How the Ekuona Clan Came into the Tribe
We do not really mean, we do not really mean, (that what we are going to say is true).
THERE once was a woman called Abena; when her mother and father took her to give in marriage (to any one), she said, “Certainly not.” And she said to her father, “On the day when I see the man whom I love, on that day, when I come, and if you are taking snuff, I shall take your snuff-box and hit you (with it) on the top of your head.” Now, the animal, the Buffalo, heard about this affair, he transformed himself into a man, and set out, and came there to the woman’s village. Now, when Abena saw him, she ran, going to where her father was taking snuff. She took the snuff-box from him, and hit him on the head with it. And that day was one of rejoicing among the villagers, who said, “Our master’s child has seen the one whom she desires.” Then they went and brought the man to the house. And the girl said, “This is he whom I desire.” The man also wished it so, and he married her. He spent three days there, and then said he would go to his village, and the woman said she would go with him. So the Queen Mother prepared all her things (for the journey) and (gave her) twenty-four persons that she might go with them. Then they set out, and reached the outskirts of a certain village, and a cock crowed. The people said, “Have we reached home?” The husband of the woman said, “I have married a new wife, and I must first take her to my house, that she may get everything in readiness, before she goes all round calling on people.” So they set out and went off. They reached a forest glade. When they reached that forest glade, the man stood to one side; he said, “Abena, the time has now come when I must tell you what I really am.” Abena said, “What are you?” The man said, “I make ‘pa!’ that I may make ‘gyiren!’;” and he has turned into a buffalo. All the people said, “E! e, what does he say, he says he make ‘pa!’ that he may make “gyiren!” (No sooner had they said these words than) they all turned into buffaloes. There remained one man who ran off and came home. And he went and told the Head-man of the village what he had seen. The Head-man and the Queen Mother called a council; he (the one who had escaped) gave them the news of what had happened as they went along, and when he reached to the point where he said, “He made ‘pa!’ that he might make ‘gyiren!’,” he, too, turned into a buffalo. Whenever one of them was about to repeat these words, he turned into a buffalo. All the people in the village turned into buffaloes, with the exception of one old woman. Some time after these events, a certain medicine man came to the village. He exclaimed, “Ah! a big town, and no people in it?’ Dinn! (Not a sound in reply save the chirping of the cicada.) He spoke again. At length the old woman said, “I am here.’” The medicine man said, “What is the news; and why is it that you live all alone in this village?” The old woman replied, “You may have come here, (but I do not want anything to do with you), go away and let me remain in my own somewhere.” The medicine man said, “You are a witch; it is you who have devoured all the people in this village, so, unless you speak, I shall kill you at once.” The old woman said, ‘If I must speak, (first) go and get rope-creeper and bind me, and take me and tie me to the gyedua-tree.” The medicine man came and tied her up, and he bound her to the gyedua-tree. Now the old woman told him all that had happened, but when she reached the point where she had to say, “He said he would make ‘pa!’ that he might make gyiren!” the rope-creeper burst; the old woman had turned into a buffalo and was off. Then the medicine man said, “Now, I see it was not the old woman who killed all these villagers.” Then he went and plucked medicine (herbs) and squeezed them and put them into a brass dish, and poured in water; and took his (magic) cow-tail and dipped it in; then he made his apprentices carry (the pan) for him. He set off to the forest. He saw buffaloes there standing about, and he dipped his tail in the medicine, and sprinkled it upon them, and they once again turned into people. And there remained only there, who were real buffaloes. And the people came back home. That is how the Ekuona clan came among the tribe; it originated from that marriage upon which Abena embarked.
This, my story, which I have related, if it be sweet, (or) if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and let some come back to me.
How the Interplay of Friendship Came into the Tribe
We do not really mean, we do not really mean, (that what we are going to say is true).
