Week 9 Reading: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part A

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Why the Bat Flies at Night:

  • rat=Oyot, bat=Emiong
  • bat jealous of rat's soup
  • bat boils self in water--flesh is sweet
  • bat showed rat how to do it
  • rat went home and told wife--boiled wife in water, then he jumped in and died
  • wife rat reported it to the king to arrest bat
  • everyone tried to catch bat but he flew to a bush to hide
  • that's why bat only comes out at night

The Fish and the Leopard's Life:

  • fish used to live on land and was good friend to leopard
  • leopards wife and fish fell in love and they would cheat when the leopard was gone
  • old women found out and told leopard
  • leopard came home early to see if it was true and caught them
  • leopard wanted to kill fish but went to court for king
  • king ordered fish to live in water and if they came on land they would die--men and animals could catch and kill them as punishment

(Photo of leopard from Wikipedia)

Why Worms Live Underneath the Ground:

  • King Eyo invited subjects to house for feast
  • after feast=speeches
  • head driver ant's speech="my people are stronger then anyone and no one could stand before me" (especially rude to worms)
  • worms were angry and complained, so king decided to see who was stronger with a fight
  • driver ants=millions to fight--easily defeated worms
  • worms bitten to pieces with pincers of ants
  • ever since, worms have been afraid to live overground--so if come to surface they hide when something approaches

Why the Sun and the Moon Live Under the Sky:

  • sun and water great friends--sun would visit water, but water would not visit sun
  • sun asked why, water said suns house was not big enough--so build a bigger house and i will bring lots of people
  • sun did so and his wife (moon) helped
  • completed next day and water came
  • water came in with fish and water animals--began to be knee-deep
  • water kept coming until to overflow roof--sun and moon forced up to sky (remained there ever since)

Why the Cat Kills Rat:

  • King Ansa had cat housekeeper and rat houseboy--very fond of cat
  • rat fell in love with daughter but had no money to give
  • rat made hole in roof to steal corn and pears to give to sweetheart
  • end of month, cat found that stuff was taken--angered king
  • cat couldn't explain why until friend told him rat was the culprit
  • cat told king--called girl in and had cat deal with rat
  • cat so angry he ate and killed rat--now all cats eat rats
Bibliography: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

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