African Tales
By Rony P
Copyright © 2012 Rony P
Smashwords Edition
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
****
Introduction
It has been said that with the vast strides some parts of Africa is making in the progress of civilization, the native races will either be swept away or so altered as to lose many of their ancient habits, customs, traditions, or at least greatly to modify them.
Knowing that by a collection of this kind these stories could best be preserved, and feeling that others had not read them, I began this collection many years ago, while working in South Africa. There is so much done that needs to be done now to preserve what is still Bushmen folklore, that I feel this small volume is just barely a start.
African folklore is in its very nature plain, and primitive in its simplicity; not adorned with the wealth of palaces and precious stones to be met with in the folklore of more civilized nations, but descriptive in great measure of the events of everyday life, among those in a low state of civilization; and with the exception of evidences of moral qualities, and of such imagery as is connected with the phenomena of nature, very little that is grand or magnificent must be looked for in it.
****
Anansi
Anansi was one of God's chosen, and he lived in human form before he became a spider. One day he asked God for a simple ear of corn, promising that he would repay God with one hundred servants. God was always amused by the boastful and resourceful Anansi, and gave him the ear of corn.
Anansi set out with the ear and came to a village to rest. He told the chief of the village that he had a sacred ear of corn from God and needed both a place to sleep for the night and a safe place to keep the treasure. The chief treated Anansi as an honored guest and gave him a thatched-roof house to stay in, showing him a hiding place in the roof. During the night, while the entire village was fast asleep, Anansi took the corn and fed it to the chickens.
The next morning Anansi woke the village with his cries. "What happened to the sacred corn? Who stole it? Certainly God will bring great punishment on this village!" He made such a fuss that the villagers begged him to take a whole bushel of corn as a demonstration of their apologies. He then set down the road with the bushel of corn until it grew too heavy for him to carry. He then met a man on the road who had a chicken, and Anansi exchanged the corn for the chicken.
When Anansi arrived at the next village, he asked for a place to stay and a safe place to keep the "sacred" chicken. In this new village, Anansi was again treated as an honored guest, a great feast was held in his honor, and he was shown a house to stay in and given a safe place for the chicken. During the night Anansi butchered the chicken and smeared its blood and feathers on the door of the chief's house. In the morning he woke everyone with his cries, "The sacred chicken has been killed! Surely God will destroy this village for allowing this to happen!" The frightened villagers begged Anansi to take ten of their finest sheep as a token of their sincere apology.
Anansi drove the sheep down the road until he came to a group of men carrying a corpse. He asked the men whose body they were carrying. The men answered that a traveler had died in their village and they were bearing the body home for a proper burial. Anansi then exchanged the sheep for the corpse and set out down the road. At the next village, Anansi told the people that the corpse was a son of God who was sleeping. He told them to be very quiet in order not to wake this important guest. The people in this village, too, held a great feast and treated Anansi as royalty.
When morning came, Anansi told the villagers that he was having a hard time waking the "son of God" from sleep, and he asked their help. They started by beating drums, and the visitor remained asleep." Then they banged pots and pans, but he was still "asleep." Then the villagers pounded on the visitor's chest, and he still didn't stir.
All of a sudden, Anansi cried out, "You have killed him! You have killed a son of God! Oh, no! Certainly God will destroy this whole village, if not the entire world!" The terrified villagers then told Anansi that he could pick one hundred of their finest young men as slaves if only he would appeal to God to save them.
So Anansi returned to God, having turned one ear of corn into one hundred slaves.
**
Anansi was terribly conceited after the whole affair of the ear of corn. God found Anansi entertaining, but his bragging was growing tiresome.
So God gave Anansi a sack and said, “I have something in mind; figure it out and bring it back to me in the sack.” Anansi asked questions, but God would give no further clues as to what that “something” might be. God sent the mortal on his way, saying that if he were only half as clever as he boasted he was, then he should have no problem figuring out what “something” God wanted.
