Part 4

There was once a chief’s daughter who had reached the age when it was necessary for her to observe the ntonjane. She was therefore placed in a hut, in which she was to remain during the period of the ceremony. One day her companions persuaded her to go and bathe in a stream near at hand, though this was against the custom of the ntonjane. When they came out of the water, they saw a snake with black blotches, called the Isinyobolokondwana, near their clothes. They were very much afraid, and did not know what to do at first. But by-and-by one of them commenced to sing these words:

“Sinyobolokondwana, Sinyobolokondwana, Bring my mantle!”

The snake replied:

“Take it, And pass on.”

The companions of the chief’s daughter, one after the other, asked the snake for their mantles in this manner, and obtained permission to take them. Last of all was the chief’s daughter. But instead of speaking to the snake respectfully as the others had done, she said mockingly, “Ngcingcingci, ngcingcingci.” [1] So the snake became very angry, and bit her, when she immediately became of the same hideous colour as it was. Her companions were so frightened that they left her and ran away home. They put another girl in the hut, and pretended that she was the chief’s daughter. The girl, thus left alone, went to a forest close by, and climbed up a tree to hide herself.

About this time the chief was killing an ox on account of his daughter, and so he sent a young man to the forest to get pieces of wood with which to peg out the skin. The young man was cutting sticks, when he heard some one crying: “Man cutting sticks, tell my father and mother that the sinyobolokondwana bit me.” He heard this repeated twice, and, without looking to see what was crying, he ran home and told the chief. Two young men were then sent back with him to see what it was, one of these happening to be the girl’s brother. These two were told to hide themselves and listen while the other cut the sticks. They did so, and heard the voice crying as before. Then the brother of the girl knew the voice of his sister, and they all went to the tree where she was, and took her home with them.

The chief was very much surprised to see his daughter in that state, and was so angry with her companions for taking her to the river, and then for substituting another girl so as to deceive him, that he caused them all to be killed.

Then he sent some of his men with forty cattle to take his daughter to a distant country, where she was to remain far away from him. They did as they were told, and built huts in that place to live in. After they had been there a long time, they found that the cows which the chief sent with them were giving more milk than they could consume, so they poured what was left in a hole in the ground. To their amazement, the milk rose, and rose, and rose, higher and still higher, till at last it stood up out of the ground like a great overhanging rock. They called the girl to see this wonderful thing that was happening. In her curiosity she went close to the precipice, when it fell down on her, and, as the milk ran over her, all her ugly blotched skin disappeared, and she was again beautiful as at first.

Soon afterwards a young chief who was passing by saw the girl, and fell in love with her. He thought she was the daughter of one of the men who were there to protect her, but when he made inquiries they told him she was the daughter of their chief. Then he went to her father, and some of the men went also to tell how the milk had cured the girl. The young chief had very many cattle, which he offered to her father. So the old chief agreed to let him marry the girl, and she became his great wife, and was loved by him very dearly.

THE STORY OF SIMBUKUMBUKWANA.

There was a man whose wife had no children, so that he was much dissatisfied. At last he went to a wise woman (Igqirakazi) and asked her to help him in this matter. She said: “You must bring me a fat calf that I may get its tallow to use with my medicine” (or charms—the Kaffir word is Imifizi). The man went home and selected a calf without horns or tail, which he took to the wise woman. She said: “Your wife will have a son who will have no arms and no legs, as this calf has no horns and no tail.” She told him, further, that he was not to inform any one of this.

The man returned to his home and told his friends what was to happen. Not long after this his wife bore a child, but it was a daughter and had arms and legs. The man would not own that child, he said it was not his. He beat his wife, and commanded her to take the child away and leave it to perish. Then he went to the wise woman, and told her what had taken place. The wise woman said: “It was because you did not obey my command about keeping this matter to yourself, but your wife will yet have a son without arms and without legs.”

It was so. His wife bore another child, which was a boy without arms and without legs, therefore he was called Simbukumbukwana. He began to speak on the day of his birth. During this time the girl that was first born was growing up in the valley where her mother left her; she lived in a hole in an ant-heap, and ate honey, and “nongwes,” and gum.

One day the mother of Simbukumbukwana went to work in her garden, and left the boy at home with the door fastened. While she was away the girl came; she stood at a distance and said: “Where are the people?”

There came a voice from inside which said: “Here am I.”

She said: “Who are you?”

The voice replied: “I am Simbukumbukwana.”

She said: “Open for me.”

He answered: “How can I open? I have no legs and no arms.”

She said: “My mother’s Simbukumbukwana, have legs and arms” (Simbukumbukwana sikama, yiba nemilenze nemikono).

