Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 329: Uganda- Getting Even in Gomba; The Dog And The Leopard; The Leopard, The Hare, And The Monkey (Baskerville)

Transcript

EP 329: Uganda- Getting Even in Gomba; The Dog And The Leopard; The Leopard, The Hare, And The Monkey (Baskerville) · Sandman Stories Presents

• 0:19
  Welcome back to Sandman Stories Presents, a folklore podcast
• 0:22
  where I read you to sleep or until the next story.
• 0:24
  I'm your host, Austin. And if you want more Sandman
• 0:28
  that is too spicy for the main feed, go and check out Sandman
• 0:31
  Stories After Dark. It's on Patreon and it's
• 0:34
  completely free, but it's got all the sweary bits.
• 0:39
  Today we are back in the book of Ugandan folklore written down by
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  Rosetta Baskerville. Today we have three stories.
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  The first one asks the question of who is right.
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  The second is about why dogs and leopards dislike each other, and
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  the third is why monkeys and leopards don't get along.
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  Leopards don't seem to like anybody.
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  Huh. OK, let's begin getting even.
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  In Gomba there was a battle going on and around the village
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  of Gomba. In the village there was a lame
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  man who had never walked. Every morning he was carried out
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  into the sunny courtyard, and every evening he was carried
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  back into his house. But the battle was raging, and
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  no one remembered the lame man. As he lay in his house he saw
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  the blind man passing by, and a sudden thought struck him.
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  He called to the blind man. Come here, my friend, I have
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  something important to tell you. The blind man groped his way
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  with his long stick till he stood before the lame man and he
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  said, Listen my friend, no one has remembered us during the
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  battle and assuredly we shall die, you who are blind and I who
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  am lame. But I have a plan take me on
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  your back and we will escape from the village.
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  I will be eyes for you and you shall be feet for me.
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  The blind man agreed to the plan and hoisted the lame man on his
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  back and they escaped from Gomba.
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  When they reached safety the blind man said give me a reward
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  for I have saved your life. But the lame man said not so it
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  is I who saved yours. They spoke hot and angry words
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  to each other, and at last they decided to take the case to the
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  chief's counsel. But when the chief heard it, he
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  said there is no case. The lame man was eyes to the
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  blind and the blind man was feet to the lame.
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  Both have saved their lives, which in itself is a great
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  reward. The words are finished.
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  And now this has become a proverb in Uganda.
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  When two men quarrel, both of them say that they are in the
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  right or in the wrong. The people say it is a case of
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  the quits of Gomba. The end.
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  OK, And the second story, the dog and the leopard.
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  Once Upon a time a leopard who had several Cubs hired a dog to
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  be a nurse to them, but she was very unkind to the dog, who was
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  always miserable. The dog was always thin and
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  hungry. She only ate what was leftover
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  when the leopard and her Cubs had finished a meal, and that
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  was never much. One day when the leopard was out
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  visiting, the dog was left at home with the Cubs, and she
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  found some bones in the corner and fell upon them ravenously.
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  One of the Cubs crept up to look, and a bone hit him in the
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  eye and put that eye out. When the dog saw what she had
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  done, she was very frightened and ran away into the forest.
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  She ran until she came to the house for an old wizard, and
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  then she thought, I will go and have my fortune told.
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  So she went into the house and told the wizard what had
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  happened. Now the old wizard told fortunes
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  by cards, and his cards were bits of Buffalo hides sewn over
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  with cowry shells and beads. He got them out of a goatskin
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  bag and was just going to tell the dog's fortune when he saw
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  the leopard coming down the forest path.
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  And he whispered to the dog, There is a leopard coming.
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  Climb into that basket which hangs from the roof and lie very
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  still. So the dog climbed into the
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  basket in which the wizard kept the bananas he was ripening for
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  beer and lay quietly down. In a few minutes the leopard
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  arrived and poured out her storage to the wizard.
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  Tell my fortune, she said, that I may know if I shall catch my
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  enemy. The wizard took out the cards
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  and spoke. You will catch your enemy in the
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  spring rains. If she goes out in the rain, you
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  will catch her in the sunshine. She will be safe.
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  The rain will be her downfall. I speak to those that are above.
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  I speak to those who that are below.
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  Let her who has ears hear, let her who hears understand.
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  The leopard thanked the wizard and gave him a beautiful white
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  hen as a present and went away home to her Cubs.
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  When the dog came down from the basket, the wizard asked did you
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  understand my warning? And the dog said, I understood,
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  Sir, I will never go out in the rain.
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  The months passed, and one day when the dog was headed out in
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  the forest, a heavy shower came on.
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  The spring rains had begun. The dog ran in the direction of
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  home, but suddenly she saw an anthill by the side of the road
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  in which ants were beginning to fly.
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  The dog stopped for a moment to eat a few, and then, as the
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  succulent creatures poured out of the anthill, she lapped them
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  up with her tongue and forgot all about the wizard's warning
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  and did not see the leopard creeping down the path.
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  The leopards sprang upon the dog and killed her.
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  And from that day leopards and dogs are enemies, and a constant
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  battle rages between the tribes. For the leopards remember how
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  the dog blinded the cub, and the dogs remember the vengeance of
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  the mother leopard. In the spring reigns The End.
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  OK, and the third story, the leopard, the hare and the
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  monkey. Once Upon a time a leopard and a
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  hare live together in one house. One day the leopard said, let us
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  go to the village and steal goats.
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  The hare did not want to steal a goat, but he wanted the leopard
