Suriname folk-lore

93. Aboma Kɔnde.

Wą' gą' masra a bɛ̨' a wąn kɔnde. A bɛn lɔbi muyɛ tɛ... Ma tɛ dɛ̨ muyɛ go a taki dɛ̨ no hansō. Dą' wan kɔnde dɛ lɛti abrasei̯. Ala muyɛ fō dapɛ go na ɛ̨ŋ. Na homi a no kɛ nowąn.

Ma wan takru muyɛ bɛn dɛ. 'A dɑti taki, ‘Wɛ, mi 'ɛ go tu. Dɛ̨ hąnsō wąn go a no kɛ den. Ɛfu mi takru wan go, dą' a no kɛ mi a no syɛm.’ 'A muyɛ a sreka manda tɛ... Di a i go. A mu abra wan kriki. Dą' a si wąn Aboma. Aboma ɑksi hem pɛ a i go? Dą' tai̯g na Aboma taki ɛ̨ŋ go na da homi di no wani kɛ nowąn muyɛ. Dą' Aboma hakisi ɛ̨ŋ taki ɛfu' a wani mek' a hansō? A taki, ‘Ya.’ Dą' Aboma taki, ‘Wɛ, mi hopo mofo, dą' yu poti hɛdɛ meki mi guli yu. No, tɛ mi puru yu baka dą' yu hąnsō.’ Dą' Aboma swari hɛm, dą' a puru hɛm baka, dą' a kom hansō mɔro ala muyɛ.

[p. 302]

Dą' a go na homi. Dą' homi kɛ hɛm wantɛ! Ma Aboma bɛn tai̯gi hɛm a no mu taki wąn suma, no so tɛ a i pasa baka a i kiri hem. Dą' na homi lɔbi na muyɛ tɛ ... a gi hɛm furu gudu. Ma ala neti na homi akisi 'a muyɛ, ‘Fa yu hansō so?’ A taki, ‘Gadu mek' mi hansō so.’ Na homi hɔri hɛm trąŋga tɛ ... a no mąŋ hɔri mɔro. A taki, ‘Na na Aboma fō kriki ɛ̨ŋ guli mi, dą' puru mi baka, dą' mi hansō so. Ma a taki mi no mu tai̯gi.’

Dąn na muyɛ 'ɛ go baka na ɛ̨ŋ kɔndɛ. Dą' na homi srapu wan faka gi hɛm, dą' a gi hɛm wan heri batra dram. Dą' na homi tai̯g hɛm są' a mu du nąŋga Aboma. Na homi taki, ‘Tɛ Aboma hakisi yu fo sani di yu bɛn tai̯g' mi, dą yu taki, “Tata, tą ųn sō, no meki hati brɔ̨n. Hopo i buka da mi, fō mi konda da i”!’

Dą' Aboma opo buka. Dą' a gi hɛm her' batra dram mɛk' a-i bɛbɛ ɛ̨ŋ tu. Dąn da Aboma drųŋgu. Dą' a teki na faka, a kɔti hɛm labu teki. Dąn da Aboma ɔyo limbo, dą' haksi na muyɛ, ‘Muyɛ, fa mi labu dɛ kɔti?’ 'A muyɛ taki gi 'ɛm taki, ‘Tata, 'a dram di yu bɛbɛ, hɛm drųŋgu a mɛk' mi fɛni pasi kɔti yu labu. Wɛ, so na homi bɛn süti gi mi mɛk' mi konda dai̯ hɛm tu fa na tɔri waka.’

Dą' so na Aboma no swari hɛm mɔro. A mɛk' hɛm go baka na ɛ̨ŋ konde.

'A tɔri kaba.

93. Snake Gives Beauty.²

A rich man lived in a village.³ He loved women till... But when the women went he said they were not beautiful. There was a village directly opposite. All the women there went to him. The man did not care for any of them.

But there was an ugly woman. That one said, ‘Well, I am going, too. The handsome ones went and he did not care for them. If I, an ugly one go and he does not care for me, it will be no disgrace.’ The woman adorned herself till... Then she went. She had to cross a creek. Then she saw an Aboma. The Aboma asked her where she was going. Then she said to the Aboma, she said, she was going to the man who did not wish to care for any woman. The Aboma asked her, he said, if she wanted him to make her handsome? She said, ‘Yes.’ The Aboma said, ‘Well, I will open my mouth, then you must put your head inside to let me swallow you. When I pull you out again, then you will be handsome.’ The Aboma swallowed her, then he pulled her out again, and she became handsomer than all other women.

2 Told by 3. Compare Gold Coast (Ashanti), Rattray (I) 203, No. 52; Hausa, Tremearne (III) 304, No. 55.

3 Note the words gąn, muyɛ, hansō, etc. which are Saramaka for ‘big’, ‘woman’, and ‘beautiful’, really ‘handsome’. This tale is essentially in the speech of this Bush-Negro tribe.

[p. 303]

Then she went to the man. Then the man loved her at once! But the Aboma had told her that she must not tell anyone, or else when she returned he [the Aboma] would kill her. The man loved the woman till... he gave her much wealth. But every night the man asked his wife, ‘How is it you are so beautiful?’ She said, ‘God made me so beautiful.’ But the man treated her so well that she could resist no more. She said, ‘The Aboma of the creek swallowed me, and pulled me out again, and made me handsome. But he said I must not talk.’

Then the woman had to go back to her village. The man sharpened a knife for her, and he gave her a whole bottle of rum. Then the man told her what she must do with the Aboma. The man said, ‘When the Aboma asks you why you told me, then you say, “Father, wait a minute, do not get angry. Open your mouth for me and I will tell you a story”.’

Then the Aboma opened his mouth. Then she gave him a full bottle of rum, and made him drink it all. Then the Aboma was drunk. Then she took the knife and cut his tail off with it.¹ Then the Aboma's eyes became clear², and he asked the woman, ‘Woman, how was my tail cut off?’ The woman answered him, she said, ‘Father, the effect of the rum which you drank, made me find a way to cut your tail. Well, so, too, my husband's kindness toward me made me tell him all that happened.’

And so the Aboma did not swallow her any more. He allowed her to go back to her village.

The story is finished.

1 Notice the use of ‘take’ for preposition ‘with’, i.e., lit., ‘Then she took the knife, she cut he tail take.’

2 Idiom for becoming sober.