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For the Sakalavas, God created woman to help man solve problems.

You should always consult your wife because her advice is thoughtful and wise..
The woman is clever by nature and is often at the head of many actions of the men.

Thus, this caption is a nice image of this claim.

In remote times when the jungle still covered the Boeny, a man and his family lived from hunting and fishing.

Every day, the father called Faly (the brave) entered the dense and dark jungle to bring meat to his family. The children took care of the picking around the hut and the mother fished the small Tseraka with a net at the edge of the beach..

The hunt was good but the forest was hostile. A horrible monster lived there, his name was Angatra. He was able, when he spotted you, they said, to find your trace wherever you go even on the other side of the ocean. He was fast and had a sense of smell that carried tens of kilometers. He had scared many brave hunters to death.
They say that if he didn't die of fear, he ate them alive.

One day, after half a day of hunting, Faly had everything he needed to feed his family for several days. A hedgehog, three wild quails, two crested couas, a guinea fowl and a bush pig.
On the way back to the darkness of the jungle, he spots bees high up in a tsingy hole (roche). He leaves his loot and starts climbing towards the hive to collect the honey..
Arrived on site, so as not to get bitten, he uses a technique widely used by the sakalava, and cupcakes, to light a fire and smoke the bees in order to scare them away and collect the honey in complete peace of mind.

The process is very old but still widely used.. It is more effective than all the natural processes that have existed… Every Malagasy knows Kapeky. It is 4 elements that allow you to quickly make a fire even during great varatraz (land wind). One end of zebu or goat horn, a piece of quartz, a piece of steel and the cottony interior of the seed of a vine called Bokaka-

Faly stuffs the inside of her zebu horn with soft Bokaka foam, he arranges his piece of quartz by making it protrude a little from the end of the horn and holding it with his thumb. With the other hand, he vigorously rubs his piece of steel against the quartz towards the horn so that the sparks fall into the horn. Three movements are enough, aided by Faly's light breath, for the incandescent moss to light up a few dry branches strewn on the ground..

As he raises the burning branch above his head towards the hive, a black, mocking face looks at him.

He knows ! The moment he dreaded most in the world had arrived.. His blood ran cold in surprise but he stood tall and inwardly promised himself to fight bravely and with dignity.. But he had no weapons. He looked down but his blowpipe and his angady, his only weapons, were not within reach. He thought of his ancestors, those who had never returned from the forest including his own father whom he lost prematurely. Testimonies say they were all in a state of significant stress before their disappearance. This is not his case though. He didn't feel anything coming...

He was surprised to find that Angatra spoke Sakalava and he gave her this speech :

"Toi le courageous Faly.", I killed all your ancestors and many other hunters, but know that they had a chance to get out of it… I ask you the same question that I asked them then and with the same deadline to answer me : Tell me how many years I've been living in this jungle ? If you have the correct answer, you will have life saved and eternal peace for you and your family. You have a week and not a day more...
But, if you fail, you will be eaten alive, like your ancestors, and your wife too. Orphans, your children will have a tragic life, hard and I will ask the same question to one of your children and one of your grandchildren. Also know that if you run away, I will find you and your suffering before death will be commensurate with the distance I would have traveled to find you..

Faly was breathing hard, he put out the branch that was burning his hand and carefully backed away without saying a word.
His muscles were paralyzed as he was afraid.

He returned to his village with his head bowed, crossing the jungle tapping with his angady the yet innocent trees.

Arrived home, it seemed to him that his whole body was hurting him. He did not take in his arms the youngest who staggered towards him with open arms., he did not salute his third hanged on the tree in front of the hut and brutally threw the fruit of his hunt on the floor of the house. His wife greeted him and offered him a small glass of toka gasy (very strong local alcohol) as well as a meal consisting of a tseraka broth caught in the morning and papangay (kind of wild zucchini with celery flavor growing on a vine) with a nice plate of white rice.

Usually, he throws himself on the dishes of his wife who is a very good cook. That day, he just lies on the mat without eating.

His wife approaches him gently and after giving him a kiss on the forehead, takes katrafay oil in the hands and begins a long and gentle massage.
She remains silent for a moment and when she feels that her husband is relaxing a little, she asks him to tell her what is bothering him so much. Faly tells his wife about his misadventure in great detail, the hands of his wife have the power to relax him in any situation and he can tell almost without panic the threats made by the horrible Angatra.
She doesn't seem scared and that surprises Faly.

Finally, after all this emotion, Faly falls asleep but her sleep is restless. He has a fever and his nightmares can be read on his frightened face.

So that calm can promote her husband's sleep, she entrusts the older children to her sister-in-law who has a hut near the big tamarind tree.

She takes care of the meat. She plucks the poultry, pull out the spikes of the hedgehog and the hairs of the bushpig. She puts it all on without a sobika (woven satrana leaf basket). Then, she empties the animals and puts everything in the basin.
She cooks the meat in a broth with sweet potato brèdes and mafana brèdes (popular herbs and leaves that are the basis of broths including Romazava). She cooks mality (wild liana tubers) dug up by his children in the morning.

When he woke up, Faly returns to harsh reality. He who had such a serene life. He who was an honest man...

Fear prevents him from thinking.

His wife brings him a good meal, a feast meal.
She asks him not to worry and to gain strength. She has a solution.

Not that she knows the answer to the question posed by the monster, but she has a solution.

She then brings the basin filled with blood and viscera to her husband, and asks her to get completely naked and roll around in it. He is surprised but runs because he has blind confidence in his wife.

She then puts the viscera of the animals around him all over his body.. She fetches the sobika and glues the feathers, hedgehog spikes and body hair. She tells him : “my beloved husband, trust me, go back there, at the place where you met Angatra and show yourself dressed like that. »

He begins to understand and responds to his wife : “It is true that I would doubtless frighten the bravest of men thus dressed. You are considerate and your idea is not bad but you have to understand that I will not scare this horrible watch even like that. There is nothing human about him…” She cuts off her husband : " trust me, leave now and we'll meet when you return".

Not confident, he goes to the foot of the cliff and pauses to calm down. Internally, he asks for the spiritual support of his ancestors. Her heart is pounding. He finds it difficult to keep his breathing regular, he lacks air.

He started to climb the cliff making animal noises and horrible sounds as his wife had explained to him. Arrived above, he looked for the monster in the branches.

In a great crash of branches and dead leaves, Angatra appeared and carefully observed Faly who was trying to hide her fear by continuing the animal noises.. The monster laughed very loudly with his mouth open..

Faly knew that his disguise would not scare him but he continued the noises by closing his eyes so as not to see his own death coming.. The laughter didn't stop and while laughing, Angatra walked away saying : « I'm good, Since 180 years that I live in this forest, I have never seen such an ugly being. »

Faly walked away in turn laughing and running with all his might screaming at the forest hoping his wife would hear him. : " Thank you my wife, I like you… "

A week later, he returned to the forest to confidently answer the monster's question : "You've been living in this jungle for 180 years… You gave me your word never to hurt me again and my family then disappears ! ».

Surprised, amazed even, the monster retreated never to appear in the jungle again.

Behind every successful action of man there is a woman who, with all his sweetness and love, guided the steps of her husband.

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