I had to find a wooden spoon
     Stepmother sent me out at night
     I have to carry claws and teeth!

Her father could hear her clearly, but he did not come out.  He could see the lion in his daughter’s arms and decided to stay in.  He shouted through the wattle wall, “Go to your mother’s brother!”  So, Mandoko went on to her uncle’s house and sang her little song.  Uncle was not prepared to come out either. Neither was Mandoko’s father’s eldest brother, the head of the family and chief of the village, prepared to risk his life helping his niece and fellow citizen.  He shouted through the wall of his garden, “Go and ask your great-uncle!”  Great-uncle, the oldest living citizen of the village, answered weakly that, though he had fought lions in his day, he was now too rheumatic for battles against wild animals.  They all kept their front doors firmly shut and barricaded.

Mandoko put the lion down on the village square and said to it, “Now I am tired.  No one wants to help me.  I am alone and poor.  Eat me.   “Not yet,” replied the lion, “I want you to take me first to the man you love.  Go on, pick me up.  Orphans are strong.  They can carry anything.”  So, Mandoko took the heavy lion in her arms again and carried him to the house of the man she loved.  He too, was home, and quite unprepared to come out.  “So, you love me, Mandoko?  You say that now?  I have never been your lover.  I never proposed to you, did I?  Leave me alone.”

Mandoko cried, but the lion said, “Now carry me to the man you did not want.”  Puzzled by this command, Mandoko took the lion to the house of a young man called Tunjur, who once proposed to her, but she had not wanted him, since he too was an orphan.  She had no hope that he would even open his door, so she sang her ever-longer song:

     I am Mandoko Motherless
     I have to find old frogs for food
     I had to find a wooden spoon
     I met a lion on the way
     I have to carry teeth and claws
     I shall be dead in half an hour
     I have become the lion’s slave.

When Tunjur heard the song, he recognized Mandoko’s voice and remembered her.  He came out with his spear and hatchet, ready to face the lion.