How It Came About That We Shall Always See Okra, the Cat, Lying on a Velvet Cushion, While ’Kraman, the Dog, Will Sleep Among the Ashes of the Kitchen Fire

We do not really mean, we do not really mean, (that what we are going to say is true).

THEY say that there once was a certain woman who (was so unfortunate that) whenever she gave birth to a child, it used to die. So she set out to consult one of the lesser-gods about it, and tell him that she desired a child. The lesser-god said, “I shall give you one, but as for the child, all the work he will ever do is to get you into debt, but nevertheless some day he will repay you.” It was not two days, it was not three days (after consulting the lesser-god) when the woman conceived. She gave birth—a spider-story child it was—for it was not long growing up. The infant grew into a comely youth. One day he was (with his mother) there, and he said, “Mother, give me gold dust, that I may go to the Edge-of-the-sea-country, to go and buy salt.” The mother said, “How much?” He said, “Asuanu” (i. e. £4). And the mother took it and gave to him, and he set out on the journey. Now, as he was going, he met a certain man and his spotted dog. He said, “Bring it that I may buy it.’” The dog’s master said, “You cannot buy it.” The child said, “How much is it?” The dog’s master said, “An Asuanu’s weight of gold dust” (i. e. £4). He said, “What’s that (to me), take this £4’s worth of gold dust.” He received the dog, and brought it back home. When he returned, his mother said, “Why did you not reach your destination?” He replied, “I used the gold dust to buy a dog.” His mother said, “Ho!” Now they were living there, it would be for about one moon. He said, “Mother, give me gold dust that I may go trading.” She said, “As for you, as is your wont, you will only take the gold dust and throw it away again, but how much do you want?” He replied, “An Asuanu and sum’s worth of gold dust” (i. e. £5). She said, “Take it, then.” So he set out along the trade-road. As he was going along, he met a certain man carrying a cat. He said, “Man, bring that animal that always falls on its feet, that I may buy it.” He said, “When I lie down in my room, the mice gnaw my feet, for that reason I bought it.” He said, “I beseech you let me have it.” He said, “You cannot buy it.” The child said, “How much will you take for it?” He replied, “An Asuanu and sum’s worth of gold dust.” He said, “So that’s why you say, I cannot buy it; here, take it.” The child received the cat, and went off home with it. When he reached home, he said, “Mother, look here at what I have brought.” She replied, “Ah, that is just what they said (would happen).” The child remained there (at home). It would be about forty days after, when he addressed his mother, saying, “Give me gold dust that I may go trading.” The mother said, “All the money I have about me is finished, with the exception of an Asuasa’s weight of gold dust (i. e. £6); when I give you this, and you go, and you do not buy goods with it, that’s the end of this business.” The child said, “I have heard.” Next morning, when things became visible, he took up his bag, and was off, pa! As he was going, he met a certain Ashanti fellow, and he was carrying a pigeon. He said, “Friend, bring the creature of yours, that I may buy it.” He replied, “I am not selling it, for I amuse myself with it.” He said, “I shall buy it.” The bird’s master said, “I will not sell it, for I know what it may do for me.” The child said, “Oh, give it to me.” He said, “Will you be able to buy it?” The child said, “How much?” He replied, “An Asuasa’s weight of gold dust” (i. e. £6). He said, “Do you suppose because of that I would not buy it, here is the sum.” He brought the bird home. His mother said, “This has turned out no better than before, so this is what you have brought?” He replied, “Nevertheless, this is what I have brought.” Now (one day) the child was living there (at home), when the Pigeon called to him, saying, “Come.” When he went up to it, the Pigeon informed him, saying, “In my own village I am a chief, and I was about to go on a journey, when a certain fellow came and seized hold of me, when you, out of your kindness, you, too, bought me, and now I beseech you, if you will only take me back to my town, then they will thank you greatly.” The child said, “You are telling me lies, you will run away.” The Pigeon said, “If you can’t see your way to do as I ask, then take a string, and tie it to my leg, and take me along.” The child took a string and fastened it to its leg, and he followed behind him slowly, until they reached the Pigeon’s town. When they reached the outskirts of the town, the children were playing nte marbles. When they saw him, they said, “Here is the Chief! Here is the Chief!” One of them ran to tell the Korenti’ chief, but they seized him, and cut his throat, saying, “You are causing us to call to mind our late sorrow.” But another one went again with the same tidings. And now the Akwamu chief said, “You, Gyase chief, do you yourself go and see what this is all about.” He went and looked, and returned. He said, “Oh, it is true.” Then they got a hammock and the regalia and went to bring the Chief to his house. The whole tribe was told the news, how he was setting out a journey, and how a certain fellow caught him, and how this child, by his kindness, had bought him, and how to-day he had brought him home. Elders and young people all rose up and thanked the child. The Queen Mother brought a water-pot full of gold dust; all the elders, a water-pot full of gold dust, each. The Chief himself looked on his hand, and slipped off a ring, and gave it to him. And he said, “Take this ring, and whatever you desire, this ring will give to you.” He said, “I have heard.” And he went off with the ring to his village; and he showed the gold dust and the ring to his mother. Then the mother said, “Welcome Aku, welcome Aku.” Formerly, when he had “burned” his gold dust, and when he used to return from his journeys, when he saluted his mother, she used not to answer him. And he gave his mother the news, saying, “You have seen this gold dust and this ring; I shall go and build a great village for us to live within it.” The mother said, “Press your eyes hard (i. e. try your best to do so).” The child set out and stood in the bush; he slipped off the ring and placed it on the ground; he said, “Ring, clear all this (land) of forest and of bush for me.” And the whole of that place became cleared. He said, “Collect all you have cleared into heaps for burning.” And it did so. He said, “Set up houses.” And it set up many houses. He said, “Ring, let people come and inhabit these houses.” And people came. He made his mother the Queen Mother; he, too, became chief. Now (i. e. there was something I forgot to say), Ananse, the Spider, was his best friend. One day he was living there (in his new village) when Kwaku Ananse set out to come to this youth’s village. (When he reached it,) he said, “Oh, little mother’s child, little father’s child, you have been fortunate and successful, and you don’t care about me any more to look after me, but what has happened to bring all this about?” Then the child told him all the news. The Spider said, “I shall go to my village (to get something) and return.” Ananse went off to his village; he told his niece, saying, “I shall send you to my friend yonder, and when you go, you will take this white wine for him and pay attention and do whatever he orders you; and you must secretly try to lay your hands on that ring.” The maiden set out, and went to the man’s village. The man said to her, “As for this, I shall see to it, that you do not go back again, for you must stay with me three days before you return.” The maiden said, “I have heard.” Now he and the maiden were there together, and the man went to bathe; and he slipped off the ring and placed it on a table; and the maiden took it, and went off with it to her uncle, Kwaku Ananse. As soon as Ananse laid his hands upon it, he made use (of the ring) to build a big town. Now, the man, when he came to look for his ring, could not find it. He came to hear that the Spider had

