Once upon a time there was a poor
man and his wife. They had only
one child, a girl. The child’s name
was Nonkungu.
Her parents loved Nonkungu very
much.
One day her parents decided to
send her to stay with her rich Uncle
Mtonyama.
Nonkungu’s mother made a special
skirt with ribbon, buttons and
beads.
She also made a beautiful bead
necklace for Nonkungu.
Then she sent her off to her uncle’s
village.
“Where are you going?” asked the
young girl.
“I’m going to visit my Uncle
Mtonyama,” said Nonkungu.
“Well, Mtonyama is my uncle, too
and I am also on my way to visit
him,” said the young girl.
So they walked on together.
Before they had gone very far, the
young girl said, “Your skirt is so
beautiful and your beads are so
pretty. Please let me try them on.”
So Nonkungu took off her skirt and
beads and gave them to the young
girl.
When the girl took off her rags and
changed into Nonkungu’s clothes,
Nonkungu saw that the young girl
had a tail!
Nonkungu was afraid.
She knew now that the young girl
was really an imbulu.
They walked on together.
“Please give me back my skirt and
my beads,” asked Nonkungu.
But the imbulu answered, “Let me
wear them until we get to that
tree.”
She pointed to a tree on the hill.
Xa befika emthini, uNonkungu wathi
kwimbulu, “Nceda undinike
umbhinqo neentsimbi zam.”
Kha undivumele ndizinxibe side
sifike kulaa mfula ulandelayo,”
yatsho imbulu. UNonkungu
wayesoyika ngoko ke wavuma.
When they reached the tree,
Nonkungu said to the imbulu,
“Please give me back my skirt and
beads.”
“Just let me wear them until we get
to the next stream,” said the
imbulu.
Nonkungu was afraid, so she
agreed.
Ekugqibeleni bafika emfuleni.
Kwakhona uNonkungu wabuza
imbulu, “Nceda undinike umbhinqo
wam neentsimbi zam.” Kha
undiyeke ndizinxibe nje side
siyokufika kulaa ndlu, apho abafazi
bahleli khona,” yatsho imbulu. Baza
baqhubeka behamba.
At last they reached the stream.
Again Nonkungu asked the imbulu,
“Please give me back my skirt and
my beads.”
“Just let me wear them until we get
to that hut where the women are
sitting,” said the imbulu.
So they walked on.
When they reached the hut, the
imbulu pushed Nonkungu back and
called to the women sitting by the
hut.
“Look at this girl wearing rags. She
has been following me all day. I
wish she would go away,” said the
imbulu.
Nonkungu was so ashamed and so
frightened that she ran hid in the
kraal.
Then the imbulu went to Uncle
Mtonyama’s hut. She said sweetly,
“I am your niece, Nonkungu. My
parents sent me to stay with you.”
Mtonyama welcomed the young
girl. He and his family were very
kind to the imbulu.
But poor Nonkungu had to sleep in
the kraal and share the dog’s food.
Emini uNonkungu wayehamba
aye emasimini, acashe
ngamahlanga acule:
“Oh mina engilusizi,
ngangithunyelwe ngubaba
nomama, ukuba ngizohlala
nomalume uMntonyama.
Endleleni ngaficana nembulu
yangithathela isiketi sami kanye
nobuhlalo. Oh mina engilusizi.”
Emini uNonkungu wayehamba
aye emasimini, acashe
ngamahlanga acule:
“Oh mina engilusizi,
ngangithunyelwe ngubaba
nomama, ukuba ngizohlala
nomalume uMntonyama.
Endleleni ngaficana nembulu
yangithathela isiketi sami kanye
nobuhlalo. Oh mina engilusizi.”
During the day Nonkungu went to
the fields, hid in the corn, and sang:
“Oh misery me, misery me.
I was sent by my father and mother
to stay with my Uncle Mtonyama.
On the way I met an imbulu and she
took my skirt and my beads.
Oh misery me, misery me.”
One day, one of Mtonyama’s
brothers was walking in the fields.
He heard the strange and beautiful
song.
He didn’t know who was singing,
but when he got home, he told
Mtonyama the words.
Mtonyama went into the fields. He
heard the song, and looked until he
found Nonkungu.
Nonkungu told him what had
happened, how the imbulu had
taken her beautiful clothes.
Mtonyama took her back to his
place and hid her in a hut.
Mtonyama knew what he was going
to do to catch the imbulu.
Mtonyama had heard that an
imbulu’s tail loves milk and that it
can’t go past milk without drinking
some.
So he told his men to dig a deep
ditch and to fill the ditch with sour
milk.
Then he called all the girls of the
village to take part in a jumping
competition.
The imbulu was worried. She did
not want to jump over the ditch.
She knew that her tail would be
thirsty for the sour milk.
So she went into a hut and tied her
tail to her body as tightly as she
could. Then she took her place with
the other girls.
Yathi uma yeqa umgodi, umsila
wayo waqonda emasini.
Yathi uma yeqa umgodi, umsila
wayo waqonda emasini.
One girl after another jumped over
the ditch.
At last it was the imbulu’s turn.
She tried to jump high over the
ditch, but her tail broke loose.
The imbulu’s tail pulled her down,
down, down into the sour milk.
As the imbulu struggled in the sour
milk, the men quickly filled the
ditch with sand and buried her. That
was the end of the imbulu.
Nonkungu stayed happily with her
uncle for a long, long time.
And that is the end of the story.