Anansi was puzzled. How was he to know what God wanted in the sack? He left heaven and went to Africa, where he had a meeting with the birds, explaining his predicament. The birds were sympathetic, but had no clues to offer. However, each agreed to give Anansi one feather, enabling Anansi to fly. Anansi made these feathers into a beautiful cloak, and then flew up to heaven, where he perched in a tree next to God’s house.
Some of the people of heaven saw this strange “bird” and began talking about it. They asked each other what kind of bird this might be. Even God himself did not recall making any sort of creature that looked like that.
One of those present suggested that, if Anansi were clever, he might know what sort of bird this was. Anansi, in the tree, heard all of this.
God’s attendants were speaking among themselves when one said, “Good luck finding Anansi. God sent him on an impossible mission. How was Anansi to know that God wanted the sun and the moon brought to him in a sack?”
Overhearing this, Anansi went out to fetch the sun and the moon. He went to the python, the wisest of all things, and asked how one might capture the sun and the moon. The python advised him to go to the west, where the sun rests at night. The moon could be found in the east around the same time. So Anansi gathered the sun and the moon, placed them in the sack, and took them to God. God was so pleased with Anansi’s ingenuity that he made Anansi his captain on earth.
**
Anansi grew more and more conceited and arrogant.
In fact, God became so annoyed by Anansi’s boast that he had “tricked” God in the challenge of the sun and the moon that he was seriously considering removing his patronage from Anansi.
Anansi lived in the same village, as the Chameleon.
Anansi was rich and owned the finest fields in the area, while the Chameleon was poor and worked hard in his meager fields to make ends meet. However, one year rain fell on Chameleon’s fields, which were now abundant with beautiful crops. To teach Anansi a lesson, God let no rain fell on Anansi’s land and the crops dried up, and dust blew everywhere.
Anansi then resolved to take Chameleon’s fields for himself. Anansi first tried to buy the fields, but Chameleon refused to sell. Anansi offered more and more in exchange, but Chameleon still held on to the land. Early one morning, Anansi walked boldly down the road to Chameleon’s fields and began harvesting the crops.
When Chameleon saw this, he became very angry and chased Anansi away. When a chameleon walks, it leaves no tracks; it is virtually impossible to tell where a chameleon has been. Knowing this, Anansi took Chameleon to the tribal court to sue for possession of the fields.
The chief asked Chameleon to prove that the fields were his; Chameleon had no proof to offer. Anansi, on the other hand, took the chief to Chameleon’s fields, showing the many footprints on the road. These were Anansi’s footprints, and the chief awarded the fields to Anansi right then and there.
Although the court decision gave the land to Anansi, God has a higher justice than that which the courts mete out. Chameleon dug a deep, deep hole and put a roof on it. From the outside, the hole looked tiny. But, in fact, Chameleon had dug a vast cavern under-ground. Then the Chameleon took some vines and some flies and made a cloak. When the sun hits flies, they shine a variety of colors, but they are still flies.
Chameleon went down the road wearing this cloak of flies and vines when he encountered Anansi.
Anansi’s first words to Chameleon were, “Hello, my friend. I hope that there are no hard feelings between us.” Anansi saw what appeared to be a beautiful cloak and offered to buy it.
Chameleon pretended to be magnanimous and told Anansi that the cloak would be his if only Anansi filled Chameleon’s “little hole” with food.
Anansi readily agreed, bragging that he would fill it twice over. Anansi then took the cloak to the chief who had acted as judge in the lawsuit, and gave the cloak to the chief as a gift. The chief admired the cloak and thanked him profusely.
Anansi worked day and night to fill Chameleon’s hole with food and still the hole was not full. He worked weeks and still the hole was not full. After a while Anansi realized that Chameleon had tricked him.
In the meantime, the chief was walking down the road wearing the cloak of flies. One day the vines broke and the flies buzzed off in every direction, leaving the chief naked and livid with anger at Anansi.
The chief grew angrier with each step he took, for he begin to see the conceit and arrogance of Anansi. When the chief found Anansi, he ordered him not only to return Chameleon’s property but to give Chameleon the best of his own fields as well.