Then legs and arms came on the boy, and he arose and opened for his sister. She went in and swept the floor; then she took millet and ground it and made bread. She told her brother when his parents asked him who did these things to say that he did them himself, and if they should ask him to do them again to reply, “I have done it already.” Then she said: “My mother’s Simbukumbukwana, sink legs and sink arms” (Simbukumbukwana sikama, tshona milenze tshona mikono). Then his legs and arms shrunk up, and his sister went away.

After a time his father and his mother came home; they went in and saw the clean floor and bread ready for eating. They were surprised, and said to Simbukumbukwana, “Who did this?”

He replied: “I did.”

They said: “Do so again that we may see you.”

He answered: “I have done it already.”

The next day the woman went again to work in her garden, but the man hid himself to watch what would happen. After a time came the sister of Simbukumbukwana and said: “Where are the people?” (Exactly the same conversation as before.) She went in and began to smear the floor; water was wanting, so she sent Simbukumbukwana to the river for some. His joy in walking was great, so that he did not stop at the river, but put the pot down there and continued to go forward. The girl thought he ought not to be so long absent, for the river was close by, so she went to look for him. She saw him walking up a hill far away, and she called to him to return. He would not. Then she sang, Simbukumbukwana sikama, tshona milenze, tshona mikono, and immediately his legs shrank up. Then she was going away, but her father came out and caught her; he kissed her, and said she must remain with him.

Her mother was coming home, when she saw something moving on the hillside. She went to see what it was, and found her son. She said: “How did you come here?”

He replied: “I came by myself.”

She said: “Let me see you go further.”

He answered: “I have done it already.”

Then she put him on her back and went home. She found her daughter there, and her husband much pleased. The girl said: Simbukumbukwana sikama, yiba nemilenze nemikono, and legs and arms came on him.

One day his sister and some other girls went to get red clay, and he followed them. When they looked behind they saw him, and his sister got angry. She said to him: “What do you want here?”

He replied: “I am going for red clay for my mother.”

His sister compelled him to sit down; but as soon as they went on, he followed; then his sister beat him, and left him in the path. After that there was a heavy storm of rain, but none fell where the little boy was. When the rain was over, the other girls said to the one who had beaten her brother: “Let us go and look after the little boy.” They went and saw he was quite dry. He called to his sister: “You have beaten me,” but she asked him to forgive her.

Then he said: “I want my father’s house to be here,” and immediately it came.

He said: “I want the fire of my father to be here,” and there was a fire.

He said to them: “Now go in; although you have beaten me, there is a house and fire for you.”

He said afterwards: “I want the cattle of my father to be here,” and at once they were all there.

That was a nice place, so they remained there ever after.

THE STORY OF SIKULUME.

There was once in a certain village an old man who was very poor. He had no children, and only a few cattle. One day, when the sky was clear and the sun was bright, he sat down by the cattle-fold. While he was sitting there, he noticed some birds close by which were singing very joyfully. He listened for a while, and then he stood up to observe them better. They were very beautiful to look upon, and they sang differently from other birds. They had all long tails and topknots on their heads. Then the old man went to the chief and told him what he had seen.

The chief said: “How many were they?”

The old man replied: “There were seven.”

The chief said: “You have acted wisely in coming to tell me; you shall have seven of the fattest of my cows. I have lost seven sons in battle, and these beautiful birds shall be in the place of my seven sons. You must not sleep to-night; you must watch them, and to-morrow I will choose seven boys to catch them. Do not let them out of your sight by any means.”

In the morning the chief ordered all the boys of the village to be assembled at the cattle-fold, when he spoke to them of the birds. He said: “I will choose six of you, and set my son who is dumb, over you, that will make seven in all. You must catch those birds. Wherever they go, you must follow, and you must not see my face again without them.” He gave them weapons, and instructed them that if any one opposed them they were to fight till the last of them died.

The boys set off to follow those beautiful birds. They chased them for several days, till at last the birds were exhausted, when each of the boys caught one. At the place where they caught the birds they remained that night.

On the morning of the next day they set out on their return home. That evening they came to a hut in which they saw a fire burning, but no one was there. They went in, and lay down to sleep. In the middle of the night one of those boys was awake. He heard some one saying: “There is nice meat here. I will begin with this one, and take this one next, and that one after, and the one with small feet the last.” The one with the small feet was the son of the chief. His name was Sikulume, for he had never been able to speak till he caught the bird. Then he began to talk at once.

After saying those words the voice was still. Then the boy awakened his companions, and told them what he had heard.

They said: “You have been dreaming; there is no one here; how can such a thing be?”

He replied: “I did not dream; I spoke the truth.”

Then they made a plan that one should remain awake, and if anything happened, he should pinch the one next him, and that one should pinch the next, till all were awake.

After a while the boy who was listening heard some one come in quietly. That was a cannibal. He said the same words again, and then went out for the purpose of calling his friends to come to the feast. The boy awakened his companions according to the plan agreed upon, so that they all heard what was said. Therefore, as soon as the cannibal went out, they arose and fled from that place. The cannibal came back with his friends, and when the others saw there was no one in the hut, they killed and ate him.

