The poor girl's munou

There is a village in the province of Senegal called Dêbou. Near this village, the Falêmé river passes. There is a kilometer-long pit there. No boat can pass through this place, even small canoes, because the water spirits break them all. As for drawing water from it, you shouldn't think about it either!

The water spirits of this place are called “mousous”. They have, more or less, the appearance of human beings. They come in different colors: black, red or, even yellow or green. Men and women wear long hair. They don't have thumbs on their hands.
Next to the pit is a field belonging to Oumar Fâno, a villager from Dêbou. Every night, the geniuses came there to steal millet. The owner of the field, unable to bear it any longer, promised himself to clarify the mystery of these thefts.
He dug a hole in the ground and then covered it with straw so that no one could see him. When evening came, he went to lie down in this hiding place and waited patiently. Around midnight, the monuments were out of the water in large numbers and began to harvest the millet.
When Oumar noticed that the raiders looked like humans, he put his rifle aside, determined not to shoot them. But taking advantage of one of the young girls in the group passing within reach of his hand, he grabbed her by the foot and held her back despite her cries. The other mounous ran away and jumped into the water quickly. Umar took his prisoner to his house and took her as his wife. She worked courageously and did everything he ordered her to do. But she didn't speak to anyone, not even her husband. At home, she did not eat or drink. She was soon expecting a baby.
La Mounou de la Falêmé - illustration 1
At that time, a neighbor came to find Oumar Fâno: “How! he said to her, you keep near you a woman who does not speak, does not drink, does not eat. If I were you, I'd take her back to where I found her.
—So I will do tomorrow! », declared Oumar, offended by these remarks.
The next evening, took the munomenuthe banks of the Falêmé river: “Show me from where in the river you came. » She pointed to a place in the river. Then Oumar took her hand; They entered the water together and, as soon as he was up to his knees, he said to him: “Go back to the place from which you came! »
The nanny continued to advance slowly until the water came to her chest. Then, turning to Oumar, she replied: “You're out of luck!
-Why that ?—You kept me with you for two years and during that time I was your wife. And then you got angry with me. However, you must know that if I stayed close to you for so long, it was because I didn't mind it. Now I have a child by you and here you abandon me. If you had kept me until this child was born, then I would have started talking with you and taught you many things. Now it's all over because you're too impatient. Farewell !»
She disappeared into the water.
Oumar Fâno returned to his hut, full of remorse. Never again did he see the woman with whom he had lived happily.

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