I am going to my Aunt Iyaugura,
Iyaugura, sister of Shemwindo.
Kabarebare and Ntabare mountain,
Where the husband of my senior sister sets fish traps.
And a girl who is nice is a lady,
And a nice young man is a house pole.
We are telling the story
That the Babuya have told long ago.
We are telling the story.
Kasengeri is dancing, wagging his tail;
And you see his tail of nderema fibers.
Nkurongo bird had gone to court mususu bird;
Muhasha bird has contracted asthma, is gasping for breath.
If I am at a loss for words in the great song,
If it dies out, may it not die out for me there.
They are accustomed to speak to Mukiti with bells.
The tunes that we are singing.
The uninitiated ones cannot know them.
I would like to be as perfect in body as the
Mburu monkey and still eat a lot,
I would remain satisfied with my flat belly.…
Mwindo was still flowing with the river, and as he floated by his aunt, she seized the drum. Her people gave her a knife and she slashed the drum open. Removing the hide, she saw the multiple rays of the rising sun and the moon—such was the beauty of the child, Mwindo. Mwindo rose out of the drum, still holding his conga scepter and his adze, together with his little bag that contained the magical rope. When Hawk saw Mwindo meeting with his aunt, he went to bring the news to the elder who had been sent to Iyaugura to keep watch over her continually. He arrived there, and told him: “You, you who are here, it is not merely a little man who appears over there; he carries with him stories of his many attributes and feats. He is going to kill you.” Hearing this news, Kasiyembe said: “You bearer of news, go! When you have arrived at Mwindo’s, tell him he must not attempt to pass by this side, for if he tries, I will tear out his backbone. I am setting up traps here, pits and pointed sticks and razors in the ground, so that whenever he tries, I will catch him in his attempts.”
Seeing all this going on, Mukei the Hedgehog, acting as a messenger going the other way, went to Mwindo, and told him: “Mwindo, our enemies are holding secret council against you. They are even preparing pit traps against you, and pointed sticks and razors. I say this, I, Mukei the Hedgehog, who is a master of going underground, into the depth of the earth.” Mwindo answered: “Yes, I always see you burrowing; it is within the earth that you live, so you must know well of such things.” After warning Mwindo, Mukei also told him: “I am going to build a road which bypasses him, so that it goes where you are, inside the house of your aunt, at the base of the house pole.” Mwindo approved of this plan gladly. Mukei the Hedgehog began to dig in the ground, inside it. Mwindo told his aunt Iyaugura: “You, Aunt, go on ahead, get going on your way home, and I shall meet you there. Kasiyembe, who threatened me over there, I shall first meet up with him. If he really is powerful, I shall deal with him.” He also said to his aunt: “Tell the one who is threatening me there, that he should get ready for me.” Then Master Spider came out of the pit traps and began to build bridges. He built them out over the pits. Indeed, the pits became merely bridges. He said to himself that it was there that Mwindo was going to play. “As far as I, Master Spider, am concerned, Mwindo cannot be beaten as long as we are there.”
After Mwindo had told his aunt to go along, she did not attempt to fool him—she went home. Back where Mwindo had stayed, he took the road made by Mukei. Thanks to his helpers, he came out in the house of his aunt, at Iyaugura’s. When Kasiyembe saw where he was, he said: “Mwindo is already over here. Now, from where has he come?” The people of his village said that they did not know how he had gotten there.
When Iyaugura saw that her son Mwindo had already arrived, she said to him: “My boy, don’t eat yet. First come to my side, so that we may dance to the rhythm of the drum.” After Mwindo had heard his aunt’s words, he came outdoors to where his aunt was. He agreed to dance with her without having eaten food, but said that he was going to faint with responding to the calls of the drum. His aunt replied to him: “Not at all! Dance away, my son. You must know I am ordered to have you do this by Kasiyembe, my protector, but your enemy. He says that you must dance to tire you out. What then shall we do? You must dance all the same!” Hearing the word of his aunt, Mwindo said: “Oh! Right you are. Let me first dance, for hunger never kills a man.” Mwindo sang and the dance became a source of his strength. He howled, he inveighed against Kasiyembe, saying:
Kasiyemba, you are powerless against Mwindo,
For Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
Kasiyembe said: “Let us dance together.”
