Suriname folk-lore

13. Lei̯ Hati Mɔro Sɔro.

Anąnsi go tai̯g' Konum taki, ɛfu Konum wani strei̯, taki, lei̯ hati mɔro sɔro. Konum taki, ‘Dati no kąn. Ɛf' yu habi wąn sɔro na yu sɩkin, a dɛ hat' yu, ɛf' lei̯ sɑ hati mɔro lei̯ki dati?’ Anąnsi taki, ‘Konum, yu wani mek' mi sɔr' yu taki dati kan?’ Konum taki, ‘A bǭ'. Mi wani si.’

Wan neti Anąnsi go moi̯ na tapu Konum trapu, a kaka wąn bɩgi hipi kaka; dąn a go kɩbri na ɔndro. Mamɛntɛm, di Konum dɛ saka, a si na sani. A taki, ‘Są'!’ A kari ala den suma, ɑksi den taki, ‘Suma du na sani?’ Den strei̯, den taki, dɛm no sabi. Ma di wąn srodati tenapu, nō mō a yɛre na kaka taki, ‘Na Konum srɛfi pɔt' mi dia.’ Dąn na srodati harki. A yɛre baka na sani taki baka. Dąn a go kari Konum kɔm harki. Ma ala dɑti na Anąnsi bɛn dɛ taki na ɩni na kaka.

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Dą' Konum kɔm kɩsi bɩgi syɛm, bika' a no hɛm bɛn du dati. So Konum bɛn syɛm te... a sɩki. Ma nō di wąn sɔrdati go puru na sani, dąn a si Anąnsi kɔmopo na ɔndro. Dąn a go tai̯gi Konum taki na so den si Anąnsi kɔmopo na ɩni na sani. Dąn Konum sɛ̨ni kari Anąnsi kɔm. Di Anąnsi kɔm, a tai̯gi Konum taki, ‘Konum, mi no bɛn tai̯gi yu taki lei̯ hati mɔro sɔro?’ Ma Konum bɛn si taki dɑti dɛ so, bika' na sani bɛn hati Konum di Anąnsi bɛn lei̯ gi hɛm. Dąn a teki Anąnsi go sroto. Di a sroto Anąnsi, a taki den mu' kiri hɛm.

Ma di den tyari Anąnsi fō go kiri hɛm, Anąnsi bɛgi Tyotyoforu taki, na mamɛntɛm fɔs' den kir' hɛm, dą' a mu' go na tapu wan bom, dąn a mu' sɩ̨ŋgi taki,

Ųn kiri Anąnsi tɛ...
Ųn kiri Anąnsi tɛ...
Ala suma sɑ dɛdɛ,
Konum srɛfi sɑ dɛdɛ;
Konum p'kin sɑ dɛdɛ;
Konum wei̯fi sɑ dɛdɛ;
Anąnsi wąn sa tą' na libi.’

Di Konum harki, a yɛre na sani. Dąn a kɔm frede. A taki, ‘Bɛtre ųn no kiri Anąnsi. Yu no yere sąn Gadu dɛ sɩngi? Ɛf' wi kiri Anąnsi, wi alamala go dɛdɛ.’ So Konum mek' den lus' Anąnsi. Den no kir' hɛm mɔro. A bɛn wɩni Konum.

13. A Lie Hurts More than a Wound:³ God Above.

Anansi went to say to the King, say, if the King wanted to bet that a lie hurt more than a wound. The King said, ‘That cannot be. If you have a wound on your body it hurts you, how can a lie hurt more than that?’ Anansi said, ‘King, do you want to let me show you that it can?’ The King said, ‘All right. I want to see.’

One night Anansi went to the top of the King's staircase and he defecated there generously; then he went and hid underneath. In the morning when the King was coming down he saw the excrement. He said, ‘What!’ He called all the people, and he asked them, said, ‘Who did this thing?’ They bet, they talked, they did not know. But, as a soldier was standing, suddenly he heard the excrement say, ‘The King himself put me here.’ Then the soldier listened. He heard the thing repeat this again. Then he went to

3 Told by 1. Compare for Nigeria (Yoruba), Frobenius 255, No. 26; Hausa, Tremearne (III) 195-6, No. 6. This tale is also reported from Suriname by Van Cappelle, 298-9, No. 4.

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call the King to come and listen. But all this Anansi had spoken from inside the excrement.

Then the King grew very ashamed,¹ because it was not he who had done that. So the King was ashamed till... he became ill. But now as one of the soldiers went to remove the thing, then he saw Anansi come out from underneath. Then they went to tell the King that they saw Anansi come out from inside the thing. Then the King sent for Anansi to come. When Anansi came, he said to the King, said, ‘King, did I not tell you that a lie hurt more than a wound?’ But the King had seen that that was so, because the thing had hurt the King when Anansi lied about him. Then he took Anansi and arrested him. When he arrested Anansi, he said they must kill him.

But when they took Anansi to kill him, Anansi begged the Tyotyo-bird that in the morning before they killed him, it must go to the top of a tree, and it must sing, say:

You kill Anansi till...
You kill Anansi till...
All the people will die,
The King himself will die;
The King's children will die;
The King's wife will die;
Anansi alone will remain alive.³

When the King listened, he heard the thing. Then he became afraid. He said, ‘It is better you do not kill Anansi. Do you not hear what God is singing? If we kill Anansi we are all going to die.’ So the King had them free Anansi. They did not kill him any more. He won from the King.

1 Lit., ‘came to catch big shame’.

3 Song No. 116.