We were all gathered about the fire as usual, when Safeni, the sage
coxswain, exclaimed, "See here, boys; do you not think that for once in
a while it would be well to hear some legend connected with men and
women? I vote that one of you who have amused us with tales of lions
and leopards, should search his memory, and tell the company a brave
story about some son of Adam. Come, you Katembo, have the Manyema no
legends!"
"Well, yes, we have; but my ears have been so open heretofore that my
tongue has almost forgotten its uses, and I fear that after the smooth
and delightful tales of Kadu, you will not think me expert in speech.
However, and if you care to hear of it, I can give you the legend of
Gumbi, one of our kings in long-past days, and his daughter."
"Speak, speak, Katembo," cried the company; "let us hear a Manyema
legend to-night."
Katembo, after this general invitation, cleared his throat, brought the
soles of his feet nearer the fire, and amid respectful silence spoke as
follows:--
It was believed in the olden time that if a king's daughter had the
misfortune to be guilty of ten mistakes, she should suffer for half of
them, and her father would be punished for the rest. Now, King Gumbi
had lately married ten wives, and all at once this old belief of the
elders about troubles with daughters came into his head, and he issued a
command, which was to be obeyed upon pain of death, that if any female
children should be born to him they should be thrown into the Lualaba,
and drowned, for, said he, "the dead are beyond temptation to err, and I
shall escape mischief."
To avoid the reproaches of his wives, on account of the cruel order, the
king thought he would absent himself, and he took a large following with
him and went to visit other towns of his country. Within a few days
after his departure there were born to him five sons and five daughters.
Four of the female infants were at once disposed of according to the
king's command; but when the fifth daughter was born, she was so
beautiful, and had such great eyes, and her colour was mellow, so like a
ripe banana, that the chief nurse hesitated, and when the mother pleaded
so hard for her child's life, she made up her mind that the little
infant should be saved. When the mother was able to rise, the nurse
hastened her away secretly by night. In the morning the queen found
herself in a dark forest, and, being alone, she began to talk to
herself, as people generally do, and a grey parrot with a beautiful red
tail came flying along, and asked, "What is it you are saying to
yourself, O Miami?"
She answered and said, "Ah, beautiful little parrot, I am thinking what
I ought to do to save the life of my little child. Tell me how I can
save her, for Gumbi wishes to destroy all his female children."
The parrot replied, "I grieve for you greatly, but I do not know. Ask
the next parrot you see," and he flew away.
A second parrot still more beautiful came flying towards her, whistling
and screeching merrily, and the queen lifted her voice and cried--
"Ah, little parrot, stop a bit, and tell me how I can save my sweet
child's life; for cruel Gumbi, her father, wants to kill it."
"Ah, mistress, I may not tell; but there is one comes behind me who
knows; ask him," and he also flew to his day's haunts.
Then the third parrot was seen to fly towards her, and he made the
forest ring with his happy whistling, and Miami cried out again--
"Oh, stay, little parrot, and tell me in what way I can save my sweet
child, for Gumbi, her father, vows he will kill it."
"Deliver it to me," answered the parrot. "But first let me put a small
banana stalk and two pieces of sugar-cane with it, and then I shall
carry it safely to its grandmamma."
The parrot relieved the queen of her child, and flew through the air,
screeching merrier than before, and in a short time had laid the little
princess, her banana stalk, and two pieces of sugar-cane in the lap of
the grandmamma, who was sitting at the door of her house, and said--
"This bundle contains a gift from your daughter, wife of Gumbi. She
bids you be careful of it, and let none out of your own family see it,
lest she should be slain by the king. And to remember this day, she
requests you to plant the banana stalk in your garden at one end, and at
the other end the two pieces of sugar-cane, for you may need both."
"Your words are good and wise," answered granny, as she received the
babe.
On opening the bundle the old woman discovered a female child,
exceedingly pretty, plump, and yellow as a ripe banana, with large black
eyes, and such smiles on its bright face that the grandmother's heart
glowed with affection for it.
Many seasons came and went by. No stranger came round to ask questions.
The banana flourished and grew into a grove, and each sprout marked the
passage of a season, and the sugar-cane likewise throve prodigiously as
year after year passed and the infant grew into girlhood. When the
princess had bloomed into a beautiful maiden, the grandmother had become
so old that the events of long ago appeared to her to be like so many
dreams, but she still worshipped her child's child, cooked for her,
waited upon her, wove new grass mats for her bed, and fine grass-cloths
for her dress, and every night before she retired she washed her dainty
feet.
Then one day, before her ears were quite closed by age, and her limbs
had become too weak to bear her about, the parrot who brought the child
to her, came and rested upon a branch near her door, and after piping
and whistling its greeting, cried out, "The time has come. Gumbi's
daughter must depart, and seek her father. Furnish her with a little
drum, teach her a song to sing while she beats it, and send her forth."
Then granny purchased for her a tiny drum, and taught her a song, and
when she had been fully instructed she prepared a new canoe with food--
from the bananas in the grove, and the plot of sugar-cane, and she made
cushions from grass-cloth bags stuffed with silk-cotton floss for her to
rest upon. When all was ready she embraced her grand-daughter, and with
many tears sent her away down the river, with four women servants.
Granny stood for a long time by the river bank, watching the little
canoe disappear with the current, then she turned and entered the
doorway, and sitting down closed her eyes, and began to think of the
pleasant life she had enjoyed while serving Miami's child; and while so
doing she was so pleased that she smiled, and as she smiled she slept,
and never woke again.
But the princess, as she floated down and bathed her eyes, which had
smarted with her grief, began to think of all that granny had taught
her, and began to sing in a fluty voice, as she beat her tiny drum--
"List, all you men,
To the song I sing.
I am Gumbi's child,
Brought up in the wild;
And home I return,
As you all will learn,
When this my little drum
Tells Gumbi I have come, come, come."
The sound of her drum attracted the attention of the fishermen who were
engaged with their nets, and seeing a strange canoe with only five women
aboard floating down the river, they drew near to it, and when they saw
how beautiful the princess was, and noted her graceful, lithe figure
clad in robes of fine grass-cloths, they were inclined to lay their
hands upon her. But she sang again--
"I am Gumbi's child,
Make way for me;
I am homeward bound,
Make way for me."
Then the fishermen were afraid and did not molest her. But one desirous
of being the first to carry the news to the king, and obtain favour and
a reward for it, hastened away to tell him that his daughter was coming
to visit him.
The news plunged King Gumbi into a state of wonder, for as he had taken
such pains to destroy all female children, he could not imagine how he
could be the father of a daughter.
Then he sent a quick-footed and confidential slave to inquire, who soon
returned and assured him that the girl who was coming to him was his own
true daughter.
Then he sent a man who had grown up with him, who knew all that had
happened in his court; and he also returned and confirmed all that the
slave had said.