The old woman and the bananas

The old woman and the bananas / told by Joseph Yona, Mabfilau

There was once an old woman who planted some bananas beside her house. One day all the people from the village went by bush to another village while the old woman and her grand-daughter were left behind in their house in the village.

Suddenly the old woman and her grand-daughter heard a noise coming from the outside the house. The noise was coming from the bananas that the old woman had planted.

There was a banana singing. In our language we called that banana TAVIV. This is the song the banana sang:

Lovoe lovoe talmbe rere a bomae rambe ninive

Tere tera terel terelbue terelbue tere terealbue terelbue

"Who are those old people singing?" asked the old woman to her grand-daughter.

"There is nobody outside" the grand-daughter replied.

Later on the old woman and the grand-daughter heard the song again.

When the little girl looked out from the house she could see the leaves of the bananas moving but the leaves of the trees were still and did not move so she told her grandmother what she saw.

On hearing this the grandmother was very angry. She took her walking stick and walked towards the bananas.

She hit the bananas and hit them again and again until all the bananas were broken and short.

That is why today bananas are short. If the old woman had not hit them they would have grown to the height of a coconut.