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55 10 Mbewa and Nkerma 38 Bura (Nigeria)39 For many years Mbewa and Nkerma were happy together. Nothing had ever come between them to separate them. Neither of them thought that anything could ever happen that would make them fight. Mbewa was raised by Heduma Ntsukwa and was like a son to him. Nkerma was a very near relative of Heduma Ntsukwa. The mother of Heduma Ntsukwa was a Miziwi. When Heduma Ntsukwa died, half of his property would go to Nkerma and the other half to Mbewa, because they both belonged to the same family as Heduma Ntsukwa. Because of these things, Mbewa and Nkerma could not be enemies, for they both sprouted from the same person. There was a brother of Nkerma whose name was Bardi Dawi. This Bardi Dawi dug up a peanut farm near to the farm of the slaves of Heduma Ntsukwa. Each dug up his own farm and planted peanuts. When the peanuts grew, thieves came to steal them. The slaves of Heduma Ntsukwa had to guard the farms and keep the thieves from coming and stealing peanuts. When the peanuts were ready to be dug, each of them dug his own peanuts and spread them out to dry. When the peanuts were dry, each began to carry his peanuts home. As they carried peanuts, the slaves of Heduma Ntsukwa insisted that they should have some of Bardi Dawi’s peanuts as wages for keeping the thieves away. They declared that some peanuts must be given to them or there would be trouble. While this talk was going on, Bardi Dawi was not there. He had gone to the house with a load of peanuts. There was a woman there whose name was Yangasa Kwapiya. She guarded the peanuts. She said to Bardi Dawi, “The slaves said that you must give them some peanuts. Or do you think that they are your slaves and will guard your peanuts for nothing?” Bardi Dawi said, “Well, if they are going to ask and ask by force, I will not give them any peanuts, not even a few. Did they farm peanuts for me? Or are they showing off because they are slaves?” Bardi Dawi and his wife gathered up their peanuts in baskets as if to take them home. But here came the slaves of Heduma Ntsukwa, and Yangasa Kwapiya told them everything that Bardi Dawi had said. This made the slaves very angry, and they wanted to fight Bardi Dawi because he had cursed them. They came after him with a fighting knife. They struck and stabbed. Yaska cut and gashed Bardi Dawi and received deep wounds from him before those who were near could get them separated. Both men’s wounds caused great, foul ulcers, and they had to take them to men who knew ulcer medicine. But Dawi’s ulcer got worse. It was on his head, and before many days he died. All the people cried, “Heduma Ntsukwa must run with all his people to prevent a feud.” Already, destruction had been caused by his slaves. In one night, Heduma with all his close kin fled. But all the Miziwi came out to follow the feud. They swore that if they found any member of the family of Heduma Ntsukwa, they would kill him for Bardi Dawi. They hunted and hunted, but they could find no one to kill in revenge. For a time, everything was quiet, but the feud was not dead. After a time, Heduma Ntsukwa sent a message to Nkerma, saying, “It was a slave who killed one of you; it is not as if one of us had killed one of you. I beg you to let me pay you cloth or a horse or anything you say, and let us be done with this awful thing.” Nkerma sent to Heduma Ntsukwa in reply, “Tell him that I will not receive cloth or anything else in lieu of a choice young man like Dawi. Nothing will end this feud but the life of a man, man for man.” When Heduma heard this, he was very sad and did not know what to do. He knew that the day Nkerma met one of his family, that person would be killed. Heduma sent another message, begging Nkerma to take wealth instead of life in lieu of Dawi, but Nkerma would have nothing of the kind. Time went on, and Nkerma followed every rumor of the presence of a relative...

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