As soon as Chameleon took possession of Anansi’s best field, it rained on that field for the first time in months, and now Chameleon was the richest in village.
**
There was once a African king who had the finest ram in the world.
When this ram happened to be grazing on Anansi’s crops one day, Anansi threw a rock at it, hitting it between the eyes and killing it.
Anansi knew that the king would punish him for what he had done to the prize ram, and he immediately schemed how to get out of the situation. Needless to say, Anansi resorted to trickery.
Anansi went to sit under a tree to think of an escape when, all of a sudden, a nut fell and struck him on the head. Anansi immediately had an idea. First, he took the dead ram and tied it to the nut tree. Then he went to a spider and told it of a wonderful tree laden with nuts.
The spider was delighted and immediately went to the tree. Anansi then went to the king and told him that the spider had evidently killed the prize ram; the ram was hanging from a tree where the spider was spinning webs. The king flew into a rage and demanded the death penalty for the spider.
The king thanked Anansi and offered him a great reward. Anansi returned to the spider and warned it of the king’s wrath, crying out to the whole world that the spider had killed the ram. The spider was very confused.
Anansi told the spider to go to the king and plead for mercy, and perhaps the spider’s life would be spared. Meanwhile, the king had gone home for lunch and told his wife what happened. The wife laughed and said, “Have you lost your mind? How on earth could a little spider make a thread strong enough to hold a ram? How in the world could that little spider hoist the ram up there? Don’t you know, Anansi obviously killed your ram!”
The king was angry that he had been deceived and told his court to fetch Anansi immediately. When the king’s men came for him, Anansi assumed that it was to bring him to the palace for his reward for turning in the spider. So Anansi went along willingly. He walked into the palace as if he owned the place and then said to the king, “Well, what is my reward for the killer of your ram?”
This enraged the king so much that he kicked Anansi, splitting him into two pieces; he was no longer a man, but a spider with long legs.
**
Anansi the spider goes to God and wants to buy from him all the stories that are told. God tells him that many people have wanted to own the stories but the price is high. He wants three things: the hornets, the great python and the leopard. Anansi agrees and goes home. There he takes a gourd and puts a small hole in it. He then throws some water on himself and the hornets. Then he sits inside and tells the hornets they should get into the gourd so they will not get wet. When the hornets do this, Anansi plugs up the hole with some grass. He takes the gourds to the Sky God and goes on to his second quest.
This time he cuts down a long bamboo pole and some strong vines. When he comes upon the python he tells him that he has been arguing with his wife about whether the python is longer or shorter than the pole. Anansi thinks the python is longer and stronger and gets the python to let himself be measured. In order to stretch himself out as far as possible the python allows Anansi to tie him to the pole and wrap him with the vines. The python is now caught and Anansi brings him to the Sky God.
Finally the leopard is left. Anansi digs a pit and covers it with brush. The leopard falls into the pit and Anansi offers him help. He first bends a tree toward the ground and ties it so it won’t move. Then he ties another rope to the bent tree top and tells the leopard to tie the other end to his tail. After the leopard does this Anansi cuts the rope holding the bent tree and the leopard is lifted up by his tail into the air. Anansi then kills the leopard and takes his body to the Sky God. The Sky God is impressed with his feat and gives all stories over to Anansi so that whenever anyone tells a story he must pay homage to Anansi the spider, who is the owner.
****
Tortoise and the Lizard
Tortoise had used up all his salt, and he found his meals so tasteless without it that he decided to call on his brother and ask him if he had any to spare. His brother had plenty. "How will you get it back to your home?" he asked Tortoise. "If you will wrap the salt in a piece of bark cloth, and tie it up with string, then I can put the string over my shoulder and drag the parcel along the ground behind me," said Tortoise. "A splendid idea!" exclaimed his brother, and between them they made a tidy package of the salt.
Then Tortoise set off for his long, slow journey home, with the bundle going bump, bump, bump, along the ground behind him. Suddenly he was pulled up short, and turning round, he saw that a large lizard had jumped on to the parcel of salt and was sitting there, staring at him. "Get off my salt!" exclaimed Tortoise. "How do you expect me to drag it home with you on top of it?"
