Fulakɛ ni Bamanankɛ

This short tale comes from Moussa Travélé's 1923 book "Proverbes et contes bambara." As its title, "Le Peul et le Bambara," suggests, it stereotypes of ethnic identity: specifically, that Fulani are cunning and apt to betray you. The tale is also crude, with violence and genitals at its center.

It is worth reading not for its stereotype or the attempted humor, but as an example of a particular kind of story that might tell us something about social relations (e.g., between ethnic groups or between rulers and common people) and the lived experiences (e.g., arbitrary capture and extreme violence) of people at different points in Manding-speaking West Africa.

A Fulani man and a Bambara man are imprisoned by a king and threatened with two very different punishments. As they wait to learn their fate, the Fulani man tries to use cunning to make sure that he comes out ahead.

Masakɛ ye Fulakɛ ni Bamanankɛ minɛ k'u bila so kɔnɔ k'à datugu, ko dugu mana jɛ, ko kelen bɛ faga, ko kelen bɛ kɔbɔ.

Fula dun tɛ fara janfa ni kegunya la.

Fulakɛ y'i sigilen to ka kulo ka kulo. Dakunnasigilaw ye da yɛlɛ k'à ɲininka à kulokun na. Fulakɛ ko: "N teri, ne fɔrɔkili fila bɛ n tɔɔrɔ haali!" Dakunnasigiw ye fulakɛ kɔbɔ ko o tuma ko Bamanankɛ na kɛ fagata ye.

Dugu jɛlen, masakɛ y'u wele k'u bila, ko à tɛ foyi kɛ u cɛ fila si la tugun.

Fulakɛ ko: "Ɛ! Bɔnɛ!" Nin masakɛ tɛ fɛn dɔn. Bamanankɛ ma faga. N ka fɔrɔkili tiɲɛna!"