Tales of Abba Arl : The Fat Mother Content . One morning , Abba Arl asked the children ' Do you know of our parent , the Fat Mother ? ' The children shook their heads and said , ' No , Abba . We do not know about the Fat Mother . Will you tell us about her ? ' Abba nodded and told this tale . " Before the People took to harvesting , they ate nothing but the meat from the wild beasts of the fields . One morning , the hunters went out and could not find any wild beasts to eat . And so the chief told his people , ' We have killed all the beasts and have nothing to eat . We must leave this place and find more beasts elsewhere . ' " And so it came to pass that the People packed their belongings and began to wander in search of food . One of these wanderers was called Orsa , and she was shunned by the People . They shunned her because she was fat and not pleasant to look at . " One day , the People arrived at the foot of a tall mountain . They began to cry out , ' We are so hungry ! If we do not eat soon , we will surely die . We cannot climb this mountain without food ! ' " Hearing this , Orsa stepped forward and said , ' People , you have shunned me , but I love you still . Come and drink from my left breast that you might have the strength to climb the mountain . ' The People were greatly pleased by this and suckled their fill . With bellies full of milk , the People climbed the mountain and did not perish . Even so , they still treated Orsa poorly . " Days passed and the People came upon a river . Again , they cried , ' We are so hungry ! If we do not eat soon , we will surely die . We cannot ford this river without food ! ' " And so Orsa said , ' Still you shun me , but still I love you . Come and drink from my right breast that you might have the strength to ford the river . ' Once again , the People greedily drank their fill . They swam across the river and not one of them perished . Even after this , the People spurned Orsa and would not share her company . " More time passed , and the People reached the edge of a great desert . Once again , the people cried out , ' We are so hungry ! If we do not eat soon , we will surely die . We cannot cross this desert without food ! ' The People looked to Orsa for help . ' Won ' t you feed us again , fat woman ? ' the people asked . " ' I cannot ' said Orsa . ' You drank from my left breast at the foot of the mountain , and my right breast at the bank of the river . I have no more milk to give . ' " The People were greatly disturbed by this and fell to their knees weeping . " That night , Orsa prayed to the stars saying , ' Oh stars , what shall I do ? I have no more milk to give my people . We will surely perish without food . ' " The stars spoke back , saying , ' Orsa . Why do you cry for the People ? Do they not spurn you and make cruel jokes at your expense ? Surely it would be better if they died so that you would be spared the pain of living with them . ' " ' No . ' said Orsa . ' I have no husband because I am fat and not good to look upon . I have no children of my own . These people have become my children and I must care for them . ' " And so the stars took pity . ' Orsa , we shall help you care for the People , and we shall give you many children , but you must make a promise . ' " ' Anything ! ' cried Orsa . " The stars replied , ' If any of the People treat you poorly , even for a moment , you must strike them . They must be reminded to treat you well . ' " ' I promise that I will do this , ' said Orsa . " With that , the stars wove their strongest magics and transformed Orsa into a great fat bee . The People learned to eat the honey from her hive and lived on to see their new home across the desert . But the Fat Mother kept her promise . If the People treated her poorly , Orsa and her many children would sting them to remind them of their good fortune . And so it is with us . ' " When Abba finished his tale , the children smiled great smiles and asked the Abba for a big gob of honey from the Fat Mother .