Once, a long, long time ago, the sky was dark and black. There was no moon and no stars. But there was no death back then either. When people grew old and tired, they climbed up into the sky on a chain and disappeared above the clouds. Back then, there was a blacksmith among the Bamana people. His name was Fasogo Ba Si. He was a skilled craftsman, but he was always sad because he had no sons to help him with his work. He was happy about his three daughters, but year after year passed and he waited in vain for a son. So, he had to do all the hard work that his sons usually would’ve done on his own: Burning the coals, pulling the bellows.  After a while, he got tired and said: "I've had enough, I'm going to heaven!". The people in the village said: "Wait a little longer, a son will surely be born soon and then you can be happy!" Fasogo Ba Si listened to their advice and stayed. He waited a year, two years, three years, a long time. But one day, when he tiredly pulled the bellows and heated a piece of iron in the fire, he had had enough. With the red-hot iron in his hand, he went to the sky chain and climbed up it. His three daughters saw their father disappear above the clouds and they said: "We want to be with him so that he is not alone." They also disappeared above the clouds. But since that day, the sky chain had disappeared and no one could climb into the sky. So death came to earth. People grew old, died and were buried in the earth. In the dark night, however, you can see the glowing iron that Fasogo Ba Si forged. It rises as a crescent in the evening sky. Every day you see a little more of it and when the disk is round, the people on earth shout: "Look, the blacksmith has finished his work!" Next to the moon you can see three small stars shining, these are the blacksmith's daughters and to this day the Bamana are famous for their blacksmithing skills.

Mythe der Bamana (Mande), Sudan, Fassung Djamila Jaenike, nach: L. Frobenius, Dämonen des Sudan,Jena 1924 unter dem Titel: Ich habe genug, ich gehe in den Himmel, englische Fassung Lysander Jaenike © Mutabor Märchenstiftung