An Ewe Story: Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi

From Gerard Astute: an Ewe story about Spider, Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi

Spider, Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi, is clever but only offers help when motivated by a reward, so one has to draw him out with a bribe. In Ewe, Aƒetɔ Ƒenyi is primarily a comic hero who incidentally benefits humanity, usually when it suits him, as in the following in tale.

There was this giant bird terrorizing the walled city of the King. The bird was so big, taller than a house and nearly as wide. He would threaten every one in the city and all the surrounding area, crying out,

I am the most powerful of all. If you dare to challenge me, come out of your house and I will show you how fierce I am.

No one dared to come out. Everyone was afraid that the Great Bird would kill them. Not even the King would venture out, though he tried to encourage his bravest warriors, but the bravest among them had already been killed in challenges with the Great Bird. When this had gone on for a long time, the King finally announced,

I offer my daughter in marriage as a reward to the one who kills the Great Bird.

Spider, hearing this news began to plan. The king’s daughter was very beautiful. He opened a crack in the wall of his house as wide as the bird’s neck and as tall as the bird’s head. Remember, this is a time when houses were built of mud and always had cracks in them. When he was done making this hole in the wall, he began to sharpen his cutlass. He sharpened his cutlass until the edge flashed in the sunlight. He sharpened the edge until a house fly, daring to land on its edge, was cut in two. And then Spider waited.

Finally, the Great Bird flew over the town once more and cried,

I am the most powerful of all. If you dare to challenge me, come out of your house and I will show you how fierce I am.

Spider, hanging out in his mud hut, called out in reply,

I am the most powerful of all. If you dare challenge me, come into my house and I will show you how powerful I am.

Great Bird screamed, making all the huts shake, then lowered his beak rolling his eyes around to find the hut from which the voice came. He spied the hole in Spider’s hut with its large hole in the wall. He lowered his head through it. Spider, waiting inside, in one swift move, cut off the bird’s head.