"It's not your salt!' replied the lizard. "I was just walking along the path when I found this bundle lying there, so I took possession of it and now it belongs to me."
"What rubbish you talk!" said Tortoise. "You know well it is mine, for I am holding the string that ties it.
"But the lizard still insisted that he had found the parcel lying in the road, and he refused to get off unless Tortoise went with him to the elders, to have their case tried in court. Poor Tortoise had to agree and together they went before the old men at the court.
First Tortoise put his case, explaining that as his arms and legs were so short he always had to carry bundles by dragging them along behind him. Then the lizard put his side of the matter, saying that he had found the bundle lying in the road. '"Surely anything that is picked up on the road belongs to the one who picks it up?" cried the lizard.
The old men discussed the matter seriously for some time; but many of them were related to the lizard and thought that they might perhaps get a share of the salt, so eventually they decreed that the bundle should be cut into two, each animal taking half. Tortoise was disappointed, because he knew it really was his salt, but he sighed with resignation and let them divide the parcel.
The lizard immediately seized the half that was covered with the biggest piece of cloth, leaving poor Tortoise with most of his salt escaping from his half of the parcel, and spilling out on to the ground.
In vain did Tortoise try to gather his salt together. His hands were too small and there was too little cloth to wrap round it properly. Finally he departed for home, with only a fraction of his share, wrapped up in leaves and what remained of the bark cloth, while the elders scraped up all that had been spilled, dirty though it was, and took it back to their wives.
Tortoise's wife was very disappointed when she saw how little salt he had brought with him, and when he told her the whole story she was most indignant at the way he had been treated. The long, slow journey had tired him, and he had to rest for several days.
But although Tortoise was so slow, he was very cunning and eventually thought up a plan to get even with the lizard.
So, saying good-bye to his wife, he plodded along the road towards the lizard's home with a gleam in his eye, and after some time he caught sight of the lizard, who was enjoying a solitary meal of flying ants.
Slowly and silently Tortoise came upon him from behind and put his hands on the middle of the lizard's body. "See what I've found!" called Tortoise loudly.
"What are you doing?" asked the perplexed lizard. "I was just walking along the path when I found something lying there," explained Tortoise. "So I picked it up and now it belongs to me, just as you picked up my salt the other day."
When the lizard continued to wriggle and demanded that Tortoise set him free, Tortoise insisted that they go to the court and get the elders to judge.
The old men listened attentively to both sides of the story, and then one said: "If we are to be perfectly fair, we must give the same judgment that we gave concerning the salt."
"Yes," said the others, nodding their white heads, "and we had the bag of salt cut in two.
Therefore we must cut the lizard in two, and Tortoise shall have half."
"That is fair," replied Tortoise, and before the lizard could escape, he seized a knife from an elder's belt and sliced him in half, and that was the end of the greedy lizard.
****
THE BIRD THAT MADE MILK
There was once upon a time a poor man living with his wife in a certain village. They had three children, two boys and a girl. They used to get milk from a tree by squeezing the tree. It was not nice as that of a cow, and the people that drank it were always thin. For this reason, those people were never glossy like those who are fat.
One day the woman went to cultivate a garden. She began by cutting the grass with a pick, and then putting it in a big heap. That was the work of the first day, and when the sun was just about to set she went home. When she left, there came a bird to that place, and sang this song:
Weeds of this garden,
Weeds of this garden,
Spring up, spring up;
Work of this garden,
Work of this garden,
Disappear, disappear."
It was so.
The next morning, when she returned and saw that, she wondered greatly. She again put it in order on that day, and put some sticks in the ground to mark the place.
In the evening she went home and told that she had found the grass which she had cut growing just as it was before.
Her husband said: "How can such a thing be? You were lazy and didn't work, and now tell me this falsehood. just get out of my sight, or I'll beat you."
