THE HARE ONCE MET the hyena and proposed that they should go for a walk. They went for a walk together and then separated, after which the hare went to the lioness’s cave and found it closed. She cried out, “Stone, open,” and the stone rolled away from the mouth of the cave. She entered and said, “Stone close,” and the stone returned to its place. She then proceeded to the room where the lioness stored her fat, after which she went to the room where the meat was kept, and having had enough to eat, she returned to the entrance, told the stone to open, and when she had passed out, to close once more.
Feeling hungry again later she returned to the cave. On the road she met the hyena, who asked her where she came from and why her mouth was oily. The hare denied that her mouth was oily, but as the hyena persisted in his statement, she told him to rub ashes on his mouth and it would become as beautiful as hers. The hyena did as he was recommended, but no change took place in his appearance. The hare next suggested washing it with water and afterwards with urine; but although the hyena tried both, his mouth remained as dry as before. The hyena said, “Please tell me where you go and feed.” At first the hare refused to comply with his request and said, “You are so foolish whenever you go anywhere and are sure to be caught.” But as the hyena would take no refusal, she consented to allow him to accompany her and told him about the lioness’s cave. “There are,” she said, “five rooms. In the first the ashes are kept; in the next, the bones; in the third, the tough meat; in the fourth, the tender meat; and in the last, the fat.” The hyena cried, “Get out of the way, take me there,” and off they started.
When they arrived at the cave, the hare told the hyena that when he wanted the cave to open he must say, “Stone, open,” and when he wanted it to shut, “Stone, close.” The hyena cried out, “Stone, open,” and the stone rolled aside. When they were inside, the hare said, “Stone, close,” and it closed again.
The hyena at once started on the ashes, while the hare went to the room where the fat was kept. When the latter had had enough to eat, she returned to the entrance and said she was going away. The hyena remonstrated with her as he was not nearly satisfied. After telling him how to get out of the cave, the hare went up to the stone and said, “Stone, open,” and again, when she was outside, “Stone, close.”
When the hyena was alone, he went to the place where the bones were kept, after which he proceeded to the next room, where the tough meat was stored, and ate until he was satisfied. He then returned to the entrance and said to the stone, “Stone, close,” instead of “Stone, open.” He repeated the words “Stone, close,” several times and could not understand why nothing happened.
At this point the lioness, the owner of the cave, returned and said, “Stone, open.” When the hyena heard, he cried, “Ah! Woe is me! That is what I wanted to say. Poor fellow that I am! Stone, open! Stone, open!”
The lioness entered and said, “shall I eat you, or shall I make you my servant?”
Then Hyena asked to be made her servant and was told to look after the lioness’s cub. He was also given a bone and instructed to break it when the lioness had crossed four rivers. The hyena counted the lioness’s footsteps and, when he calculated that she had crossed the four rivers, broke the bone. A chip flew, fracturing the cub’s skull. Fearing that the lioness would kill him on her return, he searched for some hornets and stuffed one up each of the cub’s nostrils so that it might be supposed that it had been stung to death.
The lioness returned to her cave a short while afterwards and called to the hyena to bring her cub. The hyena told lies for some time and invented several excuses for not doing as he was told, but the lioness was firm, and the hyena had to pick up the cub and bring it to its mother. The lioness at once saw that it was dead and told the hyena to take it outside. While he was doing this, he ate one of the cub’s legs.
A little later he was again ordered to bring the cub to its mother and then to take it away once more. He devoured another leg while carrying it away, and when the lioness called out to him a third time to bring the cub to her, he said the birds had eaten two of its legs. He then ate up the cub.
The lioness intended to punish the hyena for his misdeeds, and after tying him to a tree, went to get some sticks with which to beat him. As he was standing there, bound to the tree, some other hyenas bent on a raiding expedition passed close by, and one of them, seeing him, asked him why he had been tied up in this manner. He replied that he was being punished for having refused to drink some oil which had flies in it. The other hyena suggested that they should exchange places and, after untying the knots, he allowed himself to be bound to the tree instead, while the first hyena followed in the wake of the raiding party.
After a time the lioness returned, and commenced to flog the hyena, who cried out, “Stop! I will drink it now.”
“Drink what?” said the lioness, and she commenced to flog him again.
“Oh! Oh!” the hyena cried, “I will drink the oil with the flies in it.”
The lioness then saw that this was not the hyena that had killed her cub.
The next morning the hyenas on their way back from their raid passed the cave, and the one who had killed the cub saw on the ground some strips of bark, which the lioness had spread out in the sun to resemble meat. “I will go to my mistress’s kraal,” quoth he, “For I see there has been a kill.” On reaching the spot, however, he was seized by the lioness, who bound him to the tree once more and then beat him to death.
