He who went away comes back,
You see I am carrying Shemwindo.
Mwindo rushed headlong to the cave, which Ntumba had already finished rebuilding. Mwindo said to Ntumba: “Why did you hide my father away? Here I am with my father.” Mwindo sang:
Ntumba, even you are powerless against Mwindo,
For Mwindo is the Little One just Born He Walked.
I am on my way home from this point on in Ntumba’s house.
Look, I am carrying Shemwindo,
My father, the dearest one,
Shemwindo, senior brother of Iyaugura.
It is Shemwindo, the one who gave birth to a hero.
Aunt Iyaugura, I am on my way back.
Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
I am carrying my father, Shemwindo.
When Mwindo arrived at Ntumba’s, he told Ntumba the whole story. He said to him: “You, Ntumba, you were wrong to offend me in vain.” But he gave back all of Ntumba’s things, his land, and the banana groves, and his followers, everything. And Mwindo and his father Shemwindo spent the night there. Then, the next day, Ntumba said to Mwindo: “Go, I will never utter slander against you. I have no dispute with you.” When Mwindo left Ntumba’s, together with his father, he went singing, reminding his aunt in Tubondo:
He who has gone away is back.
Muisa!
The sky has become day.
The rooster crowed.
Mwindo will arrive in the house of Muisa,
I come from Ntumba’s.
Muisa, you are helpless against Mwindo,
Since Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
It is you who are wrong for offending me in vain.
Look! I am carrying Shemwindo.
Muisa, you are helpless against Mwindo,
Since Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
Look! I am carrying Shemwindo.
I am returning to Tubondo,
Where remained my aunt Iyaugura,
Iyaugura, sister of Shemwindo,
Aunt, birth-giver, Iyaugura.
When Mwindo left Ntumba’s village with his father Shemwindo, he went straightaway to Muisa’s house. When he was there, Kahindo came to Mwindo, saying: “You see my father here, his bones fill a basket. What shall I do then? It is fitting that you should heal my father. Don’t leave him like that but wake him up. May my father wake up, because he is the chief of all the people.” After Kahindo had spoken to Mwindo in that way, Mwindo woke up Muisa, singing:
He who went to sleep wakes up,
Father Muisa,
He who went to sleep wakes up.
Look!
You,
It is you who have offended me in vain.
Look! I am carrying my father Shemwindo.
Muisa, he who went to sleep wakes up.
Muisa, you are helpless against Mwindo,
Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
Shemwindo brought forth a hero.
I am going to Aunt Iyangura’s village,
Iyaugura, sister of Shemwindo.
While Mwindo was awakening Muisa, he kept on striking him all the time with his scepter, saying: “You have offended me in vain. You have tried to be equal to Mwindo, whereas Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked, the little one who does not eat earthly foods. The day he was born, he did not drink at the breasts of his mother.” When Mwindo had finished awakening Muisa, Muisa was brought back to life. Mwindo revealed to him his great secret, that he had been forged by his uncles, the people of Yana. “My body is covered with iron only, and you, Muisa, don’t you see me?” Muisa asked Mwindo: “You, Mwindo, how were you born? Do you have a medicine that makes you able to do these things?” Mwindo unwound for him the thread of his story. He told him: “Muisa, have you never heard that I came out of the middle of my mother? I was not born in the same way that other children are born, but I was born speaking and even walking! You, Muisa, have you never heard that I was thrown into a grave, one that they had even put banana stems on, but I came back to life. My father threw me once more into the drum, which he threw into the river, but I emerged from the water once more. Have you not heard all these marvelous things, Muisa? That is why you dared to make a fool of me.”
When Mwindo was at Muisa’s, he shook the rope to remind his aunt there in Tubondo that he would return, Iyaugura said to Mwindo’s uncles, the people of Yana, that where Mwindo had gone, he had long ago captured his father, and that he was now on his way home with him. While returning to Tubondo, Mwindo said farewell to Muisa; he sang:
You, Muisa,
You see me already leaving,
You Muisa, taker of other’s things.
