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"Of the Fat Woman Who Melted Away" Reading Notes


Bibliography: This story is part of the Nigeria unit. Story source: Folk Stories From Southern Nigeria by Elphinstone Dayrell (1910).

There once was a very fat woman. She was very beautiful as well and all of the men wanted her. Men from all around would come and ask the fat woman's mother for her daughter's hand in marriage, but every time, she refused.

You see, the mother always refused because she was afraid for her daughter. You see this women's This very fat daughter was special, she had a very unfortunate condition. The very fat woman was made of olive oil and any time she was in the sun she would start to melt.

The mother was afraid that if she were to give her daughter away, she would work in the field and start to melt. One day a man came to the mother and asked for her fat daughter's hand in marriage, and he promised to always keep her in the shade. The mother agreed and the man took his new fat wife home.

While at the new house the fat wife was living well in the shade when the man's other wife started to get jealous. She started to abuse the new fat wife and she tried to force her out in the field to go work.

The fat wife brought her sister along with her and when the fat wife would get abused her sister would beg her not to listen and to stay inside. The abuse became too much to bear and the wife finally broke and went out in the field to work. Just as she was told she went out in the field and melted completely. The only part of her that didn't melt was her big toe because it was covered by the leaf.

The man returned home looking for his fat wife and her younger sister told him about the abuse given by his other wife. The sister said I have saved her big toe and I have planted it in soil and watered it. She should grow back within three months, she would only stay if the other wife was banished. Thus the other wife was sent away and in three months time the fat woman sprouted from the soil and they all lived happily ever after.
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