Gabonese Folktales
The Hare Who Believed the Rooster’s Dream: A Timeless African Folktale About Wisdom and Gullibility
One day, Shulo the Hare was visiting Jongwe the Rooster’s home and he saw the Rooster standing on one leg. His other leg was gone, and his head was gone, too! The Hare was so astonished that he stood stock-still, and then ran home and told his wife.
The next day he went to see the Rooster again. But the Rooster was up in a tree, and his head was there again and so were both his legs.
The Hare was still more astonished, and he said, “When I saw you yesterday, your head was gone and you had only one leg.”
“Oh,” said the Rooster, “that’s nothing! My head and my leg went visiting. They went off to another kraal, and we had singing and beer-drinking. I often enjoy myself that way without trouble. I tell my wife to cut off my head and my leg, and then my head and leg go visiting and have a good time. It is very easy.”
So the Hare thought, “I’m going to try that, too! If Jongwe can do that, why can’t I?”
So he ran home and told his wife. “Wife, take a sharp knife and cut off my head and my leg so that they can go visiting like the Rooster’s. I saw Jongwe again today, and his head and leg were on again, and he told me that they had been away to another kraal, dancing and singing and drinking beer. Now I want my head and leg to do the same, so cut them off!”
“But if I cut off your head,” said the wife, “you will die!”
“No, I won’t,” said Shulo, the Hare. “Jongwe is not dead. I saw him one day with his head and leg gone, and I saw him the next day with his head and leg on again. You do what I say.”
So the wife took a sharp knife and cut off the Hare’s leg and then his head. She waited for the head and leg to fly off visiting, but they never moved. And there lay Shulo the Hare, dead.
So she ran to the Rooster’s kraal.
“My husband is dead!” she cried. “What shall I do? His leg and his head have never gone visiting at all! How shall I put them on again and bring him to life?”
Then Jongwe the Rooster laughed to himself, for he knew that his own head and leg had never been cut off. He had only drawn his leg up under him to rest it while he went to sleep, and as for his head, he had simply tucked it under his wing. The visits he had had were pleasant dreams of singing and beer drinking in other kraals.
The Quest for Heavenly Fire: An African Folktale of Teamwork and Divine Challenges
Nzambi-on-Earth had a beautiful daughter, but she swore that no earthly being should marry her unless he could bring her the heavenly fire from Nzambi Mpungu, who dwelt in the heavens above the blue roof. As Nzambi’s daughter was very fair to look upon, the people marveled, saying, “How shall we secure this treasure? And who, on such a condition, will ever marry her?”
Then the spider said, “I will, if you will help me.”
And they all answered, “We will gladly help you if you will reward us.”
The spider reached the blue roof of heaven and dropped down again to the earth, leaving a strong silken thread firmly hanging from the roof to the earth below. Then he called the tortoise, the woodpecker, the rat, and the sandfly, and bade them climb up the thread to the roof. And they did so. The woodpecker pecked a hole through the roof, and they all entered the realm of the poorly dressed Nzambi Mpungu.
Nzambi Mpungu received them courteously and asked them what they wanted up there. They answered him, saying, “O Nzambi Mpungu of the heavens above, great father of all the world, we have come to fetch some of your terrible fire for Nzambi who rules upon earth.”
“Wait here then,” said Nzambi Mpungu, “while I go to my people and tell them of the message that you bring.”
But the sandfly, unseen, accompanied Nzambi Mpungu and heard all that was said. While he was gone, the others wondered if it were possible for one who went about so poorly clad to be so powerful.
Nzambi Mpungu returned to them and said, “My friends, how can I know that you have really come from the ruler of the earth, and that you are not impostors?”
“We are not!” they said. “Put us to some test that we may prove our sincerity to you.”
“I will,” said Nzambi Mpungu. “Go down to this earth of yours and bring me a bundle of bamboos so that I may make myself a shed.”
The tortoise went down, leaving the others where they were, and soon returned with the bamboos.
Then Nzambi Mpungu said to the rat, “Get beneath this bundle of bamboos, and I will set fire to it. If you escape, I shall surely know that Nzambi sent you.”
The rat did as he was bidden. Nzambi Mpungu set fire to the bamboos, and lo—when they were entirely consumed, the rat came from amidst the ashes unharmed.
Then Nzambi Mpungu said, “You are indeed what you represent yourselves to be. I will go and consult my people again.”
