There was once a man, and he went and married a girl and went to live
with her in her village.
One day that girl's mother came to him and said, "My son-in-law, I want
you to do something for me. See, all my maize is being broken by the
wind. You must go out and drive away the wind for me, so that it does
not break my maize."
So that son-in-law went out into the fields and tried all day to drive
away the wind, but he was unable to; the wind got the better of him, and
in the evening he returned discomforted.
[Illustration: "HE TRIED ALL DAY TO DRIVE AWAY THE WIND"]
Then he thought to himself, "My mother-in-law is a very bad person. Who
would try to drive away the wind? It is not possible. Now I will find
something that she is unable to do, and tell her to do it, so that she
also will be discomforted."
So he went out into the bush and killed an animal and brought it back to
the village. Then he called his wife and said to her, "Take this meat
and give it to your mother, and tell her to cook and eat all the meat,
but that she is to keep the gravy for me, and that she must spread out
the gravy on the matting, so as to be ready for me."
So that girl brought the meat to her mother and gave her the message.
The mother-in-law then cooked and ate the meat, but left the gravy. Then
she took it and tried to spread it out on the matting for her
son-in-law, but it ran through.
Then that girl came and told her husband, "That gravy is not spreadable.
Mamma has tried to spread it out on the mat for you, but it has all run
through."
Her husband answered her, "Your mother is a very bad person. One day she
told me to drive away the wind from the maize, and I tried all day, and
it was not possible. So I, too, wished to tell your mother to do
something that was not possible; so I told her to spread out the gravy
on the mat. I knew that she would be defeated, even as I was defeated."