Once upon a time, there was a boy who was looking for a woman to marry. One day the boy saw a very pretty girl and fell in love with her. Since he was looking for a woman to marry, he went to the girl’s parents to discuss it.
When he arrived there, the parents told the boy: “Our daughter does not speak, if you can manage to make her talk, you can marry her”. The boy wondered: Only that? He got very happy…
The boy approached the girl and began to ask her several questions, tell funny things and even insult her, but the girl did not laugh and did not even utter a word. The boy gave up and left sad…
After this boy, many other suitors came and approached the girl, some were very rich – with plenty of wealth, but none was able to make her speak.
The last suitor was a dirty boy, poor and insignificant. He appeared before the girl’s parents, saying that he wanted to marry her, and her parents answered: “If several suitors with lots of money came here and did their best, persuaded her, showing thousands and thousands of Xikudos in order to get a word from her and none made it, do you think you’re able to make her speak? You dirty boy! Don’t even think of it!”
The young man insisted and asked to be allowed to try it. Finally, the parents accepted. The boy asked the girl to go to his farm so that she could help him weed. The field was full of green crops of corn and peanuts. They started weeding, weeding and weeding…. but after long and hard work of weeding and they were about to finish, the boy began to chop everything…
He chopped… chopped and chopped…
The girl remained in silence to see the boy’s intention!!!
After a long look, the girl realized that the boy was not stopping chopping. Then she burst: “WHAAAAAAAATTTTTTTTTTTTT AAAAAARRRRRRRREEEEE YOOOOOOOOOOOU DOOOOOOOOOIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGG?”
The boy began to laugh: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH… HEHEHEHEHEHE… HIHIHIHIHI..
The girl with a furious voice asked: “What are you LAUGHING? Are you Crazy? Why are you chopping everything?!”
The boy said to the girl: “Go home and tell your parents that you spoke today!”
When they got there, the boy told her parents what had happened on the farm. Then, the issue was discussed by the elders of the village and a great marriage was organized. The boy took the girl and they still live together even today…
African tales
This African tale was written down by Ameracio Samuel Machava. Ameracio is an English teacher in Gaza Province, Mozambique