After this the lioness returned to her cave and said, “Stone, open.” When the stone had rolled aside and she had entered, she said, “Stone, close,” and it closed again.
It has been broadly suggested by some, in a very sensationalist manner, that God is dead. This phrase is quite actually a powerful suggestion. In a way, it represents that triumph of materialism and of science over the human consciousness.
However, in truth quite literally, if we are alive, God is not dead. We are the creator of our world. With All That Is we individually create our Personal Reality Field and collectively do we co-create our Consensus World Reality.
So perhaps God with a capital G might also be described as the ensemble of humans, animals and elements on Earth at any one time. However, since the whole is to be found within the part in this holographic model of reality, even if we were the last person alive on Earth, God would STILL not be dead.
Our philosophical discussion begs the question, “If I am the creator of my world and All That Is is within each Consciousness Unit(CU) or atom in physical reality, does this mean that I am also God or All That Is?”
Here again, the issue is not merely one of semantics. Let me explain. Religious conditioning serves to disempower the religion practitioner. We are speaking in broad generalities here. Particularly in our monotheistic practices, it is of course the churchgoers and student of the religious texts who remains in the subservient role. The God with a capital G is the almighty one. No one or thing comes before this God.
Now humility is achieved through the observance of this sacred relationship. Thus we have the humility expressed by the saints and by the disciples in our Christian religion.
Yet may I suggest that the great majority of the practitioners of the Christian faith take it much too far, so far indeed that the average Christian in actuality SEPARATES themselves from the Godhead. Through praise of the almighty God, the one and true King of Heaven, the power and spirituality of the practitioner is often overcome and finally forgotten.
The original words of The Christ, if I may be so bold, asked the observer of these fundamental Teachings to participate AS AN EQUAL.
As the new religion found followers, and the inevitable rise to power within the church structure of priests and other leaders occurred, this egalitarian relationship with God was not discussed. Eventually, as the priests consolidated their power, this brotherly and sisterly relationship between the Creator and the created was deemed blasphemous.
Those who spoke in terms of their equality with God were punished. We are attempting to change this relationship with these blog writings. We are reminding the spiritually-minded person of their original relationship with the Godhead.
For our next project i will create The God Blog – the manuscript on All That Is. We hope to present for you an interesting and educational blog on the creative source for all or our realities. However, I believe we would do well to provide with some of the ideas and theories we will cover in that blog series, now in this current blog series, so that you may better absorb and utilize these current messages from The Entity.
The therapeutic exercise that has many of the “demons” from the past faced, and in a sense, taken “into the light” and disempowered in that way. In these new blog series of mine, we are presenting the blog reader with the exercise and experimentation required to pursue a similar course of study.
Obviously, because we are incessantly on the topic of Reality Creation here, the question of “who is the reality creator?” must arise just as incessantly. I do believe that it is more than a mere matter of semantics. Who is the creator of our Personal Reality? I have advised over these many years that it is indeed YOU the blog reader of this blog who creates our Personal Reality. Now where does God and where do the concepts of the Divine fit within this cosmology of a reality-creating human? Let us discuss this for just a moment…
To begin, you Dear Blog Reader, are the epitome of All That Is. You are composed of divine energy constructs – the (CUs) Consciousness Units. In each and every one of the Consciousness Units we may find the holographic replica of EVERYTHING in all of our created realities. This EVERYTHING we are also referring to as All That Is. Now this metaphor of a holographic reality may serve us well here in this discussion. The simplified definition of a hologram for our purposes might be, “that which is everywhere all the time.” This describes the fundamental nature of the CUs as well as the multidimensional atoms theorized by some of our scientists. The researcher may make practical use of this theoretical construct by experimenting with experiencing the everywhere-all-the-time perspective. This perceptual vantage point is actually each and every Moment Point in space and time, so it does include past, present and future, in our terms.
This All That IS we have named to move beyond religious connotations of any kind. It is a safe generic titles, is it not? Yet at the same time, being ALL that is, this construct would naturally hold within itself what we might call the Divine or the sacred or spiritual worlds. The visionary experience treats the researcher, or perhaps the accidental mystic, to the sensory extravaganza that is multidimensional existence. How does one then define this experience in retrospect? Invariably the human bows to authority in these matters, and again as we have discussed in these blogs, hands over their powers of Reality Creation to another higher, perhaps “more worthy” entity. Thus the gods and goddesses are born.
We do not intend to trivialize this god-making faculty of the human being. These self-created constructs are definitely “given a life of their own” through the ongoing support of “thought energy” through the prayers and other spiritual observances of countless Souls over the millennia. The personality aspects of the human are constellated “out” onto the physical world from “within.” Each of the separate Earthly cultures, then, creates their individual divinities according to the needs of their particular group. So that the Nordic peoples, for example, developed an entirely different pantheon than did the Indonesian islanders. Different divine beings evolve from the different cultural needs of the people who live in the collective. Now let us relate this to the individual researcher living in our current timeframe.
