A long time ago there was two men named Maku Mawu and Maku Fia which meant "I Will Die God's Death" and "I Will Die The King's Death". They were best friends, and they each had a strange name that they had chosen for themselves. News of their strange names went around the nation, and soon it got to the king. The king asked the two men over, and then he asked them their strange names. The men told him, and the king did not like the one who chose "I Will Die God's Death", but he liked the other one. So he wanted to kill the one that had chosen the one about "Die God's Death", so he started trying to find excuses to kill him. The first time he gave Maku Mawu a yam the size of a dog, and he gave a rock to Maku Fia. They started to their houses together, and after a while they stopped, and the two men agreed that they wanted to trade items. Then they went their separate ways. When Maku Fia got home, he diced up the yam that he had traded his rock for, and cooked it. While when Maku Mawu got home, he smashed open the rock, and found diamonds, gems, and rubies. The next day the king called the two friends to him again. Maku Mawu put on his good clothes and decorated them with his jewels while Maku Fia put on his regular old clothes. The king was astonished to find Maku Mawu wearing the jewels instead of Maku Fia, and they explained what happened, this made the king wanting to kill Maku Mawu even more. So he gave Maku Mawu his ring, and told him that in seven days he would have to come back, and that he would be killed if he had lost the ring. Maku Mawu and Maku Fia went to their houses, and Maku Mawu, who knew the evil plight of the king, hid the ring in his wall. The king called for Maku Mawu's wife, and told her that her husband had his ring and that he would pay her lots of money if she found it and brought it to him. Maku Mawu's wife searched all over the house, but she could not find the ring. So she asked her husband where it was, and he honestly told her that it was in the walls. So she pulled it out of the walls while he was gone, and took it to the king. The king put it on a plate, and then the servant accidentally washed it down the sink. The next day was the day that Maku Mawu would have to go to the king, and he had no ring. He went to the king, and asked a few hours to put his house in order. The king excepted his plea, and then his head would be cut off in front of the people of the nation. Maku Mawu went home and cleaned house, and then he went fishing for some food. When he hauled in his catch and cut them open, in one of the fish he found the ring. He ran to the castle and gave the ring to the king, and went free.
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Read this story at this link: http://www.gatewaytotheclassics.com/display.php?author=barker&book=folktales&story=maku