Where Aunt Iyaugura remains
In Tubondo,
He who went away is back.
When Muisa saw Mwindo going, he said to him: “Oh, Mwindo, my son, it’s befitting that you marry my Kahindo here.” Mwindo answered him: “I cannot marry here, I shall marry later in Tubondo.”
The Return of the Hero
Mwindo set forth. He and his father went home, emerging where they had entered, at the root of the kikoka fern. When Mwindo and Shemwindo arrived at the entrance of Tubondo, those who were in the village, Iyangura and the uncles of Mwindo, swarmed there like bees. They went to greet Mwindo and his father at the entrance, where they met them. Seeing Mwindo, Iyangura and the uncles of Mwindo lifted him up into the air carrying him on their fingertips. When they had walked around the village of Tubondo, Mwindo told them to let him down. They put him down in the center of the village. They gathered many spear heads and put him on top of them. His maternal uncles put him to the test so they might know if their nephew had remained as he was when they had forged him. After Mwindo was seated in the middle of the village, he told his aunt the story of where he had been and how he had fought while searching for his father. He sang:
When I descended with the rope,
Aunt, I met with Kahindo.
Kahindo shouted and said:
“Mwindo, let me charge you with these words:
If you see Muisa, what Muisa will say,
You should refuse it.”
Mwindo said: “I go to the village, the village place
Where Muisa lives,
If I am not victorious there Muisa remains.”
When I arrived in the village of Muisa,
Muisa shouted, and said:
“Mwindo, sit down here.”
Mwindo shouted, complaining,
Saying, “This is your head, Muisa.”
Muisa shouted, and said:
“Counselors, give me some little beer
So that I may give it to Mwindo.”
And Mwindo shouted, complaining:
“A father’s urine a child never drinks.”
Muisa said: “Let us fight together.”
I kneaded Muisa with my own hands,
Quickly on my way.
I arrived in Ntumba’s cave,
In the cave of Ntumba,
Ntumba said: “Let’s fight together.”
I kneaded Ntumba with my own hands,
I, who had kneaded Muisa.
You too, Ntumba, are powerless against Mwindo,
Mwindo, the Little One Just Born He Walked.
I kneaded Ntumba so that I got tired.
Already I was hurrying to Sheburungu’s house.
When I arrived there at the entrance of Sheburungu’s,
One of the gods,
The youngsters howled, saying:
“Oh, Mwindo, we are hungry.”
I sent pastes over there.
The youngsters ate the pastes.
Already I was on my way to Sheburungu’s,
Together with the youngsters.
Sheburungu said: “Let us gamble”
I said: “You Sheburungu,
You are powerless against Mwindo,
The Little One Just Born He Walked.
Who made Muisa and Ntumba fail.”
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I shouted, complaining,
I, saying: “Give me my father here.”
Sheburungu shouted, saying:
“Mwindo, you are helpless in the game against Sheburungu,
Which has beaten Heaven and Earth.”
We took a handful of seeds.
Mwindo shouted, and said:
“Sheburungu, you are helpless against Mwindo.
Give me Shemwindo.
You see, I have already beaten you.”
Kahungu notified Mwindo,
Kahungu showed me Shemwindo.
It is I who seized Shemwindo,
My father, the dearest one.
We were already on the return trip.
“Shemwindo, let us go home,
Let us go up to Tubondo
Where remained Aunt Iyangura.”
What Shemwindo accomplished!
I arrive at the peak in Tubondo.
You see, I am carrying Shemwindo,
I am carrying my dear father.
Iyangura gave her son this order: “Since you have arrived with your father, bring him first into the shrine of good fortune to let him rest there.” They carried Shemwindo into the shrine hut. He settled down in it. In giving due hospitality to his father, Mwindo killed the goat that never defecates and never urinates. They cooked it, along with the rarest of rice, for his father. He said to his father: “Here are your goats! It is you who were wrong in vain. You set yourself against Mwindo, the Little One Just Born He Walked, when you said that you did not want any boys, that you wanted only girls. You did a deliberate wrong in the way you wished things to be. You did not know the strength of the blessing of Mwindo.”
