When trying out new things, it's always important to thread cautiously and take it easy for the first few times. Unfortunately, this type of logic wasn't present in the colonial days of Papua New Guinea.
***
In the province of Simbu in the Highlands region, the white men, Colonials, have just introduced rice and salt to the people.
Having a staple diet of sweet potato, the people have never tasted anything like rice before. Rice was distributed to every house in all the villages, and that was all that they cooked that night.
One particular fellow, was so enthralled by this new food, that at every house, he stopped to eat a plate of rice. His name was Samuel.
Now, naturally, in a village there are about twenty to thirty houses. He went through three villages, eating a plate at every house. A grand total of roughly sixty to eighty plates of rice.
He ate so much rice that he could hardly walk to the next house. He had made his way down from the mountain villages and was now at the Riverside villages.
As he approached the next house, he collapsed. With rice pouring out of his mouth and nose in great volumes.
The people saw this and screamed, "Sanguma!", which meant 'Evil Spirit/demon'.
That night, they emptied all their rice pots into the river and were scared to eat rice ever again.
It wasn't until the doctors and Colonials explained to them that he had eaten himself to death, and it wasn't the rice itself that killed him did they except the rice back into the community.
***
Bet you're happy your ancestors didn't behave like absolute morons huh?
-Shirley ;)
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Shirley's Short Stories
NouvellesThis is a short compilation of the stories that I've heard from my parents, friends, basically anyone that has something interesting to tell me. There is no specific genre to it so, it'll be more or less about anything that I can think of, or rathe...
