Author(s): George Washington Ellis (1875-1919)
Illustrations: There are a few photographs included.
Year: 1914 [public domain]
Internet Archive: Always available.
Stories (52): The Rival Sleepers / The Man and the Goat / The Three Brothers and the Town / Man Hunting / The Race for a Wife / The Two Blind Men / Why the Elephant Runs from the Goat / Rival Brothers / The Fly, The Crab, and The Minnow / The Man and the Crabs / The Rival Doctors / The Man and his Chicken / Three Men Want First Smoke / Two Boys and the Snake / The Rabbit, The Snake, and the Ground Squirrel / The Deer and the Snail / The Tide and the Minnow / Three Rival Brothers / Rival Storytellers / Two Poor Men / Two Men Frightened / The Old Lady and the Little Boy / The Blind and Legless Men / The Spider and his Medicine / The Fox and the Goat / The Old Lady and the Bird / Three Royal Lovers / Two Bad Young Men / The Two Faithful Friends / The One Eyed Monarch / Poor Man and King's Daughter / The Blind Mori Man / The Little Boy and the Snake / The Two Thieves / The Father and Three Sons / The King and His Bangle / The Mori Man and the Secret / The Jealous Husband / The Man, The Deer, The Possum, and the Snake / The Lion, The Fox, and the Monkey / Two Great Swimmers / The Two Fighters / The Two Brothers / Two Unfortunate Men / The Lion, The Leopard, and the Dog / Three Storytellers / The Leopard and the Goat / Two Old Women / Two Orphan Brothers / Value of Education and Money / The Rascal Man / The Six Rival Heirs. I have included two stories below: The Man, The Deer, The Mongoose, and the Snake and Two Orphan Brothers.
Style: These stories are told in English.
Frame: None.
Storytellers: The names of the storytellers are not provided.
Additional Information: Ellis was an African American lawyer who served as a diplomat in Liberia. While in Liberia, he undertook a systematic study of the culture of the Vai people, collecting a large number of folktales and also proverbs which he published in 1914.
Story Title: The Man, The Deer, The Mongoose, and the Snake
Tradition: A Vai story from Liberia
Notes: I have used "Mongoose" here, but Ellis refers to the animal as a "Possum." There are no possums in Africa, but the mongoose seemed like a good candidate for the role. There are several mongoose species in Liberia, including the so-called Liberian mongoose. This is a dilemma tale, the idea being that the audience would debate the question posed at the end.
Parallels: This story shares some common features with an Indian folktale type known as "The Grateful Animals," a story which could have likely reached Liberia through Muslim storytellers. Here is an Indian version of the story: The Grateful Animals and the Ungrateful Man.
THE MAN, THE DEER, THE MONGOOSE
AND THE SNAKE
A man cut his farm and planted plenty of cassava, and the Deer always came to the farm to eat this cassava.
The man made a trap and set it for the Deer.
The Deer was caught one day. The man went and found the Deer in the trap. He started to kill the Deer, and the Deer told him he must not kill him. “If you let me go,” said the Deer, “I will make you rich.”
The man took the Deer out of the trap. The Deer told the man to lie on his back. The man did so, and the Deer carried him far away into the big bush near a large town and left him there.
The man had a piece of cassava in his hand when he was carried into the bush, and while he was eating it that night a Mongoose came to him and told the man if the man would give him a piece of the cassava, he would make the man rich.
The man gave the Mongoose a piece, and the Mongoose went to the town and went into the King's house. The King had plenty of kola-nuts there in a jar. The Mongoose broke the jar, took the kola-nuts and strewed them all the way to the man in the big bush.
The people woke up and saw the kola-nuts scattered along, and they followed the line of the kola-nuts to the man. The people caught this man and carried him to the King, and the King bound him in a cage.
While the man was in the cage, he made another trap and caught two rats.
A Snake came to the man and told him, “If you give me these two rats, I will make you rich.”
The man gave the Snake the rats, and the Snake went and bit the King's son. The King was worried and called all the people and told them if anybody gave him medicine to cure his son, he would give that person one half of his town.
