An egg for bride wealth
Once upon a time, there was an old woman who loved her grandson very much. She gave him an egg as a gift. She said, “From this egg you will get bride wealth for your marriage when you are of age.” And the boy went on his way.
First he met some blackberry gatherers who asked him for the egg. They used it to shoot at the berries and it broke.
The boy cried, “Ei...Ei...Ei! You have caused trouble for me! The egg was not mine. It belonged to my grandmother. And grandmother didn't give it to me for nothing. She gave it to me to get bride wealth.”
So the berry gatherers gave him the stick they used to bring down the berries. And the boy walked on.
Next the boy met some builders who asked him for his stick. They used it to build a house and it broke into pieces.
The boy cried, “Hee...Hee...Hee! You have caused trouble for me! The stick was not mine, it belonged to the berry gatherers. And they didn't give it to me for nothing. They gave it to me in place of my egg. The egg was not mine. It belonged to my grandmother. And grandmother didn't give it to me for nothing, She gave it to me to get bride wealth.”
So the builders gave him a bundle of grass for thatching. And the boy walked on.
Next the boy found a herdsman who asked for the boy's bundle of grass. The herdsman gave it to the cow and the cow ate it all up.
The boy cried, “E...E...E! You have caused trouble for me! The grass was not mine. It belonged to the builders. The builders did not give it to me for nothing. They broke my stick. The stick was not mine. It belonged to the berry gatherers. And they didn't give it to me for nothing. They gave it to me in place of my egg. The egg was not mine. It belonged to my grandmother. And grandmother did not give it to me for nothing. She gave it to me to get bride wealth.”
So the herdsman gave the boy his cow. And the boy walked on.
While on his way home, the boy came across a marriage celebration. The bride's family asked him for his cow. He gave it to them. And they slaughtered it and ate it all.
The boy cried, “Ei...Ei...Ei! You have caused trouble for me! The cow was not mine. It belonged to the herdsman. The herdsman didn't give it to me for nothing. He gave it to me in place of my bundle of grass. The grass was not mine. It belonged to the builders. The builders didn't give it to me for nothing. They broke my stick. The stick was not mine. It belonged to the berry gatherers. They didn't give it to me for nothing. They gave it to me in place of my egg. The egg was not mine. It belonged to my grandmother. And grandmother didn't give it to me for nothing, She gave it to me to get bride wealth.”
Then the bride's family said, “We have nothing left to pay you. But let us give you the bride.” And so, the saying came to pass that, “What goes round comes around!”
This story is brought to you by the Global African Storybook Project, an effort to translate the stories of the African Storybook Project into all the languages of the world.
You can view the original story on the ASP website here
