Show rIfE QUEEN OF THE POOL BY HEN11V M STANLEY Author ol How I found Livingstone In D ikest Africa Etc 4 L Copyright 1S93 by Henry Stanley Kassim was a sturdy lad from the Basoko > country Ae yet he had never related re-lated to us a legend though ho loved to Bit near the fire and listen to the tales of the days of old This silence on his part was remarked and one night he was urged by all of us to speak because was Y unfair that those who frequented our openair club should be always ready to 1 receive amusement and yet refuse to contribute con-tribute his share to the entertainment i This kind of argument pushed home 1 brought him at last to admit that he owed the party a debt in kind and said Well friends each man according to I his nature though there are so many men in the world they differ from one j I i another as much as stones no two of I which are exactly alike Here is Baruti i who never seems to tire of speech I while I find more pleasure in watching his lips move tin and down and his I I tongue pop out and in than in using my i own I cannot remember any legend that is the truth but I know of some I I thing that occurred in our country relating relat-ing to Izoka a woman originally of L Umane the big town above BasokoI which is not fiction Izoka the queen of I the pool as we call her is alive now and I should you ever pass by Umane again you i i may ask any of the natives if my words are true and you will find that they will certify to them k Izoka is the daughter of a chief of Umane whose name was Uyimba and her mother was Twekay One of the young warriors called Koku lifted his eyes towards to-wards her and as he had a house of his own which was empty he thought Izoka ought to be the one to keep the hearth warm and keep him company while he went fishing The idea became fixed in his mind and he applied to her father and the dowry was demanded and though it > was heavy it was paid to ease his longing after her Now Izoka was in every way fit to be a chieis wife She was tall slender comely of person her skin like down to the touch her kindly eyes brimming over with pleasantness her teeth like I white beads and her ready laugh was i such that all who heard it compared it to the sweet sounds of a flute which the perfect I per-fect player loves to make before he begins a tune and mens moods became merry when she nassed them in the village J Well she became Kokus wife and she left her fathers house to live with her husband 4 At first it seemed that they were born for one another Though Koku was no mean fisherman his wife excelled him in every way Where one fish came into his net ten entered into that of Izoka and this great success brought him abundance abund-ance Hs canoe returned daily loaded t with fish and on reaching home they had I as much work to clean and cure the fish as they could manage Their daily catch I would have supported quite a village of people from starving They therefore disposed of their surplus stock by bartering barter-ing the fish for slaves and goats and fowls hoes cared paddles and swords and Koku became the wealthiest among the chiefs of Umane through the good fortune that ttended Izoka in whatever I she did Most men would have considered themselves highly favoured in having such fortunate wives but it was not so with Koku He became a changed man Trosperity proved his bane He went no more with Izoka to fish he seldom v sited s-ited the market in her company nor the fields where the slaves were at work planting manioc or weeding the plantain rows or clearing the jungle He might I always be seen with his long pipe boozing booz-ing wit wretched idlers on the plantain plan-tain vine purchased with his wifes industry in-dustry and when ho came home it was to storm at his wife in euch a manner that she could only bow to it in silence When Koku was most filled with malice he had an Irritating way of disguising dis-guising his spitefulness with a wicked smile while histoncue exprgssod all sorts i of contrary fancies He would take delight de-light in saying that her smooth skin was I as rough as the leaf with which we polish i our spearshafts thatshe was dumpy and dwarfish that her mouth reminded him of a crocodiles and her ears of an apes i I her legs were crooked and her feet were hoofs and she was scorned for even her nails which were worn to the quick with household toll and he continued in this style lover her until he became persuaded I that it was she who tormented him Then he accused her of witchcraft He said i that it was by her witchs medicines that I she caught so many fish aud he knew that some day she would poison him I Now In our country this is a very serious seri-ous accusation However she never crossed her husbands humor but received re-ceived the bitterness with closed lips This silent habit of hers made matters worse The more patience she showed the louder his accusations became and the worse she appeared in his eyes And indeed I in-deed it is no wonder If you make up your mind that you will see naught in a wife but faults you become blind to everything else Her cooking was vile there was 1 either too much palm oil or too little in the herbmess there was sand in the meat of the fish the fowls were nothing but bones she was said to empty the chilIpot in the stew the house was not lean there were snakes in his bedand Iso iBO i-BO on and so on Then she threatened I when her tough patience quite broke down that she would tell her