A man loved a woman, but he had no wealth.
Crow came, offering many cattle, so the woman’s father gave her to Crow, and Crow led his wife into the forest.
Each day Crow went away, telling her, “Wait here!” Then each evening he returned with food.
The woman sat in the forest all day, weeping and singing.
Her lover, walking through the forest, heard her. He came running, and she told him about Crow. “I’ll kill him!” the man vowed.
He hid, and he shot Crow that evening.
The man took the woman home, and they married at last.
[a Maasai story from Kenya]
Inspired by: "The Crow Who Married a Woman" in The Masai: their language and folklore by Alfred C. Hollis, 1905.
Notes: You can read the original story online. In that story the woman's former suitor and her brothers rescue her; to keep the story short, I focused on the former suitor.
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