Week 7 Reading Notes: Nigerian Folk Stories, Part A

 

"Lesser short-nosed fruit bat" Source

Nigerian Folk Stories: Why the Bat flies by Night

    

    I love this story. It is simple to read and easy to follow along to. It is about a bat named Emiong and a bush rat named Oyot. The story calls them friends, but what Emiong does to Oyot os not friendly at all. The bush rat always noticed that the bat's soup was always tastier than his, so he asked him what he does differently to make it so good. The bat told him that in order to make the soup taste better, he would boil the water and then lay in it because his flesh was so sweet that it made the soup tasty. To show him, the bat made warm water and told him that it was boiled and he jumped in. 

    So the bush rat went home that night and told his wife that he was about to make her the best soup ever. He told her to boil some water and that he would get it started. When the wife boiled the water, the bush rat jumped in and died soon after. The wife saw her dead husband and got angered at his death and reported it to the king who ordered that the bat be made a prisoner. The bat flew away and hid in the bushes. All-day long they would search for him, so the bat only came out to feed in the dark, and that is why they say you never see a bat during the day. 

    This is a creative tale that offers a silly answer to a not so commonly asked question, why do bats only come out at night? I feel that this story is a good one to make a spinoff of. I can think of a few different angles in which I can switch it up and make it my own. 

Bibliography: "Why the Bat flies by Night" by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910)