The Slave Girl who tried to Kill her Mistress

A MAN called Akpan, who was a native of Oku, a town in the Ibibio country, admired a girl called Emme very much, who lived at Ibibio, and wished to marry her, as she was the finest girl in her company. It was the custom in those days for the parents to demand such a large amount for their daughters as dowry, that if after they were married they failed to get on with their husbands, as they could not redeem themselves, they were sold as slaves. Akpan paid a very large sum as dowry for Emme, and she was put in the fatting-house until the proper time arrived for her to marry.

Akpan told the parents that when their daughter was ready they must send her over to him. This they promised to do. Emme's father was a rich man, and after seven years had elapsed, and it became time for her to go to her husband, he saw a very fine girl, who had also just come out of the fatting-house, and whom the parents wished to sell as a slave. Emme's father therefore bought her, and gave her to his daughter as her handmaiden.

The next day Emme's little sister, being very anxious to go with her, obtained the consent of her mother, and they started off together, the slave girl carrying a large bundle containing clothes and presents from Emme's father. Akpan's house was a long day's march from where they lived. When they arrived just outside the town they came to a spring, where the people used to get their drinking water from, but no one was allowed to bathe there. Emme, however, knew nothing about this. They took off their clothes to wash close to the spring, and where there was a deep hole which led to the Water Ju Ju's house. The slave girl knew of this Ju Ju, and thought if she could get her mistress to bathe, she would be taken by the Ju Ju, and she would then be able to take her place and marry Akpan. So they went down to bathe, and when they were close to the water the slave girl pushed her mistress in, and she at once disappeared. The little girl then began to cry, but the slave girl said, "If you cry any more I will kill you at once, and throw your body into the hole after your sister." And she told the child that she must never mention what had happened to any one, and particularly not to Akpan, as she was going to represent her sister and marry him, and that if she ever told any one what she had seen, she would be killed at once. She then made the little girl carry her load to Akpan's house.

When they arrived, Akpan was very much disappointed at the slave girl's appearance, as she was not nearly as pretty and fine as he had expected her to be; but as he had not seen Emme for seven years, he had no suspicion that the girl was not really Emme, for whom he had paid such a large dowry. He then called all his company together to play and feast, and when they arrived they were much astonished, and said, "Is this the fine woman for whom you paid so much dowry, and whom you told us so much about?" And Akpan could not answer them.

The slave girl was then for some time very cruel to Emme's little sister, and wanted her to die, so that her position would be more secure with her husband. She beat the little girl every day, and always made her carry the largest water-pot to the spring; she also made the child place her finger in the fire to use as firewood. When the time came for food, the slave girl went to the fire and got a burning piece of wood and burned the child all over the body with it. When Akpan asked her why she treated the child so badly, she replied that she was a slave that her father had bought for her. When the little girl took the heavy water-pot to the river to fill it there was no one to lift it up for her, so that she could not get it on to her head; she therefore had to remain a long time at the spring, and at last began calling for her sister Emme to come and help her.

When Emme heard her little sister crying for her, she begged the Water Ju Ju to allow her to go and help her, so he told her she might go, but that she must return to him again immediately. When the little girl saw her sister she did not want to leave her, and asked to be allowed to go into the hole with her. She then told Emme how very badly she had been treated by the slave girl, and her elder sister told her to have patience and wait, that a day of vengeance would arrive sooner or later. The little girl went back to Akpan's house with a glad heart as she had seen her sister, but when she got to the house, the slave girl said, "Why have you been so long getting the water?" and then took another stick from the fire and burnt the little girl again very badly, and starved her for the rest of the day.

This went on for some time, until, one day, when the child went to the river for water, after all the people had gone, she cried out for her sister as usual, but she did not come for a long time, as there was a hunter from Akpan's town hidden near watching the hole, and the Water Ju Ju told Emme that she must not go; but, as the little girl went on crying bitterly, Emme at last persuaded the Ju Ju to let her go, promising to return quickly. When she emerged from the water, she looked very beautiful with the rays of the setting sun shining on her glistening body. She helped her little sister with her water-pot, and then disappeared into the hole again.

