Nzambi's Drum

Goddess Nzambi left her town to visit another town.

Then she heard someone beating her drum. "Who is beating the drum in my town?" she asked. "Pig, go see."

Pig went and returned. "I saw nobody."

Again the drum sounded.

"Antelope, go see."

Antelope saw nobody.

The third time, Nzambi went.

She saw nobody, so she hid and watched.

Crab came out of the water and beat Nzambi's drum, singing, "Nzambi abandoned me, leaving me here all alone."

"Thoughtless creature!" the goddess shouted. "Because you don't use your head to think, you will be headless, and people will eat you."

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Inspired by: "Who Beats Nzambi's Drum? (Kongo-fiote)" in A treasury of African folklore by Harold Courlander, 1975.
Notes: You can read the original story online; this is is a Bakongo story (published in Dennett).

crab