Sing For Me Bird Pepper Tree(L. Claire) SING FOR ME BIRD PEPPER TREE



Once there was this beautiful young girl named Sarah who lived with her father, brother and step mother. Sarah’s father and brother loved her very much, but her stepmother was very jealous of her. Now the stepmother was a witch and she would always try different ways to get rid of Sarah without the others knowing, but she would always fail. For months she plotted and planned until she came up with a plan to get rid of Sarah for good.

Everyday morning Sarah’s father and brother would go out to tend to their enormous garden of crops and flock of sheep and leave Sarah and her stepmother alone. As they set out one morning stepmother called to Sarah, “Sarah come here, I’m going down to the river to wash clothes, but you see that bunch of rip fig on that wire, if you let one black bird peck it, I’ll bury you alive,’ and with that she went of. Sarah stood there shocked at stepmother’s words, but she never answered back because she loved and respected her stepmother no matter how cruel she was.

Over at the river, stepmother had finished her magic rather fast by using her magic. She then said these magic words, “atuma niggata pethrotum,” and suddenly changed into a huge black bird, with dark wicked eyes and a haunting ‘caw’. The bird flew over to where Sarah was watching the ripe fig and started pecking at it. “Oh no!” Sarah exclaimed, then she began to sing, “do black bird do, black bird don’t peck that fig, for the sake of one fig, mummy will bury me alive, for the sake of one fig, mummy will bury me alive.” But oh how that black bird pecked and pecked at the rip fig until they were all ruined. Then with a magnificent ‘caw’ the bird flew of contented.

Poor Sarah, she stood staring at the half eaten figs, sadness in her eyes, but it soon turned to fear as she heard stepmother approaching.
“ AAAGH, Sarah you miserable, lazy girl. One thing I ask you to do, one thing and look at what you let happen!” screamed stepmother, and no matter how hard Sarah tried to explain to her, she wouldn’t listen. “Go to the garage,” she screamed, “and bring me the shovel, NOW!”

Stepmother dragged poor weeping Sarah to the backyard, “dig a hole at the root of that bird pepper tree and don’t stop until I tell you,” said stepmother to Sarah. She dug and dug until finally stepmother told her to stop, when she was finished, stepmother grabbed the shovel from Sarah and shoved her into the hole, then she covered it up even as Sarah begged her not to. Stepmother smiled to herself, and went of to prepare a big lunch to secretly celebrate what she had done.

Over in the fields brother and father smelt the aroma and started to feel very hungry, so they set of home for lunch. When they arrived, to their surprise, there was a huge feast, cakes and pies, greens and beans, and lots and lots of juicy meat. “Ha ha,” they laughed and sat down to eat. Suddenly father looked up, “where’s my Sarah?” he asked, “oh, she’s of at the neighbor, she’ll be home later,” replied wicked stepmother. “Very well, son run down to the backyard and pick me some peppers please,” “yes dad, sure thing,” and of he ran to the backyard.

How fortunate for Sarah, her brother choose the very tree she was under. As he picked a pepper he heard, “do brother do, brother don’t pull my hair, for the sake of one fig mummy buried me alive, for the sake of one fig mummy buried me alive,” shocked by what he heard, he ran of to get his father. “Father, father, come you have to hear this, I think it’s Sarah!” stepmother on hearing this, froze with fear, she knew the only person that she couldn't harm was father.

Father followed his son and did as he said, he picked a pepper, on doing s, he heard his daughter sadly singing, “do father do, father don’t pull my hair, for the sake of one fig mummy buried me alive, for the sake of one fig mummy buried me alive.” With wide eyes, he stood there, he knew that his wife was a little jealous of his daughter, but he never thought she would use her power to hurt her, to hurt anyone. With tears in his eyes and rage in his heart he sort out the shovel, a barrel, kerosene and matches. Without saying a word he dug out Sarah and threw stepmother into the barrel, he loved her but she had to be stopped.
Father set the witch afire and rolled the barrel down a hill and into an enormous pond.

Breathing a sigh of relief, the family all went to enjoy the lovely meal prepared by the witch herself, and instead of celebrating Sarah’s goodbye, they celebrated that of the witch.

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