father if he did not desist which so enraged him that he took a thick stick and beat her so j cruelly that she was nearly dead This was too much to bear from one so ungrateful un-grateful and she resolved to elope into the woods and live apart from all mankind man-kind She had traveled a good two days journey when she came in sight of a lengthy and wide pool which was fed by many springs and bordered by tall bending reeds and the view of this body of water backed by deep woods all round appeared so pleasing that she chose a level place near its edge for her resting place Then sue unstrapped her hamper and sat down to make her plans After awhile she turned out the things she had brought in order to see what could be done by her There was a wedgelike ax which could also be used as an adze there were two hoes a handy Basoko billhook a couple of small nets a ladle halfadozen small gourds full of grains a cooking pot some small fishknives a bunch of tinder a couple of fire sticks a short stick of sugar cane two banana bulbs a few beads iron bangles and tiny copper balls As she looked overall these things she smiled with satisfaction and thought she would manage well through She then went into the pool a little way and looked searchingly in for a time and she smiled again as if to say better and better betterNow Now with her ax she cut a hoe handle and in a short time it was ready for use She then went to the poolside and commenced to make quite a large round hole She labored at this until the hole was as deep and wide as her own height then she plastered the bottom evenly with the mud from the pool bank and after that she made a great fire and throughout the night that followed fol-lowed after a few winks of sleep she would rise and throw on more fuel When the next day dawned after breaking break-ing her fast with a few grains baked in her pot she swept out all the fire from the well and wherever a crack appeared in the baked bottom she plastered it up carefully and she also plastered the sides all round smoothlyand again she made a great fire and left it to burn all day While the fire was baking the well hard she hid her hamper among a clump of reeds and explored her neighborhood During her wanderings she found a path leadine northward and she noted it She also discovered many nuts sweet red berries some round others oval and the fruit which is a delight to the elephants and loading herself with as many of these articles as she could carry she returned to the side of her well sat down and refreshed re-freshed herself The last work of the day was to take out the fire plaster up the cracks in the bottom and sides and remake re-make the fire as great as ever Her bed she made not far from it with her axe by her side The first thing next morning she determined de-termined to follow the road she had found and when the sun was wellnigh the middle of the sky she came in view of a banana grove whereupon she instantly in-stantly retreated a little and hid herself When darkness had well set she rose and penetrating the grove cut down a largo bunch of bananas with which she hurried hur-ried back along the road When she came to a stick she had laid across the path she knew she was not far from the pool and she remained there until it was sufficiently light to find her way to the wellBy the time she had arrived at her well it was in a perfect state sound and well baked as her cooking pot After half filling it with water she roasted a few bananas and made a contented meal from them Then taking her pot she boiled some bananas and with these made a batter She now emptied the pot smeared the bottom and sides of it thickly with this sticky batter and then tying a vine round the pot she let it down into the pond As soon as it touched the ground lo the minnows flocked greedily into the essel to feed on the batter And on Izoka suddenly drawing it up she brought several score of minnows the spawn of catfish some of the young of the bearded fish which grow to such an immense size in our waters The minnows min-nows she took out and dried to serve as food but the young of the cat and beaded fish she dropped into her well She next dug a little ditch from the well to the pool > and after making strong and close netting of cane splinters across the mouth of the ditch she made another narrow ditch to let a thin rillet of spring water supply the well with fresh water Every day she spent a little time in building p hut in the cosy place surrounded sur-rounded by bush which had only one opening then she would go and work a little at a garden wherein she had planted the sugar cane which had been cut into the three parts and the two banana bulbs and had sowed her millet and her sesa mum and yellow corn she had brought in the gourds and every day she carefully fed her fish in the well But there were three things she missed most in her loneliness lone-liness and these were the cries of an infant in-fant the proud cluck of the hen after she lays an egg and the bleating of a kid at her threshold This made her think that she might replace them by something else and she meditated long upon what it might be Observing that there were a number groundsquirrels about she thought of snares to catch them She accordingly made loops of slender but strong vines near the roots of the trees and across their narrow tracks in the woods And she succeeded at last in catching a pair With other vines rubbed over with birdlime bird-lime