BOTH] THE SPIRITS OF THE Bt^SH 209 



138. The ^Man with a Baboon Wife (A) 



He liad been far out into the bush in searoli of game, and it almost seemed as if 

 he were to find no use for his bow and arrows. I am talking about an Arawak hunter 

 who lived a long while ago. Late in the afternoon, however, he shot a "baboon," 

 as you Creoles call it [Myi-etes], which proved to be a female. It was too late to bring 

 it home, so he built himself a banab with a view to making himself comfortable for 

 llie night. This done, he cut off the animal's tail, roasted and ate it, putting the 

 remainder of the carcass on the babracote to get smoke-dried during the night. Next 

 morning he was up early, entered the bush again, was very successful, and returned 

 in the evening laden with game. As he approached the banab, you can imagine his 

 surprise on seeing a woman lying in his hammock, and no baboon on the babracote. 

 Not understanding whence she could liave come, he asked her what she was doing 

 there, and she told him that, on account of his loneliness, she had come to hell) look 

 after tlie meat and keep him company. After further questioning, she assured him 

 that there was no baboon on the babracote when she had arrived. He had his sus- 

 picions as to her origin aroused on noticing that her fingers were naturally clenched, 

 and that with the one hand she was continually trying to keep extended the fingers, 

 of tlie other.' He accordingly asked her straight whether she herself was not the 

 baboon that had so mysteriously disappeared, but she denied it. She was a good- 

 looking wench, however, and he took her as wife, with the result that they lived 

 happily together, so happily that they kept no secrets from each other. One day 

 her husband asked her again about the baboon, and what had become of it. She now 

 admitted that she was the baboon transformed into her present shape, but that he 

 must not speak about it to anyone. A few days later they took their departure from 

 the banab, and made their way to the husband's house, bringing i)lenty of game 

 with them. And here they lived a very long time — still quite happily together. 

 It is true that he would frequently be asked by his relatives as to what tribe his wife 

 belonged, but he never told them. One morning early, hearing the baboons " calling," 

 she informed her husband that her uncles were drinking cassiri, and suggested that 

 they should both go and join the party. The uncle Baboon was howling on the top- 

 most branches of an immense cashew tree, the trunk of which was .so big that it allowed 

 of a proper foot-path being made up it. The couple made their way to the tree, and 

 followed the track. Up and up they went, until they found themselves in the real 

 Baboon country, and arrived at the threshold of a big house. And wliat a lot of drink 

 there was! And so many Baboons to drink it! Everyone got drunk and then each 

 began to chatter, the one asking all kinds of questions from the other. Our friend 

 was again asked what nation his wife came from and. being now in his cups, let out 

 the secret, and told them she was really a Baboon. But no sooner had he uttered 

 the forbidden word, than everything — his wife, drinks, house, and baboorts — all 

 suddenly vanished, and he found himself desolate and alone on the top of the cashew 

 tree. But how to get down was the puzzle: he wasat too great a height to jump to the 

 ground, and the trunk was too huge for him to encircle and scale. He knew not what 

 to do, and he felt very miserable. After a time a bunia bird came along, and asked 

 him what he was doing all alone up there. And when the bird learned how the poor 

 fellow had lost his wife just for having said that she belonged to the Baboon nation, 

 he offered to help him out of his difficulties and get him safe to the ground. The man 

 was perplexed, and asked how this was to be managed, but the bird told him to follow 

 the same procedure as he (the bird ) did in the making of the aerial roots of the kofa 

 tree [Sect. 16S]. Obeying instructions, the hanging vine-roots soon reached the earth, 

 and clinging to these, the man got down in safety. So far, so good; but even yet he 

 did not know exactly where he was, and he had no means of finding in which direction 



' When a monkey is barbecued, the digits, owing to muscular contraction, invariably become strongly 

 flexed. 



15961° — 30 ETH— 15 14 



