Quarcoo Bah-Boni

Once upon a time, in a certain village, there lived a man and his wife who had no children. Then one day, while the husband was away hunting, the woman gave birth to a baby boy. She was very worried that her husband was not there, because she had no way of letting him know the child had arrived.

In the community described by this telling, the father names a baby when it is a week old. As the naming day came near, the woman wondered what name she could give the child if her husband did not come home in time. To her amazement, the baby answered her himself: “My name is Quarcoo Bah-boni.” She was astonished to hear a baby only a week old talk. The next day she had an even bigger surprise. She had been grumbling that her husband was not there to go to the farm and fetch food for her. “I will go to the farm,” the baby announced—and he did.

When he was a few weeks old, his mother was very busy one day, so she laid him on the bed while she got on with her work. A few minutes later several boys came to her, very angry. “Your son has been beating us and bullying us in the street,” they said.

“My son!” she cried. “Why, my son is only a tiny baby. He’s asleep on my bed.” To prove it, she went inside to show them. Imagine her surprise when he was nowhere to be found! She had to apologise to the boys and beg them to forgive the child. A little later he came in and put himself to bed.

He kept up these naughty tricks until his mother could not bear it any longer. So she put him out of the house and told him never to come back. He went off delighted.

After walking a few miles, he came to a house where a goat, a wolf, a leopard, a lion, and an elephant all lived happily together. The animals were sitting round their fire when he came up. After many polite words, he asked if he might stay and be their servant, since he had no mother. The animals talked it over and agreed, thinking he might be useful in many ways. They gave him a seat and some food, which he ate with great enjoyment.

Each morning the five animals took it in turns to go to their farm, a few miles away, to bring home food for the day. It was Goat’s turn, so he asked Quarcoo to come along and carry the load back.

The basket was handed to the little boy, and he followed the goat meekly enough. But when they reached the farm, Quarcoo put the basket down and ran off to play. He took no notice at all when the goat called him to help, but went on playing. At last the goat was so annoyed that he came over and boxed Quarcoo’s ears. To his astonishment, the boy hit him back so hard that he fell to the ground. Then Quarcoo went on beating him until he begged for mercy, and he would not stop until the goat promised to finish the work, carry the load home, and tell no one what had happened. Only then was the goat let go. By now the poor animal’s face was bruised and swollen.

When it was time to go home, the goat had to pack the load and carry it on his own head. But as soon as they came within sight of the house, Quarcoo took the basket from the goat and carried it inside himself.

The other animals cried out when they saw the goat’s face and asked what had happened. “I had the bad luck to run into a swarm of bees while I was working, and they stung me,” the poor goat answered.

The next day it was Wolf’s turn to go to the farm, and he too came home bruised and swollen. Goat guessed what had happened and listened with a smile while Wolf made his excuses to the others. Afterwards Goat and Wolf talked it over together and marvelled at the little boy’s strength.

Each day another animal took his turn at the farm, and each day he came home in the same state as his friends. When every one of them had been, they all met to talk about how they could get rid of Quarcoo Bah-boni.

They decided that early the next morning they would all leave together and let the boy keep the house. They packed a big basket of food and set it ready.

Unluckily for them, Quarcoo had overheard their plan, and he decided to go too. He found a large leaf, wrapped himself up in it—he was very small—and lay down in the basket of food.

At dawn the animals got up very quietly. Goat, being the youngest, was given the basket to carry. Off they went, glad to be rid of the tiresome boy and never dreaming they were taking him along.

When they had gone some distance, Goat felt hot and tired and sat down for a rest. As soon as the others were out of sight, he opened the basket, meaning to sneak some food without his friends knowing. He received a terrible blow in the face, and a voice said, “Shut the basket at once and say nothing to the others.” He did as he was told and hurried after them, terrified of the dreadful boy.

As soon as he caught up, he called out, “Wolf, Wolf, it’s your turn to carry the basket now. I’m very tired.” Wolf took the load straight away.

They had not gone far before Wolf started thinking about all the good things in the basket, and he too said he would rest for a while in the shade. When the others had moved on, he quickly opened the basket. Quarcoo greeted him just as he had greeted Goat, and Wolf shut the lid fast and ran after the others. In the same way every animal had his turn with the basket, and every one was struck and frightened into silence.

At last it was Elephant’s turn. When he caught up with the others and asked someone to take the load from him, they shouted, “If you don’t want to carry it any farther, throw it away!” He did, and they all took to their heels. They ran for miles and stopped only when they reached a huge tree, where they sat down in its shade, quite out of breath.

But Quarcoo had got there first. He had slipped out of the basket, taken a short cut across country, and reached the tree well ahead of them. Guessing they would probably rest there, he had climbed up into the branches. There he stayed, hidden among the leaves, while the animals sat on the ground below.

The animals talked about Quarcoo and all the trouble he had caused them. They blamed Goat for persuading them to take the boy on as a servant. Goat, being the youngest, did the housework, and he had been glad of the help. Goat angrily denied that it was his fault. “If I am really to blame for letting Quarcoo in,” he said, “let him appear in front of us now.”

At once Quarcoo jumped down from the tree and stood before them. They were so frightened that they scattered in every direction. The wolf ran to the woods, the leopard into the heart of the forest, the elephant to Nigeria, the lion to the desert, and the goat to the homes of human beings. That is the tale’s explanation for their separate homes; it is not a map of where these animals actually live.

About this story

“Quarcoo Bah-Boni” is story XXIX in Barker and Sinclair’s West African Folk-Tales (1917), where the name is glossed in brackets as “The Bad Boy.” The book mentions in passing the custom that a father names a baby when it is a week old, which is how the story begins.

Like many tales in the collection, it closes by explaining where animals live; Sinclair’s drawing “They scattered in all Directions” shows that final scene. The book’s list of destinations even sends the elephant to Nigeria. It calls one animal a ‘tiger,’ but its own explanatory footnote says that this means a leopard in these stories; this retelling uses leopard.

Read the original: West African Folk-Tales (Barker and Sinclair) at Project Gutenberg

Best for ages 9–12 with discussion. Includes a mother expelling a child, repeated beatings and threats used to silence victims. The impossible infant and animal household are comic fantasy, but wanting food does not justify being assaulted.

Reading the story closely

Quarcoo carries the basket only when the others can see him, creating an appearance of helpful service while coercing the worker outside the house. Later, the basket hides him, so the animals unknowingly carry the person they are trying to escape. The same object links concealed violence with a misleading public appearance.

Track what each animal knows after a farm visit and after carrying the food. Their silence prevents a shared response until every animal has been hurt. At the tree, Goat’s conditional challenge makes Quarcoo’s sudden appearance look like proof of blame, although the reader knows he was already hiding there. Discuss why timing alone is not evidence of responsibility.

Questions to ask

• What strange things did Quarcoo do when he was only a few weeks old?
• Why did each animal come home from the farm with a bruised face?
• How did Quarcoo trick the animals when they tried to leave him behind?

Related stories

• The Leopard and the Ram — why leopards live in the woods and rams at home
• King Chameleon and the Animals — the animals try to choose a king
• How Mushrooms First Grew — two badly behaved brothers in the same Gold Coast book