A down on his luck fisherman on the Niger river found an Abdim's Stork trapped in a net, and set it free. Soon after his luck seemed to change. Days later be met a beautiful woman who became his wife. As a wedding gift she offered her husband "a piece of herself". Her gift was a new fishing net, she had crafted herself. The net was like nothing he had ever seen. The fish seemed drawn to the net. Soon he was known as the best fisherman on the river. He asked his wife to make him another net. Reluctantly she agreed, locking herself up in a straw hut. She warned him not to enter until she finished or his good fortune would end. He bought a second pirogue (boat) hired another man to fish the with the net. Soon his wealth doubled. Greedy for more, he asked his wife to make another net. She declined, he told her he could not love her if she did not make the net. She agreed and reminded him he was not to enter the straw hut while she worked. His wife worked in a small straw hut like the one her husband used when he was gone on fishing trips. Her husband grew inpatient and looked into the hut. There he found the bird he had saved weaving her own breast feathers into a fishing net. Seeing him the bird flew away. The fisherman never saw the bird or his wife ever again.
Moral: The husband may be the head of a home, but the wife is the heart of a home.