On the third day she went to her work with a sorrowful heart, remembering the words spoken by her husband. She reached the place and found the grass growing as before. The sticks that she stuck in the ground were there still, but she saw nothing else of her labor. She wondered greatly.
She said in her heart, "I will not cut the grass off again, I will just hoe the ground as it is."
She commenced. Then the bird came and perched on one of the sticks.
It sang:
Citi, citi, who is this cultivating the ground of my father?
Pick, come off;
Pick handle, break;
Sods, go back to your places!"
All these things happened. The woman went home and told her husband what the bird had done. Then they made a plan. They dug a deep hole in the ground, and covered it with sticks and grass. The man hid himself in the hole, and put up one of his hands. The woman commenced to hoe the ground again. Then the bird came and perched on the hand of the man, and sang:
This is the ground of my father.
Who are you, digging my father's ground?
Pick, break into small pieces
Sods, return to your places."
It was so. Then the man tightened his fingers and caught the bird. He came up out of the place of concealment.
He said to the bird: "As for you who spoil the work of this garden, you will not see the sun any more. With this sharp stone I will cut off your head!"
Then the bird said to him: "I am not a bird that should be killed. I am a bird that can make milk."
The man said: "Make some, then."
The bird made some milk in his hand. The man tasted it. It was very nice milk.
The man said: "Make some more milk, my bird."
The bird did so. The man sent his wife for a milk basket. When she brought it, the bird filled it with milk.
The man was very much pleased. He said: "This pretty bird of mine is better than a cow."
He took it home and put it in a jar. After that he used to rise even in the night and tell the bird to make milk for him. Only he and his wife drank of it. The children continued to drink of the milk of the tree. The names of the children were Gingci, the first-born son; Lonci, his brother; and Dumangashe, his sister. That man then got very fat indeed, so that his skin became shining.
The girl said to her brother Gingci: "Why does father get fat and we remain so thin?"
He replied: "I do not know. Perhaps he eats in the night."
They made a plan to watch. They saw him rise in the middle of the night. He went to the big jar and took an eating mat off it. He said: "Make milk, my bird." He drank much. Again he said: "Make milk, my bird," and again he drank till he was very full. Then he lay down and went to sleep.
The next day the woman went to work in her garden, and the man went to visit his friend. The children remained at home, but not in the house. Their father fastened the door of the house, and told them not to enter it on any account till his return.
Gingci said: "To-day we will drink of the milk that makes father fat and shining; we will not drink of the milk of euphorbia today."
The girl said: "As for me, I also say let us drink of father's milk to-day."
They entered the house. Gingci removed the eating mat from the jar, and said to the bird: "My father's bird, make milk for me."
The bird said "If I am your father's bird, put me by the fireplace, and I will make milk."
The boy did so. The bird made just a little milk.
The boy drank, and said: "My father's bird, make more milk."
The bird said: "If I am your father's bird, put me by the door, then I will make milk."
The boy did this. Then the bird made just a little milk, which the boy drank.
The girl said My father's bird, make milk for me."
The bird said: "If I am your father's bird, just put me in the sunlight, and I will make milk."
The girl did so. Then the bird made a jar full of milk.
After that the bird sang:
The father of Dumangashe came, he came,
He came unnoticed by me.
He found great fault with me.
The little fellows have met together.
Gingci the brother of Lonci.
The Umkomanzi cannot be crossed,
It is crossed by swallows
Whose wings are long."
When it finished its song it lifted up its wings and flew away. But the girl was still drinking milk.
The children called it, and said: "Return, bird of our father," but it did not come back. They said, "We shall be killed to-day."
They followed the bird. They came to a tree where there were many birds.
The boy caught one, and said to it: "My father's bird, make milk."
It bled. They said. "This is not our father's bird."
This bird bled very much; the blood ran like a river. Then the boy released it, and it flew away. The children were seized with fear.
They said to themselves: "If our father finds us, he will kill us to-day."
In the evening the man came home. When he was yet far off, he saw that the door had been opened.
He said: "I did not shut the door that way."
He called his children, but only Lonci replied. He asked for the others.
