Folktales from Africa Part 5

They still remembered, though, that they had been people, and this was something which made them worried. When they looked into each other's faces, they realized that their noses were now much bigger than they had been before, and this made them jeer. Every baboon laughed at every other baboon, pointing at his enlarged nose and throwing his hands about in mirth. This made the baboon who was being laughed at angry. He would jump up and down in anger, all the while laughing at the large nose of the other.

Eventually the mockery became so great that the baboons could no longer bear to be together. Each family split off and lived by itself, laughing at the others because of their great noses, but not liking to be laughed at for their own noses. That is why baboons live in small groups today and do not live as a baboon nation, as do men and many other animals.

15

The Thathana Moratho Tree

A certain man liked trees. He had many trees in the ground behind his house, and he was very proud of these. There were trees for all purposes a tree to attract birds that might sing well; a tree that had good branches for making fires; a tree that would keep away snakes because they were frightened of it. There were many trees, and the people in that place would come and look at them from time to time and wish that they had trees like his.

There was one tree that this man had planted which n.o.body else had in their yard. This was the thathana moratho tree, and he had given very strict instructions that n.o.body at all, not even his children, should ever touch this tree. n.o.body knew why they were not allowed to touch this tree, but since the tree belonged to this man they accepted the rule. They could look at it, though, and many people did this, wondering what was so special about this particular tree.

This man had a child called Ntshetsanyana, who was looked after by a servant girl. One morning the child was very hungry and cried and cried for food. The servant looked for food with which to feed her charge, but found none. Eventually she went out into the yard, picked some of the fruit from the thathana moratho tree and gave it to the child.

The child said, "What is this very good fruit?"

The servant girl replied, "It is the fruit of the thathana moratho tree and you can eat it. I am telling you to eat it. I have picked it for you because you are so hungry and have been crying so much. Now you must eat it."

The child took the fruit from the servant girl and ate it. It was very good, and the child smiled happily after the last morsel had been consumed. It was the best fruit that had ever been brought into the house, and the child hoped that there would be more chances to eat this fruit in the future.

When the man came back to his house he discovered what had happened and he was very angry. He shouted at the servant girl, who wept and cringed. The man told her that by feeding his child fruit from the thathana moratho tree, she had insulted him. Now he would have to take her to Chief Mmeke, who was a very stern chief. He knew the chief would kill both the girl and the child for doing this prohibited thing.

They set off together, with the servant girl carrying the child and the man driving them on, muttering to himself about the great insult that had been done him by this act of disobedience. On their way, they met a friend of this man, who asked them what was happening. The man explained about the insult, but the poor girl replied with a song: He is lying: I did not insult him.I only took thathana moratho;I gave it to NtshetsanyanaWho was crying.Now I am to be taken to Mmeke,Mmeke the ruthless one.

The man, however, did not wish to listen to her and he pushed her with a stick, making her continue her journey to the place of Chief Mmeke, where she would be killed.

Some time later, while still walking under the burning sun, they met the son of Chief Mmeke. He asked what was happening and the girl immediately sang him the same song. This time, the song was believed and the chief's son, a kind young man, fell in love with the girl. He said that he would go with them to the chief's place, although he did not say what he was planning to do once they got there.

"Do not kill this girl, Father," said the young man. "She is very beautiful and I wish to marry her."

The chief listened to this, and then he listened to the man who had brought the girl to be killed. After the man had finished speaking, the chief said, "Go home now, and leave this bad girl here. She will be killed tonight, when it is dark."

The man was satisfied with this and he went away. They did not kill the girl, though: the chief's son married her and she became a very good wife for him. They had many fine sons, and she was very popular with Chief Mmeke himself, who was pleased that he had been kind to this girl.

16

Chicken, Hawk And The Missing Needle

It might be hard to believe this, but Chicken and Hawk used to be very good friends. They could be seen sitting on the ground, telling one another stories, and sharing food. And if anybody was rude to Chicken, or called her names, Hawk would soon make him apologize to her friend. And if Hawk was ever too tired to hunt, Chicken would carry food to her from her own food store and place it at her feet. It was a very good friends.h.i.+p.

