[From Songs and Tales from the Dark Continent by Natalie Curtis Burlin, C. Kamba
[From Songs and Tales from the Dark Continent by Natalie Curtis Burlin, C. Kamba Simango (who is shown in the photograph playing a kalimba), and Madikane Čele, 1920. See item #41 in the Bibliography.]
Once there was a terrible drought. No rain fell, the lakes dried up, and the animals had no water. So Mphontholo the Lion, who was King, called all the animals together and said, “You must dig a well. Each of you must do his share and take his turn.”
But Shulo the Hare, said, “I shall not waste my time nor trouble myself with any digging. Let the others do that.” So he ran off by himself.
But the other animals all gathered to do their share; they came from many different parts of the country and each one, as he trotted in to the place chosen for the well, sang as he ran:
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje,
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje,
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje.
Then the animal began to dance, for he thought that by dancing he would kick up the ground. That was his way of digging. And as he danced he sang:
Kuputu, kuputu, bukuta mphuli!
Kuputu, kuputu, the dirt is flying!
Then he made way for the next animal, saying:
Ti no lu kanda kuna, Va Njou!
Then Njou the Elephant would dance and sing:
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje,
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje,
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje.
Kuputu, kuputu, bukuta mphuli!
Kuputu, kuputu, the dirt is flying!
At the end of his dance Njou would say:
Ti no lu kanda kuna, Va Nyati!
I give my place to you, Sir Buffalo!
Then Nyati the Buffalo would dance and sing:
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje,
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje,
Chinya’nje-nje’leka nje.
Kuputu, kuputu, bukuta mphuli!
Kuputu, kuputu, the dirt is flying!
At the end of his dance Nyati would say:
Ti no lu kanda kuna, Va Shelen!
So it went on until all had sung and danced and dug, yet no water was in sight. Now, of course, though the animals thought they were digging, they were really only packing the earth down harder and harder by dancing in the same place.
So they all took counsel together and the King called Hamba the Tortoise, and Hamba said, “The water is under the earth.” And so instead of dancing on top of the earth, he dug down, way underneath, far into the ground, and there he found the water!
When the well was finished, the animals were very happy for they knew that they would have plenty to drink. But they also knew that they could not trust Shulo the Hare. They said, “Though Shulo would not help and has done none of the digging, we know that he will come at night and try to steal our water. ” And they said, “Each night one of us must watch the well.” And Bongo the Hyena said, “I will watch the first night. ”
Shulo, meanwhile, was planning how he could get the water, and he filled his calabash with honey and went to the well. There was Bongo just as he expected. Shulo said, as though talking to himself, “I’ve got something here so sweet that anybody who tastes it would have to be tied up before I’d give him a second taste.”
Bongo said, “Ho, Shulo! Give me some of that sweet stuff.” And Sh