A wilderness tale

The following story, which I heard by several firesides, kept listeners spellbound. As always in these stories, the lone character wandering in the bush foreshadows some dramatic action. This retelling, “Father and Son Meet Magical Bush Women,” turns on a youth’s immaturity as he encounters apparitions in the wilderness. He confronts two ambiguous women while alone and misconstrues their identity. As most yishima do, this folktale instructs through the characters’ actions; namely, the story clearly distinguishes between people who can see more than the immediate appearance and those who succumb to sorcerers’ tricks. The story’s scenes and figures mirror the threats Chokwe youth confront when entering the bush.

‘Father and Son Meet Magical Bush Women’

A father said to his son, “Let’s go hunting. Let’s go into the bush.” They took their manioc flour and bedding and headed over toward the Lwange River area. There, they set up a temporary hunting camp. They built a hut and lit a fire and cooked. Then they slept.

The next morning, the father went out to hunt and the son stayed behind to guard their belongings. Out on the plains, the father wandered about but found no game. So he headed toward the river late in the afternoon, when animals go there to drink. As he neared the river, he saw two girls waving to him. They called out, “We’re looking for someone like you, a handsome man to marry us.”

“Really!” answered the astonished man—noticing that they were quite beautiful.

“Yes. But first you must return to your campsite. You must go back there and kill your son. Then, as proof, you must show us your bloody ax. After that, you can take us. Only then will we go with you to your village.”

The man left. At first, he hurried. But after a while, he slowed down and thought to himself, “What kind of women are they—telling me to kill my son to marry them!” The man decided to think about it as he walked along. Just then, as he passed a mukulu tree, he remembered the proverb; “A man of wisdom, not a man of stature.”

Quickly, he turned around and struck his ax into the tree. Red sap dripped from his ax as he hurried back to the women. Nearing them, he held it out: “See, I have come to marry you. I killed my son. Look at this bloody ax!”