September 22. Story of the Day: Chief Kasuju

This is another story from The King of the Snakes and other Folklore Stories from Uganda by Rosetta Baskerville (Mrs. George Baskerville).

This story belongs to type ATU 2042. Chain of Accidents.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

THE STORY OF THE CHIEF KASUJU

Once upon a time a man called Lunzilunzi went into the forest to cut firewood, and he came back with a log and stood it up against a banana-tree, which was a silly thing to do, for a banana-tree is a weak thing, and the log was very heavy.

(banana tree)

A child was sitting in the garden, and near by was a sheep, tethered to a stake in the ground, but Lunzilunzi noticed none of these things; he was very tired, and he went into his house to sleep.

Just then some hunters with their dogs came out of the jungle. The dogs frightened the sheep and it jumped away, the rope snapped and the sheep fell against the log, and the log fell on the child and killed it. There was a great noise, everyone talking at once and giving his version of what had happened, and Lunzilunzi came out of his house very angry indeed.

Then the neighbours came up, and there was a great discussion as to who was to blame for the child's death. Some said it was Lunzilunzi's fault, and some said the owner of the sheep was to blame, and some said the hunters with their dogs frightened the sheep and made it fall against the log, which killed the child.

They could not come to any conclusion, so they decided to go to Mengo and let the King's Council settle the case and punish the man who was to blame. So they all set out for Mengo, where the King lives, and on the way they rested in a garden during the heat of the day, and there they found a little boy eating cooked marrows, which are called "ensuju," and the boy asked where they were going, and why they were all so excited. They told him the whole story, and how they were going to the King's Council to have it settled, and the boy said: "I know what I should do if I were the judge; I should settle it very quickly."

They all laughed at the little boy, and they went on their journey, leaving him in the garden eating his "ensuju."

When they arrived at the King's Council and all the chiefs were assembled, they told the story again, but no one could decide who was to blame.

First they said: "Lunzilunzi is to blame." But he said: "My lords, if no one had touched the log it would not have killed the child."

So they said: "The sheep is to blame." But the owner of the sheep said: "My lords, if the dogs had not frightened the sheep it would not have butted the log, which fell on the child and killed it."

So they said: "The dogs are to blame." But the hunter said: "My lords, if the log had not been there the sheep would not have butted it and the child would not have been killed."

So they were back at the beginning again.

Then Lunzilunzi said: "On our way here we rested in a garden, and there we found a little boy eating 'ensuju,' and he said he knew how to decide this case."

So the King sent messengers, and they brought the little boy into the Council Hall.

Then the Katikiro asked him who he was and where he came from, and they told him why the King had sent for him.

The little boy knelt down and held up his left hand and counted his points on the fingers of it with his right hand, beginning with the little finger, and said:

"The law says, a life for a life. The log has killed the child, therefore burn the log.

"The sheep has caused the burning of the log, therefore kill the sheep; and the dogs caused the death of the sheep, therefore kill the dogs.

"The case is finished."

The chiefs were very pleased with the wisdom of the little boy, and the King made him a chief and gave him the title of Kasuju, which means "a little marrow," and said he should decide all the cases between the King's children, and his children should have the chieftainship after him for ever.

And now, in Uganda, if there is any quarrel between the princes or princesses it is not taken to the King's Council to be settled, but the Chief Kasuju hears the case, and his word is law.

July 30. Story of the Day: Kasanke the Little Red Bird

I'm back from a week at the InstructureCon conference; if any of you out there are CanvasLMS users (my school is!), I've got an open Canvas course with these chain tales here: StoryLab. And now that all the InstCon excitement is over, here is a new story of the day: this one comes from The King of the Snakes and other Folklore Stories from Uganda by Rosetta Baskerville (Mrs. George Baskerville).

I do not have a tale type for this story, but you will see it features a series of animal helpers (antelope, buffalo, elephant, kasanke), only one of whom succeeds in the end: kasanke, the little red bird. I've tried to find out just what species of bird this is, but I have not had any luck; if anyone has any clues about that, let me know!

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day.

THE STORY OF KASANKE THE LITTLE RED BIRD

Once upon a time a lioness and a cow were great friends, and they lived together in a house which they built for themselves. The lioness had a cub and the cow had a calf, and these two grew up together and played together every day. The lion cub was a gentle, well-mannered little creature, but the calf was a disobedient, unruly child, and gave great trouble to his mother.

Near the house was a well of fresh water, clear and sweet, and every day the calf played near the well and stirred up the mud, and every day he was punished for doing so. One day the gentle lion cub tried to stop him, and this made him so angry that he pushed the cub into the well and he was drowned. When the calf saw what he had done he was frightened, and ran to find his mother and tell her about it.

