George McCall Theal

“ THE STORY OF HLAKANYANA.
Once upon a time there was a village with many women in it. All the women had children at the same time except the wife of the chief. The children grew, and again all the women gave birth to others. Only the wife of the chief had no child. Then the people said: “Let us kill an ox, perhaps the wife of the chief will then bear a child.”
While they were killing the ox, the woman heard a voice saying: “Bear me, mother, before the meat of my father is all finished.” ”

“ The influence of the unseen world is ever acting upon the Kaffir. Far nearer to him than Qamata or the spirits of his ancestors is a whole host of water sprites and hobgoblins, who meet him turn which way he will. There is no beautiful fairyland for him, for all these fanciful beings who haunt the mountains, the plains, and the rivers, are either actively [22] malevolent, or mischievous and addicted to playing pranks. To protect himself from them he carries on his person charms in numbers, only to find himself still exposed to their attacks. ”

“ Marriage proposals may come from the father or guardian of the young woman, or they may first be made by the man himself or the relatives of the man who wishes to take a wife. The father of a young man frequently selects a bride for him, and intimates his wish by sending a messenger to make proposals to the girl’s father or guardian. In this case the messenger takes some cattle with him, when, if the advances are favourably received, an assagai is sent back, after which the relatives of the young people discuss and finally arrange the terms of the marriage. ”

“ In practice the umdudo is often deferred to a convenient season, yet the woman is considered not less a wife, and her children not less legal, provided always that the transfer of cattle has taken place according to agreement. This system of transfer of cattle is of great advantage to a Kaffir female. It protects her from gross ill-treatment by her husband, as violence gives a woman’s relatives a right to claim her divorce without restoring the cattle. It creates protectors for herself and her children in the persons of all the individuals among whom the cattle are shared. ”

“ He said: “Did not Little Jackal bring a message to my children to carry meat?”
His wife replied: “No; he has not been here. We are still dying with hunger.”
Lion then went to Little Jackal’s house, but he could not get up the rock to it. So he sat down by the water and waited. After a time Little Jackal came to get water. He was close to the water when he saw Lion. He at once ran away, and Lion ran after him. He ran into a hole under a tree, but Lion caught his tail before he got far in. He said to him: “That is not my tail you have hold of; it is a root of the tree. ”

“ In a condition independent of European control, each Kaffir tribe is presided over by a great chief, whose government is, however, but little felt beyond his own immediate clan, each petty division being under a ruler who is in reality nearly independent. The person of a chief is inviolable, and an indignity offered to one of them is considered a crime of the gravest nature. ”

“ They are so constructed that parts of one can be made to fit into parts of another, so as to form a new tale. In this respect they are like the blocks of wood in the form of cubes with which European children amuse themselves. ”

“ Then their father said to them: “When we lie down to sleep, you must be watchful. You will hear a dancing of people, a roaring of wild beasts, and a barking of dogs in your mother’s stomach. You will know by that she is sleeping, and you must then rise at once and get away.” ”

“ Once in a time of famine a woman left her home and went to live in a distant village, where she became a cannibal. She had one son, whose name was Magoda. She ate all the people in that village, until only herself and Magoda remained. Then she was compelled to hunt animals, but she caught people still when she could. In hunting she learned to be very swift of foot, and could run so fast that nothing she pursued could escape from her. ”

“ If they chance to be disinclined for active exercise, they amuse themselves by moulding clay into little images of cattle, or by making puzzles with strings. Some of them are skilful in forming knots with thongs and pieces of wood, which it taxes the ingenuity of the others to undo. The cleverest of them sometimes practise tricks of deception with grains of maize. ”

“ Gingci said: “To-day we will drink of the milk that makes father fat and shining; we will not drink of the milk of the euphorbia to-day.”
The girl said: “As for me, I also say let us drink of father’s milk to-day.”
They entered the house. Gingci removed the eating mat from the jar, and said to the bird: “My father’s bird, make milk for me.” [34]
The bird said: “If I am your father’s bird, put me by the fireplace, and I will make milk.”
The boy did so. The bird made just a little milk.
The boy drank, and said: “My father’s bird, make more milk.” ”

“ THE STORY OF SIMBUKUMBUKWANA.
There was a man whose wife had no children, so that he was much dissatisfied. At last he went to a wise woman (Igqirakazi) and asked her to help him in this matter. She said: “You must bring me a fat calf that I may get its tallow to use with my medicine” (or charms—the Kaffir word is Imifizi) . The man went home and selected a calf without horns or tail, which he took to the wise woman. She said: “Your wife will have a son who will have no arms and no legs, as this calf has no horns and no tail.” ”

