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Nomusa Makhoba JABULANI ALONE (ZULU) The performer of this story of Jabulani was Nomusa Makhoba, about forty-five years old, a Zulu woman. The performance occurred on February 10, 1968, in a home in Mahlabatini District, Zululand, in the Dlamini area. The audience consisted of six men, six women, and three children. (3749; tape 73, side 1) DEATH OF THE FATHER "I KNOW THAT YOU'RE RATHER SHARP WITH WOMEN. ..." There was a woman, the mother of Jabulani. Now, Jabulani's father died, and these are the circumstances of his death. They were living in a land in which Zulu-style houses were customary . They had eleven such houses, and Jabulani's mother was thatching them. During the period that she was thatching these houses, she would get up early in the morning and cook. She would cook, she would dish out the food for Jabulani's father, then they would sit down and eat. When they finished eating, she would take a pot and go to the river to dip water for moistening grass that she would plait into ropes. She would plait until the sun set, then she would tie up the ropes, she would roll them and put them away. Having done that, she would return home, and she would cook. One day, she was thatching these houses. She had begun with the great house of her homestead, the one built for the father of Jabulani, where the important men would live, and she was now thatching that house. Before bedtime, one of the children said, "Mother, something is hanging up there." "It's knocking against the ceiling!" another said. Jabulani's mother said, "Don't talk like that! There's no such thing! What are you saying?" One of the children said, "I'm sure of it, Mother! Something's touching the rungs of the roof frame!" Jabulani's mother was quiet, and everyone went to sleep. At dawn the next morning, they discovered that the roof of the house had been ripped open on one side. The ropes that Jabulani's mother had plaited had come apart. 369 370 Epilogue: Seizers of the Inheritance She went to tell Jabulani's father about this. "Father of Jabulani, the house has fallen apart. I don't know what has ripped it to pieces." Jabulani's father said, "Has it ever happened that a house just tears apart like this? The cattle didn't leave the kraal, they couldn't have done it. So I wonder how this happened, Child of my home." She said, "It's very strange, Father. I've turned it over in my mind: I can see nothing out of the ordinary as far as the cattle are concerned. What could possibly have caused these houses to be torn apart like this?" They went to the house, and time passed. The next morning, Jabulani's mother woke up. She took the grass and began again to plait it for these hOtlSes. As she made ropes for the houses, she said, "It's time I brewed some beer, so that I can invite some other women to come and help me. If I don't do that, my grass will soon start to rot." She sa~d to Jabulani's father, "There will be a lot of rain soon. If I work by myself, I'll not be able to finish in time." Jabulani's father said, '~ll right, go on building, prepare the beer. Ask other women to help you to build, because I don't have the strength to pull the thatching needle anymore. I'm getting old, my arms are paining me, I'm no longer able to pull the needle. My limbs have lost their suppleness , they've become stiff because of the work I've done on the other houses." Jabulani's mother brewed the beer. The thatching bundles were spread out on a cleared area. She invited the women, and they came and helped her to climb up on one of the houses. This house was erected and brought into shape. Then they drank the beer. They drank the beer, and the women began to dance, they had become a little intoxicated. They danced on and on. Jabulani's father came out, and said, "I didn't realize that these women could dance so well! But one thing baffles me about the women-their garments begin to smell after a time, the entire house fills up with the stench...

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