The cow was very frightened, too, and she said: "We must both run away, for the lioness will kill us."

So they ran to an antelope who lived near by, and the antelope said: "I will protect you. Am I afraid of a lioness? If she comes here I will drive her away with my horns."

When the lioness got home she found the house empty and no one in the garden, so, as she was very tired, she went to the well to drink, and there she found the body of her cub. Then she understood that the cow and the calf had run away because they were afraid, and she was very angry and determined to find them and kill them.

(lioness)

First she went to the antelope's house roaring all the way, and when the antelope heard her she forgot her horns and said to the cow: "Run away; if the lioness finds you here she will kill us all."

So the cow and her calf ran on, and they came to the buffalo's house. "I will defend you," said the buffalo. "If the lioness comes here I will trample her with my hoofs."

The lioness came along the road roaring with rage, and when the buffalo heard her he forgot his hoofs and said to the cow: "Run away quickly; if the lioness finds you here she will kill us all."

Then the cow and her calf ran on and came to the elephant's house, and the elephant said: "I will protect you. Am I afraid of a lioness? I will wind my trunk round her and throw her up in the air, and all her bones will break."

But when he heard the lioness coming nearer and nearer, he swayed from side to side, first on one foot and then on the other, and he got so frightened that his trunk rolled up in a big curl, and he said to the cow: "Run away; if the lioness finds you here she will kill us."

The poor cow was exhausted, and she ran a little way and then fell down by the roadside. Just then Kasanke the Little Red Bird came by and pitied the poor tired cow, and the cow told her the story.

They could hear the lioness roaring in the distance, every moment coming nearer and nearer, but Kasanke was not afraid; she told the cow to hide in the bushes near the road, and she flew quickly to a banana garden and picked a large seed-pod which was dark red and shaped like a heart. Then she brought a bowl and milked the cow, and into the milk she squeezed some red juice till it looked like a bowl of blood.

By this time the lioness was very near, and Kasanke flew to meet her. "Why are you making such a noise?" she asked.

"Cheeky bird," said the lioness, "I will eat you!"

Kasanke pounced down on the head of the lioness and pecked her eye. The lioness roared with pain and beat the air with her paws, and Kasanke pecked the other eye, and then she threw the bowl of milk over the lioness and the seed-pod at her feet and said: "Look, I have killed you; your heart has fallen out and you will bleed to death!"

The lioness could not see very well, for her eyes hurt so much, but she was very frightened and ran away and did not stop till she reached her home.

Then the cow thanked Kasanke the Little Red Bird and said: "For ever and ever the cows will love you, and you may come in and out of the kraals as you like. Every kraal shall be your home."

And now, all through the country of Uganda, when the cows come into the kraal in the evening to be milked, Kasanke the Little Red Bird follows them, and the cowherds always pour a little milk on the ground before they fill the pails, and the cows turn their heads to see them do it, and are glad, for they know that the milk is for Kasanke the Little Red Bird, who had more courage than all the big animals when the lioness wanted to kill the cow many long years ago.

June 29. Story of the Day: How the Hare Traded

This story comes from The King of the Snakes and other Folklore Stories from Uganda by Rosetta Baskerville (Mrs. George Baskerville). Mrs. Baskerville lived in Uganda, and she dedicates her book to the children she met there (online book here). You can read more about Uganda at Wikipedia. The trickster rabbit who is the hero of this story lives in the Mabira forest.

The story also mentions the bird known as Kasanke; here is the story about how the Kasanke bird became a friend to the cows: Kasanke the Little Red Bird. You'll also see that this story alludes to a tale about another bird, the hornbill; you can learn about hornbill birds at Wikipedia.

The story is classified as It is TMI Z47. Series of trick exchanges, a motif that is well represented in India also, along with some examples from Europe and the Americas too.

Looking for more stories? Click here for previous Stories-of-the-Day. There have been 50 "stories of the day" featured at this project so far! I hope you enjoy today's story:

HOW THE HARE TRADED WITH A BAG OF CORN

The big grey elephant and the hare were great friends, and they decided to make a wheat farm together on the hare's land. But when they began the work was too heavy for the little hare, and he said: "You do all the clearing and I will sow the seed."

(pixabay)

So the elephant cleared the land with his trunk, and ploughed it with his tusks, and broke up the big lumps of earth with his feet, and when the ground was ready he gave the hare the corn to sow.

But the hare's hands were so small he could not manage it, and he said: "You sow the seed, I will do the weeding."

