The boys finally arrived in a kingdom where the king had just died, and the princess, his only child, let it be known that whoever provided a shroud for the king would receive her hand in marriage.  In that country, linen was so scarce that it was worth its weight in gold.  Someone suggested that the king should be buried in an ox hide, but that was considered a heathen practice.

The young man (for by now the boy had become a man) told his ring to produce a shroud made of the finest linen.  It did.  He then went to the palace and asked to see the princess.  When he was admitted to her presence, she fell in love with him, for he was handsome.   He showed her the linen sheet, which was finely woven and large enough to wrap a king several times and bury him with dignity.  This was done, and the funeral meal that followed was the first that the brothers had had for a long time.  The young man, the youngest of the two surviving brothers, was then married to the princess and so became king.

Now in the country where their parents lived, the famine persisted.  Finally they had to leave their home and go begging in foreign countries.  After many years, they wandered through the country where their son was king.  When they saw him riding a fine horse, however, they did not recognize him.  He did not recognize them either, but his elder brother did.

“Look! Our parents! We must make them king and queen.  They are our parents, and we are only their children.”  Thus spoke the eldest son in his kindness, but the younger brother said, “I have become king because I could provide what was needed.  Our father could not.  He sent us away to starve, and our little sister died.  He does not have the right to rule.”

Jan Knappert is a lecturer at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London. He holds degrees in numerous African languages and is the author of many books, most recently Epic Poetry in Swahili and Other African Languages.