Kone
(Mali)
THIS LEGEND from Mali, a thousand years ago, took place at
a village called Segou, where an old woman named Kone once lived in a hut
with her granddaughter at the outskirts of town. As the story begins,
villagers who for years had brought food and gifts to Kone and the girl to
help them get by, no longer took the time to visit. They had become busy
with their own lives and no longer thought about Kone. But Kone thought
about them all the time.
Without help from the villagers, Kone became bitter and her
heart turned stone cold. If she had to suffer and could no longer live in
dignity, then all of the people of the village would suffer, too.
Little did the people of Segou realize that Kone had the power to
summon magic. One day at sunrise, Kone stretched her arms to the rising
sun and called: "Let them all learn what it means to be hungry! No more
rain shall fall on the village of Segou. The crops shall wither in the fields.
And let them all learn the meaning of fear." At that moment a ghost-like
image of a buffalo appeared and pawed the ground. The old woman had, in
fact, created a double of herself. She was the buffalo, even as she continued
to live with her granddaughter in their hut. And as the buffalo she roamed in
the forest, attacking and killing hunters.
Indeed, the people of Segou began to know hunger. A few weeks
without rain stretched into two months. The crops shriveled in the fields.
Worse, hunters who ventured into the forest in pursuit of game were never
seen again. A few hunters who had escaped told about a huge, ferocious
buffalo that couldn't be killed - arrows simply bounced off its thick hide.
With a drought in the fields and a monster in the woods, the people became
desperate. They clamored to their chief, and the chief of Segou sent a call for
help to all neighboring kingdoms.
In a far-off village lived two brothers, Kirama and his younger
brother Kankejan. They heard the plea for help and decided to go.
"My sons, beware," said their father, "This is no ordinary trouble.
The crop at Segou has dried for lack of rain, but our village and all the other
villages around Segou have had plenty of rain. There's a monster in the
forest at Segou that's killing hunters, but no such monster threatens hunters
in forests anywhere else. Mark my words, my sons, Segou is under some
kind of enchantment or curse. If you go, you must first visit the wise man
Sambo. He has magical powers and will help you."
The brothers went to see Sambo. The wise man brought out his
divining tray, put sand in it, moved the sand about with his fingers, and read
its meaning. He spoke: "This is a dangerous mission. The buffalo can be
defeated, but not by regular arrows, traps, or heroics. Your mission will be
successful only if you show consideration and respect to others. If you
succeed, the people of the village will offer you a girl as a reward. She may be
poor and plain-looking, but bring her to me. In this way you will repay me
for divining for you."
So Kirama and Kankejan thanked the wise man Sambo and
traveled to the village of Segou. On the outskirts of the village they passed a
very old woman lifting firewood.
"Grandmother," said Kirama. "Let us help you."
The old woman was Kone. With her magical powers she knew
that the two young men had come to kill the buffalo.
"Don't trouble yourselves," she said. "I can manage."
"Of course you can," said Kankejan, not wishing to offend her,
"but we're headed the same way you're headed and it's no trouble for us to
carry things. Besides, it's not right that a woman of your years should have
to work so hard. We'll take two loads, since there's two of us."
"I don't have time to talk," she said, gathering an armful of wood
and heading to her hut. "Some of us have to work."
The brothers each hoisted a load of wood and followed her to her
hut. They set down their loads outside her door.
"I didn't ask you to bring that," she snapped. "I'm sure you have
better things to do."
"Grandmother, there's nothing else we'd rather do," said Kirama,
and they went on their way.
The chief of Segou greeted them warmly and invited them to a
welcome feast in their honor (not many men from the surrounding villages
had responded to his call for help!). You might know that in those days,
certain parts of meat had special significance. One member of a family
might be entitled to the breast, or the leg, as so forth. The banquet featured
chicken with savory rice, and the brothers set aside a chicken breast and a
leg, as well as some milk and kola nuts, and took it to Kone.
They found her outside, hauling a bucket of water.
"Grandmother," said Kankejan, "we brought you some chicken
from dinner tonight. Enjoy it while my brother takes your water inside."
"Stop calling me 'grandmother,'" said Kone. "I am not your
grandmother, though I see you brought me the breast, and that's set aside
for the grandmother. You brought me a leg, and that's set aside for the
sister. I am not your grandmother or your sister."