So the elephant did the sowing; but when it came to weeding the hare was so slow that the elephant said: "I will do the weeding; you shall do the harvesting."

And when the harvest was ripe the hare had fever, so the elephant did all the work and they sold the corn in the market for a good price.

Then the hare said: "How can I take my share when I did none of the work? Give me some corn and I will go and trade with it."

So the elephant gave him a handful of corn, and he put it into his little white bag and went off on the road to the capital to make his fortune.

The first person he met was a very hungry guinea-fowl, and directly he showed him the corn he gobbled it up.

Then the hare sat down and pretended to cry: "Oh, what shall I do? That corn was not mine; it belonged to the big grey elephant."

Then the guinea-fowl said: "I will give you an egg; go and trade with that, it is more valuable than the corn."

So the hare went on till he came to a place where wild plums grew, and some men had made a heap of stones and were throwing them up at the plums.

The hare put the egg carefully down on the heap of stones and went to pick up plums, when one of the men, without looking, picked up the egg and threw it instead of a stone, and it broke.

The hare pretended to cry: "Oh, what shall I do? The egg was not mine; the guinea-fowl gave it to me because he ate the corn which belonged to the big grey elephant. What shall I trade with now?"

The men said: "You may keep the plums you have picked up and trade with them."

So the hare went on till he came to a hornbill sitting on the branch of a cedar-tree by the roadside, and making the most awful noise, like three old crows cawing together. Now once upon a time the hornbill had quite a nice voice, but she was so vain about it, and was always trying to sing such high top notes, that her voice broke, and unfortunately all her children inherited it, and now they are for ever telling the other birds and animals what a beautiful voice their mother once had, and how much it was admired, and all the jungle is tired of hearing about it.

The hare greeted her politely and told her of his adventures, and the hornbill said: "Well, you won't get much for wild plums in this country; give them to me and take in exchange two of my beautiful tail feathers."

She gave him two large black-and-white feathers, and while the hare was tucking them into his bag she began: "Once I had an exquisite voice and was much admired."

The little hare didn't wait to hear the old story all over again; he just waved his hand and ran down the road. Before long he came to a river, and as he stooped down to drink the feathers fell out of his bag into the water and were carried away by the current.

The hare wrung his hands on the bank. "Oh, river," he cried, "give me back my feathers!"

But the Fairy of the River far below in the deep water called back to him: "A river is like the life of man; it never returns. What is past is done; take some of my pure water and trade with that."

So the hare filled his little water-bottle and went on till he came to a blacksmith's forge, but the blacksmiths were all sitting under a tree and doing no work. "Why do you not work?" asked the hare.

"We have no water for the forge," answered the blacksmiths. "Give us the water in your bottle, and you shall have an axe."

So the hare gave them the water and went on his way, carrying the axe, until he came to a market-place where the butcher had killed a cow, but he could not cut up the meat, for his knife was broken.

"Give me your axe," he cried when he saw the hare, "and I will give you the cow's head."

So the hare gave him the axe and went on down the road dragging the cow's head after him till he came to a marsh on the borders of a big river. On the banks were herds of cattle, and the herdsmen were resting under the palm-trees near the marsh.

The little hare was hot and weary, and tired of dragging the heavy head, so he sat down and thought out a trick to make his fortune. He pulled the cow's head after him over the marsh and fixed it firmly between two tufts of reeds.

Then he ran along the river bank, crying: "Help! Help! Help!"

The herdsmen came running up when they heard his cries.

"Look!" cried the hare, "the cow is drowning in the marsh. I am the servant of the big grey elephant, and that is his cow. I was going to trade with it, but now it is drowning. What shall I do?"

The herdsmen were very sorry for him, but they said: "We cannot cross the marsh to pull it out, we shall sink in ourselves, but you can run across with a rope and tie it to the cow's horns and then we will pull it out for you."

So one of them ran for a rope, and the hare crossed the marsh lightly to the cow's head and tied it to the horns, and the herdsmen pulled and suddenly the head came out with a jerk.

"See what you have done!" cried the little hare. "You have pulled the head off the big grey elephant's cow."

But the herdsmen laughed very much, for they saw the trick he had played on them, and they said: "Oh, little hare, we have often heard of you; stay with us in the kraals to-night and tell us stories of the jungle and forest, and to-morrow we will give you a cow."

So the hare slept that night in the kraals with Kasanke the little red bird whom the cows love, and told the herdsmen many strange tales of life in the Mabira Forest, and the next morning they gave him a beautiful white cow with long horns.

And he went home driving his cow before him, and the big grey elephant was pleased and praised him very much, and they were greater friends than ever.