The hunter was amazed at what he had seen, and when he returned, he told Akpan what a beautiful woman had come out of the water and had helped the little girl with her water-pot. He also told Akpan that he was convinced that the girl he had seen at the spring was his proper wife, Emme, and that the Water Ju Ju must have taken her.

Akpan then made up his mind to go out and watch and see what happened, so, in the early morning the hunter came for him, and they both went down to the river, and hid in the forest near the water-hole.

When Akpan saw Emme come out of the water, he recognised her at once, and went home and considered how he should get her out of the power of the Water Ju Ju. He was advised by some of his friends to go to an old woman, who frequently made sacrifices to the Water Ju Ju, and consult her as to what was the best thing to do.

When he went to her, she told him to bring her one white slave, one white goat, one piece of white cloth, one white chicken, and a basket of eggs. Then, when the great Ju Ju day arrived, she would take them to the Water Ju Ju, and make a sacrifice of them on his behalf. The day after the sacrifice was made, the Water Ju Ju would return the girl to her, and she would bring her to Akpan.

Akpan then bought the slave, and took all the other things to the old woman, and, when the day of the sacrifice arrived, he went with his friend the hunter and witnessed the old woman make the sacrifice. The slave was bound up and led to the hole, then the old woman called to the Water Ju Ju and cut the slave's throat with a sharp knife and pushed him into the hole. She then did the same to the goat and chicken, and also threw the eggs and cloth in on top of them.

After this had been done, they all returned to their homes. The next morning at dawn the old woman went to the hole, and found Emme standing at the side of the spring, so she told her that she was her friend, and was going to take her to her husband. She then took Emme back to her own home, and hid her in her room, and sent word to Akpan to come to her house, and to take great care that the slave woman knew nothing about the matter.

So Akpan left the house secretly by the back door, and arrived at the old woman's house without meeting anybody.

When Emme saw Akpan, she asked for her little sister, so he sent his friend, the hunter, for her to the spring, and he met her carrying her water-pot to get the morning supply of water for the house, and brought her to the old woman's house with him.

When Emme had embraced her sister, she told her to return to the house and do something to annoy the slave woman, and then she was to run as fast as she could back to the old woman's house, where, no doubt, the slave girl would follow her, and would meet them all inside the house, and see Emme, who she believed she had killed.

The little girl did as she was told, and, directly she got into the house, she called out to the slave woman: "Do you know that you are a wicked woman, and have treated me very badly? I know you are only my sister's slave, and you will be properly punished." She then ran as hard as she could to the old woman's house. Directly the slave woman heard what the little girl said, she was quite mad with rage, and seized a burning stick from the fire, and ran after the child; but the little one got to the house first, and ran inside, the slave woman following close upon her heels with the burning stick in her hand.

Then Emme came out and confronted the slave woman, and she at once recognised her mistress, whom she thought she had killed, so she stood quite still.

Then they all went back to Akpan's house, and when they arrived there, Akpan asked the slave woman what she meant by pretending that she was Emme, and why she had tried to kill her. But, seeing she was found out, the slave woman had nothing to say.

Many people were then called to a play to celebrate the recovery of Akpan's wife, and when they had all come, he told them what the slave woman had done.

After this, Emme treated the slave girl in the same way as she had treated her little sister. She made her put her fingers in the fire, and burnt her with sticks. She also made her beat foo-foo with her head in a hollowed-out tree, and after a time she was tied up to a tree and starved to death.

Ever since that time, when a man marries a girl, he is always present when she comes out of the fatting-house and takes her home himself, so that such evil things as happened to Emme and her sister may not occur again.

WHY THE CAT KILL RATS

Ansa was King of Calabar for fifty years. He had a very faithful cat as a housekeeper, and a rat was his house-boy. The king was an obstinate, headstrong man, but was very fond of the cat, who had been in his store for many years.

The rat, who was very poor, fell in love with one of the king's servant girls, but was unable to give her any presents, as he had no money.

At last he thought of the king's store, so in the nighttime, being quite small, he had little difficulty, having made a hole in the roof, in getting into the store. He then stole corn and native pears, and presented them to his sweetheart.