Chicken was good at sewing, but because she was poor she only had one needle. With this needle she sewed clothes for her family, including a fine red jacket for her husband. She also made clothes for other people, who paid her to do this, although they could not give her very much. She used this money to buy food for her chicks, who were always hungry, as they were growing up and needed to eat to keep up their strength.

Then Chicken lost her needle. It was there one moment and then it was not. She looked about her and saw that there was a great deal of dust there, and sand, and other things that will swallow a needle. Now she was very sad. Without that needle she could not sew any clothes, and that meant that she would not have money to buy food for her family.

'What are we to do?' asked one of her children. 'Now that you have lost the needle, we shall all starve. It is very sad.'

Hawk heard of the loss of her friend's needle. She came to see her and said, 'I have a needle, and I shall be happy to lend it to you. I do not like to see my friend so sad.'

Chicken was very relieved. 'You are a very good friend,' she said. 'Now I shall be able to earn money for my family. I am lucky to have a friend like you.'

Hawk brought the needle to Chicken and she started to sew again. She sewed a new pair of trousers for her husband and some clothes which she sold by the side of the road to people who pa.s.sed by. She was very happy.

But then she discovered one morning that the needle was not in its usual place. She started to search for it, but could not find it anywhere. And that morning, when Hawk came to see her and asked where the needle was, Chicken had to admit that she had lost it.

Hawk said: 'I lent you that needle on the condition that you would give it back to me when I had to do my own sewing. If you do not find it, I shall punish you by eating your chicks.' And with that cruel threat, Hawk flew off, leaving her friend in a state of panic, running around and scratching here and there and everywhere in the dusty soil, looking for the lost needle.

She could not find it. She scratched and scratched in the soil with her claws, sending up little clouds of dust, but all to no avail. She knew now that her children were not safe, as Hawk flew high in the sky, circling over the land, and her shadow was like a moving black hand of of death. When Chicken saw this shadow she would run to muster her children and take them to shelter. And when she drank, Chicken would take the water in her mouth quickly and look up into the sky to see if Hawk was coming.

In this way two old friends have ceased to be friends to one another. Chicken still scratches in the ground, looking for Hawk's needle, and Hawk still circles in the sky looking for Chicken's children on the ground below. It will be like this until the needle is found, which many people doubt will ever happen, as a needle is a small thing. But for Hawk, and Chicken, it is a big thing big enough to end a friends.h.i.+p for ever.

17

Morategi And His Two Wives

Morategi was a rich man who had two of everything, including two wives. There was no shortage of food in his household, as he had good fields and many cattle. His children were fat and their skin was s.h.i.+ny from all the good food that they ate. And his wives were happy. They both loved their husband and they were also very fond of one another. They never fought over anything.

Everybody was very happy in that household until a bad drought came to the land. Where once good tall gra.s.s had grown, now there was none. The cattle grew bony as there was less and less for them to eat and the people grew thinner too, just like the cattle. Then the cattle died, and when that happened the man, his two wives and the children cried and cried for what they had lost.

Morategi decided that the only thing for him to do was to go to a nearby village and take a job. So he left, taking the senior wife with him. He soon found a job which, although it was hard work, provided him with food. He bought sorghum, maize and beans. His wife, who also worked in that place, bought pumpkin seeds.

When they had enough food, they returned to their place and shared the food with the other wife and with all the children. Everybody was pleased now, as they had enough to eat and were no longer hungry.

But food does not last forever, and soon it was necessary for Morategi to go off to work again. This time he took the junior wife. Again they worked very hard and made enough money to buy food for the whole family. The junior wife used the money she had earned to buy a large pot, which she took home with her.

The senior wife was very impressed with this pot and congratulated the junior wife for all her hard work and the rewards that it had brought. The pot, which was very pretty to look at, was put in a hut at the back, as it was too good to be used for everyday purposes and would be kept for special occasions. This place where it was kept was also the place where seeds were stored, and some of these were pumpkin seeds.

