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education: chief of the well story

This folktale teaches about the importance of generosity and not abusing power.

There was once a drought in the country. The streams dried up and the wells went dry. There was no place for anybody to get water. The animals met to discuss the situation—the cow, the dog, the goat, the horse, the donkey, and all the others. They decided to ask God for help. Together they went to God and told him how bad things were.

God thought, then he said, "Don't bother your heads. They don't call me God for nothing. I will give you one well for everyone to use." The animals thanked God. They told him he was very considerate. God said, "But you'll have to take good care of my well. One of you will have to be caretaker. He will stay by the well at all times to see that no one abuses it or makes it dirty."

Mabouya, the ground lizard spoke up saying, "I will be caretaker."

God looked at all the animals. He said at last, "Mabouya, the lizard, looks like the best caretaker. Therefore, I appoint him. He will be the watchman. The well is over there in the mango grove."

The animals went away. The lizard went directly to the well. When the other animals began to come back for water, Mabouya challenged them. First the cow came to drink.

The lizard sang out in a deep voice: "Qui est la? Who is it? Qui est la? Who is it? Who is walking in my grove?"

The cow replied: "C'est moi, la vache. It is I, the cow, I am coming for water. J'ai soif."

And the lizard called back: "Va t-en! Go away! This is God's grove, And the well is dry."

So the cow went away and suffered from thirst.

When the horse came the lizard challenged him, saying: "Qui est la? Who is it? Qui est la? Who is it? Who is walking in my grove?"

The horse answered: "C'est moi, le cheval. It is I, the horse, I am coming for water. J'ai soif."

And the lizard called back: "Va-t-en! Go away! This is God's grove, And the well is dry."

So the horse went away and he too suffered from thirst. Each animal came to the well and the lizard challenged all of them in the same way, saying: "Va-t-en! Go away! This is God's grove, And the well is dry."

So the animals went away and suffered much because they had no water to drink. When God saw all the suffering going on, he said, "I gave the animals a well to drink from, but they are all dying of thirst. What is the matter? Qu'est-ce qui se passe?"

And he himself went to the well. When the lizard heard his footsteps, he called out: "Qui est la? Who is it? Qui est la? Who is it? Who is walking in my grove?"

God answered: "C'est moi, Papa Dieu. It is I, Papa God. I am coming for water. J'ai soif."

And the lizard said: "Va-t-en, Papa Dieu. Go away, Papa God. The well is dry."

God was very angry. He said once more: "C'est moi, Papa Dieu. It is I, Papa God. I am coming for water. J'ai soif."

And the lizard called back to him again: "Va-t-en, Papa Dieu. Go away, Papa God. The well is dry."

God said no more to the lizard. He sent for the animals to come to the well. He said, "You came to me because you were thirsty and I gave you a well. I made Mabouya the caretaker. But he gave no thought to the suffering creatures all around him. If a man has a banana tree in his garden, it is his. But if a man has a well in his garden, only the hole in the ground belongs to him. The water is God's and belongs to all creatures. Because Mabouya, the lizard, became drunk with conceit, he is no longer the caretaker. Henceforth, he must drink his water from puddles wherever the rain falls. The new caretaker will be the frog. The frog will not say, 'Go away, the well is dry.' She will say, 'This is God's well; this is God's well'."

So the animals drank at the well, while Mabouya, the lizard, went away from it and drank rain water wherever he could find it. The frog is now the caretaker. And all night she calls out: "This is God's well, come and drink. This is God's well, come and drink. This is God's well, come and drink."

And it is a saying among the people: "The hole in the ground is yours. The water is God's and belongs to everyone."

Source: Sophia Lyon Fahs and Alice Cobb, Old Tales for a New Day: Early Answers to Life's Eternal Questions. (Buffalo, New York; Prometheus Books, 1980), 91-95. Original Source: The Piece of Fire and Other Haitian Tales, by Harold Courlander. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and Jovanovich, Inc., 1964.) French phrases added by Margo McLoughlin.

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