Background:

Oral History holds that the people of Awing came from the North East Congo* and settled in Widikum via Tadkon near Batibo and finally moved to their present site. Legend re-enforces that they originated from the Bantu roots of East Africa. They belong to the upper Ngemba tribe of Bamenda central. Awing is one of Cameroon’s wonders. Her hilly undulating landscape creates a spectacular panorama. It is the major shrine where most sacrifices in the village take place. It provides ultimate tourist splendor to the inhabitants of Santa sub-division in the North West Region and support a thriving agriculture industry. In many legendary myths, Lake Awing is the abode of the village numerous Gods, which requires annual appeasement to guarantee fertility, peace and love in the land. 

Occasion: Staged

* See: all-about-cameroon.com (accessed: April 10, 2018).

A long time ago,
There lived a man,
Who had a soft hide on his bed.
When he was about to travel,
He called his wives,
Showed them the hide,
And said,
“LOOK,THIS HIDE IS VERY
EXPENSIVE AND IS PART OF MY LIFE.
TAKE CARE
LET NOBODY CLIMB ON IT.
I AM SAYING SO
BECAUSE THIS HIDE
WAS GIVEN TO ME BY A WATER GOD.
IF IT IS DIRTY,
WE CAN ONLY WASH IT AT
MINYENGE* RIVER.”
(The audience is astonished)
When the man gave his instructions, he left
As he left,
The first wife’s son climbed on the hide,
And mistakenly excreted on it.
When their husband returned from his journey,
He was very angry.
(The narrator opens his eyes wide)
He ordered the wife,
“YOU MUST GO AND WASH THIS HIDE AT MINYENGE RIVER.”
Minyenge River was a long distance.
The wife carried the hide,
Crossed five rivers
And sang a song.
“Which river is this,
Like Minyenge River,
It is my fault!
Ohoo!
This hide I am carrying,
Will only be washed in Minyenge River”.
Nobody answered.
When she reached the fifth hill,
She sang the song again:
“Which river is this,
Like Minyenge River,
It is my fault!
Ohoo!
This hide I am carrying,
Will only be washed in Minyenge River.”
As she sang the song,
A voice answered in the nearby river.
She said:
“COME OUT AND HELP ME”
A crone came out from the river,
So frightful
With layers of scabies on her body,
There were rashes all over her body.
The crone ordered the woman to wash her rashes.
The woman had no option
She came out,
And carefully washed her.
After washing her,
The crone went under the river,
Came out with two eggs,
Gave the eggs to the woman,
And asked her to shoot
A certain beast she would encounter on her way back
With one of the eggs.
If she succeeds,
The beast would be blind
And make way for her to go back.
The crone also asked her to break
The other egg at home.
She followed these instructions.
She shot the beast on the way.
As she got home,
She cleaned the compound,
Broke the other egg
New hides came out,
Fine things came out,
Sweet things came out,
Money came out,
And many, many things came out.
The second wife became envious,
Asked her son to excrete on the new hides,
The son did so.
The husband was again angry,
Came out and ordered:
“YOU MUST GO AND WASH THIS HIDE AT MINYENGE RIVER.”
The second wife carried the skin,
Crossed five rivers
And sang the same song:
“Which river is this,
Like Minyenge River,
It is my fault!
Ohoo!
This hide I am carrying,
Will only be washed in Minyenge River”.
No body answered.
When she reached the fifth hill,

She sang the song again:
“Which river is this,
Like Minyenge River,
It is my fault!
Ohoo!
This hide I am carrying,
Will only be washed in Minyenge River.”
As she sang the song,
A voice answered in the nearby river,
She said:
“COME OUT AND HELP ME”
A crone came out from the river,
So frightful
With layers of scabies on her body,
There were rashes all over her body.
The crone ordered the woman to wash her rashes.
The woman said she was too ugly for her to touch.
The crone however gave her two eggs,
Gave her the same instructions she had given her co-spouse.
She took the eggs and left.
When she met the beast,
She thought to herself,
I cannot waste this egg on a beast.
She then took another road.
When she arrived the village,
She summoned all the villagers,
Broke the eggs,
Wild animals came out,
Snakes, scorpions, tigers.
The villagers were scared
Nobody wanted to talk to her
They deserted the area.
She was very disappointed.
It was then that jealousy started
In polygamous homes.

* A river in which spirits reside.

This myth emphasizes the need for obedience and selflessness. In a typical African setting where polygamy is a norm, obedience is expected from the wives by their husband and there are always penalties when important instructions are disregarded. Also, the myth points to the importance of being kind to strangers for gods and angels often disguise themselves as poor beggarly strangers. However, in the modern African society where people are increasingly questioning and turning away from the practice of polygamy, this myth helps to underscore one of the problems of this type of polygamy. Other thematic concerns raised in the myth include: mercy, compassion, pity, pardon, hospitality, kindness before destruction, and reward.

The myth shares some motifs with the myth entitled An Orphan Child, such as the motif of an old woman with scabies or the motif of two eggs - one with wealth as a prize, the other with snakes bringing death as a punishment.

Loven, Lena Larsson and Agneta Strömberg, eds., Ancient Marriage in Myth and Reality, Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2010.

Researcher: Divine Che Neba.

Method of data collection: Tape-recording.

Editors: Daniel A. Nkemleke and Eleanor A. Dasi.