Shirungu, give us a morsel!
If we die, we will die for you.
Kasengeri is dancing with his conga scepter,
Conga scepter of nderema fibers.
I am saying farewell to Mpumba,
My Mpumba with many raphia bunches.
Mwindo danced round about in the midst of the pits. He danced with his body bent over the pits, without being injured by the razors. He went back and forth everywhere that Kasiyembe had placed traps for him, without injuring himself.
Iyaugura told her son to have some food, saying that since the time he arrived he had not once rinsed his mouth in preparation for eating. Iyaugura gave her son a head of cattle as a token of hospitality. Then she killed it and prepared it for him. Those on the side, the maidens, ate from it for several days.
After Mwindo had received this hospitality gift (but did not eat of it), Kasiyembe, the man filled with hatred, persisted in trying to kill him. He said: “Is this the boy against whom I shall be impotent, whereas I heard that he came from the inside of a drum?” Kasiyembe implored Hedgehog, Nkuba the lightning hurler, saying: “Nkuba, you must go and cut Mwindo in two. Come to the house where he is staying with all these young women and take care of this problem.”
When Mwindo heard the way in which Kasiyembe repeatedly threatened him, he told the ladies to sit down near him because Kasiyembe wanted to strike him with lightning. Then Mwindo turned threateningly to Master Nkumba saying: “Nkumba, since you insist on attacking me, you must strike on one side of the house. You must not strike the side where Mwindo is sitting.” Master Nkuba, on hearing the voice of Kasiyembe, ignored the warning and descended on the house. Mwindo pointed at him, saying: “You, too, will die the same death; you are climbing a hard tree.” Master Nkuba then struck seven times on Mwindo’s side of the house, but try as he might, he could not come close to the place where Mwindo was sitting: The fire burnt only on the side where there was no one, and that side of the house was turned into ashes.
Where Iyaugura, Mwindo’s aunt, was sitting, so many tears rolled from her eyes that they reached her legs. She feared that the boy was dying and wept that she had not even seen him yet. Mwindo then came out of the house along with the young women. Setting himself boldly in front of the crowd of people, he announced to all that he had arrived and was well, and remained the Little One Just Born He Walked. He told his aunt to approach him so that he might speak to her. She came close and Mwindo spoke: “No more crying. You, my aunt, are the reason Kasiyembe tested me in such an evil fashion. Tomorrow, if you see me no more, it means that you are not worthy of Mwindo.” All this he told his aunt within the twinkling of an eye. Then, by his great powers, he made Kasiyemba’s foolish mop of hair catch on fire. Where Kasiyembe was, people could see, all at once, that his foolish mop of hair was already aflame. Indeed, the tongues of flame rose into the air in such a way that all the lice and all the vermin that were nestled on his head were entirely consumed.
When they saw that Kasiyembe’s mop of hair was burning, the people of Kasiyembe went to fetch water in jars to put out the fire. But by the time they arrived with the jars, there was no water in them. All the water had dried up in the jars, there was not a drop left. They went straight to the water-car
rying plantain stalks, but these, too, were already dried up. They said: “What is this? I guess we will have to spit on his head!” But even that was impossible, for their mouths, too, were so dry that no one had any spit left.
