African Tales

13. Gourmanchéma (Niger) Fountinndouha

80 13 Fountinndouha 47 Gourmanchéma (Gourma, Gourmantche, Gourmanti) (Niger)48 A man who was very jealous of his wife had retired to live some distance from the village, so there should be no possibility of her deceiving him. Another man named Fountinndouha determined to possess this woman. So he chose a fine fat sheep from among his herd and went to the cautious husband. The husband asked him the object of his journey. “I am going to sell my sheep to the king of Outenou,” Fountinndouha replied. “I want to see if I can’t get fifteen cowries for it.” “Fifteen thousand cowries, you mean,” cried the husband. “Or is it really only fifteen cowries?” “I am asking fifteen cowries, yes.” The husband made haste to offer Fountinndouha the fifteen cowries and in return took the sheep, which he slaughtered. The seller helped him to skin it. Evening fell before they had finished cutting the animal up. The wife cooked a lot of the meat and put plenty of fat with it. Fountinndouha ate with them, but for fear of giving himself diarrhoea he was careful not to take any of the fat. The husband, on the contrary, ate to excess. As a result, he was taken with violent diarrhoea. When it was time to go to bed, he said to Fountinndouha, “As there is only one house here, you shall sleep near the door. My wife will sleep at the end of the house, and I between the two of you. But don’t you try to take advantage of her while I am asleep.” Scarcely had they stretched out on the mats when the husband heard rumblings in his inside. He went out to run behind the bushes. Before he could get back, Fountinndouha had already taken advantage of the interval. The husband returned, but, seized again with pains in his belly, he was obliged to run outside once more, and this happened seven times during the course of the night. At each of these departures, Fountinndouha rejoined his host’s wife and employed his time conscientiously during the interval. In the morning, he set out, thanking the husband and saying that he was going to the king of Outenou. He came to the house of the blacksmith, to whom he gave a piece of iron with which to forge him a ring. Meantime, the wife had told her husband what had happened and confessed to him that she had lain with Fountinndouha. Furious, both husband and wife dashed after Fountinndouha with the intention of avenging themselves upon him. When the blacksmith had finished making the ring, it was about six o’clock. He held out the ring to Fountinndouha. “Give it to your wife,” said Fountinndouha. “I will pass by and get it tomorrow morning.” That same night, he went to the house of the blacksmith, who was away. He entered the house and said to the wife, “Your husband has given you to me. As a proof, he has given you my ring to keep for me.” He seduced the woman, took back his ring, and left. The next morning, the first deceived husband came to the blacksmith to find out whether he had seen anything of a stranger. “Fountinndouha just passed this way,” said the workman. “He is a tall man. He slept here last night.” “That’s quite right,” said the blacksmith’s wife. “What’s more, he slept with me.” Then the two deceived husbands flung themselves on Fountinndouha’s track. Fountinndouha had by now reached the house of a husbandman, who gave him the best of welcomes and a calabash full of rice to eat. At bedtime, Fountinndouha asked his host at what time he might leave without disturbing anyone. The husbandman replied, “You have only to get up at the first cockcrow [literally, take the cock’s throat].” While everyone slept, Fountinndouha, taking this advice to the letter, entered the chicken yard and wrung the necks of all the fowls. Next morning, the husbandman found all his poultry dead. At that same moment, the two deceived husbands arrived and asked whether he had seen Fountinndouha. “We’ll all three go after him,” cried the husbandman. “He has killed all my fowls!” Gourmanchéma (Niger) 81 “For our part,” said the two husbands, “it’s even worse than that! He has seduced our wives!” All three hastened in...