Adudui – Dajesui Ore
The story of Honey Badger and Tapir:
Adudui (Honey Badger) watched over the ‘nujna’ (tree that produces red berries). He had planted it. Adudui was tired of chasing animals away from his tree. He hit them but didn’t kill them. But he said: “I’m so tired of chasing the animals away; I’d like to kill all of them with my iron weapon!”
He watched over the ‘nujna’ day and night, trying to keep the animals from eating the fruit. That is what the animals came for, to eat the fruit. But fighting off the animals was what he did day and night, and at last he grew very sleepy.
Adudui couldn’t stop being sleepy, but he went in search of Diti (big ant). Diti never bothered his tree but looked for his food in the woods. “I wonder what Yajogue (anteater) eats?” Adudui asked Diti. “I’ve noticed he hasn’t come around the ‘nujna’ to eat its fruit.”
Adudui continued to talk with Diti: “How does Yajogue find things to eat? Does he eat fruit?”
Diti answered: “No. He doesn’t eat fruit. His food is casecade (ants) in the ground.
Adudui said: “Oh, that’s why he hasn’t come to where I’m watching over the tree, it’s because he doesn’t eat fruit.”
They say that Adudui finally did kill all of the animals that tried to take fruit from his tree. He killed Caratade (Jaguars), Caratedie (Lions) and all the rest. And when night came, he killed the animals that walk at night: dajesúode/cabayúode (tapirs), erámoronie (deer) and animals like that. He told his people, “I have killed the animals that got near what I was protecting.”
(Commentary of Samané: But the Ayoreos didn’t eat Caratade (jaguars) or Caratedie (lions). The food they ate were yacorenie (wild pigs), yocade (turtles), ajaraméone (armadillos). And so we hunt for these even now. The men who lived long ago ate what appealed to them. And we, their descendants, have continued to eat whatever they ate: wild pigs, turtles, and armadillos. The men who lived long ago also ate tachégode (the non-Ayoreos call them *jochi) and pojíode (large lizards/iguanas). We no longer eat lizards. But they must have appealed to the men who lived long ago, for they ate them.)
Adudui killed Dajusui long ago:
Adudui (Honey Badger) killed Dajusui (Tapir). Adudui said to his countrymen: “Do what you want with the tapir’s meat. I tried it, but it didn’t taste good. I ate it, but it was strange and it was smelly.”
Adudui decided to smoke the meat so he made a platform for it. Telling about it, he said, “I cut some poles and made a platform to smoke the meat, and then perhaps, my countrymen could eat it.”
Adudui (Honey Badger) had a vision:
It was the blood of Dajusui, the tapir, that he had hunted and killed that gave Adudui the vision. And in his vision Dajusui took Adudui and carried him off into the jungles.
“If you take me off,” Adudui said, “I won’t find anything to eat in the woods.”
Dajusui said, “I’ll give you the food you need.”
It was while Adudui was carrying tapir’s meat to his people, that Dajusui appeared to him in a dream. He was carrying tapir’s meat in the dream, and when he awoke, Dajusui was still with him.
Adudui said, “I’ll go back to my countrymen. I’ll carry tapir’s meat to them. My countrymen will eat it.” And as he was carrying the meat, Dajusúi appeared to him. Adudui saw him in a vision.
Dajusui looked at Adudui and said, “Go with me and get whatever you want from the woods as you carry my meat to your countrymen.”
“I won’t have any food to eat if I go with you,” Adudui said.
Dajusui said, “Why, you’ll eat my food.”
“But you don’t have any food,” Adudui said.
Adudui still had the tapir meat he was carrying to his countrymen when Dajusui appeared to him, and then, suddenly, Dajusui became an Ayoré and he said to Adudui the honey badger, “I have food inside me.”
(Samane’s commentary to Joyce Davis, who he called Violeta: It is like you do when you put food in a box and close the box. That is what Tapir did with his food, he stored it inside of himself.)
Adudui was very confused and didn’t know how to respond. And he grumbled, scolding the whole wide world. He was very hungry, you see, and in a bad humor. He said, “Oh, hunger is going to finish me off!”