One afternoon the junior wife decided that she would use the pot to cook a special meal for the family. She went into the hut to fetch her pot and discovered to her surprise that a pumpkin seed had taken root in the pot and had grown into a fine yellow pumpkin. But she was not pleased with this and went to the senior wife and shouted at her that she should remove her pumpkin. The senior wife went to look at the pumpkin. She liked it very much and said that she was unwilling to cut it up and remove it from the pot.

The two wives were very angry with one another. They argued and shouted at one another and gave Morategi no peace. If anybody had visited that house during that time they would have been very surprised to hear that this was the house in which people used to get on so well with one another.

Eventually Morategi could stand it no longer and he made a plan to stop this constant arguing about pots and pumpkins. He went to see a very wise traditional doctor and asked him to tell the wives that their husband had become very ill and that the only way in which his life might be saved was if they fed him immediately with a fine yellow pumpkin.

When they received this message, the two women rushed to the hut where the pot was stored. Picking up two sharp stones which were lying about in that place, they smashed the pot and took out the pumpkin, which they cooked for their husband. Now there was nothing left to argue about, and they started to be polite to one another again.

The husband ate the pumpkin, which tasted very good. Then he told the wives about his trick, and they all laughed. Happiness had returned to that household at long last, and all that it had cost was a pot.

18

The Miracle Tree

There were children who lived in a small village by a river. Nothing very much happened in that village, and there was hardly ever any water in the river. But there was a special tree just outside the village, and this tree was unlike any other tree in the whole country. It was a miracle tree, and the people were very proud of it.

'This may be a small village,' they said. 'But at least we have the miracle tree.'

Then there came a big storm. The country had been parched and dry, with the land crying out for water, but now even the normally empty river in that village was a raging torrent. And in the sky there were heavy clouds, high and purple, and lightning that joined the sky to the land with great flashes and bangs.

One of these bolts of lightning hit the miracle tree. When this happened, some of the branches on the tree burned up and the leaves on the tree all shrivelled. Afterwards, when the storm had pa.s.sed, the land turned green with new gra.s.s. But the miracle tree remained black and shrivelled. It had no new leaves and it gave no fruit.

The people were very sad about what had happened to their tree and many of the children cried because they missed the fruit that the tree had so generously given them. n.o.body went near the tree for a long time, but then one day a child went there and she ran straight home after she had looked at the tree.

'There is a woman living in the tree,' she said to her mother. 'She has only one eye in the middle of her head, like the light of a train.'

The mother laughed at this child, and said that it was impossible that a woman should be living in the tree and also impossible that she should have only one eye in the middle of her head. But secretly the mother went to visit the tree and she saw that what the child had said was true. There was indeed a one-eyed woman living on top of the tree.

For a long time n.o.body went near the tree, as they were all afraid of the strange woman who lived on top of it. But then the same child who had first seen the woman went back and she saw that the woman had died and that there was n.o.body living on the tree.

Not long after that, after word had got out that the woman who lived in the tree had died, a family went to the tree and started to pick the fruit that was growing on it. To their surprise, the tree began to shake and then changed into a lion. They were very afraid, especially when the lion began to sing. The words of the song warned people not to try to pick the fruit of the tree.

As they ran away, the people looked back and saw that the tree had changed again. Now it was a river!

'This is really a miracle tree,' said a small boy who had seen this. 'First it was a lion and then it was a river. Perhaps it will be something else now.'

He was right. When they looked back next, they saw that the tree had become a tree again.

Many days later, another family pa.s.sed by the tree and, seeing the fruit that it bore, started to pick some of it. This made the tree shake.

'Look,' shouted one of the children of this family. 'There is a crocodile up in the tree.'

The family ran away when they saw the head of the crocodile peering down at them. They did not go back to the tree again, and nor did anybody else. And from that time onwards, n.o.body in that village spoke about the miracle tree. They thought that it was better to be a quiet village where nothing happened, rather than a village where too much happened.

19

The Goat And The Jackal