This was the first man. He was alone on Earth and felt very happy because he didn't need to work to live; instead, he spent his time making statues in his own image.

He had just finished his tenth statue when God said to one of his servants:

I want you to marry Ietse. But maybe he won't want to, she replied. We'll see. Take these gourds. The first one contains Cold. When you open it, Ietse will come near to warm himself; if he doesn't come closer, you'll open this other gourd; it contains Heat, and he will need the coolness of your arms. If he pouts, you will open the third gourd: it contains Thirst. Then he will ask you for water... But he is so stubborn that he might resist; in that case, open Hunger and prepare delicious dishes in front of him. If you fail, here are the Mosquitoes, they are in the fifth gourd. He will ask you for your lamba (traditional Malagasy scarf) to protect himself from their bites. But if he manages to escape them, here are the Itches. I think he won't be able to stand them, and you will rub him with this balm. However, if he refuses, here is Boredom: you will let it escape from the opening of the seventh gourd, and immediately you will tell him beautiful stories. If they don't interest him, release Laughter from the eighth gourd; he doesn't know it and will come close to listen to it and imitate it.

When the woman arrived on Earth, Ietse pretended not to see her. She opened the first gourd. He immediately lit a big fire. She opened the second gourd, and he went into the woods, under the cool shade of the big trees. She released Thirst, and he started drinking the water from the Ravinala. To fight Hunger, he picked some bananas and watched her prepare food with disdain. The Mosquitoes attacked him; he waved them away and started running. The Itches took the offensive, and he scratched against a tree. Boredom came lurking around him, and he began to cut wood without listening to what she was saying. Laughter burst out of the last gourd; he plugged his ears and fell asleep. The girl, disappointed, returned to the Sky and announced to God that she had been unsuccessful. God shrugged and sent her back to her kitchen.

God called his favorite daughter, the beautiful Ivelo, and sent her to Earth. To seduce the man, Ivelo wore her prettiest dress, a seven-colored veil: violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red. Ietse found her so beautiful that he agreed to look at her and marry her.

Since she was on Earth, the weather was always beautiful, and Ietse no longer paid attention to his statues; he spent his days looking at her. One day, Ivelo said to him:

I'm bored. I want to play with the statues, but they are lifeless, and I will ask my Father to give them Life. She went up to the Sky, and it started to rain. Then Ivelo returned, bringing back the good weather and a gourd full of Life. She spread it on the statues, and they came to life. They were the children of Ietse and Ivelo. But Ivelo started to get bored on Earth again. So she was absent more and more often and only made brief appearances.

Then Ietse died, and his descendants, men, when they sneeze, still say, "Ietse" in memory of him.

Ivelo, who is eternal, came to see us from time to time... draped in her beautiful veils of violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red.