At the end of the month, when the cat had to render her account of the things in the store to the king, it was found that a lot of corn and native pears were missing. The king was very angry at this, and asked the cat for an explanation. But the cat could not account for the loss, until one of her friends told her that the rat had been stealing the corn and giving it to the girl.

When the cat told the king, he called the girl before him and had her flogged. The rat he handed over to the cat to deal with, and dismissed them both from his service. The cat was so angry at this that she killed and ate the rat, and ever since that time whenever a cat sees a rat she kills and eats it.

AKANKE AND THE JEALOUS PAWNBROKER

There once lived in a village an old man who had only one daughter named Akanke. This old man was so poor that all of his neighbours and friends believed that he was destined for poverty from birth. Although he was a hardworking man from his youth, as he grew older it was so that his poverty became more serious.

At last he became so entirely old and weary that he could not go and work on his farm for his living. Then his only daughter, Akanke, advised him to pawn her for money so that he might get money for his food. So without delay, but with great sorrow, this old man took Akanke to a pawnbroker who lived in another village, and he pawned Akanke for forty naira. Having got the money, this old man returned to his village with the money.

The pawnbroker was a middle-aged woman. She was very greedy and jealous, and she had only one son who was about twelve years old. She loved this her son so much that she indulged him in everything': she did not even allow him to do any work.

The work that Akanke was going to do for her was to. grind corn until Akanke's old father would be able to refund the forty naira for which she was pawned.

In the village of this pawnbroker there was a very large flat grinding stone, on which all the people of the village ground their corn, pepper, and many other things. None of the people of this village could tell how the strange stone came there. It was on the outskirts of the village, and it was by the side of the strange road which the goblins used to pass through to the place of their meetings in the night. Anyone who came there on the night of their meeting would be carried away by the goblins.

But as this pawnbroker was merciless, she forced poor Akanke to go and grind corn on the stone every night. She was not worried at all whether Akanke was carried away by the goblins. When it was the seventh day of the week, when everyone avoided the place of the stone, Akanke reminded her mistress, the jealous pawnbroker, 'It is the night that the goblins will pass by the stone to get to the place of their meeting.'

The pawnbroker answered, shouting with great annoyance, 'Akanke, you are a fool to remind me of the goblins' meeting this night! Don't you know that your old father has pawned you for money? Eh, Akanke, you must understand as from now that a pawned girl like you must work at any time in the day or night! Better you put the basket of corn on your head and go and grind it for me, or if you refuse to go to the stone this night, then better you go and tell your old father to pay my forty naira back at once!'

Willing or not, Akanke, with tears rolling down her cheeks, carried the corn to that strange grinding stone that night.

Akanke had hardly got to the stone when she knelt down before it and began to grind the corn as hastily as she could in fear, so that she might leave there before the goblins would come and pass through there to the place of meeting.

Akanke tried her best to grind all the corn so that she might leave there before the arrival of the goblins, but all her efforts were in vain. At last, a one-headed goblin who first arrived and met her there stopped and shouted horribly at Akanke: 'Who are you, grinding corn on this stone in this night? Don't you know that we goblins are having our meeting this night, and that we will pass through here to the place of our meeting?'

'Yes, I am sure that you goblins will pass through here this night, and of course I reminded my mistress, the jealous pawnbroker, about it. But she forced me to come here,' Akanke explained with fear, in a trembling voice.

'Better you leave here now, I 'advise you,' that oneheaded goblin warned Akanke with a terrible noise, 'because if the two-, three-, four-, five-, six- and sevenheaded goblins, who are my masters, meet you here, they will carry you away. Leave now before it is too late for you!' Then he passed through there to the place of their meeting.

But Akanke could not return to the pawnbroker without grinding all the corn.

A few minutes later, the master goblins arrived. They were two-, three-, four-, five-, six- and seven-headed goblins. The one with seven heads was their king. He stopped together with the rest in front of Akanke and shouted impatiently, 'Who are you so brave as to come here to grind corn this night? Are you human or some other being?'

'It was not my wish to come and grind corn here this night, but my mistress, who is a jealous pawnbroker and to whom I am pawned for money, has forced me to come here this night.' Akanke was trembling from feet to head, with fear, as she explained this to the king of goblins, and tears were rolling down her cheeks.

