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Magezi and the Hand Full of MilletMagezi and the finger of milletByIllustrated by Brian WambiTranslated by
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Back in the day, there was these two animals that was real good homies.
one's name was Magezi, and the other's name was Kasiru.
They shared all they stuff with each other and everything. Things was so tight with them that they shared a white ant even
Long ago, there were two animals that were good friends. One was called Magezi Mataala Manene, the other was called Kasiru Kasiira Katono.
They used to live by sharing. Their friendship was so deep that they could share one white ant. |
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Then one day, Magezi asked Kasiru, “You want to dig with me when we eating?"
Kasiru was like, “That's cool. I'm down with it. And we can be storing our food too.” It was all good.
One day, Magezi Matala Manene made a suggestion.“Why don't we dig together as we eat together?” he asked.
Kasiru Kasiira Katono replied, “Good idea. We should also store our food together.” They both agreed to this. |
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Magezi opened up, “Yo! Who gonna start digging? Why you don't be the one to dig, and I ma sow?”
“Aight,” said Kasiru, and she made this big garden. Then she said, “Yo Magezi, I'm done digging. Why don't you start sowing millet.”
Magezi Mataala Manene asked his friend, “Ee! Who will start the digging? Why don't you dig, and I will come to sow?”
“Yes,” replied Kasiru Kasiira Katono, and she dug a big garden. Then she told her friend, “Magezi Mataala Manene, I have finished digging. Come and sow millet.” |
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Magezi said, “You go ahead and sow, I ma weed it later on.” Kasiru went ahead sowing. When she was done, she told Magezi, “You see the grass growing, don't you?. Go weed it.” Magezi said, “Nah I'm cool, do the weeding for me. I ma harvest.”
Magezi Mataala Manene said, “You go on with the sowing, I will come and weed.”
So Kasiru Kasiira Katono went on with the sowing. When she finished she told her friend, “Grass has started to grow. Go and weed.” But Magezi Mataala Manene replied, “No, you go on with weeding. I will harvest.” |
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Kasiru just decided to go and weed the garden until the millet got ripe.
When it got time to harvest Kasiru went to Magezi and was like, “Dude, I done done all the cultivating, the sowing, and the weeding. Now get your lazy tail up and harvest this millet.”
Kasiru Kasiira Katono went on with the weeding until the millet was ripe.
At harvesting time she went to her friend and said, “Magezi Mataala Manene, I cultivated, and sowed, and weeded. Now come and harvest the millet.” |
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But Magezi was like, “Hecky no, I ain't got time for all that! You do it. I ma put it in the granary.”
Kasiru was fine with it again. So she harvested the millet and took it home. She called Magezi and told him, “Yo bro, I done harvested. Come take this millet to the granary.”
Magezi Mataala Manene replied, “Not at all, I have no time! You go on and harvest. I will put it in the granary.”
Kasiru Kasiira Katono accepted this. She harvested the millet and took it home. She called Magezi Mataala Manene and said, “My friend, I have finished harvesting. Come and take the millet to the granary.” |
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Magezi say, “I can't be lifting all that millet like that. You go put it in the granary yourself. I ma come pound it.”
Kasiru said, “You just playing me.” Magezi replied, “No, not really! Just give me a hand full of millet. You can take the rest. I ma pay you back. You got my word.”
Magezi Mataala Manene replied, “I cannot lift all that millet. You put it in the granary. I will come during pounding.”
Kasiru Kasiira Katono said to her friend, “It seems you are simply tricking me.” Magezi Mataala Manene replied, “No it's not true! Give me just one millet finger and you take the rest. I will pay you back.” |
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It wasn't like Kasiru was mean or nothing. She gave Magezi a hand full of millet, and they went seperate ways.
Magezi walked a long ways! He eventually came aross this hen that was scratching soil and eating stones. Magezi said, “My in-law hen, Why don't you take some of this here millet instead of eating dirt like you is.”
Kasiru Kasiira Katono was not mean. She gave Magezi Mataala Manene one finger of millet, and they parted ways.
