Africana; or, the heart of heathen Africa, Volume 2 (of 2) : $b Mission lifeMacdonald, Duff
Religion
Africana; or, the heart of heathen Africa, Volume 2 (of 2) : $b Mission life
Macdonald, Duff
Africa, East -- Social life and customs; Missions -- Africa, East
There was a woman who had a husband, and they went to hoe in the garden
and the man sneezed, and the woman said, Gwigwigwi.[31] The man asked
her saying, “What do you want?” The woman said, “I want the eggs of
an ostrich”. The man said, “I want water where frogs do not croak”.
They both assented to the bargain. The man went to seek the eggs of an
ostrich, and brought five, and gave them to his wife. The woman went to
seek water where frogs did not croak. She went far, far away and found
water. At that water she met with Namzimu, the owner, who asked, “What
do you want?” The woman replied, “I want water, where frogs croak not”.
Namzimu said, “What do you give in exchange for it”? The woman bargained
with Namzimu saying, “I am with child: when I bear the child I will give
it to you”. Then Namzimu said, “Draw water”. So she drew water, and went
to the village and gave her husband. The husband said, “That is right, my
wife”. After this, Namzimu went to the woman’s, and said, “Give me the
child to eat”. The woman said, “No, the child is not born”. Then Namzimu
went away. There passed three days, and the child was born, and the woman
was roasting[32] castor-oil beans, and the child leapt on the pot-sherd,
and said, “I am Kalikalanje”.
He went from the pot-sherd with his bow and his spear and his four dogs.
Then Namzimu quickly came and said, “Now, give me the child to eat”.
The woman said, “Yes, I will give you him”. So she took Namzimu and hid
him in the grain basket, and took bananas and put above him, and at
night the woman called her son, Kalikalanje, and said, “O please my son,
Kalikalanje, climb up here, and fetch bananas”. Kalikalanje said, “No, I
will climb upon the roof where nothing dances (shakes)”. Then the woman
told Namzimu saying, “Dance on the roof there”; (because the woman wished
to cheat her son). When Namzimu danced, Kalikalanje however stood at the
door and said, “Ho! what’s that dancing there? I don’t want to climb now
on the roof where there is dancing”. Then Kalikalanje ran away, and
Namzimu did not catch him that night.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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