They sent the sandfly after him, bidding him to keep well out of sight to hear all that was said and, if possible, to find out where the lightning was kept. The sandfly returned and related all that he had heard and seen.
Nzambi Mpungu returned to them and said, “Yes, I will give you the fire you ask for, if you can tell me where it is kept.”
And the spider said, “Give me then, O Nzambi Mpungu, one of the five cases that you keep in the chicken-house.”
“Truly you have answered me correctly, O spider! Take therefore this case, and give it to your Nzambi.”
The tortoise carried it down to the earth, and the spider presented the fire from heaven to Nzambi, and Nzambi gave the spider her beautiful daughter in marriage.
But the woodpecker grumbled and said, “Surely the woman is mine, for it was I who pecked the hole through the roof, without which the others never could have entered the kingdom of the Nzambi Mpungu above.”
“Yes,” said the rat, “but see how I risked my life among the burning bamboos. The girl, I think, should be mine.”
“No, O Nzambi! The girl should certainly be mine, for without my help the others would never have found out where the fire was kept,” said the sandfly.
Then Nzambi said, “No! The spider undertook to bring me the fire, and he has brought it. The girl by rights is his—but as you others will make her life miserable if I allow her to live with the spider, and as I cannot give her to you all, I will give her to none, but will give you each her market value.”
Nzambi then paid each of them fifty lengths of cloth and one case of gin, and her daughter remained a maiden and waited upon her mother for the rest of her days.
The Lion, the Hyena, and the Fox
The lion and the hyena traveled together, and on their way the lion found a bull, and the hyena a cow; the cow was far advanced in pregnancy. And they put the bull and the cow together, and the hyena tended them.
But afterwards, when it was time for the cow to bring forth, the lion said to the hyena, “You stay at home today; I shall tend the bull and the cow.”
The hyena knew that her cow was about to give birth but, being afraid, she stayed at home.
And when the lion had gone away with them to the pasture, the hyena’s cow gave birth to a calf. And the lion, wishing to take the calf for himself, took the placenta of the cow and stuck it into the behind of his bull. Furthermore, he let the calf suck milk from its mother in the field so that afterwards the hyena should not see the calf sucking.
And in the evening when he came home, he said to the hyena, “My bull has given birth to a calf, and this is his placenta.”
The hyena said to him, “Does a bull give birth to a calf like a cow?”
The lion said to her angrily, “Yes, certainly he does!” and he sought to kill the hyena. But the hyena was afraid of him and sat down crying.
The next morning the lion took the calf and his bull and the cow and went away with them, and the hyena stayed at home, crying.
And while she was crying, the fox came to her and said, “What has happened to you, hyena?”
She said, “My cow gave birth to a calf, and the lion said to me, ‘My bull birthed the calf; your cow did not calve,’ and he took it from me.”
And the fox said to her, “Be silent! Do not cry; tomorrow I shall make him give it to you.”
And the next day when the lion and the hyena were together, the fox, carrying a waterskin, passed by them.
When they saw him, the lion said to him, “Where are you going, fox?”
The fox answered him, “Last night my father gave birth to a boy, and I am going to ask for the milk of his child-bed.”
The lion asked him, “Does a man give birth like a woman?”
And the fox said to him, “If a man does not give birth like a woman, give the hyena her calf.”
The lion jumped upon him to kill him, but the fox ran swiftly away from him into a certain place.
Now the lion hid himself in the hole of the fox to kill him by craft.
Then, when it grew evening, the fox came to his hole, but he saw the tracks of the lion at the mouth of his hole and said to himself, “Perhaps the lion is hidden here in my hole,” and he said, standing at the mouth of his hole, “O my house, good evening to you!”
But the lion kept silent.
Again the fox repeated, “O my house, good evening to you! Previously you used to answer me, ‘May your evening be good!’ and that is how I know you are my house.”
The lion, thinking that the fox’s house had formerly talked to him, said to him with a disguised voice, “May your evening be good!”
And the fox said, “My house! You are not my house; you are really the lion!” and he fled from him.
The lion looked for the fox, seeking to kill him, but as he did not find him, he returned to the hyena and gave her her calf. In this way the fox, by his craft, made the lion give the hyena her calf.
And men say as a proverb, “‘Give the hyena her calf,’ said the fox.”