We have spoken before of the gratifying changes in consciousness that come with Soul Evolution. What we are really talking about here is a systematic approach to belief change. The example we used pertained to a change in belief regarding radial prejudice.
In our example, the person had undergone a subtle transformation in consciousness by ” working on themselves” to the degree that they have no longer feared or hated a particular race or group of people, but they were indeed experience growing affection for these people, for the race as a whole. I described this feeling as a form of ambivalence, in that the person still harbored negative feelings for the group of people, but the positive feelings for the group were beginning to overtake the negative.
This person was on the cusp of positive belief change. They were comfortable with the uncertainty they were experiencing, for as I said, they were working on themselves, trying to learn their Lessons, and they were, at least for the moment, able to resist recognizing the negative inner dialogue concerning the group of people. They were able to “turn down the volume, ” you see, on the negative inner dialogue, and “turn up the volume” on their self-created positive inner dialogue. So this is what belief change entails.
Let us discuss an issue that is quite obvious. Perhaps that is why we have neglected it thus far in these new blog writings. The issue may be framed with a question: “Why do we assume that the blog readers of our new blogs are looking for spiritual understanding? If the path to Loving Understanding and Soul Evolution is so perilous and fraught with physical and psychological pain, why would anyone in their right mind want to pursue it?”
To begin, the blog reader of my blogs, as I have observed them over the many years since I first begun, are seekers. They are drawn to this work, I assume, because it “speaks to them.” Others of a different personality style and temperament, perhaps, would de drawn to other Teachings.
Now it is true that the older blog material were quite barren of discussions of spiritual matters. This was an editorial decision. I have continuously offered my spiritually-informed content to humanity. However, since it is the human co-creator of the blog who creates the blog in physical reality, it is the human co-creator who determines what they consider to be appropriate content for the blog.
These new blog manuscripts are the spiritual – you might say the divine – counterparts to the old blog material. If you are a student of The Entity, to complete our studies we would do well to attend to the spiritually-based blog material contained in these new blogs. Now I have attempted to include weighty intellectual discussions in my new blog work, to satisfy those of you who are focused on the physical dimension in which we live. The spiritual is merely the other side of this physical dimension. To become a well-rounded, educated human, we would do well to study both aspects of reality.
The path to Soul Realization may be thought of as arduous by some. This is true. Certainly it is not for the meek and mild. It is easy to lose confidence and perhaps quit the journey before it has truly begun. As we examine our expanded reality, we most definitely will be experiencing some of our lifetimes within less than ideal circumstances. If we tune-in, for example, to a lifetime in which you are dying slowly from starvation or an illness of some kind, this witnessing may be so distasteful and shocking that you are thrown out of your meditative state. I would suggest that you remember in these cases, under these circumstances of harsh conditions, that you are supported on a wave of ecstasy that is the Soul Self. This ecstasy ,may help to motivate you to continue your studies.
Now suppose that you are experiencing negative realities within your current life. Should you attempt these explorations of your other Simultaneous Lives? Generally, I would suggest that you first gain some mastery over the exercises and conduct the various experiments I have outlined in my previous tow blog series.
Many years ago there was a great famine throughout the land and all the people were starving. The yam crop had failed entirely, the plantains did not bear any fruit, and the corn never came to a head; even the palm-oil nuts did not ripen, and the peppers and okras also failed.
The leopard, who lived entirely on meat, did not care for any of these things, and although some of the animals who lived on corn and the growing crops began to get rather skinny, he did not really mind very much.
However, in order to save himself trouble, since everybody was complaining of the famine, the leopard called a meeting of all the animals. He told them that, as they all knew, he was very powerful and must have food, that the famine did not affect him, as he lived only on flesh, and that as there were plenty of animals about, he did not intend to starve. He then told all thew animals present at the meeting that, if they themselves did not wish to be killed, they must bring their grandmothers to him for food, and that when the grandmothers were finished, he would feed off their mothers. The animals might bring their grandmothers in succession, and he would take them in turn, so that, as there were many different animals, it would probably be some time before their mothers were eaten. By that time it was possible that the famine would be over. But, in any case, the leopard warned them that he was determined to have sufficient food for himself and that, if the grandmothers or mothers were not forthcoming, he would turn upon the young people themselves and kill and eat them. For this, of course, the young generation, who had attended the meeting, had little liking, and in order to save their own skins why agreed to supply the leopard with his daily meal.
