she was not to go. That very night Edidor put half the poison Ekum had given her into Ode’s food. He then became very ill, and died after two days.

Ode was buried by his relations, but Edidor only mourned a very short time and then ran off to Inde, where she joined her lover. Ekum was very glad to get her back again, and called all his friends together. He then killed a goat, and they had a big feast, and he told all the people that Edidor was going to be his wife.

During the night Ekum asked Edidor to marry him properly, but she asked him to wait for a time until she knew all his ways and habits, and she promised she would then marry him. For some little time after this Edidor went about with different men, but Ekum always found her out, and when she returned to him he would tell her what she had been doing and the name of the man she had been with. This made Edidor afraid, but she dare not leave Ekum altogether, as he might get the lightning to kill her or cause his ju-ju to catch her. Then Ekum again asked Edidor to marry him, and she agreed to do so, but said that before the ceremony took place she wanted to join his ju-ju, so that she might know everything and not be afraid. Ekum was pleased at this, and showed Edidor all the ju-ju he had, and explained them to her. When he had finished, Edidor was so frightened that she ran away and left Ekum. Ekum, however, looked into his ju-ju pot and saw at once where she was, so he sent a messenger, who seized her and brought her back. Then Edidor made up her mind to kill Ekum, so she went to his ju-ju pot which he always looked into when he wanted to know where she had gone or what she was doing, and broke it. She then cooked the food and put the half of the poison Ekum had given her for Ode into the food and gave it to Ekum to eat; he died the next day. Before Ekum was dead, Edidor ran back to her father’s house at Okuni.

When the Inde people found that Ekum was dead, they at once knew that Edidor must have killed him, as she had run away. They therefore went to Okuni to have the palaver judged. When all the chiefs and people had met together, Edidor was accused of having poisoned Ekum, her lover. Edidor then stood up and told the chiefs that Ekum had made her poison her husband, and that when she found his ju-jus were so powerful; she broke them, and gave half the poison Ekum had given her for her husband to him in his food, and that he had then died at once.

After considering some time, the chiefs decided that they would not punish Edidor, and said that “The stone Ekum had thrown had returned and hit him.”[8]

The chiefs then said that for the future, whenever a man had a poison ju-ju or other powerful medicine, he should not tell any of his wives or any other women, because if they wished to run away from their husbands they would first of all break their ju-jus and then poison them.

Told by Ennanni, an Okuni woman.--[1.7.10.]

XXIV.--HOW ’NYAMBI PUNISHED CHIEF OGA FOR TRYING TO COMMIT ADULTERY WITH HIS WIFE OBIM.

There was once a fine strong man living at Okuni, whose name was ’Nyambi. He was a good dancer, drum-beater and singer, and these qualities, combined with his good looks and fine manly beauty, won him the admiration of many of the young Okuni girls. He knew many of them, but never asked them to marry him.

At last, when ’Nyambi was about twenty-five years of age, he met a girl at a big dance, to whom he took a great fancy, and whom he wished to marry. So he went to her parents, and, having given them the usual presents, told them that he wished to marry their daughter Obim. The parents, however, were unwilling, and told ’Nyambi that they had already promised Obim as a wife to Chief Oga.

When Obim heard this, she told her parents that she would never marry Chief Oga, as he was too old, and she intended to marry ’Nyambi, who was such a fine young man, and she was very fond of him. The parents did their best to persuade Obim to marry Chief Oga, as they would receive far more presents and a bigger dowry from him than if they allowed her to marry ’Nyambi, who was not a rich man. Obim, however, was obstinate, and absolutely declined to have anything to do with the chief, so at last her parents consented to her marriage with ’Nyambi.

Then Obim and ’Nyambi took an oath that, when they were married, they would never part from one another, and they would both try to help each other and upset any ju-ju that Chief Oga might make against them, as they knew him to be a most revengeful man.

’Nyambi then bought the usual presents for the parents and collected the dowry, which he handed to Obim’s father and mother, and rubbed the girl with camwood. She was then circumcised and kept in one room until the wound had healed.

When the gun was fired off and Obim was declared to be ’Nyambi’s wife, Chief Oga was very vexed, and, although he wanted to speak to Obim, he dared not do so openly, as he thought the people might laugh at him if they saw him going after a woman who had only just been married, seeing that he had so many wives already himself. So, when it was dark, he went to Obim and told her that if she came to him he would make her very happy, as he had plenty of slaves who would do all the hard work and she would not have to toil in the sun. Obim, however, would not listen to him, so in the end the chief went away more vexed than before and more determined than ever to get hold of Obim, somehow or other.

That night Obim told her husband of the advances made to her by the chief, and they agreed not to take any notice, but to be very careful for the future.

The next day Chief Oga consulted a ju-ju man as to the best way to turn Obim’s heart, so that she would hate ’Nyambi and come to him. The ju-ju man, after casting lots, told the chief that it would be quite easy to make Obim leave ’Nyambi and go to him, and that all the chief would have to do would be to give Obim some tombo to drink, which he would prepare with a strong medicine in it. The ju-ju man then made the tombo and put a ju-ju into it, and the chief, having given him a big present, took the tombo to his house, and sent word to Obim that he wished to speak to her.

When Obim arrived, the chief offered her some of the tombo to drink, but she refused to touch it. Chief Oga tried his best to make her drink, but Obim would not do so, and said she had merely come to hear what he might have to say. Oga then tried again to persuade Obim to leave her husband and go to him, but Obim refused as before.

Finding this plot had failed, the chief went again to the ju-ju man and told him that Obim had refused to drink the tombo. He then asked the ju-ju man to poison ’Nyambi so that he might get hold of his wife, and when he had given him another big present, he went home.

The next day, the ju-ju man joined the society to which ’Nyambi belonged, and went to all the dances, looking for an opportunity to put the poison he had prepared into ’Nyambi’s drink, but he could never succeed in making ’Nyambi drink anything, as, whenever he went to a dance or a play, Obim made him promise not to drink anything at the dancing place and she would have drink ready for him when he returned home. This probably saved his life, as the ju-ju man was unable to poison him, so after a time he went to Chief Oga, and told him that the year of ’Nyambi’s death had not yet arrived, and he could do nothing with the young man.

Chief Oga then for twelve months did not try to do anything more to kill ’Nyambi, but sat down and waited until the proper time should arrive when he would be able to revenge himself upon ’Nyambi and take Obim away.

However, he frequently sent messengers to Obim, asking her to sleep with him, but she always refused. At last Obim became so annoyed at these repeated messages, that she told her husband what was going on between herself and Chief Oga, and advised him to revenge himself in his turn. She advised ’Nyambi to pretend to go down river to sell some camwood and she would then allow the chief to come to her at night when ’Nyambi should come in and surprise them together. Obim also told her husband that she hoped he would cut a certain part off the chief’s body, which would punish him properly and prevent his troubling her for the future.

’Nyambi thought the plan a good one, so he put some camwood into his canoe and told the people that he was going down river to trade, and did not expect to return for some few days. He then started off but did not go very far.

Directly the chief heard that ’Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger to Obim, asking her to sleep with him that night. But Obim told the messenger to tell his master that she could not come to him, but that he might come to her alone at night, and he was to be careful not to let anyone know what was going on between them.

Chief Oga was so glad when he got Obim’s message that he at once went down to the river and washed himself. He then went home and put on a fine cloth and had food before it was dark. After that he sat down and waited as patiently as he could until all the people in the town had gone to sleep.