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The Guinea Fowl Child
A Zimbabwean Fable
Pitipiti should have been
a very happy woman. She was married to a rich man who had many cattle.
But after years of marriage, she was still unable to give him the
many children which a man like him deserved. She went to see many
people in the hope that they would be able to solve her problem;
but to no avail.
Day after day, she watched as her
husband’s love for her faded away before her very eyes. She
was very sad the day that her husband married a new wife so that
he could at last have children. But she was also happy for him when
she learned that his new wife had given him a child, and then another.
Each time she learned that the new
wife had given birth, she went to offer the newborn a gift; yet
she was refused each time. The new wife would tell her, “My
husband wasted too many years with you. In just a short time, I
have already given him children. Go away since no one wants your
gifts!”
Pitipiti was saddened to see that
her husband’s love for her that once used to shine in his
eyes was slowly replaced by pride for his children. Yet, she continued
to work her fields and live life the best she could in her solitude.
A few months later, while she was
working in her fields she heard some screeching from the bushes.
She approached to see what it was and found a guinea fowl at the
top of a branch. He looked at her and cackled, “I am really
lonely. So will you make me your child?” Pitipiti responded
that she could not have a guinea fowl for a child because everyone
would mock her. But he didn’t give up and continued to ask
her if she would make him her child just at night so that nobody
would know.
After a little thought she decided
that if she kept him as a child at nights it would give her company
and someone to care for so she agreed. The guinea fowl promised
that he would come late at night and he would leave the house early
in the morning so that no one saw him.
That night, when she returned home
she started to prepare her meal when she heard the screeching of
the guinea fowl at the window. She let him in and they enjoyed their
meal before going to bed. They lived very happy together like a
mother and child would.
Very often though the new wife would
pass and jeer at Pitipiti mocking her while she worked in her fields.
“What a waste that our husband gave you so much land to work.
You have no one to feed but yourself.” Then she would laugh
and go to her own fields to work. Pitipiti would just ignore her
comments; but the guinea fowl could not support that someone spoke
to his mother like that.
So, he flew to the bushes just near
the new wife’s fields and began to sing this song:
Come and eat my friends there is lots of grain
Come and eat my friends, eat all of this woman’s grain
The new wife simply thought that
it was a bird like all the others singing in the bush. One by one
though, the guinea fowls started to arrive. Soon her fields were
filled with guinea fowls that had heard the song and come to fill
their bellies.
In a panic the new wife started to
scream at them and kill the guinea fowl one after the other including
Pitipiti’s son. She immediately prepared them for dinner.
Her husband was pleased to see that
his wife had prepared so many birds for dinner and thanked her for
being such a good woman. They feasted to their hearts content and
sat at the table talking.
Just as they finished the last bite
of the meal, they heard the song of the guinea fowl. Looking around
to see where it was coming from, they discovered that the singing
came from their own stomachs. They got so scared that they grabbed
the knives from the table and cut stabbed at the birds. The birds
flew out of the holes and left the couple dead on the floor. They
then returned to the field to eat the remaining grain.
When Pitipiti learned what had happened,
she was happy that she would no longer have to endure the insults
of the new wife. She also got to keep all of her husband’s
cattle and his land.
Once people heard what happened,
there were many men who wanted to marry Pitipiti. After all, she
had a very intelligent and interesting son.
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