Why Mosquitoes Buzz

It all starts late one day. Nwanko and his wife are out gathering palm nuts to use for their evening meal. The nuts they find are high in a tree, and Nwanko must climb the tree to try to reach them. Along comes Mosquito to ask what the man is doing. When he shoos the mosquito away, the palm nuts fall, causing Nwanko's machete to fall toward his wife, Aja, who must jump to safety. Aja lands on Python's tail, startling the snake, who runs to hide in Rabbit's hole. These events set off a chain reaction of panic in the forest that ends when Monkey shatters Hen's eggs. Hen and Rooster are so sad that Rooster forgets to wake the sun. After several days of darkness, the animals get anxious and call upon Lion, their king, to solve the sun's disappearance. The animals blame one another for the darkness until Python reveals the humans' involvement. Mosquito retreats to hide in a nearby tree. When it is determined she is to blame, she cannot speak for fear of Agbara, the great god of all. Agbara strips Mosquito of her voice until she receives forgiveness from all living creatures. "Since you refuse to speak, you will only be able to buzz." Satisfied, Rooster lifts his head and calls the sun. To this day, almost all earthly creatures find her buzzing annoying and try to eradicate the pesky mosquito.