Lonci said: "I went to the river to drink; when I returned they were gone."
He searched for them, and found the girl under the ashes and the boy behind a stone. He inquired at once about his bird. They were compelled to tell the truth concerning it.
Then the man took a rope and hung those two children on a tree that projected over the river. He went away, leaving them there. Their mother besought their father, saying that they should be released; but the man refused. After he was gone, the boy tried to escape. He climbed up the rope and held on to the tree; then he went up and loosened the rope that was tied to his sister. After that they climbed up the tree, and then went away from their home, They slept three times on the road.
They came to a big rock. The boy said
"We have no father and no mother; rock, be our house."
The rock opened, and they went inside. After that they lived there in that place. They obtained food by hunting animals, they were hunted by the boy.
When they were already in that place a long time, the girl grew to be big. There were no people in that place. A bird came one day with a child, and left it there by their house.
The bird said: "So have I done to all the people."
After that a crocodile came to that place. The boy was just going to kill it, but it said: "I am a crocodile; I am not to be killed; I am your friend."
Then the boy went with the crocodile to the house of the crocodile, in a deep hole under the water.
The crocodile had many cattle and much millet. He gave the boy ten cows and ten baskets of millet.
The crocodile said to the boy, “You must send your sister for the purpose of being married to me."
The boy made a fold to keep his cattle in; his sister made a garden and planted millet. The crocodile sent more cattle. The boy made a very big fold, and it was full of cattle.
At this time there came a bird.
The bird said: "Your sister has performed the custom, and as for you, you should enter manhood."
The crocodile gave one of his daughters to be the wife of the young man. The young woman went to the village of the crocodile; she went to be a bride.
They said to her: "Whom do you choose to be your husband?"
The girl replied: "I choose Crocodile."
Her husband said to her: "Lick my face."
She did so. The crocodile cast off its skin, and arose a man of great strength and fine appearance.
He said: "The enemies of my father's house did that; you, my wife, are stronger than they."
After this there was a great famine, and the mother of those people came to their village. She did not recognize her children, but they knew her and gave her food. She went away, and then their father came. He did not recognize them either, but they knew him. They asked him what he wanted. He told them that his village was devoured by famine. They gave him food, and he went away.
He returned again.
The young man said: "You thought we would die when you hung us in the tree."
He was astonished, and said: "Are you indeed my child?"
Crocodile then gave them (the parents) three baskets of corn, and told them to go and build on the mountains. He (the man) did so and died there on the mountains.
**
This is another version of the same story told by a different tribe of people living in a different area.
It is said that there was once a great town in a certain place, which had many people living in it. They lived upon grain only. One year there was a great famine. There was in that town a poor man, by name Masilo, and his wife. One day they went to dig in their garden, and they continued digging the whole day long. In the evening, when the digging companies returned home, they returned also. Then there came a bird and stood upon the house which was beside the garden, and began to whistle, and said:
"Masilo's cultivated ground, mix together."
The ground did as the bird said. After that was done the bird went away.
In the morning, when Masilo and his wife went to the garden, they were in doubt, and said:
"Is it really the place we were digging yesterday?"
They saw that it was the place by the people working on each side. The people began to laugh at them, and mocked them, and said, “It is because you are very lazy."
They continued to dig again that day, and in the evening they went home with the others.
Then the bird came and did the same thing.
When they went back next morning, they found their ground altogether undug. Then they believed that they were bewitched by some others.
They continued digging that day again. But in the evening when the companies returned, Masilo said to his wife:
"Go home; I will stay behind to watch and find the thing which eats our work."
Then he went and laid himself down by the head of the garden, under the same house which the bird used always to stand upon.
While he was thinking, the bird came. It was a very beautiful bird. He was looking at it and admiring it, when it began to speak.
It said: "Masilo's cultivated ground, mix together."
Then he caught it, and said: "Ah! Is it you who eat the work of our hands?"
He took out his knife from the sheath, and was going to cut the head of the bird off.
Then the bird said: "Please don't kill me, and I will make some milk for you to eat."