As they were going on, Sikulume saw that he had left his bird behind. He stood, and said: “I must return for my bird, my beautiful bird with the long tail and topknot on its head. My father commanded that I must not see his face again unless I bring the bird.”

The boys said: “Take one of ours. Why should you go where cannibals are?”

He replied: “I must have the one that is my own.”

He stuck his assagai in the ground, and told them to look at it. He said: “If it stands still, you will know I am safe; if it shakes, you will know I am running; if it falls down, you will know I am dead.” Then he left them to return to the hut of the cannibals.

On the way he saw an old woman sitting by a big stone. She said: “Where are you going to?” He told her he was going for his bird. The old woman gave him some fat, and said: “If the cannibals pursue you, put some of this on a stone.”

He came to the hut and got his bird. The cannibals were sitting outside, a little way back. They had just finished eating the owner of the hut. When Sikulume came out with his bird they saw him and ran after him. They were close to him, when he took some of the fat and threw it on a stone. The cannibals came to the stone, and began to fight with each other.

One said: “The stone is mine.”

Another said: “It is mine.”

One of them swallowed the stone. When the others saw that, they killed him and ate him. Then they pursued again after Sikulume. They came close to him again, when he threw the remainder of the fat on another stone. The cannibals fought for this also. One swallowed it, and was killed by the others.

They followed still, and Sikulume was almost in their hands, when he threw off his mantle. The mantle commenced to run another way, and the cannibals ran after it. It was so long before they caught it that the young chief had time to reach his companions.

They all went on their way, but very soon they saw the cannibals coming after them. Then they observed a little man sitting by a big stone.

He said to them: “I can turn this stone into a hut.”

They replied: “Do so.”

He turned the stone into a hut, and they all went inside, the little man with them. They played the “iceya” there. The cannibals came to the place and smelt. They thought the hut was still a stone, for it looked like a stone to them. They began to bite it, and bit till all their teeth were broken, when they returned to their own village.

After this, the boys and the little man came out.

The boys went on. When they reached their own home they saw no people, till at length an old woman crept out of a heap of ashes. She was very much frightened, and said to them: “I thought there were no people left.”

Sikulume said: “Where is my father?”

She replied: “All the people have been swallowed by the inabulele” (a fabulous monster).

He said: “Where did it go to?”

The old woman replied: “It went to the river.”

So those boys went to the river, and Sikulume said to them: “I will go into the water, and take an assagai with me. If the water moves much, you will know I am in the stomach of the inabulele; if the water is red, you will know I have killed it.” Then he threw himself into the water and went down.

The inabulele swallowed him without tearing him or hurting him. He saw his father and his mother and many people and cattle. Then he took his assagai and pierced the inabulele from inside. The water moved till the inabulele was dead, then it became red. When the young men saw that, they cut a big hole in the side of the inabulele, and all the people and the cattle were delivered.

One day Sikulume said to another boy: “I am going to the doctor’s; tell my sister to cook food for me, nice food that I may eat.” This was done.

He said to his sister: “Bring me of the skin of the inabulele which I killed, to make a mantle.” She called her companions, and they went to the side of the river. She sang this song:—

“Inabulele, Inabulele, I am sent for you By Sikulume, Inabulele.”

The body of the inabulele then came out. She cut two little pieces of the skin for sandals, and a large piece to make a mantle for her brother.

When he was a young man, Sikulume said to his friends: “I am going to marry the daughter of Mangangezulu.”

They replied: “You must not go there, for at Mangangezulu’s you will be killed.”

He said: “I will go.”

Then he called those young men who were his chosen friends to accompany him. On the way they came to a place where the grass was long. A mouse came out of the grass, and asked Sikulume where he was going to.

He replied: “I am going to the place of Mangangezulu.”

The mouse sang this song:—

“Turn back, turn back, Sikulume. No one ever leaves the place of Mangangezulu. Turn back, turn back, O chief.”

Sikulume replied: “I shall not turn back.”

The mouse then said: “As it is so, you must kill me and throw my skin up in the air.”

He did so.

The skin said: “You must not enter by the front of the village; you must not eat off a new mat; you must not sleep in a hut which has nothing in it.”

They arrived at the village of Mangangezulu. They entered it from the wrong side, so that all the people said: “Why is this?”

They replied: “It is our custom.”

Food was brought to them on a new mat, but they said: “It is our custom to eat off old mats only.”

An empty hut was given to them to sleep in, but they said: “It is our custom only to sleep in a hut that has things in it.”

The next day the chief said to Sikulume and his companions: “You must go and tend the cattle.”

