This was Themba’s favorite game; so he ran out of the hut, forgetting in his haste that he should have crawled out if he was to be thought grown up.
THREE: A Visit from the Chief
Nomusa took up a little grass basket into which she put some of the food cooking in the pot.
She picked out pieces of corn and banana, putting them into her mouth and sucking the juice from her fingers with great relish.
As she ate, she watched her mother getting ready for her husband’s visit. Makanya was busily greasing her body so she would look clean and shiny.
She rubbed her arms, then her legs, then her whole body, with fresh, sweet-smelling butter. It had been made the day before from cream from Makanya’s own cows.
“Nomusa, when you have finished eating, I should like you to help me comb my hair.”
“I have finished now, my mother.”