built a big town greater than his own. Then he went off to consult one of the lesser-gods yonder. The lesser-god told him, saying, “Ananse’s niece who came there to you, has taken it and gone and given it to her uncle. The Spider also went to consult (the lesser-god and it was revealed to him) that Okra, the Cat, and Okraman, the Dog, would be sent (to recover the ring), therefore he went and got medicine with which to treat meat, to place it on the path, so that when the animals were going along, if they took some to eat, they would be unable again to go anywhere at all. The man (who had lost his ring) came home, and told the Cat and the Dog, “The time has now come for me to tell you the reason I bought you, (and it is this); something belonging to me has been lost, and they say it is in the possession of the Spider, but that it lies in a box which is in the middle of all the rest. And again, they say he has taken medicine and mixed with the flesh of the sheep and placed it on the path, so when you reach there, don’t take it but jump over it.” The Dog said, “Cat, have you heard, you are the one who will chew it.” The Cat said, “Get out, you who every little while take your nose to sniff and sniff.”. Then they began to talk a lot, and their master said, “That’s all right, be off.” The two animals set out, and were going along. Now there remained only a short time for them to reach the place where the meat was, when the Dog “heard” the smell of the meat. He said, “Cat, I have a pain in my stomach, and I cannot go on.” The Cat said, “Let us on, the business on hand is important.” (The Dog) said, “Cat, I am unable.” The Cat went on. The Dog went to where the meat was; he chewed up the whole of the meat; there he lay; he was unable to go on any more. And the Cat reached Ananse’s village, and lay down in Ananse’s sleeping-room, on the ceiling (above the room). As he lay there, he saw a mouse passing. Squeak! as he landed on his head. (The mouse) said, “Don’t catch me, what is the matter?’ The Cat replied, “My Master’s ring has been lost, and they say it lies in Ananse’s box, which stands in the middle (of all the rest of his boxes), and if you are able to go and bring it to me, then I shall let you go.” The Mouse said, “I am able.” The Cat said, “Suppose I let you go, and you go off and don’t bring it, but run away?” The Mouse said, “If you wish, fasten a string round my waist.” The Cat took a string and tied it round his waist. Then the Mouse went off into the Spider’s room, and gnawed a hole in the box which stood in the middle of all the rest. Little by little he made an opening, and it became large. He passed through it, to go and get the ring to take to the Cat. No sooner did the Cat lay his hands upon it, than he ran off, and came across the Dog, and he was lying where he had left him lying. He said, “You are still lying here, and where is that meat?” The Dog said, “Oh, I did not see (what became of it), perhaps the people to whom it belonged came and removed it; but where is the ring?” The Cat said, “Here it is.’ The Dog said, “They say that the river which lies on the path is in flood, and as you, when you cross water, walk on the bottom, it may be that (the ring) will fall down, so give it to me, for, as for me, you know, I pass on the surface of the water.” The Cat said, “That’s so, take (it).” They reached the river, and the Dog jumped in. So did the Cat. At once the Cat crossed over. The Dog, too, reached the centre of the stream and became tired, and as he was about to take a deep breath, the ring fell (out of his mouth) into the water. He crossed over and came to where the Cat was. The Cat said, “Where is that