But tradition says that one must accept meat when offered as a
gift, even from one's enemies. So she accepted it. While Kirama took the
water inside, Kankejan said, "Here's milk for you to wash it down. And some
kola nuts, too."
She grumbled, "You think of everything, don't you?" But she
drank the milk and put the kola nuts in her pockets to give to her
granddaughter.
Every day after that, the brothers visited Kone and brought gifts
each time - fruits, nuts, milk, and other treats. She gave up protesting, since
they only insisted on doing chores and would do them anyway. On the fifth
day, she went to visit them. They talked for a long time and the brothers
begin to sense something magical about the old woman. When it was time to
leave, it was dark and they insisted on walking her back to her hut. Outside
her door, she turned.
"I know who you are. But you don't know who I am. You have
come to kill the buffalo. What you don't know is that I am the buffalo." Her
voice rose. "The people of Segou abandoned me and left me to fend for
myself - I, an old woman who can no longer farm or fish! It was easy for
them to forget about a tired old woman and her granddaughter. Now they,
too, know the meaning of suffering!"
She paused. "There is something important I must tell you, but
first we must go outside the village to the bush." In those days any contract
or important knowledge had to be discussed outside the edge of the village,
beyond the bush, where the land is neutral. So they went there and she went
on. "I will tell you how to kill the buffalo because you have treated me with
respect. Everyone else in the village abandoned me to the crumbs of life, a
life without dignity - they can die for all I care! But now I'm ready to die
myself knowing that I have been shown the respect I am due. Before I tell
you how to kill the buffalo, you must promise to look after my
granddaughter. Take care of her as if she were your own family."
They said, "Yes, we agree."
"Good. Tomorrow morning as the sun is rising, follow the south
trail past the village until you see a long grove of trees on the savannah on
your right. Beyond that grove there's a second grove, also on the right, and
beyond that grove there's a water hole where I go to drink every morning. Be
there on time. Position yourself in a tree closest to the water hole. Beware,
you must first dip your arrows in a mixture of ground kola nuts, some sheep
dung, and rice water. And you must take this staff. Aim the staff at me three
times before shooting your arrow. If you do not aim the staff at me three
times, or if you do not first dip your arrows as I told, I will not be killed.
When I am drinking is when you must shoot your arrow." The old woman
turned away and walked back to her house.
The two brothers also returned home. "Can it be true?" asked
Kankejan of his older brother.
"What if it's a trick?" said Kirama, the older one. "We know
there's something strange about that old woman. To send us to the buffalo
like this could mean sending us to our deaths. We would be fools to go
along!"
"Though," said Kankejan slowly, "Sambo said we could not
succeed with regular arrows. And everyone has said arrows don't work
against the buffalo anyway. For as long as we've been here, no one else has
given us any other ideas. Let's follow her advice, just as she said."
The next morning, well before dawn, the two brothers gathered a
mixture of kola nuts, sheep dung and rice water, and dipped the arrows into
it. They followed the south trail past the first grove of trees on the savannah
to the right, then the second, then climbed a tree in the second grove closest
to the water hole. Indeed, just as the sun was rising, a huge buffalo with
black hide and silver horns appeared, went toward the water, and started to
lap at its edges. Kankejan, knowing if this did not work the sound of the
arrow whizzing by would surely alert the monster that they were in the trees,
pictured in his mind the old woman giving her earnest advice. He let the
arrow fly - and with the single shot fired, the buffalo fell.
Could it be? The two brothers waited a long time to be sure the
creature was dead, then climbed down the tree. Kankejan cut off its tail and
the two brothers rejoiced.
They returned to the village, straight to the chief's hut, and
showed him the tail of the buffalo as proof that the monster was truly dead.
As they spoke, rain drops started to splatter against the outside of the hut.
By the time they left the chief's hut, the rainfall was heavy.
The two young men became heroes in Segou. As was the custom,
the chief hosted a grand victory celebration. At the end, he asked the two
heroes what they wanted as a reward. Remembering their promise to the
wise man, Kirama said, "There is an old woman who lives at the edge of the
village with her granddaughter. The girl is what we want as our reward."
