This is a reprint, with slight syntax changes, of the story as it appears in: An Anthology of Myths, Legends and Folktales from Cameroon by Emmanuel Matateyou, published in 1997 (pp. 46–48) by The Edwin Mellen Press Ltd. We have the permission of the publisher and the author to publish up to 10 myths in this collection in the context of our project on “Our Mythical Childhood…”. We are therefore thankful to The Edwin Mellen Press Ltd and Professor Mataeyou for granting us this permission.

A long time ago the partridge from the hill and the partridge from the forest had a heated argument. The partridge from the hill said he could cause a downpour whose test the other could not stand, and the partridge from the forest said that he could cause a drought whose test the partridge from the forest could not stand. To test their skills, they agreed that the partridge from the forest should bring the downpour while the partridge from the hill should bring the drought. They agreed on the duration for each test. 

The partridge from the forest fluttered his wings and cried “Rikwikwi! Rikwikwi! Rickwikwi!” A dark cloud suddenly appeared and began to cover the sky; a very strong wind began to blow. The trees swayed and the air was full of dust. River overflowed their banks, and there was water everywhere. No man, animal, or bird could go outside. Houses were flooded and most of the animals that could not climb trees were drowned. When the time set for the rain test was up, the partridge from the forest came out from his hiding place and cried “Rikwikwi! Rikwikwi! Rickwikwi!” and the rain ceased as suddenly as it began. The partridge from the hill had gone into hiding in a hole in a rock. He came out of his hiding place, shock his feathers, and greeted his friend: “My good friend, thank God, I am still alive.” “Yes”, answered his friend. “We are both alive. I have fulfilled my own part of the bargain. It is now your turn.” “It is true that you have indeed fulfilled your own part of the bargain. Now go back to your hiding place and get ready. I will not be the one to disappoint you” said the partridge from the hill as he took a deep breath and cried “Rikwikwi! Rikwikwi! Rickwikwi!” The sky suddenly cleared and the sun was comforting. Men, animals, and birds come out of their cold and damp hiding places and basked in the sun. The heat gradually became intense and oppressive; and men, animals, and birds once more sought shelter. 

The sun shone and shone and shone. Streams and rivers and wells dried up. Plants withered and died. The earth cracked and it became almost impossible to survive in the heat of the scorching sun. The partridge from the forest, having exhausted his store of water, was dying of thirst. He ventured out to look for a drop of water, but there was none everywhere. At last he came to a pond, where the mud was still wet. He settled down and sucked some of the mud, and then laid down to rest. Meanwhile, the sun continued to shine mercilessly. The mud in the pond hardened. The partridge of the forest continued to sleep. At long last, the time expired, and the partridge from the hill fluttered out of his hiding place cackling, “kikwa-a, kikwa-a, kikwa-a!” but the partridge from the forest did not answer. The partridge from the hill roamed everywhere searching for his friend, “kikwa-a, kikwa-a!”, but no reply. He searched and searched until he came upon his friend. “Kikwa-a, kikwa-a, kikwa-a”, he called, but no reply. His friend was still asleep. He shook his sleeping friend, but found that he had been baked as hard as a rock by the scorching sun. “Poor thing”, he wept, “why did you agree to something you were not up to? However, in memory of your death we shall from today have two seasons in the year – the rainy season and the dry season. Your death is proof that my magic is stronger than yours, so my dry season will be shorter and less intense than your rainy season.” That is how our two seasons came to be; and that is why one is longer than the other.

With the variation of seasons in different cultures, humanity under such incomprehensible conditions, has been doing all to come to terms with the different manifestations in seasons or seasonal changes. Geographers in other environments have likened it to the four phases of the sun’s orbit, yet it is not the same everywhere. It is for this reason that the mountainous Bakweri people of the Southwest region of Cameroon move beyond the geographical evidence into a mythological explanation of the origin of seasons in their land and in most places in Africa. Instead of abiding by the sun’s orbit as being at the origin of the seasons, the Bakweri people come in with an anthropomorphic explanation, with God and birds determining the season, their nature and duration.

Matateyou, Emmanuel, An Anthology of Myths, Legends and Folktales from Cameroon, New York: The Edwin Mellen Press Ltd, 1997.

Collected by Kate Silo Mbome.