Magezi Mataala Manene moved on, moved on, moved on! He found a hen scratching the soil and eating stones. He said, “My in-law hen, instead of eating soil, have some of my millet.” |
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Hen was grubbing on the millet. Magezi looked up and saw that hen had ate all the millet.
Magezi shouted out, “Godly! You ate all my millet, and it wasn't even mine. I got it from Kasiru.” Hen begged, “My bad dog. Listen here, I'm about to lay a egg, you can have it, cool?.”
Hen took the millet and ate. Magezi Mataala Manene looked and saw that the hen had eaten all the millet.
He cried out, “Wuwiii! You have eaten all my millet. The millet was not mine, I borrowed it from Kasiru Kasiira Katono.” Hen begged, “Since it is time for laying, I will lay one egg for you to take instead.” |
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Magezi took the egg from hen. He walked a long ways!
He saw some kids shooting down mangoes with rocks. He told them, “Why don't you use this egg, it will make the mangoes fall down easier.” The kids took the egg and threw it at the mangoe tree. The egg broke on a branch. The egg was dripping down all slimy and stuff, and the shards scattered all over.
Magezi Mataala Manene got an egg from the hen. He moved on, moved on, moved on!
He found some children shooting mangoes in a tree using stones. He told them, “If you want those mangoes to fall, you should use this egg to shoot them down.” He gave them the egg. When they used it to shoot the mangoes, it hit a branch and broke. The egg dripped down and the shell remained in the branches. |
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Magezi yelled, “God dang! You broke my freaking egg! Hen gave it to me, it wasn't mine.
Hen gave it to me because he ate all my millet. The millet wasn't mines neither. I borrowed it from Kasiru.”
The children whispered, “Don't holler like that. You gonna blow our cover and the owner gonna get us. Take this mango and get out of here.”
Magezi Mataala Manene cried out, “Wuwiii! You have broken my egg! The hen gave me the egg, but it was not mine. The egg was for the millet the hen ate. The millet was not mine. I borrowed the millet from Kasiru Kasiira Katono.”
The children whispered, “Don't shout like that. The owner of the mangoes will find us here. Instead of the egg take this mango.” |
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Magezi walked a long ways! Then he saw this parrot munching on a insect.
“I bet you ain't never seen a mango smooth as this?” Mangezi says to parrot.
The parrot grabbed the mango and sunk his beak flesh into it. Magezi yelled, “Oh snaps! You burst my mango! The children gave it to me, but it ain't mine. I got the mango to replace the egg that the children broke. The hen gave me the egg, but it wasn't mines neither. I got it because hen ate my millet, but the millet wasn't mine. I got that from Kasiru.”
Magezi Mataala Manene moved on, moved on, moved on! He came across a parrot eating an insect. “Have you ever seen such a mango as this?” he asked the parrot.
When the parrot took the mango, its sharp beak pierced the skin and the fruit burst open. Magezi Mataala Manene cried out, “Wuuwiii! You have burst my mango! The children gave me the mango, but it was not mine. The mango was for the egg the children broke. The hen gave me the egg, but it was not mine. The egg was for the millet the hen ate. The millet was not mine. I borrowed the millet from Kasiru Kasiira Katono.” |
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EbonicsEnglish
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Parrot plucked out one of his feathers that was mad pretty and say, “Here you go, take my feather for the mango.”
Magezi took the feather and walked a long ways! He reached a lake. While he was going over the lake, the feather slipped out his hand into the lake. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get the feather back. He filled his cheeks with water and swam to shore. where he found some charcoal burning.
The parrot plucked out its most beautiful feather saying, “Here, take my feather instead of the mango.”
Magezi Mataala Manene took the feather and moved on, moved on, moved on. He came to a lake. When he was crossing, the feather slipped out of his hand and into the lake. He could not get the feather back. So he filled his mouth with water and kept it in his cheeks until he reached dry land. There he found the charcoal burners with their fire. |
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EbonicsEnglish
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Magezi spit the water out his mouth and put out the charcoal fire. The charcoal burners were pleased.
Magezi squealed, “What the! This your fire took my water. I got that water from the lake, it's not mine. I took it from the lake because the lake took my feather. The feather I got for the mango that parrot burst. The mango I got for the egg that the children broke. The egg I got for the millet that hen ate. The millet I borrowed from Kasiru.”
