Baatsi is the first man created by Tore, the supreme god with the help of the Moon. Toré is the god of the forests or an ancestral hero who appears in the form of more or less strong wind or in the form of an animal such as a leopard.
Tore kneaded clay to give it a human shape then he covered the statuette with skin. When Tore shed blood into the skin, the first man came to life. He also made a woman.
The Creator tells them to go live in the forest and have many children.
The children of Baatsi could eat the fruits of all the trees, except those of the tahu tree. Baatsi warned his many children of this taboo, then he went to live in heaven with Tore.
One day, however, a pregnant woman had such a craving for the tahu fruit that she could not resist.
Her husband refused at first then he gave in to his wife. He picked the fruit from her and hid the skin in the forest so as not to leave any traces of their crime.
But the Moon had seen everything. When the Moon reported to Tore what the humans had done, Tore became so angry that he sent Death to Earth as punishment.
In the Efe tradition, Baatsi is the name of the creator god.
