In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

The Story of Monkey and Bee Have you ever heard the saying that Antelope hates the person who reveals, even unintentionally, her hiding place more than the person who eventually traps or kills her? One of the animals in our story would agree with Antelope. That’s none other than Nkierr-the-Monkey, who was friends with Nyothe -Bee. It was one of those friendships that developed over something rather trivial. Bee was having a quiet nap. Monkey ’s children were swinging leisurely from branch to branch. They inadvertently woke up the sleeping Bee. Bee, still groggy from sleep, stung whoever had roused him from his afternoon slumber. Little Monkey’s face ballooned and Bee felt sorry about what had happened. He stayed up at night watching over the whimpering child with Monkey. The three nights they nursed Little Monkey cemented the beginning of a long friendship . That’s why they were often seen together. They were of course together on this day when they went to visit Takro-the-Lion. Lion welcomed them warmly and offered them some food. Bee tasted the food and it went to his head. It was the best egusi1 soup he had ever eaten: the ground pumpkin seeds had been blended with the right amount of njama njama2 24 1 Pumpkin seeds in Pidgin English. 2 A generic Pidgin English term for vegetables, it also applies to a type of vegetable popular in the grasslands, also known as huckleberry , and known among the Beba as njankah. You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. and peppers, the yellow ones he had always favored over the red ones. So smooth was the pounded cassava he could not detect a lump. Ancestors forbid! This food was so delicious that Bee decided he wanted it all for himself. He politely asked his friend Monkey to wash her hands before eating from the same bowl with him. Monkey was taken aback. Why such a request? This had never happened in all the years she had known Bee. Because she was quite hungry herself and didn’t want to be disrespectful of their host, she poured some water in a dish and washed her hands. In fact, Monkey washed her hands thrice but they remained as black as ever. Bee would not relent. “Only death likes to eat with dirty hands,” Bee grumbled and went right on eating. The more Monkey tried to clean her hands, the more she became frustrated by her best friend’s ridicule. Sulking and bitter, Monkey departed, leaving Bee to enjoy the meal alone. She felt like the man in the story who was able to cross a big river only to later drown in a spring. Our people are right when they say that life dances to the beat of the seasons. In the midst of one season we forget about the other until it is upon us. And so, time passed and our two friends went about their lives. To break the monotony, Monkey suggested they pay Ndafo-the-Tiger a visit. Tiger had not seen them since the last nwa ngeh, the annual communal cleansing ritual. He was therefore happy to see them. They arrived in the evening just as he finished making some achu.3 Tiger did what our ancestors have done for millennia, what we continue to do to this day, and what our children will hand down to their children: he offered them some of his food and palm wine. They had barely started eating when Monkey exclaimed, “Bee, my friend, you are making a lot of noise. How can we enjoy our meal with so much noise?” Monkey complained before Bee could taste the food. “I can’t eat through this ruckus. If you don’t stop making that noise, you won’t touch a drop of The Story of Monkey and Bee / 25 3 Beba staple food made of pounded taro root. You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. this delicious achu soup.” So saying, she swallowed a lump of achu, removed a piece of dry-meat, and stuffed her mouth. Bee couldn’t stand watching her chew away...

Share