The Orange Fairy Book Read Free

clouds.'
    Makoma was astonished when he beheld how tall was the giant; but,
nothing daunted, he went forward until he reached one of Sakatirina's
legs, which he struck heavily with Nu-endo. Nothing happened, so he
hit again and then again until, presently, he heard a tired, far-away
voice saying: 'Who is it that scratches my feet?'
    And Makoma shouted as loud as he could, answering: 'It is I, Makoma,
who is called "Greater"!' And he listened, but there was no answer.
    Then Makoma collected all the dead brushwood and trees that he could
find, and making an enormous pile round the giant's legs, set a light
to it.
    This time the giant spoke; his voice was very terrible, for it was the
rumble of thunder in the clouds. 'Who is it,' he said, 'making that
fire smoulder around my feet?'
    'It is I, Makoma!' shouted the hero. 'And I have come from far away to
see thee, O Sakatirina, for the spirits of my fathers bade me go seek
and fight with thee, lest I should grow fat, and weary of myself.'
    There was silence for a while, and then the giant spoke softly: 'It is
good, O Makoma!' he said. 'For I too have grown weary. There is no
man so great as I, therefore I am all alone. Guard thyself!' and
bending suddenly he seized the hero in his hands and dashed him upon
the ground. And lo! instead of death, Makoma had found life, for he
sprang to his feet mightier in strength and stature than before, and
rushing in he gripped the giant by the waist and wrestled with him.
    Hour by hour they fought, and mountains rolled beneath their feet like
pebbles in a flood; now Makoma would break away, and summoning up his
strength, strike the giant with Nu-endo his iron hammer, and Sakatirina
would pluck up the mountains and hurl them upon the hero, but neither
one could slay the other. At last, upon the second day, they grappled
so strongly that they could not break away; but their strength was
failing, and, just as the sun was sinking, they fell together to the
ground, insensible.
    In the morning when they awoke, Mulimo the Great Spirit was standing by
them; and he said: 'O Makoma and Sakatirina! Ye are heroes so great
that no man may come against you. Therefore ye will leave the world
and take up your home with me in the clouds.' And as he spake the
heroes became invisible to the people of the Earth, and were no more
seen among them.
    (Native Rhodesian Tale.)

The Magic Mirror From the Senna
*
    A long, long while ago, before ever the White Men were seen in Senna,
there lived a man called Gopani-Kufa.
    One day, as he was out hunting, he came upon a strange sight. An
enormous python had caught an antelope and coiled itself around it; the
antelope, striking out in despair with its horns, had pinned the
python's neck to a tree, and so deeply had its horns sunk in the soft
wood that neither creature could get away.
    'Help!' cried the antelope, 'for I was doing no harm, yet I have been
caught, and would have been eaten, had I not defended myself.'
    'Help me,' said the python, 'for I am Insato, King of all the Reptiles,
and will reward you well!'
    Gopani-Kufa considered for a moment, then stabbing the antelope with
his assegai, he set the python free.
    'I thank you,' said the python; 'come back here with the new moon, when
I shall have eaten the antelope, and I will reward you as I promised.'
    'Yes,' said the dying antelope, 'he will reward you, and lo! your
reward shall be your own undoing!'
    Gopani-Kufa went back to his kraal, and with the new moon he returned
again to the spot where he had saved the python.
    Insato was lying upon the ground, still sleepy from the effects of his
huge meal, and when he saw the man he thanked him again, and said:
'Come with me now to Pita, which is my own country, and I will give you
what you will of all my possessions.'
    Gopani-Kufa at first was afraid, thinking of what the antelope had
said, but finally he consented and followed Insato into the forest.
    For several days they travelled, and at last they came to a hole
leading