Masilo answered: "You must bring back the work of my hands first."
The bird said: "Masilo's cultivated ground, appear," and it appeared.
Then Masilo said: "Make the milk now," and, behold, it immediately made thick milk, which Masilo began to eat. When he was satisfied, he took the bird home. As he approached his house, he put the bird in his bag.
When he entered his house, he said to his wife, "Wash all the largest beer pots which are in the house," but his wife was angry on account of her hunger, and she answered
"What have you to put in such large pots?"
Masilo said to her: "just hear me, and do as I command you, then you will see."
When she was ready with the pots, Masilo took his bird out of his bag, and said: "Make milk for my children to eat."
Then the bird filled all the beer pots with milk.
They commenced to eat, and when they were finished, Masilo charged his children, saying, “Beware that you do not tell anybody of this, not one of your companions."
They swore by him that they would not tell anybody.
Masilo and his family then lived upon this bird. The people were surprised when they saw him and his family. They said: "Why are the people at Masilo's house so fat? He is so poor, but now since his garden has appeared he and his children are so fat!"
They tried to watch and to see what he was eating, but they never could find out at all.
One morning Masilo and his wife went to work in their garden, and about the middle of the same day the children of that town met together to play. They met just before Masilo's house. While they were playing the others said to Masilo's children: "Why are you so fat while we remain so thin?"
They answered: "Are we then fat? We thought we were thin just as you are."
They would not tell them the cause. The others continued to press them, and said: "We won't tell anybody."
Then the children of Masilo said: "There is a bird in our father's house which makes milk."
The others said: "Please show us the bird."
They went into the house and took it out of the secret place where their father had placed it. They ordered it as their father used to order it, and it made milk, which their companions drank, for they were very hungry.
After drinking they said: "Let it dance for us," and they loosened it from the place where it was tied.
The bird began to dance in the house, but one said: "This place is too confined," so they took it outside of the house. While they were enjoying themselves and laughing, the bird flew away, leaving them in great dismay.
Masilo's children said: "Our father will this day kill us, therefore we must go after the bird."
So they followed it, and continued going after it the whole day long, for when they were at a distance it would sit still for a little while, and when they approached it would fly away.
When the digging companies returned from digging, the people of that town cried for their children, for they did not know what had become of them. But when Masilo went into the house and could not find his bird, he knew where the children were, but he did not tell any of their parents. He was very sorry for his bird, for he knew that he had lost his food.
When evening set in, the children determined to return to their home, but there came a storm of rain with heavy thunder, and they were very much afraid. Among them was a brave boy, named Mosemanyanamatong, who encouraged them, and said: "Do not be afraid; I can command a house to build itself."
They said: "Please command it."
He said: "House appear," and it appeared, and also wood for fire. Then the children entered the house and made a large fire, and began to roast some wild roots which they dug out of the ground.
While they were roasting the roots and were merry, there came a big cannibal, and they heard his voice saying: "Mosemanyanamatong, give me some of the wild roots you have."
They were afraid, and the brave boy said to the girls and to the other boys, "Give me some of yours."
They gave to him, and he threw the roots outside. While the cannibal was still eating, they went out and fled. He finished eating the roots, and then pursued them. When he approached they scattered some more roots upon the ground, and while he was picking them up and eating, they fled.
At length they came among mountains, where trees were growing. The girls were already very tired, so they all climbed up a tall tree. The cannibal came there, and tried to cut the tree down with his sharp and long nail.
Then the brave boy said to the girls: "While I am singing you must continue saying, 'Tree be strong!, Tree be strong!"
He sang this song:
"It is foolish,
It is foolish to be a traveler,
And to go on a journey
With the blood of girls upon one!
While we were roasting wild roots
A great darkness fell upon us.
It was not darkness,
It was awful gloom!"
While he was singing, there came a great bird and hovered over them, and said “Hold fast to me."
The children held fast to the bird, and it flew away with them, and took them to their own town.
It was midnight when it arrived there, and it sat down at the gate of Mosemanyanamatong's mother's house.