They went. A storm of rain fell, when Sikulume spread out his mantle and it became a hut as hard as stone, into which they all went. In the evening they returned with the cattle. The daughter of Mangangezulu came to them. Her mother pressed her foot in the footprint of Sikulume, and he became an eland.

The girl loved the young chief very much. When she saw he was turned into an eland, she made a great fire and drove him into it. Then he was burned, and became a little coal. She took the coal out and put it in a pot of water, when it became a young man again.

Afterwards they left that place. The girl took with her an egg, a milksack, a pot, and a smooth stone. The father of the girl pursued them.

The girl threw down the egg, and it became a mist. Her father wandered about in the mist a long time, till at length it cleared away. Then he pursued again.

She threw down the milksack, and it became a sheet of water. Her father tried to get rid of the water by dipping it up with a calabash, but he could not succeed, so he was compelled to wait till it dried up. He followed still.

The girl threw down the pot, and it became thick darkness. He waited a long time till light came again, when he followed them. He could travel very quickly.

He came close to them, and then the girl threw down the smooth stone. It became a rock, a big rock with one side steep like a wall. He could not climb up that rock, and so he returned to his own village.

Then Sikulume went home with his wife. He said to the people: “This is the daughter of Mangangezulu. You advised me not to go there, lest I should be killed. Here is my wife.”

After that he became a great chief. All the people said: “There is no chief that can do such things as Sikulume.”

THE STORY OF HLAKANYANA.

Once upon a time there was a village with many women in it. All the women had children at the same time except the wife of the chief. The children grew, and again all the women gave birth to others. Only the wife of the chief had no child. Then the people said: “Let us kill an ox, perhaps the wife of the chief will then bear a child.”

While they were killing the ox, the woman heard a voice saying: “Bear me, mother, before the meat of my father is all finished.”

The woman did not pay any attention to that, thinking it was a ringing in her ears. The voice said again: “Bear me, mother, before the meat of my father is all finished.”

The woman took a small piece of wood and cleaned her ears. She heard that voice again. Then she became excited. She said: “There is something in my ears; I would like to know what it is. I have just now cleaned my ears.”

The voice said again: “Make haste and bear me, mother, before the meat of my father is all finished.”

The woman said: “What is this? there was never a child that could speak before it was born.”

The voice said again: “Bear me, mother, as all my father’s cattle are being finished, and I have not yet eaten anything of them.” Then the woman gave birth to that child.

When she saw that to which she had given birth, she was very much astonished. It was a boy, but in size very little, and with a face that looked like that of an old person.

He said to his mother: “Mother, give me a skin robe.” His mother gave him a robe. Then he went at once to the kraal where the ox was being killed.

He asked for some meat, saying: “Father, father, give me a piece of meat.”

The chief was astonished to hear this child calling him father. He said: “Oh, men, what thing is this that calls me father?” So he continued with the skinning of the ox. But Hlakanyana continued also in asking meat from him. The chief became very angry, and pushed him, and said: “Get away from this place.”

Hlakanyana answered: “I am your child, give me meat.”

The chief took a little stick, and said: “If you trouble me again, I will strike you with this.”

Hlakanyana replied: “Give me meat first, and I will go away;” but the chief would not answer, because he was very angry.

Hlakanyana continued asking. Then the chief threw him outside the kraal, and went on with his work. After a little time, the child returned, still asking.

So the chief said to the men that were with him: “What strange thing is this?”

The men replied: “We don’t know him at all.”

The chief asked of them also advice, saying: “What shall I do?”

The men replied: “Give him a piece of meat.”

So the chief cut off a piece of meat and gave it to him. Hlakanyana ran to his mother and gave the meat to her to be cooked.

Then he returned to his father, and said again: “Father, give me some meat.”

The chief just took him and trampled upon him, and threw him outside of the kraal, thinking that he was dead.

But he rose again and returned to his father, still saying: “Father, give me some meat.”

Then the chief thought to get rid of him by giving him meat again. The chief gave him a piece of liver. Hlakanyana threw it away. Fat was then given to him. He put it down on one side. Flesh was then given to him, and a bone with much marrow in it.

Hlakanyana said: “I am a man to-day.” He said: “This is the beginning of my father’s cattle.”

At this time the men were saying to each other: “Who will carry the meat to our huts?”

Hlakanyana answered: “I will do it.”

They said: “How can such a thing as you are carry meat?”

Hlakanyana replied: “I am stronger than you; just see if you can lift this piece of meat.”

The men tried, but could not lift it. Then Hlakanyana took the piece of meat and carried it out of the kraal. The men said: “That will do now, carry our meat for us.”

Hlakanyana took the meat and carried it to the house of his mother. He took blood and put it on the eating mats at the houses of the men. The men went to their houses, and said: “Where is our meat?” They called Hlakanyana, and asked him what he had done with the meat.

He replied: “Surely I put it here where the blood is. It must have been taken by the dogs. Surely the dogs have eaten it.”