A HUNTER and his wife once set off and went to a hunter’s camp. And Osebo, the Leopard, caught the hunter and devoured him, but his wife, who was enceinte, was left.—The woman went (one day) among the pine-apples, and (there) she met the Leopard’s child, and he inquired of her, saying, “Mother, what do you seek? ’? The woman replied, “I and my husband came (here), but a Leopard has killed him.” The Leopard’s child said to her, “I like you, so do not come here again, for if you come here, and should father meet you, he will kill you.” The woman did not pay any attention, and she went back among the pine-apples, and the Leopard caught her, and took her home. When the Leopard’s child saw the woman, he said to his father, “I am ill.” It was because of the woman, whom he had already seen. The Leopard said to his child, “You may be ill, but come, pass on, and cut up the meat.” He cut (her) up, and saw that a child lay in her womb, and he took it out, and put it somewhere. Now the father asked him, saying, “What is that you have gone and thrown away?” The child replied, “What I went and threw away, if you had seen it, you would not have eaten this meat.” The Leopard cooked the food. He told his child to come and eat, but he replied, “Meat, which as soon as I looked upon it, made me ill, I should imagine, were I to eat some of it, I would die.” The father replied, “You are not far wrong.” Next day, when things became visible, when the father set off to go to the bush, then his child went and got the child, brought it home, and washed it. Then he went and fetched bananas; he cooked them, squeezed out the juice, and gave the infant to drink. He took note of the time when his father returned, and took the child, and hid him away. The infant was about a year old when he reached puberty—the child in a Spider-story is not long in growing up. Now the Human’s child asked the Leopard’s child, saying, “What is your name?” He replied, “I am called Kofi-the-beast’s-child.” He said, “I too, I am called Kofi-the-human-being’s-child.” Then Kofi-the-beast’s-child said to Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, “I would like to play with you, but I am afraid of father, and you, too, are afraid of him, so, for the next three days I shall tell him to teach me how to spring, and when he has taught me, and I know how it is done, I shall spring and catch him, and when you hear that I have got him, oh! you will take a knife, and come and cut off his head.” The father came, and Kofi-the-beast’s-child said to him, “Teach me how to spring.” He said, “To-morrow morning.” Next morning, when things became visible, he and the father went somewhere, swept a place clean, and the father sprang, and his child, too, leaped, and the father lay on his back. The father said, “Jump and land upon me.” Kofi-the-beast’s-child sprang, and he lighted upon him, and Kofi-the-beast’s-child seized his throat. He shouted on Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, saying, “I have got him, so come.” He ran quickly, went and took his knife, and cut off his head. Kofi-the-beast’s-child said to Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, “Now, indeed you and I have become as equals, therefore let us go and bury him.” They went and buried him, and they returned home. Kofi-the-beast’s-child said to Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, “I expect you would like to go to your village.” Kofi-the-human-being’s-child said, “Yes, but I shall not (be able) to know where it is.” Kofi-the-beast’s-child said, “I myself shall go and seek there for it, and return.” He set off, and as he was going he saw some people at a kitchen midden, and they were conversing (and saying), “Yes, it is quite true about the hunter and his wife going to the hunter’s camp, and no one ever getting a smell of them again.” There and then, Kofi-the-beast’s-child ran off to inform Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, saying, “I have seen your village, and the human beings whom I saw were in cloths, therefore I will seek some for you and bring to you.” Kofi-the-beast’s-child set out and went on the path, and traders were passing. He rushed out on them, and the traders threw down their loads, and ran away. Kofi-the-beast’s-child took cloths and brought them to Kofi-the-human-being’s-child. Now Kofi-the-human-being’s-child said, “There remains a gun and gun-medicine” (powder). Kofi-the-beast’s-child sought for some and brought him. Kofi-the-beast’s-child asked Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, “Will you be grateful to me?” Kofi-the-human-being’s-child said to him, “I cannot speak just now, standing like this before your face.” Kofi-the-beast’s-child took Kofi-the-human-being’s-child and set off, that he might take him to his village. When they reached the outskirts of the town, Kofi-the-beast’s-child said to Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, “Here is your village, and to this place where you are going, every single day I shall bring you a large lump of meat; and also when evening comes, I shall come to you, so, if where you are now going to, you should marry, then make your wife lie in one part of the room, and you in another.” Kofi-the-human-being’s-child reached home, and he told the story how he and his mother and father went to the bush, and how they had all died, and how he had set out, and come back. The people commiserated with him. He fired guns, made the funeral, and finished doing everything (required). Now, Kofi-the-beast’s-child, when he got up, brought meat. When night fell cool, he came to him. Now it was not long after that he married. When the woman went to sleep, he made her sleep elsewhere (than by his side). At dawn, he would bring a whole lump of meat to his wife. Now, his wife saw that he did not go to the bush, but in spite of that, always got meat, but she did not pass any remarks. One day also at night, when they were lying there (in her room), the woman was about to take her hand and touch her husband, and she went and touched something smooth, and her husband, too, lay over there. Next morning, when things became visible, she went and told the folk the news, saying, “Surely my husband’s friend is a Leopard, and surely it is he who brings him meat.” Then the people took their guns and hid beside the rack (where the meat was placed), and when it fell cool, and the Leopard was going to bring the meat and come and place it on the rack, they hit him with their guns. Kofi-the-beast’s-child said, “Kofi-the-human-being’s-child, human beings have no gratitude.’ Kofi-thehuman-being’s-child heard, and he rushed out, and took him, and laid him down there, and he went and told the head of the village all about it, how it came about that he and his mother and father had gone away, and all the misfortunes that they had seen. He said, “Because this beast has died, I and he will go (together), for it is all my fault that he is dead.” And he caused two coffins to be made; and they placed Kofi-the-beast’s-child in one; and he (Kofi-the-human-being’s-child) also shot himself, and they placed him in the other coffin. Then they buried them. And they said, “Go and play and be happy in the interplay of your friendship.” That is how the taking of a friend came into the tribe.
This, my story, which I have related, if it be sweet, (or) if it be not sweet, take some elsewhere, and let some come back to me.