As he writhed about, the woman would cut his throat with her big knife.  In this way, she killed many persons.

Ture heard about this woman and resolved to help the people.  So he searched until he discovered the dam.  He scooped some of the water into his water gourd, which he placed in his bag.  Ture then inserted one end of a length of straw into the water.  After he had done all this, he began working for the woman.  In payment, she gave him a large pot in which she had boiled yams.  She placed the meal before Ture and sat down with her big knife to watch him closely, so that when he choked she might kill him.  Ture ate the yams, but when they stuck in his throat he drank water from the hidden gourd, using the straw.  This way, he was able to eat all the yams without choking.

Ture continued working for the old woman, and each time she cooked him yams he kept deceiving her.  One day, he could not resist teasing her by suddenly jerking open his mouth and rolling his eyes as though in a fit of choking.  The old woman jumped up and went for Ture’s throat, whereupon the trickster leaped away and sped off to the dam.  He broke it down, and the liberated water flowed everywhere.  Ture stood on the far side of the water and exulted, “It is I here.  I am Ture.  It is I who have dealt with you, old woman.”  This is why water is found all over the world.

Ture the Deceiver

All too frequently, alas, Ture allows his more offensive inclinations to control his behavior.  Adultery is an offense the Zande legal system rigorously condemns, but spouses are forever suspecting one another of it.  Given what we already know about Ture’s proclivities, it comes as no surprise to learn he is a champion adulterer.  Ordinarily, offenders show some restraint regarding their choice of lovers, but, for Ture, the more morally challenging the target, the greater his delight at breaking the rules.  In Zande society, sex between a man and his mother-in-law is a particularly obnoxious form of adultery.  In his next adventure, we see just such a lecher in Ture.

One day, Ture’s mother-in-law came to visit her daughter and son-in-law.  It was the season for collecting termites.  (This the Azande do by using torches to drive the insects from the huge earth mounds in which they live.)  Ture and his wife owned two such termite mounds, one near their house, the other distant in the jungle.