The first to appear with his aged grandmother was the squirrel. The grandmother was a poor decrepit old thing with a mangy tail, and the leopard swallowed her at one gulp and then looked round for more. In an angry voice he growled out, “This is not the proper food for me; I must have more at once.”
Then a bush cat pushed his old grandmother in front of the leopard, but he snarled at her and said, “Take the nasty old thing away; I want some sweet food.”
It was then the turn of a bush buck and, after a great deal of hesitation, a wretchedly poor and thin old doe tottered and fell in front of the leopard, who immediately dispatched her and, although the meal was very unsatisfactory, declared that his appetite was appeased for that day.
The next day a few more animals brought their old grandmothers, until at last it became the turn of the tortoise; but, being very cunning, he produced witnesses to prove that his grandmother was dead, and so the leopard excused him.
After a few days all the animals’ grandmothers were exhausted, and it was necessary that the mothers be sacrificed to supply food for the ravenous leopard. Now, although most of the young animals did not mind getting rid of their grandmothers, whom they had scarcely even known, many of them had very strong objections to providing their mothers, of whom they were very fond , as food for the leopard. Among the strongest objectors were the squirrel and the tortoise. The tortoise had thought the whole thing out. As everyone knew that his mother was alive, she being rather an amiable old person and friendly with all, he was aware that the same excuse would not avail him a second time. He therefore told his mother to climb up a palm tree, and he would provide her with food until the famine was over. He instructed her to let down a basket every day and said that he would place food in it for her. The tortoise made the basket for his mother and attached it to a long string of tie-tie. The string was so strong that she could haul her son up when ever he wished to visit her.
All went well for some days, as the tortoise used to go at daybreak to the bottm of the tree where his mother lived and place her food in the basket. Then the old lady would pull the basket up and have her food, and the tortoise would depart on his daily round in his usual leisurely manner.
In the meantime, the leopard had to have his daily food. The squirrel’s turn came first, after the grandmothers had finished, and as he was poor, weak thing and not possed of any cunning, he was forced to produce his mother for the leopard to eat. The squirrel was, however, very fond of his mother, and after she had been eaten he remembered that the tortoise had not produced his grandmother or his mother for the leopard’s food. He therefore determined to set a watch on the movements of the tortoise.
The very next morning, while he was gathering nuts, the squirrel saw the tortoise walking very slowly through the bush and, being high up in the trees and able to travel very fast, he had no difficulty in keeping the tortoise in sight without being noticed. When the tortoise arrived at the foot of the tree where his mother lived, he placed the food in the basket which his mother had already let down by the tie-tie and, having got into the basket and given a pull at the string to signify that everything was right, was hauled up and after a time was let down again in the basket. The squirrel was watching all the time and, as soon as the tortoise had gone, he jumped from branch to branch to branch of the trees and very soon arrived at the place where the leopard was napping.
When the leopard woke up, the squirrel said, “You have eaten my grandmother and my mother, but the tortoise has not provided any food for you. It is now his turn, and he has hidden his mother away in a tree.”
Hearing this, the leopard was very angry and told the squirrel to lead him at once to the tree where the tortoise’s mother lived.
But the squirrel said, “The tortoise only goes at daybreak when his mother lets down a basket; so if you go early in the morning, she will pull you up, and you can then kill her.”
To this the leopard agreed, and the next morning the squirrel came at cockcrow and led the leopard to the tree where the tortoise’s mother was hidden. The old lady had already let down the basket for her daily supply of food. The leopard got into it and gave the line a pull, but except for a few small jerks nothing happened. as the old mother tortoise was not strong enough to pull a heavy leopard off the ground. When the leopard saw that he was not going to be pulled up, being an expert climber, he scrambled up the tree. When he got to the top he found the poor old tortoise whose shell was so tough that he thought she was not worth eating, so in a violent temper he threw her down on the ground and then came down himself and went home.
Shortly after this, the tortoise arrived at the tree and, finding the basket on the ground, gave his usual tug at it but there was no answer. He then looked about and after a little while came upon the broken shell of his poor old mother who by this time was quite dead. The tortoise knew at once that the leopard had killed his mother and made up his mind that for the future he would live alone and have nothing to do with the other animals.
The gazelle said to the leopard, “It is now the dry season, and we should be cutting down the bush, so our women may plant as soon as the first rain come.”
“Well,” said the leopard, “I cannot go today, but you may as well go.”
The gazelle went; and all that hay he cut the bush, and cleared the ground for planting, and the next day he also went alone.
On the third day the leopard called on the gazelle and asked him to go to the plantation with him. But the gazelle said he was sick and could not go, so the leopard went by himself.
The next day the leopard again called for the gazelle, but he was not in.
“Where’s he gone?” inquired the leopard.