"The granddaughter of the old woman who just died?" said the
chief. "She is not a proper gift for heroes like you. She lived in a shabby
house and dresses in filthy rags. We have many girls in the village with thick,
lovely heads of hair, beautiful figures, and are from the finest homes - we'd
be honored to offer you one of them instead."
Remembering their promise to Kone, they repeated, "No, thank
you. She is the one we want."
So the chief was obliged to present Kone's granddaughter as their
gift. Indeed, she was as dirty as he had said. The young men let her bathe,
gave her new clothes and brought her to Sambo. The girl and the wise man
were very pleased with each other and they married.
Sambo, the wise man, and his bride lived happily all their years
and over time had many children. Each of their children had children, and
one of their grandchildren became the legendary hero Keita Sundiata, the
famous warrior who united Mali in the thirteenth century and made of it a
great nation.
The historical figure Kieta Sundiata (circa 1210-1260?), also known as the Lion
King of Mali, is celebrated as the founder and ruler of the Mali Empire. In 1235,
Sundiata defended Mali against the King of Sosso and went on to conquer other
neighboring domains until Mali became the largest West African empire during the
13th and 14th centuries. He is credited with ushering in a period of peace and
prosperity. One story that speaks to the wealth of the Mali empire is that when a King
of Mali traveled to Mecca in 1332, he gave away such enormous amounts of gold that the value of gold
in Egypt plummeted. Sundiata is still revered as a national hero in Mali and his legend lives on
through stories, songs, poems, and dances.
SOURCE
Retold by Elaine L. Lindy, ©2005. All rights reserved.
OTHER VERSION
In another version, a ruler of Mali named Magdan is told a prophecy that two hunters will come to him
with an old woman, and that he must marry the old woman. Shortly thereafter, two hunters arrive
with an old hunchbacked woman who is what remains of a human double of a buffalo that had ravaged
the land before the hunters had slain it. The story also describes how they slayed the buffalo: as the
hunters approached the creature, an old, thin, frail woman beseeched them for food. When they
offered it to her, she said that she was the human double of the buffalo and told them exactly how to
kill it. The chief Magdan, honoring the prophecy of the two visitors who would bring an old woman,
marries the old woman. Their child is Sundiata.
The Magic Twigs
(Nigeria)
W
HEN Amadi's parents died, his uncle took the boy into his own home.
Unfortunately after a few years the uncle also died, and a friend of the uncle's,
who was also fond of the boy, took him in. The friend's wife, though, was not as
keen as her husband on the newcomer to their household. The boy was nothing
but trouble as far as she was concerned, stealing her husband's attention away
from her and draining their savings. She fed him only table scraps and let him
walk around in rags. The sooner he left their house, the better, and she didn't
mind saying so. One day someone broke into a rich man's house. Maybe she
mentioned to a few people that it'd be just like Amadi to steal. In a snap of a twig,
word spread all over town that he was the thief. It came to no one's surprise a
couple of days later that the dirty-faced boy was gone.
Where he was headed, Amadi had no idea. He wandered deep into the
woods, picking up odd sticks and a stray piece of rope. He had no particular
reason to pick up the rope, but the thought occurred to him that he might hang
himself, since there was nowhere he could go for shelter for the night, and he'd
probably become the victim of a lion or other ferocious beast anyway. He found a
sturdy looking mahogany tree and tied the rope to a thick branch. But as he
brushed up against the tree, he noticed in the distance a cluster of lights.
"That's strange, I never knew there was a town out here," he thought,
then considered a new possibility. "I may as well go explore the town. If they're
friendly, maybe I'll have a place to stay. If not, I'll be no worse off than I am
now."
Amadi followed a path headed in the direction of the town. Turning a
bend, he nearly bumped headlong into an antelope.
"Why are you here, son of humans?" she said, staring at him eye-to-eye.
"You do not belong here."
"I don't belong anywhere," Amadi muttered. Then thought, "Wait, am I
talking to an antelope?"
"How did you find us, the Community of the Animals?"
"I saw lights at the mahogany tree," he explained.
"The mahogany tree had no business showing you our Community of
the Animals," said the antelope. "Go back at once to the village of the humans."
Then she brushed passed him without another word.
