Where Animals Talk; West African Folk Lore Tales/Part 1/Tale 16
Why the Plantain-Stalk Bears but One Bunch
Persons
| Oyila (Oil-Palm Tree) | Mbindi (Wild Goat) |
| Akândâ (Plantain-Stalk) | |
NOTE
According to native law of hospitality, duty to a guest requires almost any sacrifice. This is oriental. (See Genesis Chap. 19, vs. 8.) A plantain-stalk bears but one bunch. Therefore, to gather the fruit, the stalk with apparent ruthlessness is cut down. But, there are always from two to five young sprouts at the base, from 2 feet to 5 feet in height, which, in succession, take the place of the parent stem.
Observe the Cannibalism. All African tribes were formerly Cannibals. Many interior tribes still are. This story is a marked illustration of the characteristic impossibilities in native tales, "Plantain" being at one and the same time a plant and a human being!
Palm-tree produced Plantain tree.
Then there stood up an animal called Wild Goat, and it went to seek marriage with Palm-tree's daughter Plantain. It was so arranged; and the marriage was held.
As Goat and his wife were about departing to his own town, Palm-tree gave some parting advice to her daughter Plantain; "When you shall be about to become a mother, come back and stay with me."
Not long after this, Plantain was to become a mother; and people went to Palm-tree to inform her of the fact. This daughter Plantain did not obey her mother's directions, but remained in the town until her child was born. This was told to mother Palm-tree, who was dissatisfied, and said, "Eh! I told Akândâ to have her child born with me!"
The reason that Palm-tree had given this direction to Plantain was, that, as her own custom, in bearing her palm-nuts, was to have several bunches in sight at one time, and ripening in succession, she wished her daughter to have the same habit.
After Plantain had borne her child, it grew well and became very strong. One day, strangers came to the town on a visit; and, when the villagers looked for food for the visitors, to their shame, they found they had none. Then one of the women of the village said, "Well! let us cut down this Akândâ, and cook it and eat it." So, a machete was seized, and Plantain's stalk was slashed, and Palm-tree's child Plantain was taken and cooked and eaten. At this, people went and told Palm-tree, saying, "Your child is cut down, and is cooked and eaten." The mother Palm-tree helplessly replied, "What can I do?"
All this while, the husband Goat had been away on a journey. When he returned, and came to his town, and found that his wife, Palm-tree's child, was not there, he asked, "My wife; is she dead?" The people answered him, "Yes!" "But," he asked, "for what reason did she die?" They answered, "Because the people of the town had no food for their guests." Mbindi complained further, saying, "So! when Akândâ was cooked, you gave your guests only plantains; were you so inhospitable as to give them also no meat or fish?"
At this the people were vexed, and they said, "Well then! let this husband be killed and eaten as the meat!" So they killed and ate him.
This news, people also carried to Palm-tree, telling her that Plantain's husband was also killed and eaten.
Then Palm-tree came to the town to speak about the death of Plantain. The people justified themselves, saying, "But, what else could we do? It was necessary to provide for the guests."
Plam-tree submitted, "Truly, had Akândâ obeyed me and come to me and borne her child in my presence, she would have had abundance, and would not have died."