Suriname folk-lore

[p. 280]

76. Todo nąŋga Sneki.

Mati Sneki nąŋga mati p'kin Todo bɛn dɛ bɩgi mati. Dę' a prei̯ makandra. Ma nō, wąn dei̯ dąn p'kin Sneki go na 'oso, a tai̯gi ɛ̨ŋ m'ma taki, ‘'Ąŋgri kir' mi.’ Na m'ma tai̯g' ɛ̨ŋ taki, ‘Mi n'abi nyąm fō gi yu. Bika' na dɔm f'yu sɛrefi, yi 'ɛ tek' yu s'ti mɔfo ɛn mek' pre sani.’ No mo p'kin Sneki nō aksi ɛ̨ŋ mama taki, ‘San na mi s'ti mɔfo?’ 'A m'ma taki, ‘Yu dɔm yu! Yu no si taki Todo na wi s'ti mɔfo? So te a kɔm pre 'ąŋga yu, yu m'ɛ swari ɛ̨ŋ. No so, mi n'e go g' i nyą' mɔro, bika' ala mąn mu' suku f' i sɛrefi. Gadō fō ala, ala suma fō den sɛrefi.’

[p. 281]

76. Enemy Playmates: Snake and Toad.¹

Friend Snake and friend little Toad were great friends. They played together. Now one day, when little Snake went home, he said to his mother, said, ‘Hunger is killing me.’ His mother said to him, said, ‘I have no food to give you. Because of your own stupidity, you take your favorite morsel, and make of him a plaything.’ At once little Snake asked his mother, he said, ‘What is my favorite morsel?’ The mother said, ‘You stupid, you! Don't you see that Toad is our favorite food? So when he comes to play with you, you must swallow him. Otherwise, I am not going to give you anything more to eat, because all men must look out for themselves. God for all, all people for themselves.’

1 Told by 1. Compare Sierra Leone, Koelle 154-156, No. 1 (Fables); Nigeria (Ekoi), Talbot (III) 386; Cameroons (Bulu), Krug 118-119, No. 16, Schwab (II) 431-432, No. 4; Angola, Chatelaine 191-195, No. 24. For tales explaining enmity between animals, see Dahnhardt, iii, 324ff.