she caught some young parrots and wagtailswhose wing feathers she chopped off with her billhook And one day while out gathering nuts and berries for her birds she came across a nest of the pelican wherein were some eggs and these she resolved to watch until they were hatched when she would take and rear them She had found full occupation for her mind with no time at all for grief in making cages for her squirrels and birds and providing them with food f Izoka however being very partial to the fish in the well devoted most of her leisure in feeding them and she soon taught them to be so tame that they understood un-derstood the cooing notes of her strange song asthough they were human beings She fed them plentifully with banana butter so that in a few months they had grown into a goodly size Byandby the became too large for the well and as they were perfectly tame she took them out and allowed them to go at large in the pool but punctually in the early morning and at noon and sunset she called them to her and gave them their daily portion of food for by this time she had goodly store of bananas and grain from her plantation and garden One of the largest fish she called Munu and it was so intelligent and trustful in his mistress hands that he disliked going very far from the neighborhood and if she laid her two hands in the water it would rest contentedly in the hollow thus formed She had also strung her stock of shells and beads into necklaces and I I had fastened them round their tails Her other friends grew quite as tame as the fish for all kind of animals learn to cast off their fears of mankind in return re-turn for true kindness and when no disturbing dis-turbing shocks alarm them And in this lonely place so sheltered by protecting woods where the wind had scarce power to rustle the bending reed and hanging leaves there was no noise to inspire the most timid with fright If you try you can fancy this young woman Izoka sitting on the ground by the poolside surrounded by her friends like a mother by her offspring In her arms a young pelican on one shoulder a chattering parrot on the other a sharp eyed squirrel sitting on his haunches licking his forefeet in her lap another playing with his bushy tail and at her feet the wagtails wagging friskily their hind parts and kicking up little showers of dusty soil Between her and the pool longlegged heron who had long ago been snared and had submitted to his mistress kindness and now stands on one leg as though he were watching for her safety Not far behind her is her woodland home well stored with food and comforts which are the products of her skill and care Swifts and sandmar tins are flying about chasing one another merrily and making the place ring with their pipings the water of the pool lies level and unwrinkled save in front of her where the fish sometimes flop about impatient im-patient for their mistress visit j This was how she appeared one day to I the cruel eyes of Koku her husband who had seen the smoke of her fire as he was going by the path which led to the north Being a woodman as well as a fisher he had the craft of such as hunt and he stealthily approached from tree to tree until he was so near that he could see the beady eyes of the squirrel on her shoulder who startled her by his sudden movements It was strange how quickly the alarm was Communicated from one to another His brother squirrel peeped from one side with his tail over his back like a crest the parrot turned one eye towards the tree behind which Koku stood and appeared transfixed the heron dronped his other leg to the ground uttered bis melancholy cry kwale and dropped his tail as though he would surge upward The wagtails stopped their curtseying the pelicans turned their long bills and laid them lazily along their backs looking fixedly at the tree and at last Izoka warned by all these signs of her friends she also turned her head in the same direction but she saw no one and as it was sunset she took her friends indoors Presently she came out again and went to the poolside with fish food and cooed softly to tier friends in the water and the fish rushed to her call and crowded around her After giving them their food she addressed the largest fish and said I am going out tonight to Bee if I cannot find a discarded cooking vessel for mine is broken Beware of making friends with any man or woman who cannot can-not repeat the song I tat g it you and the fish replied by sweeping its tail to right and left accordinc to its way Izoka who now knew the woods by night as well as by day proceeded on her journey little knowing how Koku had discovered her and her manner of life and secrets He waited a little time then crept to the pool side and repeated the song which she had sung and immediately im-mediately there was a great rush of fish towards him at the number and size of which he was amazed By this he perceived per-ceived what chance of booty there was here for him and he sped away to the path to the place where he had left his men and he cried out to them Come haste with me to the woods by a great pool where I have discovered loads offish of-fish His men were only too glad to obey him and by midnight they all arrived at the pool After stationing them near him in a line with their spears poised to strike Koku sing the song of Izoka in a soft voice and the great and small fish leapt joyfully from the depths where they were sleeping and they thronged towards