Five women went fishing. One woman caught many fish; the others caught none.
"Let us have some of your fish," they pleaded.
"No!" said the lucky woman. "The fish are all mine."
On the way home, she realized she had lost her bracelet. "Come help me to look for it," she said, but her companions refused. "Ask your fish for help, not us!"
So the woman went back to the river alone. There she met a python who enchanted her.
She could not move.
The python killed and ate her.
Thus she lost her bracelet, her fish, and her life.
[a Bakweri story from Cameroon]
Inspired by: "The Curse of Selfishness" in African Jungle Tales by C. J. Bender, 1919.
Notes: You can read the original story online. This is a story of the Kwe (Wakweli) people of Cameroon; find out more at Wikipedia.
No comments:
Post a Comment