Dajusui said, “What did you say?”
Adudui said, “I didn’t say anything.” He wanted to hide from the tapir that he was hungry.
But Dajusui said, “Yes, you did. You said, ‘Hunger is going to finish me off! ¡Jõ aaaa!”
And then Dajusui said, “I’m going to give you some food.” And he passed gas. (Samané comments: It was like when the food inside of us causes gas and makes our stomachs swell.) It was explosive and sounded like ‘POO!’ And then, a huge watermelon accompanied the gas as it came out of him. The watermelon was really ripe and red inside. (The blood of Dajusui had tinted it red.) He showed it to Adudui and said, “Here, eat this. It’s delicious!”
Adudui tried it, and sure enough, it was delicious. (Samané comments: You know, Violeta, how delicious watermelon is.) Adudui ate till he was full. And then he belched and said, “My belly’s full. I’m going to live. I believe my hunger left ¡jo! I believe I’m going to have food when I need it,” he said. “I feel good! I’m full! I’m alive,” he said again. And then he thanked Dajusui.
“Crawl on my back and I’ll carry you,” Dajusui said. And he did, and they took off through the jungle. But soon Adudui was grumbling again.
“I’m tired of it all, just plain fed up with this world. And on top of it all, I’m hungry.”
But Dajusui knew what to do – just what he did before.
He said, “I’m going to give you something to eat.” The next thing he gave him was ‘dutué’ (a type of squash).
Adudui claimed he hadn’t said anything, but Dajusui told him, “Oh, yes you did. You said, ‘I’m hungry.’ So, I’ll stop right here and give you something to eat.” So he stopped and gave him squash.
Adudui stopped, too, and ate the squash. (Remember that Adudui was carrying the meat of the tapir everywhere they went, but, at the same time, here he was, in the vision, eating squash. In real life Dajusui wasn’t walking about for Adudui had already killed him and butchered him for meat.
(Samané comments: This story is about the origin of the food that we eat in the Rainy Season. It all began with Adudui the Honey Badger when he walked like a man on earth.)
Dajusui said, “Climb on my back and I’ll carry you.”
After they had gone a long distance Adudui got hungry again. He’d used up all the food he’d eaten before. He said, “I’m really hungry. I’ve used up all the squash I ate.”
Dajusui questioned Adudui and said, “What did you say?”
Adudui answered, “I didn’t say anything.”
“Yes, you did,” said Dajusui. “You said, ‘It looks like I’ve used up all the squash I ate.’ So I’ll strain and push with all my might so you can eat again.”
He pushed the squash out of his body that is called ‘purúa’ and he said, “Just look at that squash! Come and get it. It’s huge! Your belly will get full when you eat it!”
Adudui, the honey badger, said, “I’ll eat it. My stomach will really be full when I eat it. Why, it seems like I just see one kind of food and here comes another! I thought I’d never have a full stomach again.”
Adudui belched then and Dajusui said, “Crawl up on my back and I’ll carry you.” And he carried him off into the jungle.
Adudui continued to get hungry. He said, “I’m so tired of this long walk. It’s making me very hungry.”
Dajusui said, “What did you say?”
“Nothing,” answered Adudui.
“Oh, yes you did! You said, ‘I’m hungry because of this long trip.’”
But then Dajusui pushed out kernels of corn. He got a bowl and filled it with corn kernels. Hot peppers came out with the corn, and so he ground the hot peppers and the corn together and he said, “Now, this is really delicious. Eat it.”
Adudui ate it and said, “You’re right! Whatever this is, it’s delicious ¡jõ!” He ate till he was full and he said, “I thought I would never be full again!”
And then he belched.
Dajusui said, “Climb up on my back and I’ll carry you.” Adudui got up on his back, and they took off through the jungle.
The same thing happened again. Adudui got so hungry it hurt. He said, “I’ve used up all the food I’ve eaten. I have to eat something, because I’m so hungry I hurt.”