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  to go and bring some meat. So he thought of a trick, and
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  agreed to what the leopard had said.
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  They started out in opposite directions, but the hare soon
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  doubled back and followed the leopard, who crept up the
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  hillside towards a goat which was grazing by itself, and
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  sprang upon it. Then the hare shouted, and the
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  leopard, thinking the goat herds had seen him drop the goat and
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  ran away. The hare dragged the goat under
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  some bushes, and after waiting till all was safe and quiet,
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  took it home. The leopard was very surprised
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  and rather sulky. When the meat was nearly cooked,
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  the hare went outside of the house and shouted.
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  The leopard thought the herdsmen had followed them, and he dashed
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  out and fled the forest, and did not return until the morning.
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  By that time the hare had eaten up all the meat, but he told the
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  leopard that the herdsmen had come and taken it all away.
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  This happened several times till the monkey, who was watching
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  them, till the leopard of the hare's trick.
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  And that evening, instead of running to the forest, he only
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  ran a little way and came back. And he found the hare just
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  sitting down to the feast. Although he was very frightened,
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  the hare managed to slip past the leopard and jumped into an
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  anthill which had a large hole at the top.
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  He crouched down, was just out of the reach of the leopard's
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  paw. The ants make their home in the
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  very hard red earth so that no storms or rink can wash it away.
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  And the leopard knew better than to risk breaking all his claws
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  trying to dig out the hair. So he shouted, Foolish creature,
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  I will fill up the hole with fire and burn you inside of it.
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  Do not think you shall escape my vengeance, he called to a crow
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  who was sitting in a tree nearby.
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  Come and guard my prisoner while I collect firewood.
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  But the crow never does anything for anyone.
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  He is too disagreeable, and besides, he did not see why the
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  hair should be burnt in the anthill.
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  So he answered, I can't sit in the sun.
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  The dust gets into my throat and makes me hoarse.
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  I can't guard your prisoner. Go find somebody else.
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  Just then the monkey who had told the leopard of the hair's
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  trick came along. Oh, my dear friend, said the
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  leopard, Come and guard the wicked hare who you help me
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  catch. I'm going to burn him in the
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  anthill. So the monkey sat on top of the
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  anthole while the leopard went to collect firewood.
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  As the monkey sat there, he heard the hare munching
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  something. What are you eating?
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  He asked. The white ants are swarming and
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  I'm eating them as they come up, said the hare.
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  I have never eaten such beautiful ants.
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  They are a miracle of creation. Give me some, said the monkey.
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  Lean down into the hole, said the hare.
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  I bear no malice, and he who eats alone has no joy.
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  I will give you a handful. The monkey went down into the
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  hole, and the hare threw a handful of dust up into his
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  eyes. The monkey sprang back and
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  rolled off the anthill, and the hare jumped out of the hole and
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  ran away. The crow, sitting on a nearby
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  branch, laughed until his throat ached.
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  The monkey wiped all the dust out of his eyes and looked
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  ruefully at the anthill. What shall I do when the leopard
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  returns? He asked the crow.
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  Put colosse of the seeds into the hole, said the crow, and put
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  some rubbish on them until the leopard.
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  You have begun to build a fire for him.
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  So the monkey did this, and when the leopard came back with the
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  firewood, he piled it up over the hole and they set it alight.
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  A coal of synth seed gave a loud pop.
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  What is that? Said the leopard.
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  One of his eyes is burnt, Said the monkey solemnly.
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  Another seed gave a pop. That's his other eye, croaked
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  the crow. But now the seeds were all
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  thoroughly hot and began popping all together, and the crow burst
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  out laughing. And the monkey swung himself up
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  into the tree and laughed until his sides ached.
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  All the leopard fumed with rage, for he knew the monkey was
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  playing some trick. He had to wait until the fire
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  burnt out and the smoke blew away before he could look down
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  into the hole, and then he saw only ashes and twigs, and knew
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  that the hare had escaped. And from that day leopards have
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  hated monkeys, and kill them if they meet them in the forest.
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  And the monkeys sleep high up in the trees among the branches
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  that are too slender to bear the leopard's weight.
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  If he should think of climbing up in the night when he goes out
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  hunting. The.
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  And I'm digging these stories.
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  I never thought I'd be able to find folklore from Uganda, but
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  here we are. Thank you, Ugandans.
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  The first story uses the word quit in a way that I was
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  unfamiliar with. And of course, I like the
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  dealings of the leopards and the other animals.
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  I like this book, even though it's so short.
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  There are only 14 more stories and if I do a three episode,
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  I'll be done before the year is out.
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  And I'm also coming up on the final quarter at school.
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  So I'll be doing some grading just like I'm doing while I'm
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  writing this. So cheers and think of your
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  teachers. And the podcast Shout out is to
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  Wildly Curious, a science show about animals with two fun
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  hosts, Laura and Katie. If you like natural science, go
• 12:13
  and give these to a listen. And the listener shout out is to
• 12:16
  Newport, RI, traditional home of the Wampanoag tribe.
• 12:20
  This city is also home to several wealthy families that
• 12:22
  keep mansions in Newport, and if I ever get around to visiting, I
• 12:26
  would love to go see the historic district and to learn
• 12:28
  more about the Wampanoag language revitalization project.
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  And so to my listener Newport, I say thank you and goodnight.