to-wards the shore flinging themselves ov reach r-each other and they stood for awhile gazing gaz-ing doubtfully up at the line of men But soon the cruel spears flew from their hands and Munu the pride of Izoka was pierced by several and was killed and dragged on land by the shafts of the weapons which had slain him Munu was soon cut up he and some others of his fellows and the men loading themselves them-selves with the meat hastily departed Near morning Izoka returned to her home with a load of bananas and a cooking cook-ing vessel and after a short rest and refreshment re-freshment t she fed her friendsthe ground squirrels the young pelicans the parrots par-rots and herons and scattered a generous supply for the wagtail and martins and swifts then hastened with her bounties to the poolside But alas near the waters edge there was a sight which almost caused her to faintthere were tracks of many feet bruised reeds blood scales and refuse of fish She cooed softly to her friends they heard her cry but approached slowly and doubtingly She called out to Munu Munununu oh Munu Munu Munu but Munu came not and the others stood well away from the shore gazing at her reproachfully and they would not advance any nearer Perceiving that they distrusted her she I threw herself on the ground and wept hot tears wailing Oh JMunu Munu Munu why do you doubt me When Izokas grief had somewhat subsided she followed the tracks through the woods Until she came to the path where they were much clearer and there she discovered that those who had violated vio-lated her peaceful home had traveled toward Umane A suspicion that her husband must have been of the number served to anger her still more and she resolved to follow the plunderers and endeavor en-deavor to obtain justice Swiftly she sped on the trail and after many hours quick travel she reached Umane after darkness had fallen This favored her purpose and she was able to steal unperceived near to the open place in front of her husbands hus-bands house where she saw Koku and his friends feasting on fish and heard him boast of his discovery of the fine fish in a forest pool In her fury at his daring dar-ing villainy she was nearly tempted to rush upon him and cleave his head with her billhook but she controlled herself and sat down to think Then she made the resolution that she would go to her father and claim his protectiona privilege privi-lege she might long ago have used had not her pride been wounded by the brutal treatment her person had received at the hands of Koku IHer fathers village was but a little distance away from Umane and in a short time all the people in it were startled by bearing the voice of one who was believed be-lieved to be long ago dead cry out shrilly in the darkness the names of Uyimba and Twekay On hearing the names of their chief and his wife repeatedly called the men seized their spears and sailed out and discovered to their astonishment that the longlost Izoka was amongst them once again and that she was suffering suffer-ing from great and overpowering grief They led her to her fathers door and called out to Uyimbaand his wife Twekay to come out and receive her saying that it was a shame that the pride of Umane should be suffering like a slave in her fathers own village The old man and his wife hurried out torches were lit and Twekay soon received her weeping daughter in her arms In our country we are not very patient pa-tient in presence of news and as everybody every-body wished to know Izokas story she was made to sit down on a shield and tell all her adventures since she had eloped from Umane The people listened in wonder at all the strange things that were told but when she related the cruelty of Koku the men rose to their feet altogether and beat their shields with their spears and demanded the punishment punish-ment of Koku end that Uyimba should lead them there and then to Umane They accordingly proceeded in a body to the town of Kokus house and as he came out in answer to the call of one of them to ascertain what the matter was they fell upon him and bound him hand and foot and crrrying him to their superior chiefs house they put him to his trial Many witnesses came forward to testify against his cruel treatment of Izoka and of the robbery of the fish and of the manner of it and the great chief placed Kokus life in the power of Uyimba whose daughter he had wronged who at once ordered him to be beheaded and his body to be thrown into the river The sentence sen-tence was executed by the riverside river-side without loss of time The people of Umane and Uyimbas village then demanded that as Izoka had shown herself so clever and good as to make birds animals and fish obey her voice that some mark of popular favor should be given her Whereupon the principal chief of Umane in the name of the tribe ceded to her all their title in the forest pool and the woods and all things in it round about as far as she could travel in a day and also all the property of which Koku stood posessed Izoka by the favor of her tribe thus became owner of a large district and mistress mis-tress of many slaves and flocks goats and fowls and all manner of useful things for making a settlement by the pool There is now a large village there and Izoka is wellknown in many lands near Umane and Basoko as the queen of the pool and at last accounts was living still prosperous and happy but she has never been known to try marriage again |