He opened his mouth, the water came out, and splashed on to the fire. The fire went out. The charcoal burners were pleased.
Magezi Mataala Manene cried out, “Woweee! Your fire has taken my water. I got the water from the lake, but it was not mine. The water was for the feather that the lake took. The feather was for the mango that the parrot burst. The mango was for the egg that the children broke. The egg was for the millet that the hen ate. The millet was not mine. I borrowed the millet from Kasiru Kasiira Katono.” |
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Them charcoal burners be like, “Chill man, take this axe for yourself.”
Magezi took the axe and walked a long ways! He saw some butchers slaughtering a bull. He say to them, “Here go an axe for you to cut up the meat.”
The charcoal burners said, “Here, take this axe instead of the water.”
Magezi Matala Manene took the axe and moved on, moved on, moved on! He came across butchers slaughtering a bull. He told the butchers, “Here is an axe for you to cut up the meat.” |
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When the butcher was cutting meat, he broke the axe. Magezi yelled out,
“Oh man! You broke my axe. The axe ain't mine, I got it from the charcoal burners.
I got the axe for water that the charcoal burners burned. The water be for the feather that the lake took.
The feather for the mango that parrot burst. The mango for the egg that the children broke.
The egg for the millet that hen ate, and I borrowed the millet from Kasiru.”
While the butchers were cutting the meat, the axe broke. Magezi Mataala Manene cried out, “Woweee! You have broken my axe. I got the axe from the charcoal burners, but it was not mine. The axe was for the water that the fire took. The water was for the feather that the lake took. The feather was for the mango that the parrot burst. The mango was for the egg that the children broke. The egg was for the millet that the hen ate. The millet was not mine. I borrowed the millet from Kasiru Kasiira Katono.”
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Them butchers was saying, “Here you go shorty, take the head and tail of the bull instead.”
Magezi walked a long ways! Until he got to this muddy swamp. He put the head and tail of the bull in the mud, so it be looking like the bull was stuck in the mud.
The butchers said, “Here, take the head and tail of the bull instead.”
Magezi Mataala Manene moved on, moved on, moved on! Until he got to a muddy swamp. He put the head of the bull on the mud. He also placed the tail in the mud. It looked as if the bull was stuck in the mud. |
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Magezi started shouting, “Jesus Christ! Jesus Christ! The king's bull done got stuck in the mud!”
All the villagers came running from every which way to attend to the king's business. Soon everybody was standing around the head and tail. They was starting to ask, “Now what?”
Magezi Mataala Manene began to shout,“Wu-lululu! Wu-lululu, wulululu! The king's bull has got stuck in the mud!”
All the villagers came running. What concerns the king, concerns everyone. A crowd soon gathered around the head and tail. They started asking, “Now what do we do?” |
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Magezi say, “Some of ya'll pull by the tail, and some of ya'll pull the head. We finna pull the bull out the mud.”
The villagers started saying togeter, “Aight! One, two, three, pull! Everybody together!” they shouted. The villagers fell over each other trying to pull the bull out. Two was still holding the head. One the tail.
Magezi Mataala Manene advised, “Some of you pull the tail, and some of you pull the head. We will pull the bull from the mud.”
The people took his advice. “Ready! One, two, three, pull! Come out nowwwww!” they shouted. The villagers fell down over each other from the effort of pulling. Two were still holding the head. One held up the tail. |
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Magezi yelled, “You all kidding me! Ya'll pulled the God dang bull limb from limb. Each one of ya'll better give me one bull for the king.”
The villages ran back to they homes to get a bull. In the end, Magezi brought a herd of bulls back to his friend Kasiru.
Magezi Mataala Manene cried out, “Wo wee! You have pulled apart the king's bull. Each one of you must give one bull for the king.”
Quickly, the people went back to their homes. Quickly, they returned with a bull each. And so Magezi Mataala Manene left with a herd of bulls to return to his friend Kasiru Kasiira Katono. |
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| The end. | |
Magezi and the Hand Full of Millet
