Because Kodilikane was without a doubt the most attractive maiden in the whole village, all the other girls were jealous of her beauty, and so they decided to play a trick on her. Claiming that they had thrown all their beads and trinkets into the water to pay homage to the River God, they urged Kodilikane to do the same. So she took off her necklace and her copper bracelets and the copper bangles that gleamed and tinkled on her ankles, and threw them into the river. Peals of laughter came from those mean girls who then collected their jewels from where they had hidden them under a bush and skipped laughing away, mocking Kodilikane for having been so foolish. Alone, she stood on the side of the pool where the weeping willow tree bent down almost to the water, in which Kodilikane could see herself reflected as clearly as in a mirror. Pool! Pool! Show me my beads! she cried three times, and at the third cry the pool opened and a voice came up from below, saying, Come in, for your beads are here. Although she was afraid, she walked down into the big opening that had appeared in the water and found herself in a huge dry cave far below the surface. And there stood an old wrinkled woman, with only one arm and one leg. Laugh at me! cried the old hag shrilly. Laugh at my ugliness and mock my deformities! But Kodilikane was filled with compassion and she said, No mother, I shall not laugh or mock for I do not find you ugly or deformed. Well, then, said the old woman, her voice softening a little, clean up my place. Make the bed, wash the dirty dishes, sweep the floor. And a tear trickled down her wrinkled face as she saw Kodilikane starting to do these chores. And when she spoke again, her voice had lost all its harshness and was kind and gentle. She asked Kodilikane how it was that she had thrown all her trinkets into the river, and when she heard how she had been tricked by the other girls, she spoke as follows: Kodilikane, you are a girl full of compassion. Your kindness to an old hag who must have terrified you proves how kind and gentle you are. But you are in terrible danger down here, and without my help you would never see the golden sunshine on the surface of this pool again. There is no River God here, only Dimo the giant cannibal. Now, his coming is always accompanied by a light wind and a few drops of rain. Eat now, and then hide behind the wall over there. Ill think of a way of getting you back to sunshine and moonlight, singing and dancing, to the kind of life I knew before I fell into this same pool forty years ago and lost an arm and a leg to a crocodiles jaws and became Dimos slave. Just as Kodilikane finished her meal, a light wind blew through the cave and a few drops of rain tinkled into her plate, and she rushed away to hide, quaking behind the wall. Footsteps came like thunder and she heard a voice booming, Who is here? I smell a human being! You ear dreaming, Dimo, how could a human being come down here and not be drowned? That is true. I am so hungry I must be imagining things. Give me food, woman, and plenty of it. And Kodilikane could hear the cannibals mighty jaws chomping his food. Then, later, she heard him yawn mightily, and there was a crashing and a creaking as he fell into bed. The old lady hopped up to her, whispered that she should sleep and that they would make their plans in the morning. When she awoke, Dimo had gone. The old woman gave her food, and after she eaten, decorated her with the loveliest beads she had ever seen. On Kodilikanes arms she placed gleaming copper bracelets, and on her ankles, the most finely made copper bangles. She dressed the girl in a robe made of jackal fur and placed a silver-fox mantle over her shoulders. Now this is what you must do, she said. Take this smooth pebble with you, and as soon as you are outside the pool, rub your cheeks with it and throw it back. If you dont do this, you will fall back into the water and drown, for then the hole will be covered with water. Embracing the old woman in farewell, Kodilikane did as she was told, clambering up the steep side of the hole until she stood on the bank, rubbing her cheeks and throwing the pebble over her left shoulder and then running off to her village. Even as she started, she heard a sucking and gurgling behind her and knew that the water had rushed in to close up the hole in the pool. Her parents and friends were overjoyed to see her, because they feared that she might be drowned, and the stories of her adventures filled them with wonder. The girls who had told her to throw her trinkets into the pool were filled with envy when they saw her gleaming bangles and necklace and the robe and the silver-fox mantle. They decided to visit the old woman in the pool, so they went down to where the weeping willow tree bent over the water, threw in all their trinkets and cried out three times in their shrill voices, pool, pool, show us our beads! It was exactly as Kodilikane had said. The pool opened, and then they went down - all six of them - to meet the one-legged one armed old woman. Laugh at me! shrieked the old hag. Laugh at my ugliness and mock my deformities! And because these girls knew neither love nor compassion, they did as they were told. Clean up my place! the old woman roared. Make the bed, sweep the floor, wash the dirty dishes! But they refused to do so, saying that the place was a pigsty and that in any case they had not come all that way to work but simply to collect beads and robes and silver-fox mantles. The old womans anger was terrible to see. You are all wicked and selfish girls, she cried, all jealous of Kodilikane whose beauty reflects her kindliness and mirrors her love and compassion. Soon Dimo the giant cannibal will be here and I shall leave you for him to deal with. And that will be the end of you. Good riddance, too, I say! The girls were terrified. They begged the old woman to help them and promised that they would never be jealous or selfish again. Finally she said, I shall help you to escape, but only because Kodilikane was so unselfish and so compassionate. Youve lost your trinkets and beads and trinkets, and I shall not replaced them, nor will I give you a fur robe and a silver-fox mantle, for these things you have not earned. Away you go! But youll have to swim for it. The hole has closed up already. Be gone, and beware of the crocodiles! And one by one the girls came coughing and gasping to the surface, and splashed to the bank before the sleepy crocodiles could awaken and pursue them. Everybody in the village was astounded by the change in them. Their experience turned them into the most charming and unselfish women you could imagine.
Posted on: Sat, 09 Nov 2013 22:33:22 +0000
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