West African Folk-TalesAfrican Traditional ReligionsLegend / Oral TraditionEnglishShareWest African Folk-Tales 23Project Gutenberg #66923 - EnglishMoreVersion - 1 availableProject Gutenberg #66923LanguageEnglishEspañol‹West African Folk-Tales 0West African Folk-Tales 1West African Folk-Tales 2West African Folk-Tales 3West African Folk-Tales 4West African Folk-Tales 5West African Folk-Tales 6West African Folk-Tales 7West African Folk-Tales 8West African Folk-Tales 9West African Folk-Tales 10West African Folk-Tales 11West African Folk-Tales 12West African Folk-Tales 13West African Folk-Tales 14West African Folk-Tales 15West African Folk-Tales 16West African Folk-Tales 17West African Folk-Tales 18West African Folk-Tales 19West African Folk-Tales 20West African Folk-Tales 21West African Folk-Tales 22West African Folk-Tales 23West African Folk-Tales 24West African Folk-Tales 25West African Folk-Tales 26West African Folk-Tales 27West African Folk-Tales 28West African Folk-Tales 29West African Folk-Tales 30West African Folk-Tales 31West African Folk-Tales 32West African Folk-Tales 33West African Folk-Tales 34West African Folk-Tales 35West African Folk-Tales 36›Kwofi And The GodsWest African Folk-Tales 23ListenPlay this chapter in spoken English.Save chapterListen to chapter1Kwofi was the eldest son of a farmer who had two wives. Kwofi’s mother had no other children. When the boy was three years old his mother died. Kwofi was given to his stepmother to mind. After this she had many children. Kwofi, of course, was the eldest of all. When he was about ten years old his father also died. Kwofi had now no relative but his stepmother, for whom he had to work. As he grew older, she saw how much more clever and handsome he was than her own children, and grew very jealous of him. He was such a good hunter that day after day he came home laden with meat or with fish. Every day she treated him in the same way. She cooked the meat, then portioned it out. She gave to each a large helping, but when it came to Kwofi’s turn she would say, “Oh, my son Kwofi, there is none left for you! You must go to the field and get some ripe paw-paw.” Kwofi never complained. Never once did he taste any of the meat he had hunted. At every meal the others were served, but there was never enough for him. 2One evening, when the usual thing had happened, Kwofi was preparing to go to the field to fetch some paw-paw for his supper. All at once one of the gods appeared in the village, carrying a great bag over his shoulder. He summoned all the villagers together with these words: “Oh, my villagers, I come with a bag of death for you!” Thereupon he began to distribute the contents of his bag among them. When he came to Kwofi he said: “Oh, my son Kwofi, there was never sufficient meat for you, neither is there any death.” As he said these words every one in the village died except Kwofi. He was left to reign there in peace, which he did very happily. ‹Previous chapterWest African Folk-Tales 22Next chapterWest African Folk-Tales 24›Similar passagesBy tradition and source labelFind similarCompare selectedCompare with similarAsk Deep ThoughtSelect passages to search for parallels.Tap any verse to select it, then compare selected passages or ask Deep Thought. Public domain in the United States via Project Gutenberg