FINGER RHYMES AND RIDDLES
Now I have told you four African tales of animals, and perhaps you are
tired of such stories. If, however, I can remember a very good one
before I am finished writing to you I shall put it into this chapter.
Let me now tell you about the black boys and girls’ riddles, and there
are one or two nursery rhymes that I know of. I am sure you would like
to hear them, so I shall write them down for you as they are spoken
here, and then translate them for you. Here is one of them:--
“Uyu ndi mtecheteche,
Uyu ndi mpwache wa mteche,
Uyu ndi mkala pakati,
Uyu ndi mkomba mbale,
Uyu ndi chitsiru chache,
Tikumenya iwe: Go! Go!”
Can you guess what this is all about? You have a rhyme that means just
the same. Well this is what these funny words mean:--
“This is the shaky little finger,
This is his younger brother,
This is the one in the middle,
This is the plate-scraper,
This is an old fool,
I beat you thus: Go! Go!”
It is you see an African finger rhyme. You have all one of your own,
but I am sure in it you never call your fore-finger a plate-scraper,
nor your thumb an old fool. But if you had to eat without spoons and
knives and forks, and wanted to make your plate very clean you would
have to use your fore-finger a good deal, and you would then understand
why the black children call it a plate-scraper.
This is another finger rhyme for counting up all the fingers:--
“Mbewa zagwa;
Zagweranji?
Zagwera mapira;
Ndikazikumbe;
Ndiopa uluma.
“Mzanga Likongwa,
Ali kukaku;
Amanga mpanda;
Ndikamtandize;
Wata Kale.”
This is the English for it:
“The mice have fallen;
Why have they fallen?
They have fallen for the millet;
I go dig them;
I fear to be bitten.
“My friend Mr Weasel,
He is at the chiefs house;
He builds a fence;
I go help him;
He’s finished long ago.”
Then about guesses. I have tried to pick out one or two just to let you
hear what like they are. Many of the answers to riddles I have heard
seemed to me to have little or no point in them. So it is with the
stories. But when I have failed to see the joke and have not laughed
the black boys have not failed. They have their own funny stories and
laugh at them heartily. But our jokes they do not understand, nor do
they play pranks on one another as white boys do. Let me try to tell
you how you can make black boys and girls roar with laughter, and yet
to a white man there is nothing to laugh about. If you are telling
them about people scattering helter-skelter and say that the people,
“nalimenya,” which means go off helter-skelter, the boys will go into
fits of laughter. Now I can see nothing to laugh at in this, and I am
sure you can’t either, and, if another word had been used, neither
would the black boy. But here is the peculiar thing. It is the “li” in
the middle of the word that makes it funny to African children here.
“Menya” means “beat,” but “_li_menya” means “run off helter-skelter.”
Again “Sesa” means “sweep,” but “_li_sesa” means “run off
helter-skelter;” and so on with a lot of other words, the addition of
the syllable “li” makes them change their meanings entirely, and become
“run off helter-skelter,” and so very funny that black boys and girls
cannot keep from laughing. Now for the guesses:--
“What is yonder and here at the same time?”
_Answer_--A shadow.
“I built a house with one post.”
_Answer_--A mushroom.
“It goes yonder yet remains here.”
_Answer_--A belt.
“I had a big garden, yet got no food from it.”
_Answer_--The hair of the head.
“I built my house without any door.”
_Answer_--An egg.
“My hen laid an egg among thorns.”
_Answer_--The tongue and the teeth.
I think you will understand these answers to the above guesses, but
what do you think of this one?
“In my mother’s house there is money.”
_Answer_--Baldness.
I am certain you and I would never have thought of such an answer.
Here are one or two of their proverbs:--
“Sleep knows no friendship, has no favourite.”
“If your neighbour’s beard takes fire, quench it;”
which latter means--
“Help your neighbour now, for some day you may need help.”
By means of these guesses the African children while away the time and
amuse themselves on wet days or on cold nights round the fire by asking
them from one another. Now let me close this chapter by telling you the
story of
THE RABBIT, THE LION, AND THE WILD PIG
There was once a lion that knew all about medicine. He did a good trade
with people who came to buy it. One day some people from a far country
came and begged him to come with them to heal their sick. So the lion
agreed, and set about to get a servant to carry his bundle on the
journey. Finding a wild pig near, he called him, saying, “Come, friend
Pig, will you go on that journey?” and the pig agreed. So the lion gave
him the load to carry.