How the Fox Followed the Elephant
The fox and the elephant were together. When they started, the elephant said to the fox, “Where are you going, fox?” The fox answered him, “I am going with you.” The elephant, however, said to him, “Stay here; you cannot endure hunger and thirst.” But the fox said to him, “I can endure it; I shall not say to you that I am hungry or thirsty.” And the elephant said to him, “Very well then.” And they went together about a day’s journey.
Then the fox said to the elephant, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” But the elephant replied, “Didn’t you tell me you wouldn’t be thirsty? How is this now?” And the fox said to him, “When did I think that we should go through such a dry country?” The elephant said, “Go then, drink from that water-pit there and come back!” And the fox went and, after having drunk, he filled up the pit and returned to the elephant. And the elephant asked him, “Have you had a drink?” but the fox replied, “No, I found the pit filled up.”
Thereupon after they had marched awhile, the fox said to him, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” The elephant said, “Go then, drink from such and such a well; then come.” The fox went, drank, filled up the well, and said, “I found nothing in it; it was filled up.”
And again after they had marched on awhile, the fox said to him, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” The elephant said to him, “Go then and drink from such and such a well; then come!” And that one also the fox covered up and said, “I found nothing.”
While the fox spoke thus and the elephant showed him every well, they came into a country which the elephant did not know. The fox said to him, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” The elephant answered, “I do not know the wells of this country. But there is water within my belly; enter here through my behind, and when you’ve had a drink, come back without turning right or left.” So the fox entered through the behind of the elephant, drank from that water, and came back in his tracks.
Afterwards when they had marched on from there, the fox said to the elephant, “Uncle, I am thirsty!” And the elephant replied, “Enter into me as before, and when you’ve had a drink, come back! ” The fox entered into him, and on his return after he had drunk, he saw the fat in the belly of the elephant swinging; he tore a bite off from the fat and ate. The elephant said to the fox inside him, “Fox, how could you betray me? May you be betrayed likewise!” But the fox sat there inside the elephant in order to eat from the fat. The elephant said, “Why don’t you come out?” The fox said, “How am I supposed to come out?” The elephant replied, “Go out the way you came in!” The fox said, “If I do that, you’ll poop on me!” The elephant said, “Come out through my mouth!” The fox said, “Uncle, if I do that, you’ll break me into pieces with your tusks.” “Come out through my foot!” “If I do, you’ll squash me.” “Come out then through my ear!” “Then the wax of your ear will get all over me.” “Come out through my trunk!” “If I do, you’ll catch me with it.” And whatever way the elephant told him, the fox refused to come out.
The elephant said to him, “Now then, since you have refused to come out, I shall throw myself with you down from this precipice.” But the fox said to him, “What do I care? Throw yourself down!” And the elephant, intending to perish together with the fox, jumped from the precipice and all his bones broke into pieces. But the fox went out through his behind when the elephant began to jump down, and he was safe.
Thereupon the fox took out the elephant’s entrails and, while unrolling them and dragging them along, he was met by traveling merchants. And he recognized his cousin among the merchants, and they greeted each other. Said his cousin to him, “Where have you come from, fox?” And he told him his adventures and said to him, “To my luck and your luck, I have found an elephant fallen down.” So his cousin informed his company, and they asked the fox, “Where is the elephant?” The fox answered, “These, his entrails, will guide you; just follow them!” “But who will stay with our things for us?” said they. The fox replied, “I shall stay with them.”
And after they had gone to the elephant, the fox opened their skins and drank the melted butter that was in them; then he filled the skins with piss and poop, but from the skin of his cousin he kept away. And when they returned, they said to him, “You have stayed here for us, fox; you have done well.” And then they said, “Let’s make a meal for him!” And when they had made the meal for him, the fox asked them, “Make me butter-sauce out of the skin of my cousin; my aunt’s butter I know well — it is good.” So they made a sauce of it for him. And after he had eaten, he went away from them.
When the merchants entered the town, they opened their skins in order to sell the butter, but they found nothing but piss and poop in their skins; only the skin of the fox’s cousin was good. The merchants said, “The fox has done this to us,” and they went to seek him. But the fox had mixed with other foxes who were his friends, so they did not recognize him.
Then the merchants gathered all the foxes, planted a spear in the ground, and said to them, “Jump over it.” The other foxes jumped over it, but the fox who had drunk their melted butter could not jump. The merchants said, “It is he! Because he has drunk our butter, he is now unable to jump,” and they seized him. And after they had tied him to a tree, they went away with the words, “Let us fetch switches with which to scourge him!”
