The Boy and The Devil
Once upon a time there was a rich man who had 10 workmen in
his employ. They took care of his plantation in the bush, and looked after his
many cows. One day, the rich man decided he needed to expand the pasture for
his cows, so he asked one of his men to volunteer to sleep at a small house on
the plantation and build the new fence. The oldest and most experienced man
volunteered to go.
The other workmen walked up the steep hill with him,
carrying enough food to last him until his work was complete. When the workman
was settled, they said goodbye and walked back to the village, leaving him alone.
That night, as the workman was making his dinner, he heard
footsteps circling his house. These, he quickly realized, were no ordinary
footsteps! These were the footsteps of mwngwarambuto(1), a devil(2). Afraid he
would be eaten, the workman ran out of the house and down the mountain. When he
reached the bottom, out of breath, he reported immediately to his master what
had happened.
The next day, the master sent the next most experienced
workman to complete the work, and was surprised when he too ran back down the
mountain that night after hearing the footsteps of mwngwarambuto.
It went on in this manner until only one man was left, the
youngest and least respected of the workmen. Finally, it was his turn to try
his luck at the top of the mountain.
The others walked with him, and when he was settled, hurried
back down the mountain, knowing what awaited him that night.
The boy sat down to cook, ears open. But by this time,
mwngwarambuto had learned some things. By the time the boy heard his footsteps,
he was already blocking the door. Mwngwarambuto bent down, stuck his head
through the door, and saw the frightened boy. He reassured him saying: “I’m not
going to eat you. But would you share your meal with me?”
The boy said of course he could, and the two sat down to eat
together.
The next day, the boy began to work on the fence. The boy
picked up his ax to start chopping wood, when mwngwarambuto returned and looked
at it in fright (devils don’t like iron).
He asked the boy “What are you doing with that?”
The boy replied, “I’m going to
cut wood for the fence”
The devil said said “Leave it here and follow me”
So the boy did. They went into the bush and found some
suitable trees. Mwngwarambuto, being a giant, simply broke them between his
hands to the right length. When they had a sizeable pile, they headed back to
the plantation.
Then the boy picked up a shovel.
The devil asked, “What are you doing with that?”
The boy replied, “I’m going to dig holes for the posts”
The devil said “Leave it here
and follow me”
So the boy did. They went to the edge of the property, and picked
up some posts.
Mwngwarambuto, being a giant, simply bored them into the
ground with his bare hands, leaving them firmly in place.
When this was finished, they went back to the house again,
where the boy picked up a hammer.
The devil asked, “What are you doing with that?”
The boy replied, “I’m going to nail the wire to the posts.”
The devil said “Leave it here
and follow me”
So the boy did. They went back to the fence with the bag of
nails and the lengths of wire.
Mwngwarambuto, being a giant, simply pushed the nails into
the wood, holding the wire tightly to the posts.
When all was finished, the boy said thank you to mwngwarambuto
and headed back down the mountain, telling mwngwarambuto he would be back the
next day with a feast for the two of them.
When he got to the bottom to the bottom of the hill, he
asked his master for 10 25k bags of rice, 10 bottles of wine, and a gun, so
that he could kill a bull.
The master asked him: “How could you possible eat all that
food?”
The boy answered: “I’ll just eat it slowly until it’s
finished” (nai gani hurigi(3))
The master, surprised that he hadn’t come running back the
first night, gave it to him.
The boy walked back up the hill, accompanied by the other
workmen, who were helping to carry the food. They put their burdens in the
house, and hurried back down the mountain, still frightened of mwngwarambuto.
Mwngwarambuto came the next morning to the house, and when
he saw the gun, asked, “What are you doing with that?”
The boy replied, “I’m going to
kill a bull for us to eat”
The devil said “Leave it here and follow me”
The boy did, and when the got to the field, mwngwarambuto
asked him to point out which cow he was going to kill.
The boy pointed to a large, strong bull, and mwngwarambuto,
being a giant, simply grabbed it in his arms, and killed it with one blow from
his massive hands. He then single-handedly carried it back to the house.
That night, the boy cooked an elaborate meal. He cut an oil
drum in half to make food for mwngwarambuto, and cooked his own in a small pot.
When the food was cooked, they ate together. The boy opened
a bottle of wine, drank some, and passed the majority to the devil, who
finished it. This went on, until the 10 bags of rice, the 10 bottles of wine,
and the large cow were eaten and drunk, and both the boy and the devil were
pleasantly full, and a little drunk.
The devil said to the boy, “Tomorrow, I would like you to
come to my home and meet my mother”
The boy agreed, and they parted ways.
The next morning, mwngwarambuto came to the house, and the
two set of to the devil’s home. The walked for many hours and finally arrived
at a cave.
The devil said, “This is my home, and inside is my mother.
All I ask is that whatever you see, you do not run away, and whatever my mother
asks of you, you do.”
The boy agreed, and the two went inside. They walked a short
ways, when the boy came face to face with a giant snake. Frightened, he wanted
to run, but the presence of the devil at his side kept him firmly in place.
Mwngwarambuto then said, “This
is my mother”
His mother turned to the boy, and said, “Open your mouth”
The boy did, and she spit inside it.(4)
Once this was done, she said to the boy, “I have a favor to
ask of you. I would like you to bury me.”(5)
The boy agreed to do as she asked, and her large serpent
body began to move. Under her many folds appeared a glitter of gold.
The mother said, “Then this is all yours”
The boy was overjoyed to see the fortune before him, and
began to dig a large hole in which to bury the snake. When he finished, she
climbed inside, and he covered her with dirt.(6)
Then the devil turned to him and said; “Now you must bury me
too. I lived my whole life with my mother, and now I must follow her in death
as well.”
The boy, sad now, buried his friend as well.(7)
He gathered all the gold from the cave, and walked down the
mountain, a rich man.
When he got to the village, he told the other workmen and
his master his incredible story. The laughed at him, and told him they didn’t
believe him. Their tune changed, however, when they saw the large bag of gold
he laid before them.
A few years later, the boy, now a wealthy landowner in his
own right, went back to visit the graves of his friends. Directly over the head
of the snake, a plant grew. He found some fruit that had fallen from the tree,
and when he skinned it, there he saw the head of a snake, looking back at him.(8)
(1) Pronounced mwarambuto, but with a slight nasal after the
mw, like in -ing ending without the vowel. Mwngwarambuto is the name of a
giant, wild man who is reputed to be a cannibal. For the rest of the story, Timmy referred to him as a devil**.
(2) Devils appear in many custom stories in Vanuatu. They can
be spirits, presences, or even men, but are generally recognized as being: “not
good”
(3) The guy telling me this story had trouble explaining
this phrase in Bislama, so I thought it might be interesting for you to see the
language phrase as well. Apparently it’s a common thing to say, but means much
more than the short length of the sentence implies.
(4)I asked why she spit inside his mouth, and was told, “to
prove that the boy would do as asked, even if it was something unpleasant”
(5)I asked why he would bury her, if she wasn’t dead, and
was told the Timmy wasn’t sure either. He guessed that it was either because
she was worried she would die and no one would be there to buy her, or that she
was old and ready to die. Feel free to put forward your own hypothesis!
(6)It is unclear, even after asking Timmy, whether the
snake is dead when she is buried.
(7)Same with the devil
(8)I was also confused at this, until Timmy explained
that it mean the fruit of a coconut, which when skinned, looks vaguely like a
face. Check out the photo below:
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