“ The marriage of a young Kaffir woman is arranged by her father or guardian, and she is not legally supposed to be consulted in the choice of a husband. In point of fact, however, matches arising from mutual love are not uncommon. In such cases, if any difficulties are raised by the guardians on either side, the young people do not scruple to run away together, after which their relatives usually come to an arrangement. Yet instances are not wanting of girls being compelled against their wishes to marry old men, who have already perhaps five or six wives. ”

“ A man may marry a woman of the same clan that he belongs to, provided she is not a blood relative; but he may not marry a woman whose father’s family title is the same as his own, even though no relationship can be traced between them, and the one may belong to the Xosa and the other to the Pondo tribe. As an instance, we will take a man who belongs to, say, the Dushane clan of the Xosa tribe, and whose family title is the Amanywabe. ”

“ The mother of the very black girl and the [152] crows was very jealous when she saw such a fine young chief coming with so many cattle. She wanted her daughter to be the one that was to be married; so she dressed her as finely as she could, but she had no such pretty clothes as the other girl had. Her name was Mahlunguluza, for she was called after the crows, who were the other children of her mother. The pretty girl’s name was Mbulukazi, which name was given to her because her handsome dress was made of the skin of a mbulu. ”

“ The girl in the meantime is kept secluded in the house of an aunt, or other female relative, and her father does not see her. Soon parties are seen coming from all sides, singing as they march. The first party that arrives halts in front of the cattle kraal, where it is joined by those that come after. When the girls are all assembled, the father chooses an ox to be slaughtered. The meat is cooked, and men and women come from all directions to the feast. The men then instruct the women to dress the girls for the dance, and when this is done they are ranged in rows in front of the cattle kraal. ”

“ Kaffir boys above the age of nine or ten years are fond of shamfighting with sticks. They stand in couples, each with a foot advanced to meet that of his antagonist, and with a cudgel elevated in the right hand. Each fixes his eye upon the eye of his opponent, and seeks to ward off blows as well as to inflict them. ”

“ The brave wear on their heads the feathers of the blue crane, which are given to them by the chief as tokens of distinction, and which no one else is permitted to wear (except a single individual at a peculiar ceremony which will be referred to in a note upon the custom of ntonjane) .
Horned cattle constitute their principal wealth, and form a medium of exchange throughout the country. Great care is taken of them, and particular skill is exhibited in their training. They are taught to obey signals, as, for instance, to run home upon a certain call or whistle being given. ”

“ 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. ”

“ When they were already in that place a long time, the girl grew to be big. There were no [37] people in that place. A bird came one day with a child, and left it there by their house.
The bird said: “So have I done to all the people.”
After that a crocodile came to that place. The boy was just going to kill it, but it said: “I am a crocodile; I am not to be killed; I am your friend.”
Then the boy went with the crocodile to the house of the crocodile, in a deep hole under the water.
The crocodile had many cattle and (much) millet. He gave the boy ten cows and ten baskets of millet. ”

“ In playing, the arms are thrown out very quickly, and the words are rapidly uttered, so that a stranger might fancy there was neither order nor rule observed. Young men and boys often spend whole nights playing the Iceya, which has the same hold upon them as dice upon some Europeans.
Next to the Iceya, the most popular indoor game with Kaffir children is the Imfumba. One of the players takes a grain of maize, or any other small substance, in his hands, and pretends to place it in the hands of the others, who are seated in a circle around him. ”

“ A long time ago a woman who went to cultivate her garden took her little daughter with her, and before she began to hoe the ground she laid the child down in the shade of a tree. About midday there came two birds and flew away with the girl. They carried her across a great river, and laid her gently down in a pumpkin field on a plain. ”

“ Hlakanyana said: “You have killed my goat, the goat that I received from the boys that were tending goats, the boys that broke my pot, the pot that I received from the people who make pots, the people who broke my digging-stick, the digging-stick that I received from my companion, my companion who ate my birds and left me with the heads.”
They gave him a calf.
Hlakanyana came to the keepers of cows.
He said to them: “You only suck the cows without letting the calf suck first. Why don’t you ask me to lend you this calf, that the cows may be induced to give their milk freely?” ”

“ Sikulume spread out his mantle and it became a hut as hard as stone, into which they all went. In the evening they returned with the cattle. The daughter of Mangangezulu came to them. Her mother pressed her foot in the footprint of Sikulume, and he became an eland.
The girl loved the young chief very much. When she saw he was turned into an eland, she made a great fire and drove him into it. Then he was burned, and became a little coal. She took the coal out and put it in a pot of water, when it became a young man again. ”

“ The rites of religion consist merely in sacrifices to appease the spirits. These are numerous. On great occasions they are performed by individuals who act the part of priests, on ordinary occasions by heads of families. The meat of the animal sacrificed is eaten, for the hunger of the spirit is allayed with the smoke. ”