When they were on the way the lion said to the pig, “Look there, Master
Pig, that is the medicine for porridge. If they make porridge for us at
the end of our journey you must run and get some of these leaves.” The
pig said, “All right,” and they went on their journey.
While they were passing another bush the lion said again, “Look there,
Master Pig, that is the medicine for rice. If they make rice you must
run and get some of these leaves.” The pig again said, “All right,” and
they continued their journey.
When they reached the village of the sick people the lion and pig were
well received. In the evening porridge was cooked for them, and the
lion said to the pig, “Master Pig, go and get yon leaves.” So Master
Pig ran off to get the leaves. When he came back with them he found
that the lion had finished all the porridge. So that night Master Pig
went to bed hungry. Next evening the people cooked rice, and the lion
said to the pig, “Master Pig, go and get yon leaves;” and Master Pig
set off in a hurry to bring the leaves. But when he got back, all
puffing and blowing, he found that the lion had just finished the rice,
and he had to go hungry to bed.
Next day they returned home, and the poor pig arrived at his village in
a famished condition, to the great sorrow of his wife and children.
Not long afterwards other people came requesting the services of Dr
Lion to heal their sick, and he agreed to go.
Looking around for a carrier he spied the rabbit, and said, “Come,
friend Rabbit, will you go on that journey?” and the rabbit agreed. So
the lion gave him his load to carry.
When they were on the way the lion said to the rabbit, “Master Rabbit,
do you see that bush? That is the medicine for porridge. If they make
porridge for us at the village you must run and get these leaves.” “All
right,” said the rabbit, and they continued their journey. But they had
not gone far when the rabbit stopped, and said, “Where is my knife; I
must have left it where we rested. Let me run back to get it.” “All
right,” said the lion, “don’t be long.” So the rabbit ran back, pulled
some leaves from the medicine bush, and hid them in the load. When he
reached the lion they resumed their journey. Soon the lion stopped
again at another bush, and said, “Master Rabbit, do you see that bush?
That is medicine for rice. If they cook rice for us at the village you
must run and get these leaves.” The rabbit said, “All right,” and they
went on their way.
But in a short time the rabbit stopped, and said, “Where is my knife?
I must have left it where we rested. Let me run back for it.” The lion
was very angry this time, and said, “What kind of a servant are you,
always losing your knife? Don’t be long.” So the rabbit ran back not to
find his knife but to pull the medicine leaves for rice, which he hid
in his bundle. When he made up on the lion again they continued their
journey and soon arrived at the village.
In the evening porridge was cooked for the visitors, and the lion said
to the rabbit, “Master Rabbit, go and get yon leaves.” So the rabbit
untied his bundle and produced the leaves. The lion was so angry at
seeing the leaves thus produced that he could not eat a bite, and the
rabbit had all the porridge to himself. Next evening rice was cooked
for them, and the lion said to the rabbit, “Master Rabbit, go for yon
leaves.” But the rabbit again just opened his load and produced the
leaves, and the lion was so sick and angry that he could not touch the
rice, which the rabbit ate all to himself.
Next day they started on their homeward journey, and the first night
slept in the same house, the lion in a bed, the rabbit on a piece of
bark. During the night the rabbit said out aloud, “He who sleeps on
bark will be fresh for his journey in the morning, but he who sleeps in
a bed will walk heavily and with pain.” The lion on hearing this got
out of bed, saying, “You little one, get off that bark, I myself will
sleep there.” So they changed sleeping places. In the middle of the
night the rabbit got up and lit a fire while the lion slept. The heat
of the fire soon caused the bark to shrivel up and tightly enclose the
sleeping giant. Then the rabbit ran off home and left him.
In the morning great roars were heard coming from the house and the
people, wondering what had befallen Dr Lion, rushed in and found him
struggling to free himself. With their axes they soon had him out, and
he went home a hungry and sorrowful beast. When his wife and children
saw him looking so thin, they set up a great crying.
And so people who believe that they are very clever, will soon find
others more clever than they. The lion thought himself very cunning
when he deceived the poor pig, but he found the rabbit too much for him.