Dajusui said, “What did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything,” Adudui said.
“Yes, you did. You said, hunger hurts! But eat my food now.” He gave him beans (frijoles). He said, “Come, eat the eyes of the beans, but shell them first.”
(Samané comments: They say ‘aside gai urui’ or ‘ajñute gai urui’ which means to take the beans out of the shells. Sometimes they use a mortar and pestle to shell the beans.)
“Beans are really delicious,” Dajusui said to Adudui, “Try a few. If they taste good to you, eat the rest.”
Adudui ate and ate. He really liked them. He said, “They’re good. I thought I’d never be full again.”
(Samané comments: When something doesn’t have a good flavor they say ‘deroco’ (it’s blah) or ‘que yajmára gotique’ which means ‘it’s flavorless and I don’t like it.’ When something tastes good they say ‘unere’ (delicious). I just have to comment on the food when it’s well prepared. The old women used to talk about food all the time, and always commented on what they liked. We don’t do that much nowadays. When they used to like a certain dish, they would say, ‘now that food really warms my throat way down to here,’ (‘charore ti uje chusaque ore pusugúi).)
Dajusui took Adudui off into the jungle again. And the same thing happened. Adudui said, “I’m hungry.”
“What did you say?” asked Dajusui.
“I didn’t say anything,” denied Adudui.
“You did too say something. You said, ‘I’m hungry.’ But now you will eat my food,” said Dajusui. He brought forth tocode (a type of cactus fruit which ripens in the rainy season). And he said, “I will push out all kinds of cactus fruits. Eat them.” And out came: datuadie, tocode, jnarujnanie, abuedie (they are all red inside). Dajusui got a bowl and he filled it until it was full.
(Samané comments: There isn’t any ‘abuedie’ fruit here. That type of cactus fruit grows up in the land of the Guidaigosode. They eat it up there.”)
These were the foods that Dajusui pushed out of his body. And with that he had completed all of the foods of the rainy season.
Oh, yes, he also pushed out honey. And he said, “I’m going to make a change in your diet.” He changed it by introducing honey. But he pushed out other cactus fruits also that mature in the dry season, like ‘dajuña’ and ‘durujna’. These are the things he brought forth for the rainy season and those he brought forth for the dry season. And he said, “I am giving you a variety of foods to eat.”
Adudui got nervous again because he was getting hungry and didn’t know what he could eat. And just as before he said, “I’m so hungry.”
Dajusui said, “What did you say?”
And he responded, “I didn’t say anything.”
But Dajusui said, “You did too say something, you said, ‘I’m so hungry.’ But I’ll push honey out for you to eat.” He passed gas and with the gas, honey came out, so much that he filled a bowl clear up to here, a big bowl. And said, “Suck the honey.”
He sucked it and got full from it. He belched and said, “I didn’t think I’d ever be full again!”
(Samané comments: We depend upon honey (cutérone adode) when rainy season is over. But the first time we eat honey it is hard to digest and we say ‘cutepísode chugúja yoque’, meaning ‘the honey is angry with us and is pouting’. The people from Zapoco call it ‘cute sijnángone’, meaning bad honey. Other terms that the Zapoco people use for honey, with other meanings is ‘cute quedéjnai’ (strange honey) and ‘cute parai’ (tame honey because it doesn’t pout.) We say it is pouting because it stings our mouths. That’s because it’s angry.)
After they took off again, the time came when Adudui began to complain and he said, “I’m hungry.”
“What did you say?” asked Dajusui.
“I didn’t say anything,” Adudui said.
“You did too. You said, ‘I’m hungry.’” The tapir passed gas – and out came cute parai (tame honey).
Adudui began to suck it. It tasted so good he hit his shoulders, a sign that he was very pleased with things. He said, “Whew, I’m full.”
Adudui said to Dajusui, “I don’t think I can carry your meat to my countrymen because I’m too full.”
“You’ll be able to carry it with you,” he said. “In the future, when you don’t have anything to eat and you get hungry, you’ll remember me and think that I will always give you food. But, soon you’ll have to spit when you’re thirsty, because I won’t give you any other foods.”