As they were going through all of this, they said: “This Kasiyembe is about to die. Go to his master, go to Mukiti’s place, and see if there is any help there, for there is a pool at Mukiti’s.” But when they arrived, they found Mukiti with butterflies and flies flitting about him, for there, too, all water had evaporated. In fact the whole pool had dried up, so much so that you couldn’t find a drop in it. When his aunt saw what was happening, she went to beg before the boy: “Widen your heart, you my son ‘of the body,’ my nephew who is such a unique creature. Did you come here just to attack us? Widen your heart for us, and take the spell off my husband. Stretch your heart that you may heal the afflicted without harboring further resentment against them.” After the aunt had finished humbly imploring the boy, Mwindo cooled the anger of his heart. He awoke Kasiyembe, waving his conga scepter above him, and singing:
He who went to sleep wakes up.
You have no power against Mwindo,
Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
He who went to sleep wakes up.
Look, I am playing with my conga scepter.
Suddenly, Kasiyembe was saved. And in the storage jars water again appeared. And the green stalks of the plantains, again there was water in them. And where Mukiti was staying, there, too, the water came back and the river flowed on beneath. When the people saw this feat, they were much astonished, saying: “Mwindo must be a great man.” Kasiyembe saluted Mwindo, saying “Hail! Hail! Mwindo.” And Mwindo answered, “Yes.”
After he had accomplished that deed, Mwindo informed his aunt that he would be going to Tubondo the next day to fight his father, for twice his father had thrown him away, and so he would, in his turn, go to stand up against him. The aunt said to him: “O powerful one, you won’t be able to overpower your father. For you are only yesterday’s child, born just a little while ago. Will you be worthy of ruling Tubondo, village of seven meeting places? I, who had you taken out from within the drum, must strongly say no to such a question. No one should even try to go alone, for the lonely path is never a pleasant one to travel.”
When Mwindo heard the way in which his aunt was speaking, he refused to listen; he blocked out his aunt’s words by humming to himself. The aunt told him: “Do not go to fight with your father. But if you do go, then I shall go with you to watch as your father cuts you into pieces.”
She instructed the maidens to pack up her household objects so she could accompany Mwindo, for the lonely path is never pleasant—without fail, something comes along with the power to kill. When the sky had become daylight, they breakfasted before the journey back to Tubondo. And Mwindo sang of deeds of glory to give him strength and attractiveness. Mwindo sang:
I am going with the aunt.
The Little One has slept, all prepared for the journey.
O my father, the Little One set out right after awakening.
I warn you, we are already underway.
The evening of this journey that Mwindo was making with his aunt, in spite of everything, found him at his maternal uncles, among the people of Yana. They had killed a goat of hospitality for him, and he rested there. After they all had eaten of the goat, Mwindo said to his maternal uncles: “I am going to fight Shemwindo in Tubondo. You who are the blacksmiths of large light spears, my uncles, make me strong and resistant.” The people of Yana said that they were going to remake him by the forge. They dressed him in shoes made entirely of iron and pants all of iron too, they also made him an iron shirt and a hat of iron. They told him: “As you are going to fight your father, may the spears that they will unceasingly hurl at you stroke only this iron that is on your body.” After his uncles had finished forging, they said they would no longer stay where they were, but would go with him so that they might see the battle to come. In the morning, Mwindo set out with his uncles, and his aunt Iyaugura, accompanied by all of her servants. Mwindo sang out angrily, boasting:
I shall fight over there at Shemwindo’s
The cattle that Shemwindo possesses,
May they join Mwindo.
When they had the village in sight, Mwindo’s aunt said to Mwindo: “O our leader, let’s get out of here. Just looking up at your father’s village makes us dizzy with fear. Tubondo over there is a village of seven gates. There are too many people there. They will destroy us.” Mwindo answered his aunt: “I, Mwindo, I am never afraid of anyone with whom I have not yet fought, much less that overgrown child. I want to try this Shemwindo. He is too much spoiled by pride.” Mwindo went on singing:
We are going over there to Tubondo,
Where Shemwindo lives.
