Long ago, babies were able to speak as soon as they were born. They did not cry when they needed food or when they were too hot or too cold. They just opened their mouths and spoke what they wanted.

This made it very easy for their mothers to look after them. These days, when babies want something, they just cry and their mothers have to guess what they want.

Fortunately, the babies were very wise because wise people don’t talk about every thing they see. But the foolish babies did not know this.

If a man with one eye came to the house, a baby would say ?Go away, one eyed man! ? the man would be very angry, and the baby’s mother would be ashamed.

She would have to say sorry to the visitor, and she would begin to wish that babies did not know how to talk at all. They caused a lot of trouble with their foolish talk.

One day, a newly married woman wanted to make a fire. She went to the house next door to take some burning wood she would use to light her own fire.

The owner of the next house was not in, but the little baby was lying on a mat in the room. The woman saw some meat which was roasting over the fire. She said to her self: How nice this meat smells! Let me look at it and see if it is rabbit or not?

She went nearer and touched the meat. ?Yes, it is rabbit.  It smells just like the rabbit my father brings home from our farm. Let me taste it and see if it is as nice as my father’s meat.

There is only this little baby here. No one will know that I took the meat?

She took a front leg of the meat and ate it. It tasted very nice, so she took the behind leg, and put under her clothes to hide it. Then she quickly went to her house.

When the baby’s mother returned, she shouted, "Who has stolen some of my meat?

The baby at once said, "Mother, I know the thief. She is the woman in the next door?

He described how the woman took a front leg and ate it, and then hid a behind leg under her clothes, and took it away. Every body came and heard the baby’s story.

They clapped their hands and shouted at the woman who had stolen the meat, "thief thief!”

She was very ashamed. At that moment, an old man heard the story. He also heard that babies sometimes say rude and foolish words, because they were not old enough to be wise.

The old man knew that he must do something to stop very little babies from talking. So he took some water yam, cut it into two pieces, rubbed the pieces of uncooked yam and put into the baby’s throat. Since that time, little babies have been unable to talk.

Whenever they try to say something, a white substance comes out of their mouths instead. As they grow older and wiser, the white solution becomes less in their throats; they begin to talk little by little.

Finally when they are old and wise enough, they can talk well enough like their parents.

Ends