I want de key of de hall door,
Mistress Canoe hard labour.
Mrs. Parsons says that the negroes of Andros Island agreed that this was the most popular story on the island.
Compare Torrend, 87–88; Junod, 140–141; Dennett, 103–104; Jacottet, 108; Theal, 63–66; Renel 1: 32–34; 279–281, 282–287; Parsons, Andros Island, 112–113; Sea Islands, 106.
Peafowl’s reward gives an explanatory turn to the end of the story. In Hendricks version from Mandeville, Peafowl sings,
Mister Conna Levrin, Mister Conna Levrin,
When she’s going to die, ah-h!
The husband reaches home in haste. The lady gives Pea-fowl the promised reward, and “he took the bag of gold and the silver, and in his joy he threw it right over his head, over his entire body, never remembered his two feet. That’s the reason why Pea-fowl’s so handsome all over—has such beautiful feathers and such ugly feet.”