Once upon a time, there was a very poor man who had only husks for himself and his wife to eat. One day, a rich man came to his farm. The poor man said to his wife to mix some husks with water and give it to the rich man to drink. After drinking it, the rich man thought to reward him. So, when he went home, he filled up a calabash (an object made from calabash tree) to the top with dollars. He, then, asked his daughter to carry the calabash to the poor man. The poor man said, “Take it to Malam Abba, and tell him to take as much flour as he wants from it.” Malam Abba saw the dollars inside the calabash. He took them out and put them into his pockets. Then, he filled the calabash with guinea-corn flour. Thereupon, he asked the girl to carry it back to the old man as he had taken some flour. The rich man who had been watching from a distance said, “Even if you put an unlucky man into a jar of oil, he would come out dry.”
One Cannot Help an Unlucky Man