Realizing he'd probably not be welcome at the Community of Animals,
Amadi stepped off the main path, yet continued toward town. As he approached
the town, he thought it strange that no smoke puffed from any roof, yet clearly
there was a sense of hustle and bustle, and many different sets of footprints were
criss-crossing the paths. He crept up to the largest house, which was the one
most lit, and listened through open windows to the voices within.
"Calling to order! Calling to order!' said a very dignified warthog. "The
meeting of the Grazers in the Community of Animals is now in session. What
new magic have we to share?"
"Come outside," said an elephant, picking up a bundle of twigs in his
trunk. The gazelles, chimpanzees, and gorillas lumbered outside and the shrews
and mice scampered behind. Under the moonlight Amadi could make out their
shadows, large and small. The elephant set down the bundle, broke one twig and
threw a piece, and a fine house sprung up. "Ah!" the Animals exclaimed. "Oh,
my!" He broke the other end of the same twig and threw it, and the house
disappeared. "My, my, did you see that?"�"Well, I never!" Then the elephant
threw the twig away.
"Try one," said the elephant. One by one, Grazers stepped forward. Each
stick held a different surprise. Some created bright woven cloth, or fresh fruit, or
necklaces of cowrie shells. Breaking the other end of the twig made the items
disappear. Amadi paid special attention to where the broken twig landed that
had created food, as he was terribly hungry. The night seemed to stretch on
without end but finally daybreak dawned, and one by one the animals departed.
At last, Amadi could retrieve the magic twig that produced food and scampered
back with it into the bushes. He imagined honey cakes and snapped a small piece
off one end. Presto! A feast of honey cakes spread before him. He didn't need to
snap the other end to make the feast disappear - Amadi took care of that himself.
By carefully breaking only fragments of the twig, Amadi was able to live
by himself in the bush. Each night before sunset he would creep up to the
meetinghouse in hopes of witnessing another meeting and collecting more magic
twigs, but the meetinghouse stayed dark. Careful to hide signs of himself, he
covered his footprints and stayed in the thick bush.
Finally when he neared the end of his twig, he determined to search for
another meeting in the Community of Animals. He followed voices that seemed
to be headed in a certain direction and was relieved to see them end at another
meetinghouse, though different animals were inside. Amadi stayed outside to
listen.
"Attention all Hunters!" said a lion. "Our meeting has commenced. We
shall share any new magic discoveries. Everyone is talking about the elephant's
magic twigs at the Grazers' meeting. Does anyone here have magic twigs?"
"I do," said a jackal. The jackal demonstrated the same magic twigs,
much to Amadi's delight. Before they adjourned, a leopard said, "Well! I doubt
the Reptiles will have a meeting like this one!" Amadi collected the broken twig
that had produced food. He wished for honey cakes, and his wish was instantly
granted. Tipped off that there may be yet a third meeting, this one for the
Reptiles, he went in search of that part of town.
It so happened that a wild dog passed the spot where Amadi had
kneeled outside the meetinghouse of the Hunters, and caught a whiff of
something odd. Sniffing about, he said, "It's a human scent, no doubt about it.
There's a human here at the Community of Animals!"
An emergency meeting was called of Grazers, Hunters and Reptiles. An
antelope stepped forward and revealed she had met a young man on the path.
Others confirmed seeing human footprints.
"This is outrageous!" blustered a hippo. "We're invaded!" screeched the
hyenas. "Whoo�whoo is it?" said an owl. "Whoever it is, we'll catch him!"
shrieked the monkeys. The next day, the monkeys swooped from the trees to
catch Amadi, and carried him back to the meeting house. Another emergency
meeting was called with the three communities to decide what to do with the
hapless human.
The elephant lifted him high in his trunk for all to see. The Hunters
roared, "How dare he come to our Community of the Animals! We'll tear him to
pieces!" "Our elephants will trample him!" cried the Grazers. "We'll snap him in
two!" croaked the crocodiles. They all shouted with anger. Amadi knew one thing
- he was doomed.
"Well, I won't need these anymore," thought Amadi, and from the bag of
leaves he had made to carry his honey cakes, he threw one into the elephant's
open mouth. The elephant closed his mouth. "Hm," he said, cocking his head to
one side. "Hmmmm." He lowered Amadi a bit. "Uh, no need to be hasty here.
This human has a very unusual, I might say a very tasty treat."
"What do you mean?" "I want one!" "Give me a treat!" Suddenly they
were clamoring for honey cakes, and Amadi broke the honey cakes and threw
treats to them all.