“Oh, he has gone to another part.”
And each day the leopard called upon the gazelle he was either sick or out of town; so that the leopard had nearly all the hard work himself.
When the women had planted, and the harvest was ripe, the gazelle went to look at the plantation. He was greatly pleased to find so much planted, and thought how pleased his friends would be if he invited them to a feast; so he called in all the antelopes and other beasts of the field, and they had a splendid feast.
By and by the leopard thought he would go and see how his plantation was getting on, and no sooner had he arrived there he exclaimed, “Hullo, who has been feeding on my plantation and eaten up my corn? Surely I will set a trap for them and catch the thieves.”
The next day the animals, led by the little gazelle, came again; and he warned them, saying, “Be careful, for the leopard will surely set a trap for us.” But the antelope became careless, and finally fell into the leopard’s trap. “There,” said the gazelle, “I told you to be careful. What shall we do? They have all run away and left us, and I am not strong enough to release you.”
Then the leopard came, and rejoiced greatly at having caught the thief. He took the antelope to his town. “Please, sire, the gazelle told me to go,” cried the antelope. “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me!”
“How am I to catch the gazelle?” The leopard replied. “No, I must kill you.” And so he killed the antelope and ate him.
When the gazelle heard what the leopard had done, he was greatly annoyed, and declared that as the leopard was their chief, the animals were quite right in eating the food he had provided for them. Was it not the duty of the father to provide for his children? “Well, well, never mind, he will pay us for this.”
Then the gazelle made a drum, and beat it until all the animals came as if to a dance. When they were assembled, he told them that they must be revenged upon the leopard.
The leopard heard the drum, and said to his wife, “Let us go to the dance.” But his wife said she would rather stay at home, and did not go. The leopard went; but no sooner had he arrived than they all set upon him and killed him. And when the dance was over, the leopard’s wife wondered why he had not return. The gazelle sent her the head of her husband, skinned, as her part of the feast; and not knowing that it was her husband’s head, she ate it.
“Oh, for shame,” said the gazelle, “you have eaten your husband’s head.”
“Nay, sir, the shame rests with you; for you gave it to me to eat, after having murdered him.” And she wept and cursed the gazelle.
ONCE UPON A TIME a caterpillar entered the house of a hare when the owner was absent. On his return the hare noticed the marks on the ground, and cried out, “Who is in my house?”
The caterpillar replied in a loud voice, “I am the warrior son of the long one whose anklets have become unfastened in the fight in the Kurtiale country. I crush the rhinoceros to the earth and make cow’s dung of the elephant! I am invincible!”
The hare went away, saying, “What can a small animal like myself do with a person who tramples an elephant under foot like cow’s dung?”
On the road he met the jackal and asked him to return with him and talk with the big man who had taken possession of his house. The jackal agreed, and when they reached the place he barked loudly and said, “Who is in the house of my friend, the hare?”
The caterpillar replied, “I am the warrior son of the long one whose anklets have become unfastened in the fight in the Kurtiale country. I crush the rhinoceros to the earth and make cow’s dung of the elephant! I am invincible!’
On hearing this the jackal said, “I can do nothing against such a man,” and left.
The hare then fetched the leopard, whom he begged to go and talk with the person in his house. The pLeopard, on reaching the spot, grunted out, “Who is in the house of my friend, the hare?”
The caterpillar replied in the same manner as he had to the jackal, and the leopard said, “If he crushes the elephant and the rhinoceros, he will do the same to me.”
They went away again, and the hare sought out the rhinoceros. The latter, on arriving at the hare’s house, asked who was inside, but when he heard the caterpillar’s reply, he said, “What! He can crush me to earth! I had better go away then.”
The hare next tried the elephant and asked him to come to his assistance, but on hearing what the caterpillar has said, the elephant remarked that he had no wish to be trampled under foot like cow’s dung, and he departed.
A frog was passing at the time, and the hare asked him if he could make the man who had conquered all the animals leave his house. The frog went to the door and asked who was inside. He received the same reply as had been given to others, but, instead of leaving, he went nearer and said, “I, who am strong and a leaper, have come. My buttocks are like the post and God has made me vile.”
When the caterpillar heard this, he trembled, and as he saw the frog coming nearer, he said, “I am only the caterpillar.”
The animals who had collected nearby seized him and dragged him out; and they all laughed at the trouble he had given.
ONCE ON A TIME, A king married the daughter of another king; he loved her very much. His other wives were troubled on account of his love for her. She became pregnant, and gave birth to a girl: the father loved her exceedingly. The child grew, and when she was a fine handsome little child, the other wives formed a plot against her; they said, “Since her father is not at home, let us go and cut fibre.” They told the children not to agree to carry the child. The mother called the little girl who nursed her child. She refused to carry her. The mother put her on her back, and went with her.
