Barotseland : $b eight years among the BarotseStirke, D. E. C.
History
Barotseland : $b eight years among the Barotse
Stirke, D. E. C.
Western Province (Zambia)
One day some girls were travelling to the chiefs village to work for him.
When they left their home a little boy named Kabweli followed them. When
they saw him, they tried to drive him away but he refused to leave them.
Again, when they had gone about half-way, they tried to persuade him to
go ahead, but he refused and came along behind them. So they went on.
Everyone passing them said “Where are you girls going?” They replied “To
the Lumbi to the village of our chief Nangandu-ku-ambwa” (lit. the one
who is called the Crocodile man). When the passer-by met Kabweli a little
behind the girls, he asked “Where are you going, Kabweli?” And Kabweli
always answered “I am going with these girls to the chief. I throw away
the cinders.” The work of servants travelling with their masters, amongst
other things was to throw away the ashes. And so they journeyed on and
whenever the girls slept, Kabweli threw away the ashes. But when the got
at last to the chief’s village they found the chief was just dead and
that a lot of people had gathered to mourn him.
When Kabweli arrived and heard the news, he went to where the chief’s
body was and looked at it. Then he said, “Do not bury him for a little.”
The people listened and obeyed him. Then Kabweli went into the forest
to look for certain medicinal roots. When he found them, he boiled them
and bathed the chief’s body with the juice. Then Nangandu got up and was
quite well again much to the surprise of all the mourners. Then he gave
Kabweli many presents.
THE GREEDY MAN AND HIS CLEVER WIFE.
There was once a man who was very greedy. He used to go hunting and
fishing and whenever he brought back meat, he used to get up in the
night, while his wife was asleep and eat it all, but when his wife got
up in the morning and asked where the meat had gone, he always said the
dogs had eaten it all up. So she went to the “Mantis” and told him and
the “Mantis” told her to go home and put white shells in her eyes when
she went to sleep. So she did this and when her husband got up to eat the
meat, he looked at his wife, and thought her eyes were open. So he lay
still for a little and then had another look, but she still seemed to
have her eyes open. He did this all night and got no sleep, he was afraid
to get up and eat the meat as he thought his wife was looking. At dawn
he fell asleep and shortly afterwards, his wife woke up, took the shells
from her eyes and went out and found the meat quite safe. Then she woke
her husband up, but he was very sleepy as he had had no sleep, and he
said “Go away, I want to sleep.” So she ate up all the meat.
THE WOMAN AND THE HARE.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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