DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0355
THE WAYAO OF NYASALAND
339
About the Greedy Man (Jua Mlume Juakususukwa)
Once upon a time, there was a man and he went and set a trap and caught an mbendu
(genet cat). So he brought it back to his home and singed the fur off and partly roasted
it, and then hung it up from the roof inside his hut without telling his wife to cook it. It
was in the summer time. One day his wife said, “ I am tired of gathering herbs to cook for
your relish. What about the animal hanging up there? Shall I not cook it?” The husband
replied that not for anything would he have it cooked. “ I am going to keep it till we get
our new crops in,” he said. So the woman said nothing and time passed and the little
animal got as dry as a bone. One day when the man and the woman had gone to hoe in their
garden, the mbendu came to life again and jumping down, found the basket where the
woman kept her clothes and beads; opening it, he took them out and dressed up in them.
Thus arrayed he went out of the hut and came to the place where some women were pound-
ing grain; so he began to sing and danced to them. His song was:
“ Achambumba’wo kutuwa’ko misi jose leche leche, mbwi! jukutu! jukutu! ”
“The women (who were) pounding there pounding sticks all they have left! ”
and he told the women to sing the chorus 11 Nanchalamanda! ” (Mbwi is the word used to
indicate the sound and action of a short hop on both feet like a bird or some steps in a
dance. Jukutu similarly has reference to the movements of the buttocks in dancing.
N anchalamanda means “ very dry,” referring to the mbendu and the treatment he had
suffered.) So they all danced together, but when he judged the people would be going back
to the house, he escaped and ran back to the house and putting away the clothes and beads
in the basket, he went back to his position hanging from the roof. This went on for several
days and many of the boys and girls in the village used to go to the pounding place to see
mbendu dance. One day the child of the man who had caught the mbendu recognized the
cloth he was wearing as belonging to his mother and noticed him go back to their house.
So he went and told his mother and father who, when they looked into the basket, noticed
that the things inside had been disarranged and that the cloth was dirty. So they said
they must find out what was going on, and next day, pretending to go to their garden, they
hid themselves. Presently mbendu came down, put on the cloth and beads and went out
of the house to dance as usual. When the man and his wife appeared, he ran away to the
house, threw off the cloth and hung himself up to the roof, but he had not quite shrivelled
up dry again when they came in and discovered him. When mbendu saw that he was found
out, he jumped down and ran away, this time quite free into the fields, so the woman
reviled her husband for saving up the animal in greedy fashion so long.
Note: When telling these and other stories, there is a regular formula with which the
narrator prefaces his discourse. The story-teller begins:
339
About the Greedy Man (Jua Mlume Juakususukwa)
Once upon a time, there was a man and he went and set a trap and caught an mbendu
(genet cat). So he brought it back to his home and singed the fur off and partly roasted
it, and then hung it up from the roof inside his hut without telling his wife to cook it. It
was in the summer time. One day his wife said, “ I am tired of gathering herbs to cook for
your relish. What about the animal hanging up there? Shall I not cook it?” The husband
replied that not for anything would he have it cooked. “ I am going to keep it till we get
our new crops in,” he said. So the woman said nothing and time passed and the little
animal got as dry as a bone. One day when the man and the woman had gone to hoe in their
garden, the mbendu came to life again and jumping down, found the basket where the
woman kept her clothes and beads; opening it, he took them out and dressed up in them.
Thus arrayed he went out of the hut and came to the place where some women were pound-
ing grain; so he began to sing and danced to them. His song was:
“ Achambumba’wo kutuwa’ko misi jose leche leche, mbwi! jukutu! jukutu! ”
“The women (who were) pounding there pounding sticks all they have left! ”
and he told the women to sing the chorus 11 Nanchalamanda! ” (Mbwi is the word used to
indicate the sound and action of a short hop on both feet like a bird or some steps in a
dance. Jukutu similarly has reference to the movements of the buttocks in dancing.
N anchalamanda means “ very dry,” referring to the mbendu and the treatment he had
suffered.) So they all danced together, but when he judged the people would be going back
to the house, he escaped and ran back to the house and putting away the clothes and beads
in the basket, he went back to his position hanging from the roof. This went on for several
days and many of the boys and girls in the village used to go to the pounding place to see
mbendu dance. One day the child of the man who had caught the mbendu recognized the
cloth he was wearing as belonging to his mother and noticed him go back to their house.
So he went and told his mother and father who, when they looked into the basket, noticed
that the things inside had been disarranged and that the cloth was dirty. So they said
they must find out what was going on, and next day, pretending to go to their garden, they
hid themselves. Presently mbendu came down, put on the cloth and beads and went out
of the house to dance as usual. When the man and his wife appeared, he ran away to the
house, threw off the cloth and hung himself up to the roof, but he had not quite shrivelled
up dry again when they came in and discovered him. When mbendu saw that he was found
out, he jumped down and ran away, this time quite free into the fields, so the woman
reviled her husband for saving up the animal in greedy fashion so long.
Note: When telling these and other stories, there is a regular formula with which the
narrator prefaces his discourse. The story-teller begins: