The Runaway Children.
There are three or four versions of this story, but all agree in the main points. In one, it is the grandmother of the children who is the cannibal, in another, it is their mother, and in a third it is the husband of their aunt. One version makes Magoda escape with the children, and introduces a great deal of obscenity. The parts referring to the bird and the manner of the children’s delivery are the same in all. So also is the episode of the broken pot, but the conversation between the two girls differs in some respects. [[225]]
When a Kaffir woman is married, her husband’s parents give her a new name, by which she is known to his family ever after. Upon the birth of her first child, whether son or daughter, she is frequently called by every one else after the name given to the child, “the mother of so-and-so.”
The ntengu is rather larger than a swallow, and is of a bright bluish-black colour. It may often be seen on the backs of cattle, seeking for insects on which it feeds.
The Girl and the Mbulu.
The mbulu is a fabulous creature, firmly believed in by little folks. It can assume the human form, but cannot part with its tail. One of its peculiarities is that it never speaks the truth when it is possible to tell a falsehood.
The Story of Long Snake.
In this story the girls are represented as taking fermented milk to the man. This is not in accordance with ordinary Kaffir usage, which prohibits females from serving out milk. But Long Snake, though a man, has been bewitched and obliged to assume the appearance of a serpent, retaining however the faculties of a human being.