The man in the cage told the Snake, and the Snake gave him medicine to cure the King's son. The man went and cured the King's son, and the King divided his town in half and gave one half to the man who cured his son.
The man was now rich. The Deer came and said he had made the man rich. The Mongoose came, and he claimed that he had made the man rich, and finally the Snake came and contended that he had made the man rich.
Which of the three — the Deer, the Mongoose, or the Snake — made the man rich?
Story Title: Two Orphan Brothers
Tradition: Vai story from Liberia.
Notes: I feel badly for the poor Snail at the end! The author added "All's well that ends well" as the final sentence, but since that is an English saying, not a Vai proverb, I left it out, especially as things did not end well for the snail.
Parallels: The pairing up of brothers in a story is common, but the pattern of this story with the tension between the older brother protesting the younger brother's actions is unusual. I'll update this post if/when I find some parallels to this type of brother story.
TWO ORPHAN BROTHERS
Once a man had two sons, and he died. Before he died, he called his sons to him and to the elder one he said, “If your brother tells you to do anything, you must do it, no matter what it is,” and then the old man passed away.
The younger brother told the elder that they must go in the bush and live there as they had no one in the town. “All right; let's go,” said the elder brother, and they went.
When they got in the bush some distance they saw a Lion lying down sleeping. The younger brother said to the elder, “Let's kill this Lion.”
“But what have we to kill him with?” asked the elder brother. “We have no gun nor anything else.”
“I have a bow and arrow,” replied the younger brother.
“But,” said the other, “can a bow and arrow kill a Lion?”
“Don't worry,” continued the younger brother. “When Father was dying, didn't he tell you to do everything I told you?”
“Well, shoot the Lion with your arrow,” said the elder brother.
The younger brother shot the Lion with his arrow; then the Lion jumped up and ran after the two brothers. The brothers climbed up into a large tree, and the Lion left them there.
After the Lion left, they did not know how to come down, and while they were there, the Eagle came by. The elder brother asked the Eagle to carry them out of the tree. The Eagle said, “You two get on my back,” and they did so. The Eagle flew away with them and carried them into a field where there were plenty of rocks.
The younger brother said he was going to shoot the Eagle.
“You mustn't do that,” said the elder brother; “if you do, we will fall down on those rocks, and we will die.”
“Didn't my father tell you to do whatever I said?” asked the younger brother.
The elder brother said, “Well, shoot him.”
The younger brother shot the Eagle.
The brothers fell down on the rocks, and both of them died.
A Snail came along and found them dead. The Snail went into the bush, got some medicine for the elder brother, and he got up. The Snail then asked if he should make some medicine for the other brother.
“No,” answered the elder brother, “because my brother is a bad fellow. He has gotten me into plenty of trouble. Come, let's go.”
“You are as bad as your brother,” replied the Snail, “because you say I mustn't cure him.”
“Well, cure him, and you will see,” concluded the elder brother.
The Snail gave the younger brother some medicine, and he at once arose, and as soon as he got up, he said he was going to kill the Snail.
“You see; didn't I tell you?” remarked the elder brother.
The younger brother took the Snail in his bag and said to his brother, “Let's go on.”
They went into a large town. After they arrived at the town, they heard that the King was dead.
The younger brother said, “You must tell these people that we killed the King.”
“We have been dead once, and you want us to die again?” said the elder brother.
“Didn't Father say that anything I say, you must do it?” asked the younger brother.
“Well,” added the elder brother, “you go tell the people that you killed the King.”
The younger brother went and told the people, “I and my brother killed the King.”
The people caught the two brothers and put them in a cage.
The younger brother said to the people, “You must carry us into the house where the King is.” The people did so.
Then the younger brother continued, “We killed the King. But what will you give us if we cure him?”
The people answered, “If you cure the King, we will give you half of this town.”
The younger brother took the Snail that cured them from his bag and told the Snail that he must use his medicine to cure the King. The Snail cured the King.
Then the younger brother called all the people and told them, “I have cured the King.”
The people divided the town in half and gave the younger brother half.
Then the younger brother told the elder that he must stay there while he himself had to keep walking about, as he had given the elder brother plenty of trouble.
The younger brother left the town and killed the Snail.
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