A poor old woman lived alone in a mud hut, often starving. The moon, a fat woman made of hide, took pity on her and allowed the woman to carve meat from her each night. As the moon grew thin, people grew suspicious. They caught the old woman in the act, scaring the moon back to the sky, where she now waxes and wanes, never descending again.
Source
Folk Stories from Southern Nigeria
by Elphinstone Dayrell
Longmans, Green & Co.
London, New York, Bombay, Calcutta, 1910
► Themes of the story
Origin of Things: The tale provides an explanation for the natural phenomenon of the moon’s waxing and waning.
Conflict with Nature: The old woman’s actions in carving meat from the moon lead to unintended consequences affecting the natural world.
Loss and Renewal: The moon’s cycle of becoming thin and then renewing herself each month reflects themes of depletion and restoration.
► From the same Region or People
Learn more about Nigerian peoples
There was once an old woman who was very poor, and lived in a small mud hut thatched with mats made from the leaves of the tombo palm in the bush. She was often very hungry, as there was no one to look after her.
In the olden days the moon used often to come down to the earth, although she lived most of the time in the sky. The moon was a fat woman with a skin of hide, and she was full of fat meat. She was quite round, and in the night used to give plenty of light. The moon was sorry for the poor starving old woman, so she came to her and said, “You may cut some of my meat away for your food.”
► Continue reading…
This the old woman did every evening, and the moon got smaller and smaller until you could scarcely see her at all. Of course this made her give very little light, and all the people began to grumble in consequence, and to ask why it was that the moon was getting so thin.
At last the people went to the old woman’s house where there happened to be a little girl sleeping. She had been there for some little time, and had seen the moon come down every evening, and the old woman go out with her knife and carve her daily supply of meat out of the moon. As she was very frightened, she told the people all about it, so they determined to set a watch on the movements of the old woman.
That very night the moon came down as usual, and the old woman went out with her knife and basket to get her food; but before she could carve any meat all the people rushed out shouting, and the moon was so frightened that she went back again into the sky, and never came down again to the earth. The old woman was left to starve in the bush.
Ever since that time the moon has hidden herself most of the day, as she was so frightened, and she still gets very thin once a month, but later on she gets fat again, and when she is quite fat she gives plenty of light all the night; but this does not last very long, and she begins to get thinner and thinner, in the same way as she did when the old woman was carving her meat from her.
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