Long ago, in a village by the sea, there lived a man named Baptiste who had forgotten what it meant to be human.
Baptiste was cruel to his wife, striking her when the curry was too salty. He cheated the old fishermen, paying them half what their catch was worth. When children came begging for bread, he would chase them away with stones. The village elders shook their heads, but Baptiste only laughed.
“These old fools and their warnings,” he would say. “I do as I please.”
Also read: How Greed Turned a Man into Stone
One night, as Baptiste counted his stolen coins by lamplight, he heard scratching at his door. Scritch… scritch… scritch. But when he opened it, nothing was there except the trade winds carrying the scent of frangipani.
The next morning, Baptiste woke with terrible pains shooting through his bones. His wife gasped when she saw him coarse hair had sprouted across his arms, and his teeth had grown long and sharp.
“What is happening to me?” Baptiste cried, but his voice came out as a growl.
Old Mama Kala, the village wise woman, came to see him. She took one look and crossed herself.
“Baptiste,” she said sadly, “you have broken the sacred laws. The spirits have marked you. Each night now, when darkness falls, you will become the Lougarou, neither man nor beast, but something in between. You will hunger for raw meat and prowl the shadows, frightening children and hunting the wicked.”
“How do I stop this curse?” Baptiste begged.
Mama Kala shook her head. “There is no stopping it, mon fils. You made your choices. Now you must live with what you have become.”
That evening, as the sun sank behind the mountains, Baptiste felt his body twist and change. His bones stretched, his muscles bulged, and thick black fur covered his skin. He had become a creature of the night, sometimes appearing as a giant dog with glowing red eyes, sometimes as a wolf, sometimes as a man who moved like a shadow.
From that night forward, the villagers would bar their doors at sunset and sprinkle blessed salt across their thresholds. Dogs would howl when the Lougarou passed, and chickens would refuse to leave their coops.
But the strangest thing was this: the Lougarou only appeared to those who, like Baptiste, had hardened their hearts against their neighbors. Good people might hear his howl in the distance, but they never saw his terrible form.
The village children learned to be kind to the old fishermen and to share their bread with those who had none. For they knew that somewhere in the darkness, the Lougarou still wandered, a reminder that those who choose cruelty over kindness may lose their humanity forever.
And on moonless nights, when the trade winds whisper through the sugar cane, some say you can still hear Baptiste’s mournful howl echoing across the island, warning all who will listen:
“Be good to one another, for the spirits are always watching.”
The Moral Lesson
This folktale teaches us that our actions shape who we become. Baptiste’s cruelty to his wife, his cheating of honest fishermen, and his heartlessness toward hungry children transformed him into a monster – not just in body, but in spirit. The Lougarou curse represents how people who consistently choose selfishness and cruelty gradually lose their humanity.
Questions and Answers
Q1: What cruel actions did Baptiste commit that led to his curse? A1: Baptiste beat his wife, cheated old fishermen by underpaying them, and threw stones at hungry children who begged for bread.
Q2: Who explained the curse to Baptiste, and what did she tell him? A2: Old Mama Kala, the village wise woman, told Baptiste that he had broken sacred laws and would transform into the Lougarou each night, a creature that was neither man nor beast.
Q3: What physical changes happened to Baptiste during his transformation? A3: His bones stretched, his muscles bulged, thick black fur covered his skin, his teeth grew long and sharp, and coarse hair sprouted on his arms.
Q4: How did the villagers protect themselves from the Lougarou? A4: They barred their doors at sunset and sprinkled blessed salt across their thresholds.
Q5: Who could see the Lougarou, and who was safe from it? A5: Only people who had hardened their hearts against their neighbors could see the Lougarou’s terrible form. Good people might hear his howl but never saw him.
Q6: What lesson did the village children learn from Baptiste’s fate? A6: They learned to be kind to old fishermen, share their bread with those in need, and treat others well, knowing that cruelty could cost them their humanity.
