Once, in a quiet Gambian village, there lived a woman with her two daughters, De N’Galack and Patte N’Galack. The woman suffered from a painful sore on her foot, which caused her great discomfort and worry. While she searched for relief, a hyena arrived one day, pretending to have the power to cure her wound. The sly animal spoke with confidence, promising a remedy if only the family would agree to his unusual conditions.
The hyena demanded to be shut inside a house with the woman alone. He warned the daughters that if, during the night, they heard their mother cry out, they must not intervene. The cries, he explained, would be caused by the pain of the treatment as the dressings worked on her wound. He further insisted that the house have no doors and no openings, leaving no way for anyone to look inside or interfere.
Trusting his words, the daughters obeyed, though unease filled their hearts. As night fell, their mother’s cries echoed through the silence, loud, desperate, and filled with pain. De N’Galack and Patte N’Galack remembered the hyena’s warning and stayed still, convincing themselves that her suffering was part of the healing process.
But the cries grew weaker, then ceased altogether.
When dawn arrived, the sisters and their brother hurried into the house. What they found broke their hearts: nothing remained of their beloved mother but her bones. The hyena, instead of healing her, had devoured her and fled into the night.
The brother, furious and grief-stricken, swore to avenge their mother. He set out to gather information and soon learned that the hyena had travelled to the village of N’Diarack.
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There, the hyena made no effort to hide. On the contrary, he paraded boldly through the streets with a large drum slung across his shoulder. Surrounded by curious village children, he sang mockingly of his cruel deed:
“De N’Galack and Patte N’Galack
Had me treat the foot of their mother.
I broke it.
Now I beat my drum at N’Diarack,
Tamina Taminam Talah!
Minam Talah!”
His song rang out, filled with arrogance and self-praise, as if his treachery were something to celebrate. The children clapped and followed, unaware of the depth of his cruelty.
At that moment, the brother of De N’Galack and Patte N’Galack appeared. Burning with anger and guided by justice, he raised his gun. With a single shot, he ended the hyena’s wickedness. The village fell silent, and the cruel laughter of the hyena was silenced forever.
Moral Lesson
This story reminds us that deceit often hides behind promises of help. The hyena gained the trust of the family by pretending to offer healing, but his real intention was destruction. Trust, once broken, cannot be easily mended, and misplaced faith can bring irreversible harm.
At the same time, the tale shows the power of courage and justice. Though the sisters were tricked, their brother’s bravery ensured that evil did not go unpunished. It is a lesson about discernment, the dangers of blind trust, and the importance of standing up against deceit.
Knowledge Check
Q1: Who were De N’Galack and Patte N’Galack?
They were the two daughters of the woman who was deceived by the hyena.
Q2: What ailment troubled the mother at the beginning of the story?
She suffered from a painful sore on her foot.
Q3: What condition did the hyena demand before treating the woman?
He asked to be shut inside a house with no doors or openings, alone with the mother, and warned the children not to respond to her cries.
Q4: How did the hyena betray the family’s trust?
Instead of curing the woman, he devoured her during the night.
Q5: Where was the hyena later found?
He was found in the village of N’Diarack, parading with a drum and singing boastfully.
Q6: How did the brother avenge his mother?
He confronted the hyena in N’Diarack and killed him with a gunshot.
Folktale Origin Source: Gambian folktale, The Gambia
