Ndiyi nkuku nje ndingebulawe. Kukulu ku-u-u.
Ndize kubika u-Tangalimlibo. Kukulu ku-u-u.
U-Tangalimlibo ufile. Kukulu ku-u-u.
Ukelele umntu ntloni amanzi. Kukulu ku-u-u.
Ibe kutunywa inkomo, yakonya. Kukulu ku-u-u.
Yaba kutunywa inja, yakonkota. Kukulu ku-u-u.
Among the Kaffirs a childless woman finds little or no favour. In many
cases she would be treated by her husband in exactly the manner
described in this tale, so that by becoming a mother she might say from
the bottom of her heart, with Elizabeth of old, that “her reproach was
taken away from among men.” Sometimes she is returned by her husband to
her parents, a proceeding commonly adopted when she has a marriageable
sister who can be given to him in exchange. The husband is required,
however, before repudiating his wife, to go through the customary
ceremonies, which are described in the following case tried before me
when acting as a border magistrate in 1881:—A, a Kaffir, sued B,
another Kaffir, to recover the value of a heifer lent to him two years
before under these circumstances. B’s wife, who was distantly related
to A, had been married more than a year without bearing a child. B
thereupon applied to him for a heifer, the hair of the tail of which
was needed by the doctor of the clan to make a charm to put round the
woman’s neck. He had lent him one for the purpose, and now wanted
payment for it. The defence was that A, being the woman’s nearest
relative who had cattle, was bound to furnish a heifer for the purpose.
The hair of the tail was needed, the doctor had made a charm of it and
hung it round the woman’s neck, and she had thereafter given birth to a
son. The heifer could not be returned after being so used. In this
case, if the plaintiff had been so nearly related to defendant’s wife
as to have participated in the benefit of the cattle given by her
husband for her, he could not have justified his claim under Kaffir
law; but as he was very distantly connected, he got judgment. The
feeling entertained by the Kaffirs about the court in this instance was
that B had acted very ungratefully towards A, who had not even been
present at the woman’s marriage feast, but who had cheerfully acted in
conformity with the custom which requires that a charm must be made out
of the hair of the tail of a heifer belonging to a relative of a
childless wife, in order to cause her to bear children.
It will be observed that the woman speaks of those whose names are
unmentionable. According to Kaffir custom no woman may pronounce the
names of any of her husband’s male relatives in the ascending line. She
is bound to show them the greatest respect, and implicitly to obey
their commands. She may not sit in the house where her father-in-law is
seated, she may not even pronounce any word in which the principal
syllable of his name occurs. Thus, a woman who sang the song of
Tangalimlibo for me used the word angoca instead of amanzi for water,
because this last contained the syllable nzi, which she would not on
any account pronounce. She had therefore manufactured another word, the
meaning of which had to be judged of by the context, as standing alone
it is meaningless.
The beer-drinking company on the mats under a tree, the escort of the
bride to her husband, and the wedding feast are true to the life.
The idea of the Kaffir with regard to drowning is also shown very
distinctly in this tale. He believes that a spirit pulls the person
under water, and that this spirit is willing sometimes to accept an ox
as a ransom for the human victim. How this belief works practically may
be illustrated by facts which have come under my own cognizance.
Some time in 1875, a party of Kaffir girls went to bathe in a little
stream not far from the place where I was then living. There was a deep
hole in the stream, into which one of them got, and she was drowned.
The others ran away home as fast as they could, and there told a story
how their companion had been lured away from their side by the spirit
calling her. She was with them, they said, in a shallow part, when
suddenly she stood upright and said, “It is calling.” She then walked
straight into the deep place, and would not allow any of them to touch
her. One of them heard her saying, “Go and tell my father and my mother
that it took me.” Upon this, the father collected his cattle as quickly
as possible, and set off for the stream. The animals were driven into
the water while the man stood on the bank imploring the spirit to take
the choicest of them and restore his daughter. The failure to get the
exchange effected is still attributed by the relatives of the drowned
girl to the absence of one skilful to work with medicines.
On another occasion, a Kaffir was trying to cross one of the fords of a
river when it was in flood. He was carried away by the current, but
succeeded in getting safely to land some quarter of a mile or so
further down. Eight or ten lusty fellows saw him carried off his feet,
but not one made the slightest effort to help him. On the contrary,
they all rushed away frantically, shouting out to the herd boys on the
hill sides to drive down the cattle. As might be supposed, the escape
of the man from being drowned was then attributed to his being in
possession of a powerful charm.
Besides these spirits, according to the belief of the Kaffirs, there
are people living under the water, pretty much as those do who are in
the upper air. They have houses and furniture, and even cattle, all of
their domestic animals being, however, of a dark colour. They are wiser
than other people, and from them the most skilful witchfinders are
supposed to obtain a portion of the knowledge of their art. This is not
a fancy of children, but the implicit belief of grown-up men and women
at the present day. A knowledge of this is of great service to those
who have to do with Kaffirs. As an instance, a woman came to me in
July, 1881, to beg assistance. A child had died in her village, and the
witchfinder had pointed her out as the person who had caused its death.
Her husband was absent, and the result of her being “smelt out” was
that no one would enter her hut, share food with her, or so much as
speak to her. If she was in a path every one fled out of her way, and
even her own children avoided her. Being in the colony she could not be
otherwise punished, but such treatment as this would of itself, in
course of time, have made her insane. She denied most emphatically
having been concerned in the death of the child, though she did not
doubt that some one had caused it by means of witchcraft. The
witchfinder was sent for, and, as the matter was considered an
important one, a larger number of Kaffirs than usual appeared at the
investigation. On putting the ordinary tests to the witchfinder he
failed to meet them, and when he was compelled, reluctantly, to admit
that he had never held converse with the people under the water, it was
easy to convince the bystanders that he was only an impostor.