| Abuk
Dinka
Abuk stands in the tradition of blaming the most awful ordinary things facing humanity on a woman. (Women and thoughtful men will be comforted to know that there exists a parallel tradition of blaming it on a man. See Gri-gum.) According to the Dinka of the Sudan, when she and her husband Garang were created, the High God provisioned them with millet seeds. If they planted but one seed a day, their hunger would be satisfied. But Abuk decided that she wanted more than what one millet plant could provide in a day and so she planted a whole field. In her greedy rush to clear the land, she accidentally hit the toe of the High God with a hoe. (What he was doing standing around and why Abuk didn't see him are questions left unanswered by the myth.) The High God became piqued and got as far away from the first humans as he could, cutting the sacred cord which linked heaven and earth. And so, say the Dinka, death and hard work were born. It was all her fault.
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