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Moussa the Thief and Bour the King
Moussa the Thief used to burglarize the palace
of Bour, the king, often. After his crime, he always wrote on the door:
“It is I, Moussa Ndiaye, who came to rob you, and I live in the forest.”
This happened three times, and each time Bour noticed and his anxiety grew
a little more.
One day, he summoned one of his bëk-nëk to discuss Moussa. At the
same time, he put the village griot in charge of announcing a meeting at the
penc. Everyone was there: Djaraf, Ndej Ju Reew, Saltigué, prominent
citizens, and badolos. After the Takussaan prayer, the king left the palace
and headed for the meeting. Everyone was waiting for him, including Moussa
Ndiaye the Thief, who was seated comfortably on a chair cross-legged. Bour
called the Djaraf and said,
“Go in the crowd and ask which one is Moussa Ndiaye, and don’t
forget to say that I want to make him a knight of the King’s Order.”
Everyone wanted to be Moussa. They yelled louder and louder to show themselves
to be the knight without fear and without reproach. The real Moussa Ndiaye
stalled a bit, then went to the king like a hero and addressed him in these
terms:
“They are all liars, Bour. I am the real Moussa,” he said, throwing
down one of the king’s stolen coats.
”Ah!” said the king. “So you are my thief. Bring him to
the gallows and hang him!” Moussa, who saw that the end was near, cried
out,
“Bour, they are all my accomplices. They would help me and then we would
divide the goods.”
So the king had everyone killed.
Teey baax na ci ndox, waye ci nit la gëna baax.
Calm water is nice, but a calm man is even better.
