One of the first forms of a reciprocal mirthful attack or
bantering between classes is that between the Sexes. Savage
life supplies us with clear cases of inter-sexual jocosity be-
sides that of the teasing which, as we have seen, is a two-
sided game. In a collection of sayings and stories of West
Africa we find the following : A woman left her husband to
look after a "pot-au-feu". On returning she found that
he had skimmed off the bubbling foam and hidden it in a
calabash, naively supposing that this was the cream of the
dish. She twits him with it and discovers to his slow wits
that the savory scum has melted into nothing.^ This re-

'Sarasin, op. cit., iii., p. 540.
2 Burton, Wit and Wisdom of West Africa, p. 52.
246 THE LAUGHTER OP SAVAGES

minds one of many a story of the Middle Ages, and shows
how wide-spread is the exposure of the male incompetence
to the lash of woman's merry wit.
