A Nigerian folktale, retold by Clinton

A very, very long time ago, the sky was so close to earth people could touch it. The sky tasted delicious. It tasted like different things such as, sweet potato, roasted meat, turkey, vegetables, and delicious sweet fruits. Since people ate from the sky, they didn't have to work to harvest crops. During their spare time, people would weave clothes, carve, tell stories and even sing. As festival season approached, King Oba's servants would carve wonderful sculptures for the festivities.

But the sky became angry because people did not take care of the sky. People took more than they could eat and just threw away what they did not eat. The sky grew angrier and angrier because people continued to be wasteful and forgot how precious the sky was.

The Sky told Oba that if his people wasted anymore of him he would rise high and his people will not be able reach the delicious food that came from him. Immediately, Oba sent messengers to tell everyone what the sky said. So everyone was very careful, they took only what they would eat. But there was one woman who was never satisfied with what she had. She always wanted more than what she needed.

During the last night of the festival, the woman and her husband ate & danced all night. When she returned home she was hungry and wanted food. She reached to the sky and took a huge chunk and started to eat it. After a few bites she started to feel full. Quickly, she ran and asked her husband and children to help her finish the huge chunk. But, they only nibbled. So, she decided to just throw the rest away.

Seeing what happened, the sky lifted itself higher out of the reach of people. This is where it is today and from that day on, people had to work and harvest their own food.