Luckily, he listened to her attentively. He did not attempt to kill or take her away as he usually did. Instead he was sorry when he had heard her explanation. After he paused for a while, he told her to spread her head tie on the grinding stone. When she had done so with fear, he pulled out one of the seven horns which he wore on his seven heads. When he had put the horn on the head tie and recited some magic words on it, a strange cowrie came out from it, and it fell on to the head tie.

'All right. Wrap up the cowrie with your head tie and take it to your old father, and put it in the room and leave it there for one night. He should go back to that room the following morning, and whatever he finds in the head tie when he unwraps it, it is his. And I am sure that you and your old father will be happy. But I warn you, don't attempt to come to this stone at night again!' In this way, the king of goblins had taken pity on the condition of Akanke and her father.

The king of goblins had hardly left there when Akanke, with great fear, wrapped up the cowrie with her head tie, and she then went in the darkness direct to her father. She and her old father put the head tie in the room as soon as she entered the house. After, she told him how the king of goblins had had mercy for her although she had ground corn on the stone in the night when the goblins passed through there on their way to their meeting.

It was to Akanke's and her father's greatest surprise that they entered the room the following morning. They did not believe their eyes at first when they met more than two thousand naira on the floor.

And that very morning, her father took above forty naira from that money. He and Akanke went to the jealous pawnbroker. He refunded her forty naira, for which Akanke was pawned, and in addition he gave her a few naira as a reward.

But the pawnbroker was so jealous when she saw a large sum of money in Akanke's father's hand that she refused the reward. She saw that although she had treated Akanke badly, the bad treatment had forced her to meet her good fortune.

'Take your money away. I know how Akanke got it, and I shall send my own son to go and grind the corn on the same stone, and my son will get an even larger amount of money from the same king of goblins. Go back to your village now!' the jealous pawnbroker spoke jealously, and she proudly frowned at Akanke and her old father. Then Akanke and her old father left for their village happily.

The jealous pawnbroker shrugged and said to herself as they left, 'Who would accept such a little amount of money as a reward from them when I know where Akanke got it!' The very next night that the goblins would pass by the stone to go to the place of their meeting, this jealous pawnbroker gave some quantity of corn to her son. She told him to go and grind it on the same stone.

As soon as he began to grind the corn, the king of goblins and his followers met the boy there. All of them stopped. 'Who are you again?' the king of goblins shouted with great passion. 'Yes, it is high time enough to teach the people of this village a lesson. Last time,' he continued with annoyance, 'I met one lady here, and of course it was your mother, the pawnbroker, who sent her.

'But this night I shall take you away to my house instead of giving you money, because your mother is disturbing us here too much,' he shouted angrily at the boy.

Then he gripped the poor boy so suddenly that he shrank with fear to the size of a lizard. The king threw him in the big bag which was hung on his left shoulder, and he and his followers went direct to the place of their meeting.

After his mother, the jealous pawnbroker, had waited till the following morning but did not see him return, she went to the strange stone. But she found nothing there. She tried with all her effort to get her son back, but she failed.

Then she went to the soothsayer. The soothsayer disclosed to her, 'Your son is still alive, but he is in the custody of a certain creature who is more powerful than a human being.'

'What is the remedy now?' the pawnbroker asked impatiently. 'I mean, how can I get my son back from that creature?'

The soothsayer was without mercy. 'If you want to get your son back, you will sacrifice four goats, four fowls, four bottles of palm oil, and a large sum of money to the Iroko tree, to the god of iron, to the god of thunder, and to the god of rivers,' he said.

'But my money will not be sufficient to buy all those things!' the pawnbroker said, weeping bitterly. 'What shall I do then, good soothsayer?'

'I am sorry, indeed,' the soothsayer said, deceiving the jealous pawnbroker, 'but just to help you, I say go and bring all of the money that you have got at home.'

Then the pawnbroker ran to her house and brought all the money she had to the soothsayer. He took it all from her, but her only son still could not be found. Thus the jealous pawnbroker lost both her son and money as a result of her greediness and jealousy.