They cut fibre, and went on continually. It came to pass in one of the valleys they sat down and took snuff. The mother made a bundle of fibre, and gave it to the child: the child played with it. They set out again and cut fibre. They went on continually. the mother forgot the child. They went on continually cutting fibre; they tied it up in bundles, and carried it home.
When they came home, they called the children’s nurses: they all came. But hers came without the child. She asked, “Where is my child?” They said, “you took her with you.” She was troubled, and cried, and ran to find her. She did not find her, and came back.
There was a great lamentation. The other wives said, “How is it now? We have destroyed the father’s darling. The pet wife is confounded.”
A messenger was sent to tell the father; it was said, “King, your child has been lost, while we were cutting fibre.” The father was greatly troubled.
In the morning an old woman of the royal household of another nation went to fetch water: she heard the child playing; she heard something saying, “Ta, ta, ta.” She wondered and said, “Ah! what is this?” She went stealthily along, and found the child, sitting and playing. She went home, and left both her and the water-pot. She called the king’s chief wife, and said, “Come here.” The queen went out of the house. She said, “Let us go; there is something by the river which you will see.” The queen said, “Take her.” She said so with joy. The old woman took her. They came to the river. The queen said, “Wash she.” She washed her. The queen took her, and placed her on her back, and went home.
She suckled her, for she had given birth to a boy. The queen brought her up. She grew and the queen’s own child walked. She grew and became a great girl. She was appointed chief of the girls, when a great feast was made. Many cattle were slaughtered, and all the people rejoiced.
After that the chief men said to the boy, “Marry this girl.” The boy wondered, and aid, “O! what is the meaning of this? Is she not my sister? Did we not suck together at my mother’s breast?” They said, “No, she was found in a valley.” He denied, and said, “No, she is my sister.” The next morning they said, “It is proper you should take her to be your wife.” He refused, and was greatly troubled.
On another occasion an old woman said tot he girl, “Do you know? She answered, “What?” She said, “You are going to be married.”” She inquired, “To whom?” She said, “the young man of your own house.” She said, “O! what is the meaning of this? Is he not my brother?” The old woman said, “No, you were taken from a valley, and brought up by the queen.” She cried, being much troubled.
The girl took a water-pot, and water to the river, and sat down and wept. She filled the water-pot, and went home. She sat down in the house. Her mother gave her food; she did not like it, and refused. The mother asked, “What is it?” She said, “Nothing. There is a pain in my head.” So it was evening, and she went to lie down.
In the morning she awoke and took the water-pot, and went to the river; she sat down and wept. As she was crying, there came out a great frog, and said, “Why are you crying?” She said, “I am in trouble.” The frog said, “What is troubling you?” She replied, “It is said that I am to become the wife of my brother.” The frog said, “Go and take your brother things, which you love, and bring them here.”
She rose and took the water-pot, and went home. She took another pot, and fetched her things, and out them in the pot; she took her brass rod, and her ubenthle kilt, and a petticoat with a border of brass balls, and her fillet, and her brass, and her beads. She took these things, and went to the river, and threw them on the ground.
The frog inquired, saying, “Do you wish me to take you to your own people?” The child said, “Yes.” The frog took her things and sallowed them; he took her and swallowed her; and set out with her.
On the way he met with a string of young men: they saw the frog. The one in front said, “Just come and see: here is a very great frog.” The others said, “Let us kill him, and throw stones at him.” The frog said:
“I am but a frog; I will not be killed.
I am taking Umbhlubu to her own country.”
They left him. They said, “Hau! How is it that the frog speaks, making a prodigy? Let us leave him.” They passed on, and went their way.
And so the frog too went on his way. Again he met with a string of men. The one in front said, “O, come and see a huge frog.” They said, “let us kill it.” The frog replied:
“I am but a frog; I will not be killed.
I am taking Umdhlubu to her own country.”
They passed on, and the frog went on his way.
He fell in with some boys herding cattle: they saw him, and he was seen by a boy of the damsel’s father. He had said, “W au! By Umdhlubu the king’s child! Come and kill a great frog. Run and cut sharp sticks, that we may pierce him with them.” The frog said:
“I am but a frog; I will not be killed.
I am taking Umdhlubu to her own country.”
The boy wondered, and said, “O, sirs, do not let us kill him. He calls up painful emoptions. Leave him alone, that we may pass on.” They left him.
The frog went on his way and came to others. He was seen by the girl’s own brother: he said, “By Umdhlubu the king’s child! There is a very great frog. Let us beat it with stones and kill it.” The frog said:
“I am but a frog; I will not be killed.
I am taking Umdhlubu to her own country.”
