The tale of the Nakami begins in true native fashion: "There was a man; he had a field of bukonzo (dhurra); it ripened. The Rabbit came to eat it. He (i.e. the owner) came; he went to (see) it; he found in it the footmarks of the Rabbit. And he said, The Rabbit, it is he who eats my bukonzo." .... It will be seen that this style of narrative is conducive to longueurs, especially as the speeches of the various characters are reported with Homeric minuteness, and repeated in full every time there is occasion to refer to them. Thus, e.g., if a native has to relate that A gave B a message to convey to C, and C afterwards told the purport of the message to D, the exact words used will recur in extenso at least three times in the narrative.
To return to the Shisumbwa story; it runs, in a slightly condensed paraphrase, something like this: The owner of the field consulted with his neighbours, and they suggested that he should cut a log of wood into the shape of a girl. He did so, and having adorned the figure with cloth and beads, smeared her with gum (bwirembo; elsewhere they say malilolilo), and set it up in his field. When the Rabbit came in the early morning, he saluted her with "Mpola![1] little girl!" She made no answer. He said again: "Mpola, little girl!" No answer. So he said: "Do you hate your neighbours then? They salute you, and you say nothing. I will come nearer." He came nearer and spoke to her again, but still received no answer. Then he took hold of her, and his hand stuck fast. He said: "Let me go," but could not get away. "Let me go, little girl, there are people coming." He seized her with the other hand, and that, too, stuck fast. "Do let me go, they are coming nearer. I will put my foot on you." He did so; his foot stuck fast, then the other foot. Then he threatened to bite her, and as this produced no effect he tried to do so, and was caught by the mouth. Then he sat on her (it is not easy to see how
- ↑ Shisumbwa for "moyo," "sakubona," "moni," or "howdy."