When they arrived in the glen, he said: “Let us spend tonight in this village.” His aunt howled, she said: “Where will we sleep, here there is no house, and Kiruka-nuambura has arrived, bearer of rain that never ceases.” The aunt shouted, she said: “Oh! my father, where shall we sleep? The rain has just rumbled, the young woman is destitute.” Mwindo looked around, and said that he wanted to have houses—and houses assembled themselves in two rows! Mwindo indicated that his uncles should take one row of houses, and his aunt the other row. And Mwindo’s house arose by itself in the middle of them all. His aunt shouted saying: “Yes, our leader Mwindo, hail for these our houses. Shemwindo has fathered a hero. Kahombo, my father, I shall give you some children, my father’s grandchildren. Let us go with our prestigious man. May our prestigious man escape thunder and lightning! In spite of himself, Shemwindo brought forth a son who is never afraid. And Mwindo is making himself into a hero already through his great doings.” There in the glen, the houses put themselves together. Mwindo’s aunt said to him: “O Mwindo, my leader, let us escape, for you are powerless in the face of this mass of people who are in Tubondo.” Mwindo said that he must first test himself. Iyaugura, Mwindo’s aunt, said to him: “O Mwindo, what shall we eat then? Look, the great number of your uncles here, and I, too, Iyaugura, have an entourage with me, and you, Mwindo, you have drummers and singers with you. What will this whole group eat?” Mwindo saw that his aunt was telling him something important, and had to agree: “I see that the whole group that is with us is already hungry.” He lifted his eyes to the sky. He said to himself that he must begin with the food that was over there in Tubondo, in the village of his enemies, that this must be magically captured—and so great were his powers that it happened. The food came to him, so that he might go to fight. Mwindo sang while carrying back the food from his father’s camp. His aunt was still shouting out in hunger, “O my leader, what shall we eat today?” Mwindo howled back, singing:
The foods that are in Tubondo,
May the foods come to Mwindo,
Mwindo, the Little One Just Born He Walked.
The animals that are in Tubondo,
May the animals come to Mwindo.
The meats that Shemwindo stores,
May the meats come to Mwindo Mboru,
Mwindo, the Little One Just Born He Walked.
The wood that Shemwindo keeps,
O leader, may it come to Mwindo Mboru!
For Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
And the fire that Shemwindo possesses,
May the fire also come to Mwindo.
And the water that Shemwindo possesses,
May the water also come to Mwindo Mboru.
The jars that are at Shemwindo’s,
May the jars come to Mwindo,
Mwindo, the Little One Just Born He Walked.
The clothes that are at Shemwindo’s,
May the clothes come to Mwindo,
Mwindo is going to fight!
The wooden dishes that are in Tubondo,
May the wooden dishes also come to Mwindo,
O father, Little One Just Born He Walked.
Hopes to be victorious.<
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The beds that Shemwindo possesses,
May the beds come to Mwindo.
And the wicker plates that Shemwindo possesses,
May the wicker plates also come to Mwindo.
And the salt that Shemwindo possesses,
May the salt also come to Mwindo,
The Little One just Born He Walked.
It was in this way that Mwindo was speaking!
And the chickens that Shemwindo possesses,
May the chickens also come to Mwindo.
The praise-singers of cheer sing together;
They began their praising together long ago,
The singers of praise sing as one voice;
They have achieved harmony in the middle of the village.
That which-will-die and that which-will-he-saved,
May it come to Iyaugura here,
Iyaugura, sister of Shemwindo.
The goats that are at Shemwindo’s,
May the goats come to Mwindo.
The cattle bellowed, saying,
“O father, let us go to Mwindo!”
The dogs that are in Tubondo,
May the dogs come to Mwindo.
The dogs barked, saying,
“O father, let us go to Mwindo!”
We are seated, stretching out our voices
Like the diggers of traps.
The banana groves that are in Tubondo,
May the banana groves come to Mwindo.
And the tobacco that Shemwindo possesses,
May the tobacco also come to Mwindo.
The mukusa asp swallowed froth;
Auger is in the heart.
And the pipes that Shemwindo possesses,
May the pipes also come to Mwindo.
The spears that are at Shemwindo’s,
African Folktales Page 33