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There were two brothers who were traders. The elder left his home and went far away. He made a life in the bush. In the bush of that country, it is Loko [ancestral divinity] who is the diviner.

When Loko saw this trader in the bush, he said, "Come and see me. I will divine for you and you will have everything you want."

Good. He divined. He told the trader to find a dog, a jar of palm wine and pepper. He said, "Now, do as the butchers do. Kill the animal and cook it. Then leave the cooked meat in the bush, and wait nearby." The place where the man was told to station himself was the Segbo-Lisa road.

Segbo-Lisa was returning from the village1 and he was very hungry. When Segbo-Lisa saw the man, he asked, "Have you water? Have you something to eat?" The man said, "Yes, I have palm wine here." But Lisa does not drink palm wine, nor does he eat dog.2

Cool Segbo asked, "Is there anyone nearby?" The man said, "No, I'm alone." He said, "All right. Give me some palm wine." The man gave it to him. He drank, and while he drank the man turned his back to Segbo-Lisa. He asked again, "There is no one nearby, correct?" The man said, "No." He said, "Give me a piece of meat and some pepper and turn away from me."

He ate. He said, "I was very hungry and your food was good. I will give you a present. I will give you three small gourds. Now, you will go far, where only the language of birds and animals is heard." Then he said, "You will go to sleep there, you alone. Tomorrow morning you will break a gourd."

The next morning, the man broke one. The moment he broke it, a large field appeared with many, many men working there. He broke the second one, and more men and women appeared. He broke the third and there were markets, animals, two-storied houses, money, clothes, everything. Nothing was lacking.

So he became king. They called him, "Dada!"3 No sooner did he want to go out, than a hammock and hammock carriers were there. Everybody called out "Dada!" So as he is there living like a king, his younger brother, worried, sends someone to look for him. They looked for three years. On the third year, they found him.

Now, the name of the older brother was Alè. The younger brother said, "I came here to seek Alè." The man at the door began to insult him, saying, "Who is this man called Alè? We don't know Alè here." The boy said, "He is my older brother. I didn't know he had become king." So they went to tell the king. The king said, "All right. Bring him here." When the younger brother arrived, he gave him food and drink. The two ate together.4 That night he gave him a house. He said, "I don't want to sleep." It is the young brother who says this.

His brother said, "Why?" He said, "Because we two were poor. We had nothing to eat. Now you have become rich, but I am still the same as before. You didn't tell me what you did to become rich. You only gave me some food." The king said, "I beg you, go to sleep. Tomorrow morning we'll talk about this." The next day he said, "It's Segbo-Lisa who gave me this gourd." He said, "Here is what I did before he gave me this gourd. I got a dog and palm wine and I gave that to him." When he said this, the younger brother said, "All right. I am going home."

So he returned home. There he got a dog, a jar of palm wine, and pepper and then stationed himself in the bush with these things. But he also took along a bundle of switches. He killed the dog, cooked him well. Again Lisa went by. The boy called him. Lisa came over. The boy offered him palm wine. Lisa said, "I don't drink palm wine." He gave Lisa the meat with the pepper. Lisa did not ask for it. Lisa said, "Do you want to kill me?

I am a vodoun. I eat neither salt, nor pepper, nor dog's meat." The young boy said, "Don't say that again. You must speak in a better voice to me than that." When Lisa would not eat his food, he took a whip and began to whip Lisa. As he struck Lisa, the god died. He said, "Ah, you are shamming. I have a whole bundle of switches for you, and you are already dead with but one. I will beat you with the others just the same." So he pushed him with his foot to see if he were still living. He saw he was dead. When he was sure he was dead, he returned home. He left the meat, the palm wine, and went home.

That night Lisa awakened. He went to see the big brother whom he had helped. They said to him, "Lisa has come to see you." The brother said, "I know. Let him come in, let him come in. So now again Lisa gave him three gourds. He said, "At nightfall you are to break one gourd, at midnight. Another, and at cockcrow you are to break the third. That way you will have double of what you have now."

Good. The man is sad. He did not do anything to offend Lisa. The next evening he broke a gourd. When he broke it, all was still. The birds, the people, no one spoke any more. He broke the second. His house became full of weeds and brush. Now there is left to him only one small house where he himself sleeps. The animals and the men are already gone.5

When he broke the third, he was left all alone. He found himself in the bush. No houses, nothing. He wore the same old cloth he had worn when he was still poor. But he never went back home. He was lost in the bush forever.

This is why, when the vodoun Dan has made you rich, you never tell anyone. The moment you tell, he will come and gather up all that he has given you and take it away.6

1. Mawu (Segbo) is customarily regarded as female, while Lisa is held to be male.
a.Dahomey, Il, p. 103.
2. This refers to the offerings given to these gods.
3. The salutation for royalty.
4. This symbolizes recognition of equality of status.
5. the change to the present tense.
6. The example of Dan is used because this deity gives riches, Cf. Dahomey, 11,pp. 251-252.

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