"Call to order! New proposal!" said the warthog, banging his staff. "My
suggestion is that we allow the human to live so he can share with us the secret of
these tasty treats."
They all cheered this fine idea. The elephant set down Amadi, and they
clustered around him. Amadi told them how he had been so badly treated by the
humans, how the mahogany tree had revealed the lights of their town, and how
he had lived on honey cakes since he discovered the magic twigs. He offered to
teach them about the practices of humans, how they hunt and how they try to
trick animals. The animals could tell they would become fast friends with this
human.
Indeed, for the next few years Amadi happily stayed at the Community
of the Animals. They had much to teach one another. But there came a time
when Amadi began to feel restless.
"Of course I understand," said the lion, when Amadi told him it was
time for him to leave the Community of the Animals. "You're older now, it's time
for you to rejoin your people, find a wife and start a family. Amadi, you are our
friend. Take these magic twigs with you, in case you need them. But you must
promise not to tell the humans about the magic of the twigs, or about us."
Amadi promised. He said goodbye to all his Animal friends and returned
to his village. At the outskirts of his town he broke one twig and a fine house
sprung up, complete with blankets and pots. He entered the village and tried to
be friendly, but the people there hadn't forgotten about the incident that had
prompted his flight. It seemed strange to them that this young man should
return so suddenly, produce such a fine house, and all so quickly. "How could
anyone save enough money in such a short time to build a rich man's house?"
they whispered among themselves. "It must be ill-gotten gains from thievery!
Now he's come back to steal from us again!"
One night a mob gathered around Amadi's house and stormed inside,
grabbing him and carrying him to the chief. "You will pay for your crimes!"
boomed the chief. Amadi's fine house and belongings were confiscated and he
was thrown in jail. When Amadi was released he had no choice but to return to
the Community of the Animals, his only friends in the world.
Despairingly, he told them what had happened at the village of the
humans. How the people turned against him, how they took everything he had
and had thrown him in jail. That night while Amadi slept, the Community of the
Animals held a whispered meeting. The next day, the lion said to Amadi, "Last
night we discussed your situation. You kept our secret of the magic twigs, and
you didn't tell the humans about the Community of the Animals. You kept your
word. Now we'll be friends to you, too. We decided, Amadi, that you may show
the humans the magic of the twigs, even if that means our Community is
revealed."
Delighted, Amadi returned to the village. "I can explain! I can explain!"
he called out as angry villagers again hauled him off to the chief. "So explain,"
said the chief, his arms crossed. Amadi broke a magic twig, and a feast appeared.
He broke the other end and it vanished. With other twigs he created pottery and
intricate masks.
"How did you learn this black magic?" yelled the chief, full of suspicion.
"It's a good magic I learned from my friends, the Animals," said he.
"Watch." And with another twig he created a magnificently beaded crown and
offered it as a gift to the chief.
"Father, this is a fine gift," said the chief's daughter. "Look, it must be a
good magic because everything he creates with it is good." The chief had to
admire the beaded crown and couldn't help but smile as he accepted it.
Not long afterward Amadi was married to the chief's daughter in a grand
ceremony. But what made the wedding most grand was the arrival of the Animals
as guests. The humans crept as far away from the Hunters and Reptiles as they
could while still remaining polite to the invited guests. Still, they couldn't help
but admire the richly adorned robes and jewelry they wore. Never had they
realized Animals could be so impressive! For their part, the Animals were
pleased to see that the humans had accepted their friend Amadi after all. And
what was served for dessert at the reception? Honey cakes, of course!
Notes to Story:
The Yoruba tribe is one of the largest cultural groups on the African continent, numbering over 20
million. Although many Yoruba live in villages and farms, most live in large cities such as the capital of
Nigeria. A significant percentage of Africans who became enslaved in the Americas came from areas in
West Africa largely populated by the Yoruba such as Nigeria, Benin.
Source:
The above story is retold by Elaine L. Lindy, ©2006. All rights reserved.
Other version:
The story, "The Orphan Boy and the Magic Twigs," from Fourteen Hundred Cowries and Other
African Tales, collected by Abayomi Fuja (Lothrop, Lee & Shepard Company: New York, 1971) pp. 156179.