They say that once an old woman, who was cooking food for Andriambahuaca, went to a distant source for water. As soon as she arrived, she suddenly heard some kind of crashing sound, as if a huge animal was running. She turned around in surprise and was stunned with fear: a beast of unprecedented size was walking straight towards her. She ran as fast as she could into the village, ran to Andriambahuaca’s hut, fell to the ground and lost her tongue from fear. People crowded around her, lifted her from the ground and began to ask:
- What's wrong with you, good old lady? What's happened? But she was so frightened that she could not utter a word. Then Andriambahuaca came out of his hut and said to her:
- Come on, tell me! Tell me, who scared you so much?
“Oh Andriambahuaca,” she said, “a huge beast was chasing me, he wanted to eat me, in a few minutes he will come running to the village.”
“What are you talking about,” Andriambahuaca got angry, “there are no such animals!”
- Oh Andriambahuaca! I'm telling the real truth. If you don't believe me, tell your people to take up arms and let them go and have a look.
“Be it your way,” said Andriambahuaca, “but if you deceived me, you will no longer live in the world.”
And he sent people to see if the old woman was telling the truth. A little time passed and they returned; From afar, as soon as they saw Andriambahuaca, they shouted:
- Oh sir! There really is a terrible beast there! He's already close! He will come to the village now!
And almost immediately a cry was heard: “The beast is coming! The beast is coming! He is passing through the gates of the village!” Andriambahuaca was very surprised; he ordered his men to take up arms and stop the monster. But the terrible animal swallowed the warriors with all their clothes and weapons. Then the beast - whoever saw it froze with fear - entered the village and destroyed all living things along with Andriambahuaca. Only one pregnant woman managed to escape: she hid in an iron house. The beast squatted near the house and began to wait patiently for the woman to come out so that he could eat her too.
After some time, the woman gave birth to two twin boys. When they grew up, she told them:
- Never leave the house. There's a beast sitting there. Anyone who looks at him freezes in fear. He devoured and destroyed all life in the village and now guards us.
- Where is this terrible beast, mom? - the boys asked. “Where is he?”
- In the yard.
The two brothers took sharp knives and left the house, deciding to fight the monster. Seeing the boys, the beast rushed to swallow them, but the brothers cut off his head with blows of knives, and he died. Then they walked around those who managed to escape and hide from the monster, and conveyed the good news to them. Joyfully convinced that this was true, people gathered together and began to say to each other: “Let’s cut the beast open and see what’s in his stomach. After all, he destroyed our village, not sparing the children and not sparing the adults.” They ripped open the beast's belly and found everyone it had swallowed; men, women, children and animals - everyone was alive, but Andriambahuaca could not be found. Despairing, they began to mourn his death, but at that time a reiluvi bird flew past. She flew and shouted:
- Ankihiki! Anquihiki! The people cut the monster's smallest claw and found Andriambahuaca, who was still alive.
Andriambahuaca gathered the subjects who had been taken out of the monster’s belly, and everyone else, and staged a cabari.
“You, my people, and I, your Andriambahuaca, are all alive because our twin brothers saved us.” That's why I want to give them my possessions. If they had not killed the monster, we would still be sitting in his stomach, as if in a grave. And if Reiluvi had not told me in what part of the body I was hidden, I would not be with you now. Therefore, I want my descendants to never kill or eat reiluvi.
They say this is why people from the Andriambahuaqui Tanala clan still do not eat reiluvi.
“So be it,” said the people. “We are glad that the two brothers are rewarded, because thanks to them we got rid of a terrible misfortune.”
But a little time passed, and Andriambahuaca broke his word - he did not want to give his possessions to the two brothers. The war began; people helped the brothers fight Andriambahuaca, and because he broke his word, they killed him. They say that since then the Malagasy have been afraid to break their word.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru