[From Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider, and the Other Beef: West African Folk Tales by
[From Cunnie Rabbit, Mr. Spider, and the Other Beef: West African Folk Tales by Florence Cronise and Henry W. Ward, 1903. See item #63 in the Bibliography. The illustration is by Gerald Sichel. For help with the English used here, see the vocabulary listing in the book. Something important to know: a “die pusson” is a “dead person,” i.e. a ghost.]
One tem one country bin deh. Dem people wey get dis country, dey lek fo’ dance Wongko. Well, odder people f’om odder country kin come dance wid um. So dey bin do all de tem.
But one ooman bin deh, he lek he fren’ too much. Dey done go leelee far, den some of dem young man, dem tell den fren’ “Goodbye,” dem say, “we go meet nex’ moon.”
Some of dem ooman go back, but some tell den fren’, say, “Anyway wey yo’ go nah wuld, we all go go; ef now yo’ die, we all go die.”
Well, w’en dey go far agin, dey reach to one big, big valley. W’en de nex’ moon kin white, we go come agin.”
But one no go, he say he mus’ follow sotay he reach dah place wey he fren’ bin lib. De dog deh wid de ooman.
Dah man tell de ooman, he say, “Go back!” De ooman say, “No!”
De man say, “I lek yo’ too much, lef nah town. W’en I come back I go come to yo’, but no follow me to dah place wey we duh go.”
Dah ooman say, “I go go!”
Dis girl too, dey bin tell um, say, “Die pusson kin come out de grabe fo’ dance, so no get fren’ wey come out far ‘way.”
He en dis girl den go to heen town, but de ooman no know say dis die man town. W’en dey go, dey reach nah net, but den jus’ meet one ho’se nah de place.
But oonah no know dog get witch yi? He no wan’ de girl call um dog, because he done turn pusson.
De girl ‘gree, he say, “Come go, kare me back.”
Well, w’en dis girl en dis dog go far nah road, dey no know de country, den meet one big, big wattah, den no know how fo’ cross um, en de dog say, “Come, lay down ‘pon me back.” So de girl lay down, en de dog cross um over dah big, big wattah. W’en dey done cross de ooman tell de dog ‘Tankee, tankee.’ Long tem he tankee um.
Well, den de dog say, “I ‘gree fo’ de tankee, but yo’ no mus’ call me name dog, oh! w’en yo’ go to de town, oh! but yo’ fo’ gie me odder fine name lek pusson.” He no wan’ turn pusson w’en he reach de town, because de people go ax de girl, “Which side de dog done go, wey bin follow yo’?”
Well, dah dog kare de ooman sotay dey done reach nah home. De ooman tell he people all dah trouble wey he see, he say, “Dah t’ing wey follow we two, so, he sabe me,” but he no call he name dog.
Well, dis girl people kin do dis dog good. No matter fo’ de people ef dey call um dog, but only de girl no mus’ call um dog. Well, one day dah ooman cook fine sweet ress fo’ he fren’, not fo’ de die pusson, but odder fren’ in de town. He no talk anyt’ing, he go cook odder ress, he gie he fren’. Well, dah dog duh yeat de ress wey de girl cook, all de tem.
One day he done vex ‘pon de dog. He cook one fine ress wid fat beef fo’ he good fren’ nah de town. Dah ooman vex, he say, “Dah dog tief me ress