After Mwindo had given food to his father as a hospitality gift, Iyangura said to him: “My son, shall we go on living always in this desolate village, we alone, without other people? I, Iyangura, I want you to save all the people who lived here in this village. When you have brought them back to life it is then only that I shall be able to know how great you are in beating Shemwindo. Only then can I tell others the story of the ways in which he acted, and the evil that he did against you.” Mwindo listened to the order of his aunt to heal those who had died. His uncles, the people of Yana, beat the drum for him while he, Mwindo, was dancing with the joy of seeing his father. They sang. His aunt shouted, and said:
My father, eternal savior of people.
Mwindo said:
Oh, father, they tell me to save the people.
I say: “He who went to sleep wakes up.”
Little Mwindo is the Little One Just Born He Walked.
My little father threw me into the drum.
Shemwindo, you do not know how to lead people.
The habits of people are difficult.
My little father, eternal malefactor among people,
Made bees fall down on me,
Bees of day and sun.
I lacked all means of protection against them.
While Mwindo was healing those who died in Tubondo, he went on in the following way: when we arrived at the bone of a man, he beat it with his scepter so that the man would then wake up. The resuscitation was as follows:
Each one who died in pregnancy will come back to life in her pregnancy.
Each one who died in labor revives while still in labor.
Each one who was preparing paste resuscitated stirring paste.
Each one who died defecating reborn defecating.
Each one who died setting traps comes to life trapping.
Each one who died copulating comes alive copulating.
Each one who died forging brought alive forging.
Each one who died cultivating comes to life cultivating.
Each one who died making pots and jars is reborn shaping.
Each one who died carving dishes comes to life carving.
Each one who died quarreling with a partner is brought back still quarreling.
Mwindo stayed in the village for three days bringing people back to life. He was bone weary. Each person he revived, arose straight up like a tree. Tubondo was lively once again with the people and the goats, the dogs, the cattle, the poultry, the male rams, and the female ewes, the teenage boys and girls, the children and the youngsters, the old males and females. In the middle of all those people were the nobles and counselors and the Pygmies and all the royal initiators. All those also were planted back in their own places. All the groups that formerly dwelt in Tubondo came back to life and became as they were before. Each person who died having things of a certain quantity, came back to life still having his things. Tubondo again became the big village with seven entrances.
When the people were revived, Iyangura began to speak in the middle of the crowd of people, saying: “You, Shemwindo, my brother, have your followers prepare quantities of beer and kill cows and goats for a feast. Let all the people meet here in Tubondo. Then we shall be able to examine in detail our deep concerns and to resolve them in our assembly.” After Shemwindo had heard the voice of his sister Iyangura, he uttered a cry, high and low, to all his people, saying that they should have beer together so they might meet together, discuss important things together.
The Royal Presentation
After a week had passed, all groups within his domain swarmed into Tubondo, bringing beer and different kinds of meat. On the morning of the eighth day, all the people of the villages of Shemwindo’s kingdom pressed together in the assembly. After all the people, the children and the youngsters, the adults and the elders, had gathered about, Mwindo cleaned and dressed. His aunt Iyangura, she too wrapped herself in her clothes, those famous ones of Mukiti. His father Shemwindo, he too dressed himself from top to bottom: bark cloths on which were red color and castor oil, fringes, hair ornaments. He too became something to behold. After the people had grouped themselves in the assembly, servants stretched mats out on the ground in the place where Mwindo and his father and his aunt would pass. Everyone kept silent, a sacred total silence. Those three radiant stars, Mwindo and his father and his aunt, appeared from inside the house. They came out into the open to the assembly, marching solemnly. Those who were in the gathering of the assembly gave them the gift of their eyes: There where the powerful ones appeared, that is where their attention was focused. Some among them asked who the marvelous boy was, saying: “I wonder, has Shemwindo been reborn in the form of another young man?” Some answered: “Shemwindo is there with the chief of Shekwabahinga, together with his wife.” Some said: “No, Shemwindo is there with his sister, Mukiti’s wife, and with Mukiti himself.” The remainder knew that Shemwindo was with his sister Iyangura, Mukiti’s wife, together with his son Mwindo, the Little One Just Born He Walked, the man of many wonders, the one who was formerly slain and cast off by his father.