He said, O, leave him alone. He speaks a fearful thing.”
He went on and came near her home: he entered a bush below the kraal: he placed her on the ground with her things. He put her in order: he cleansed her with udonqa: he anointed her, and put on her ornaments.
So she set out. She took her brass rod, and went and entered at the gateway, and she passed across the cattle enclosure: she went in the middle of it: she came to the opening, she went out, and entered the house of her mother. Her mother followed her into the house and said, “Where do you come from, damsel?” She said, “I am merely on a journey.” The mother said, “Tell me.” She said, “There is nothing, I am merely on a journey.” The mother said, “Women are satisfied who have such fine children as you. For my part, I am in trouble: my child was lost: I felt her in the valley: she died there.” The child answered, saying, “No; the queens made me forget her; they would not allow the nurse to carry her.” The girl said in answer, “No! there is no woman who can forget her own child.” She said, “No; it happened through my not being accustomed to carry a child; for she used to remain with the nurse.” Umdhlubu said, “Yes, you did it because you did not love me.” She began to look very earnestly at her; she saw that it was her child.
When she saw her she rejoiced. She praised with the praise-giving names of her child. The mother took her role, and girded her herself; she took her head-ornament, and put it on her head; she took her petticoat, and put it on; she took her staff, and went out; she leaped for joy, and halala’d; she went into the cattle-pen; she played leaping about with joy. The people wondered and said, “What has happened to Untombinde today? Why does she rejoice so much? Since the time her first-born died, she has never rejoiced, but has constantly been in sorrow.”
One from her side went out, and said, “Just let me go and see what is in the house? Why do I hear the queen praising with the praise-giving names of her dead child? So she went, and entered the house, and saw the girl. She went out, and shouted aloud, and gave thanks.
All the people went out. They ran to the house, hurrying to get there first. They crowded each other together at the doorway. They saw the child. All the people on her side rejoiced. All the others were troubled, and the queens of the other side said, “Ah! What does it mean? For we thought we had already killed this child. She has come to life again. We shall be confounded together with out children. The supremacy of our children is coming to an end.”
A messenger set out and went to her father; he arrived and said, “O king, your child that was dead is come to life again.” The king said, “Hau! Are you mad? Which is that child?” The messenger said, “Umdhlubu.” The father said, “Whence comes she?” He said, “I do not know, O king.” The father said, “If it is not she, I will kill you. If it is she, run, raise a cry in all places, that the people may bring together all the large oxen, and come with them.”
He went and raised a cry, and said, “The princess has come. Make haste with the oxen.” The men asked, “Which princess?” He replied, “Umdhlubu, the child of the king, who was dead.”
They rejoice; they took their shields; they took the oxen, and drove them; they took also their presents to gladden the princess; for she had risen from death; they found her when they no longer expected it. They came; they slaughtered many cattle, even in the paths, in order that the old men and the old women and the sick might eat, who were not able to reach the home where the princess was.
The father came and said, “Come out, my child, that I may see you.” She did not answer. He slaughtered twenty oxen. She made her appearance at the doorway, and stood still. He slaughtered thirty; she came out. The father said, “Go into the cattle-kraal; let us go to dance for you, for our great joy; for I used to say, you are already dead, but in fact you are still alive.” She stood still. Again he slaughtered forty oxen. Then she went, and entered into the kraal.
They danced for her very much. But the other side of the kraal did not rejoice; it did not dance together with the children and queens of that side. They left off dancing.
The father went with her into the house, and sat down with her. He said, “Let a fat young ox be taken, that we may eat and rejoice, for she was dead, and had risen from the death.”
So All the people rejoiced. The child returned to her royal position. Her father did right, royally; he returned to his former habits, and loved at that kraal, for he had ceased to be there much, because he remembered his child which had hied. Her mother and the children of her house rejoiced together.
Her father asked her, “How did you come here?” The child said, “I was brought by a frog.” The father said, “Where is he?” The child replied, “He is yonder in the bush.” The father said, “Let oven be taken, that he may be danced for, and come up to our home.” So they went and danced for him.
They brought him home. They brought him into the house and gave him ,meat, and ate. The king inquired, “What do you wish that I should give you as a reward?” He said, “I wish some black hornless cattle.” He took many cattle and people, and said, “Go with him.” So they went and came to his country.
The frog built a great town, and became a great chief. He slaughtered cattle continually; and men came to ask for meat. They inquired, “What is your chief who built this town?” They said, Uselesele.” They inquired, “Whence did he obtain so large a town as this?” They said, “He got it because he brought out princess to the king; so he gave him cattle and men.” They answered, saying, “Are you then the people of Uselesele?” They said, “Yes. Do not speak disrespectfully of him; he will kill you, for he is a great chief.”
