Page:Where Animals Talk (West African folk lore tales).djvu/84

 and is cooked and eaten." The mother Palm-tree helplessly replied, "What can I do?"

All this while, the husband Goat had been away on a journey. When he returned, and came to his town, and found that his wife, Palm-tree's child, was not there, he asked, "My wife; is she dead?" The people answered him, "Yes!" "But," he asked, "for what reason did she die?" They answered, "Because the people of the town had no food for their guests." Mbindi complained further, saying, "So! when Akândâ was cooked, you gave your guests only plantains; were you so inhospitable as to give them also no meat or fish?"

At this the people were vexed, and they said, "Well then! let this husband be killed and eaten as the meat!" So they killed and ate him.

This news, people also carried to Palm-tree, telling her that Plantain's husband was also killed and eaten.

Then Palm-tree came to the town to speak about the death of Plantain. The people justified themselves, saying, "But, what else could we do? It was necessary to provide for the guests."

PlamPalm [sic]-tree submitted, "Truly, had Akândâ obeyed me and come to me and borne her child in my presence, she would have had abundance, and would not have died."