Shemwindo and Mwindo and Iyangura went in a line, while appearing in the middle of the gathering of the assembly. Mwindo begged his friend, lightning-bringing Nkuba, for three copper chairs. Nkuba sent them down. When they were close to the earth, they remained suspended in the air about five meters from the ground. Mwindo and his father and his aunt climbed up onto the chairs. Iyangura sat down in the middle of both, Shemwindo on the right side and Mwindo on the left side. When all the men had grouped themselves within the assembly and had entered fully into the silence, Mwindo stood up from his chair. He raised his eyes into the air, imploring Nkuba, saying: “Oh, my friend Nkuba, prevent the sky from falling!” Having spoken like that, he lowered his eyes toward the ground, down upon the mass of people. He said, he lauded them, saying: “Be strong, you chiefs.” They approved of it. He said: “You counselors be strong.” They approved of it. Then he said: “You seniors, be strong.” They approved. Mwindo praised the council, holding all the powerful things with which he had been born: the scepter, the axe, the little bag in which the rope was. He also held an ancient stick so that he might respectfully praise the council. After Mwindo had finished praising the council, he made a proclamation: “Among the seven groups that are here in Tubondo
, may each group be seated together in a cluster, and the chiefs and the seniors of the other villages, may they also be seated in their own group.”
After he had finished speaking, the people gathered themselves in an orderly manner, each group in its own cluster: Mwindo also ordered that all his father’s wives, his seven mothers, be seated in one group but the Nyamwindo, the mother who gave birth to him, should separate herself somewhat from his other mothers, called “the little mothers.” After he had spoken like that, the little mothers moved to form their own cluster. His mother who gave birth to him moved a short distance away, all the while remaining near her co-spouses so they might not spite her.
Mwindo now ordered Shemwindo to speak: “My father, it is your turn. Explain to the chiefs why you have had a grudge against me. If I have taken a portion larger than yours, if I have borne ill will against you because of your goods, if I have snatched them away from you, tell the chiefs the story of what has happened so that they may understand.” Shemwindo was flabbergasted. Sweat arose from his big toe, climbed up to his testicles, arrived at the hair on his head. In a manly move, Shemwindo got up. Because of the great shame in his eyes, Shemwindo no longer praised the chiefs. Quivering, he spoke, choking a bit as he did so: all this brought about by the great evil that caused him to destroy Mwindo. Shemwindo said: “All you chiefs who are here, I don’t deny the harm that I have committed against this, my offspring, my son. Indeed, I had passed a law upon my wives, in the middle of the group of counselors and nobles, stating that I would kill, together with her child, any among my wives who would give birth to a son. Among all the wives, six gave birth only to girls, but it was my beloved one who gave birth to a boy. After my beloved one had given birth to a boy, I came to despise her. My preferred wife became my despised one. In the middle of all this anger, I armed myself with a spear. I threw it into the birth hut six times. I wanted to kill the child with its mother. When I saw that the child was not dead, I made an agreement with the counselors and the nobles—they threw this child away into a grave. When we woke up in the morning, upon awakening, we saw the child already wailing again in its mother’s house. When I heard that, I asked myself in my heart: If I continue to fail to kill this child, then it will usurp my royal chair. Now I have seen all these amazing things that he is doing here, so this child will cause me a big problem. It’s only then that I put him into the drum and threw him into the river. Where this child went, I believed that I was doing away with him, but I was only making him stronger. It is from these acts that the child’s anger stems. When he came out of the river, he marched right against me, attacking me right here in Tubondo.
African Folktales Page 36