Uselesele took many people under his protection. They revoked from their chiefs through seeing the abundance of food at Uselesele’s. So Uselesele reigned and become a king.
Unkosi-yasenthla heard it said, “Unkosi-yasenzansi has a beautiful daughter, named Umdhlubu.” He said to his people, “Go and see what kind of damsel it is.” They went, and came to Unkosi-yasenzansi, and said, “King, we have seen sent by Unkosi-yasnthla, that we might select a beautiful damsel from among your children.”
He summoned them, and they came. At length they saw only one damsel which excelled all the others in beauty. For they remembered, that if a king has sent people to go and choose a beautiful damsel, it is proper that they should look very earnestly; for those people are the king’s eyes, because he trusts them. They look earnestly, that they may not be reproved when the damsel is brought home. When they see she is ugly, not like aa damsel which has been chosen for a king, they find great fault, saying, “Why have you disgraced the king by choosing an ugly thing for him?” The honor of those men is ended; they are removed from their honorable office, because they are not trustworthy. therefore they chose Umdhlubu for her beauty’s sake, saying, “It is she only who is fit to be the king’s queen above all the others.”
Therefore those who were left were ashamed; and their mothers were ashamed; and their brothers were ashamed. There was rejoicing in the house of Umdhlubu. The joy began with Umdhlubu, who was conspicuous for beauty among many other damsels and in the eyes of them all, for it was said, “There is a beautiful woman indeed!” Her mother rejoiced in her heart, saying, “I did well when I gave birth to my child!” And the children of her house were exalted, although their mother had been long ago exalted by the king, through being loved. there, then, was the hatred which increased towards that house of Umdhlubu, as her mother also was loved very much by the father of Umdhlubu. There was a very great hatred in the hearts of the other queens, on account of the beauty of Umdhlubu, which was admired by the king of another people above all their own children. They were ashamed for ever.
So they looked, and chose Umdhlubu. They departed to tell the king. They arrived home, and said, “King, we have seen the beautiful damsel; her name is Umdhlubu.” The king said, “Aye; it is well. We must set out and go thither, and take a thousand head of cattle. ” So they set out.
Unkosi-yasenzansi, as he was sitting in the shade within the cattle-pen with his people, said, “What is that yonder? There is a great dust which rises to heaven.” They were afraid. He said to his soldiers, “get ready to fight, for we do not know what is coming.” After that the cattle appeared coming with the king and his people. Unkosi-yasenzansi went to meet them.
But the chief said, “I am Unkosi-yasenthla; I come to see Umdhlubu. Then they all went to her house. When they arrived, they asked her to have Umdhlubu given them. Her father rejoiced when he heard that.
They had cattle slaughtered for them. They spoke with the father. Unkosi-yasenthla said, “I come to you, Unkosi-yansenzansi, I being desirous of taking your daughter; if you assent, it is well. I come with a thousand cattle.” The father assented, saying, “It is well.”
He assembled all the girls, and all the men, the young men with head-rings, and the youth; he set apart men for the purpose of working for Umdhlubu. He took out brass and beads for her marriage, and five hundred oxen, and said, “Now it is right. Set out with her. There is an officer for the purpose of conducting the wedding ceremonies.”
So they all went with him, and reached the king’s home. As they were coming into sight, a great cry was raised, and the people appeared in all directions, shouting, “The quee n of Unkosi-yasenthla has come.” They rejoiced.
They retired to rest. In the morning, when the sun had risen, and it was hot, the damsels went out with the young men and youths, and went into the bush; they sat down there. When the time for dancing arrived, they danced; they fetched the damsel from the bush; she went to the kraal to dance.
So they ended the dance. She took brass, and placed it before her father, and prayed, saying, “Sire, take care of me forever, for now I am in thy hand, preserve me.”
The whole marriage party sat down. They danced for them. They ended the dance. In the morning the damsel had ten bullocks killed and they ate and rejoiced.
The officer of the ceremony said, “Sire, we now wish to set out to return home, for the work is done.”
The king took five hundred head of cattle, and sent them as a present to his mother. The men returned home.
And the damsels remained. Umdhlubu’s father had said that they were not to return, but stay with her, and work for her; and many people, both male and female, remained there to build her town.
The king said, “Now build the town of the queen, where she may live with her people.”
So the town was built and completed. The king visited it; many cattle were killed, that the soldiers might eat, and complete the queen’s town. The king also went to live there at the new town. Thus he took Umdhlubu to be his wife.
The people of Umdhlubu’s father reached their home, and said, “O king, we have done all things very well. There are cattle for Umdhlubu’s mother; they are given to her by her son. He told us to give his respects to both his father and mother.”
