African Tales

43. Xhosa (South Africa) Children of the Anthill

43 Children of the Anthill 152 Xhosa (South Africa) by nongenile masithathu zenani Now for a story . . . A woman of a certain homestead was pregnant. Because she had become pregnant before getting married, she realized that her condition was shameful. She hid her growing stomach, she attempted to disguise her pregnancy. The months went by and her stomach became bigger; her breasts also revealed that she was pregnant. She tended now to remain by herself, to hide her condition from other people. Time passed for her, time passed and she continued her efforts to conceal her situation. Then, after a time, she began to feel birth pains. When she experienced those severe pains, she knew that something was going to happen. She therefore left her home, and journeyed a great distance. She went a long way from her home. She came to a certain place, and the pains were becoming stronger. She began to dig into an anthill; she dug, she dug and dug, making a kind of house in that anthill. When she had finished digging, the birth pains quickened, and she struggled to give birth. Finally, she gave birth to two children, a boy and a girl. And when she had delivered these children, she wrapped some of her rags about them, and left them there in that anthill. Now that she was no longer pregnant, she presented an appearance of someone who was blameless, one who had done nothing wrong. She remained at her home. As for the children, they grew up there at the anthill; they became older, and in time were able to crawl. They had to eat soil, because there was no one in that place to feed them. The children grew up, eating the soil. They crawled, after a time they walked, and finally they developed into children who were mentally awake. They observed the things that passed by, as they remained in the anthill. 230 After a long time, the boy began to travel about, hunting. He hunted birds: he would strike them down, then bring them to his sister. They would roast the birds. Time passed, time passed, and the boy realized that something might happen to them at this stage of their lives. They were still alone, and their minds were developing, even though they continued to live in this anthill. He contemplated what he should do, because they were getting more and more mature. This child said, “Sister, this land that we live in contains a great many things. You know that I’ve been wandering about every day, then returning here at dusk. I have found that just about everything is present in this country. There are ogres here, too, creatures that eat people! There are dangers in this land. You must continue to close the door of this place until I return from my trips. Don’t open that door until you hear my voice! Whenever I’ve gone off, for the sake of your security, you should not open the door until I say a certain thing. You know my voice. I’ll stand by the door, and say, ‘Open! Open! Open! Open! At the rock with two openings, Open! Where no swallows dwell, Open!’ Now, just in case someone overhears me saying this, and attempts to imitate my voice, note the tone of my voice carefully.” His sister understood his warning. So it was that he continued to travel about, seeking various things to eat. He would go hunting, then return. When he returned, he would stand there at the door which his sister had closed, and would say, “Open! Open! Open! Open! At the rock with two openings, Open! Where no swallows dwell, Open!” And his sister would open the door. Xhosa (South Africa) 231 “Child of my mother!” he would say, and they would eat then and be happy. And so time passed for them. But these children had already been smelled by the fabulous beasts that dwelled in this land, these ogres. The smells of the children were very pleasant to these creatures. They sensed the presence of people by their odors, and they would hunt these people. One of these creatures had heard the song that was sung at the anthill, that the song would be sung, then the anthill would be opened. He told his fellow beasts, and they determined to go to that anthill when the...