While he was thus tied, the jackal came to him, herding several goats and playing a song on his harp. He said to him, “Fox, what has happened to you? Why are you tied up?” The fox replied, “My family told me to become their chief, but I refused the chieftainship.” The jackal said, “Does he whom they tell to become chief ever refuse the chieftainship?” The fox replied, “If you want it, untie me, and I’ll give the chieftainship to you. I’ll tie you in my place, and when they come to lash you with switches, tell them: I will be chief; let me alone!” The jackal untied him, and after that the fox tied him to the tree. Then the fox went away, taking from the jackal his several goats and also his harp.
Now when the merchants returned and lashed the jackal with the switches, he said to them, “I will be chief; let me alone!” When they saw he was not the fox, they asked him, “Who are you? And who told you that you would become chief?” He answered, “I am the jackal, and the fox has betrayed me! He told me, ‘My family told me to become their chief, but I refused the chieftainship.’ And I said, ‘Does he whom they tell to become chief ever refuse the chieftainship?’ And he said, ‘If you want it, untie me, and I’ll give the chieftainship to you. I’ll tie you in my place, and when they come to lash you with switches, tell them: I will be chief; let me alone!’ And he took my several goats and my harp and went away.” Then they said, “The traitor has escaped us,” and they untied the jackal.
And in this way the fox escaped from them. This is what they say.
The Debbi: Tales From Central Africa
The so-called debbi is a wild animal; its height is less than that of a dog. They say that it frightens all the wild animals.
Once upon a time, a man went down to a lonely river to fetch water. But at the river he found all the eatable and uneatable animals drinking. So the man hid himself in a certain place until all the animals had drunk and gone away.
But while the man was hiding thus, he observed all the animals. And after they all had drunk, each went to its place. And the elephants were romping together, and the lions together, and the hyenas together. And they all were scuffling, each with its kind.
Now, while they were in this state, the debbi came down to the river. And when it came, all the animals became wildly excited and fled instantly, and all left the riverbed.
The man was very much astonished and exclaimed, “Thy wonder, God! What is this?”
Thereupon the debbi came down to the well and, after it had drunk, it went up; then it wallowed at a certain spot and went out by the way in which it had come down.
Now, when all had gone away from the riverbed, the man rose from his hiding place, wondering that all the eatable and uneatable animals had fled from the little one. He drew water from the well and started on his way.
But then he thought, “I had better try to find out exactly of what sort that is which has put them all to flight.” And he came to the place where it had wallowed, and there he found a hair. Then the man took the hair and tied it up with a knot in the corner of his cloak.
Afterwards when he entered a village, all the people of the village fled from him. But the man did not know for what reason they fled from him.
And he went to another village, but the people of that village also fled from him.
And the man was frightened and said to himself, “What have I become, that all flee from me as from a madman?”
But from among the people of the village, a brave and courageous man stood before him and shouted at him, saying, “You, man! What do you have with you by which you put us to flight?”
The other replied, “I have no weapons; on the contrary, you flee from me by yourselves!”
Again the man said to him, “No! Do you perhaps have some root with you?”
Then he thought of the hair and answered him, “I have no root, but I went down to a riverbed and, because I found there all the wild animals, I hid myself until they made room for me. And from my hiding place I observed this: a little hairy one smaller than a dog came down to the river, and when the animals saw it, they all fled from it, even the elephants. And, after it had drunk from the well and gone up, it wallowed at a certain spot. Thereupon, wondering very much, I took a hair from its wallowing place, and it has been in the end of my cloak until now.”
And the other man bought the hair from him with money. Then he sewed it up in a leather case, and it became a talisman unto him, and he hung it around his neck. And the people of every village and tribe were afraid of him. Whatever he took raiding, he brought home, and when his village was raided, he made the raiders give up their booty. And there was nobody who could stand before him in a fight.
But afterwards, when he lost the talisman with the hair, warriors killed him, they say.
And now men say about a man who has something frightful about him: “He has probably a hair of the debbi with him.”
This debbi is only seen sometimes, and then everybody, be it man or animal, flees from it. But he who finds some of its hair fallen on the ground and carries it on his body is feared by all men. And the abiding-place of the debbi is generally the Gash-Barka region, but it is not often seen.