ring?” He said, “It fell (out of my mouth) into the water.” The Cat ran and entered the water; he saw a great fish passing. And the Cat caught it. The Fish said, What is it?’ He said, “My ring has just fallen into this river, so unless you want trouble, give me what belongs to me at once. If you don’t give it to me I shall kill you immediately.” The Fish said, “Let us go to the river bank that I may give you what belongs to you.” When they both reached the bank, the Fish vomited, and the ring came out. The Cat took it and came and showed it to the Dog. The Dog said, “Father, I beg of you, when you go, don’t speak about what has happened.” The Cat kept his mouth shut. They reached home, and the Cat told his master all that had happened, saying, “Because of the meat which the Dog chewed as we were going, he became unable to go farther. And again, I had gone and got the ring and brought it back, the Dog said to me, when he crossed a river he passed on its surface, that I must hand over the ring to him. I gave it to him, and he threw it away in the river. It was only after a little while that I laid my hands upon it again.” All the people who were present said, “Praise be to the Cat.” And they shouted, “E!” Then the chief said, “You, Cat, whatever kind of food I am eating, I will see to it that I break some and place in your little dish. Whatever mat I sleep upon, (I shall only lie upon it) provided you lie on some of it. As for you also, Dog, you will only lie on the smouldering embers of the dead fire when the chilly night comes. Only with floggings, the folk will flog you.” That is why all days you will see the Cat, nowhere does he sleep but on the best mat. Also, if you cast some food down on the ground for him, he will not eat it (unless off a plate). But as for the Dog, always we will see him sleeping in the court-yard on the dead ashes of the day’s fire. Also you will see him there being beaten, he will yelp, “Kao!” It is all on account of the time when they were sent (on this business of the ring).

This, my story, which I have related, if it be sweet, (or) if it be not sweet, some you may take as true, and the rest you may praise me (for the telling of it).