(Samané comments: They said that spitting when you’re thirsty will fill your stomach and the benefit spreads to your whole body.)
And then Adudui said, “I’m really tired of being hungry.”
Dajusui asked, “What did you say?”
Adudui responded, “I didn’t say anything.”
Dajusui said, “Oh, yes, you did. You said, ‘I’m tired of being hungry.’”
Then Dajusui passed gas and with the gas out came the honey called ‘ajidape’. (The non-Ayoreos call it ‘honey produced by the señorita bee’.)
Adudui sucked honey and filled his stomach. He belched and said, “I can’t carry the meat any longer, my stomach’s too full.”
Dajusui said, “Rub yourself and the feeling of fullness will go away.” So he rubbed his belly with his hands and it went away.
Again Dajusui, the tapir, pushed out of his body a type of honey called ‘jutai.’
(Samané comments: There isn’t any ‘jutai’ here. It’s in other places. It’s a kind of honey that pouts. It’s just like the ‘abéjadíe.’ Violeta (Joyce), you would like it. You would say, this is really good.)
Afterwards Dajusui brought out ‘caritaque’ (kind of honey) that the non-Ayoreos call oro (gold). He said, “Come, suck the ‘caritaque’ honey!”
Adudui got really full, so full that his food reached the edges of his stomach, clear down into the anus, and it pressed against his liver.
(Samané comments: The people in Zapoco call it ‘juriape’ when their stomachs are overfull with honey.)
Dajusui made names for everything that was pushed out of his body for the rainy season. He said, “I pushed out ‘ichatui’ (kind of honey), and I also pushed out ‘orojónie’ (kind of honey).”
(Samané comments: ‘Orojonie’ is a kind of honey that is found in the ground. Dajusui also pushed out all of the ugly types of honey. He also brought forth ‘guiréjnai’ (kind of honey).)
Adudui, the honey badger, said, “I’m so tired of the meat I’m carrying, whatever its origin, tapir or not.” (He was referring to his victim the tapir’s meat, that he had hunted and killed before he had the vision.”
The tapir, Dajusui, said, “Well then, let me go now. I want to roam the jungle again.”
“Where will I get food if I let you go?” asked Adudui, the honey badger.
“Where will you get food? Just try all kinds of different things. Try things and then stick with eating what appeals to you.”
“That’s what I’ll do, I’ll start trying different foods.” And he started eating the heads of leaves from plants that grow in the jungle, other healthy plants, and grasses. “Why, these taste good. I will eat the things that grow like grass.”
Adudui now knew that he would be able to find food for himself and so he said to Dajusui, the tapir, “You can leave me now, I can find food for myself.”
And he added, “I’ll eat honey also. It’s good.”
Dajusui said, “But where will you take shelter? And where will you get food?”
Adudui answered, “I’ll look for hollows in trees for shelter and I’ll eat what’s around there in the jungle.”
“Make sure you go into the holes of strong trees,” counseled Dajusui.
(Samané comments: Adudui was now an animal. He took off and lived in the woods. He looked for his own food and went into holes in trees and ate honey.)
Dajusui also ate tree leaves and such that grew in the jungle. He tried things but some things made him throw up, so he only ate tree leaves that didn’t make him vomit. He went to a water hole and tried the water.
He said, “Let’s see if I vomit up the water. I won’t drink it if I throw it up.” But he drank it and it was good, so he thanked the water. He said, “I’m really thankful that I didn’t throw up water. I’ll drink it.”
But the water made his belly swell. The water increased the size of his belly and it became very large. He was big bellied from the water, but even more so, when he started eating ‘darujna’ fruit. He ate the skin of the cactus as well, but it made him swell up even more. But he kept eating the same diet and that is why the Tapir is so big, even today!
*jochi – a rabbit-like animal
Samané – Tobité, Bolivia – 1965.
Transcribed by: Joyce Davis Buchegger.
Translated to English by: Maxine Morarie.
