Sibanda Of The Zambezi River GRAHAM VIVIAN LANCASTER
For Cynthia, my mother
L TRAYBERRY PRESS
ALEXANDER HOUSE Incorporating
TRAYBERRY PRESS 29 Howick Road Pietermaritzburg 0836388813 Copyright 2012 Graham Vivian Lancaster Copyright 2012 in this published edition TRAYBERRY PRESS
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder and publisher. First published 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9870146-4-1
Cover design: G. V. Lancaster / Maxine Wicks Cover art: Karen Kristensen Author photograph: Cathy Bloemhof Distributed by Trayberry Book Distributors. Cell: 0836388813 Tel: 033 - 3427978
WORKS BY THE AUTHOR: NOVELS:
Wind Song Storm Song Strength Of ten
SELF HELP: Everyone Can Do It
Its Never Too Late Surviving The Ladder The Cost Of Money Who’s Shrinking Your Money? The Happy Customer
POETRY:
HUMOUR:
Marks On My Soul Gypsey Whale Song Gravel Roads Fledgeling African Ride Moments of Truth Picaroon Journeys Rusty Gates Poetry Study Guide Bert and Co. Bert Another Story Nothing For Mahala
ADVENTURE SERIES:
Wild and Dangerous + Study Guide Secrets of the Sea Cyclone Tracy Wrath Of The Gods Dangerous Alliances When The Earth Thunders + Study Guide Awakening Africa Flying With Eagles Over The Edge + Study Guide ******************* The Adventurous Life Of Rory Flint Rat To Riches + Study Guide Dock Town Mayor and Mayoress Dock Town Upside Down Sibanda Of The Zambezi River
INDEX 1 9 15 22 28 35 44 53 58 65 72 76 81 89 93
Sibanda And The River Sibanda And The New Hut Sibanda And The Thatching Grass Sibanda And The Fishermen Sibanda And The Honey Guide Sibanda Goes To Town Sibanda And The Vundu Sibanda’s Fish Is Too Big Sibanda Cuts Llala Palms Sibanda Thinks About Being Rich Sibanda’s Baba Comes Home Sibanda’s New Hat Sibanda Becomes Impatient Sibanda Prepares For Town Sibanda’s Big Day
River Of Life (Tsonga name for the Zambezi River) Home of the river god ‘Nyame Nyame’ Calm, tempestuous The mighty Zambezi River Touches six countries With its magic of life Where elephant, lion, buffalo, rhinoceros Antelope and birds of the Zambezi Valley Come to drink cool water As crocodiles and hippopotamus Warm themselves in blazing sunshine On silver white sand banks, Where farmers irrigate crops on its banks, Fishermen and hunters feed their families From the Zambezi’s abundance As it flows between Zambia and Zimbabwe Past Sibanda’s village Through Mozambique into the Indian Ocean From where its water first rose as rain To water Africa
Sibanda And The River
The sun rose slowly over the Zambezi River. The doves cooed gently in the trees. The water was calm. Sibanda watched the men fixing their fishing lines. Fish like to eat earthworms. Sibanda had dug some out of the riverbank. He put them in a tin can for bait. Their boat was a big tree the men had hollowed out with axes. It was almost as high as himself when he was standing beside it in the water. They were ready to go. Sibanda helped to push the heavy dugout into the water. “Please let me come with you, Baba?� 1
“It is dangerous for a five year old boy to be on the water, Sibanda. You must stay and look after the women,” Baba said kindly. Sibanda pushed his finger into his mouth and twisted it round shyly. He watched his father with big eyes. Baba knew how badly Sibanda wanted to go fishing. He was still too small to be out on the river. “Not today my son. There are many dangerous wild animals. The sun is very hot on the water. You will only get in the way.” Sibanda wasn’t worried about the sun or the wild animals. He just wanted to go fishing with the men. He watched as they pushed their boat out into the river. He waved goodbye sadly to his father and Baba waved back. The men in the dugout were soon out of sight. Sibanda looked at the spare wooden dugout lying half in the water. He was sure he could push it into the river by himself. He went to the back of the boat. He put his shoulder to it and pushed as hard as he could. The boat didn’t move. He walked round it, looking to see what the problem might be. He pulled at it, but it was stuck in the mud. He put his shoulder to the boat again and pushed. It still wouldn’t move. Sibanda stood thinking with his hands on his hips. Just then, he heard a noise on the bank above him. The donkeys had been let out of their kraal of thorn bushes. They had been in it all night so the lions wouldn’t eat them. Sibanda nodded his head as he remembered what Baba had done before. He tied a rope to the back of the boat. He looped the other end round one of the donkey’s necks.
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“Come, come,” he called out and the donkey pulled. Between them, they turned the boat and got it into the water. “Thank you, donkey,” Sibanda patted the animal. Sibanda tied the boat to a tree so it wouldn’t float away. He looked through the reeds to see if his mother had seen him. Maai was sweeping the ground by the huts. She hadn’t missed him yet. His older sisters, Tandi and the twins, Sindi and Mwenzi were lighting the fire to cook breakfast. Sibanda smiled. No one had seen him. He ran quickly through the tall grass behind them. He dug some earthworms and put them into a tin. He fetched a spare fishing line and hurried back to the boat. Sibanda pushed the dugout away from the bank. He sat down on the bottom as the boat drifted out into the wide Zambezi River. The land was getting further away and he looked round quickly. He had done it. He was out on the river at last. He would come back with many fish and Baba would be proud of him. Then he would be allowed to fish with the men every day. Sibanda got to his knees and lifted the heavy paddle. He pulled it through the water slowly, holding it tightly so it wouldn’t fall in. Sibanda waved at the fish eagles in the trees and they called him as he passed. “I am going fishing all by myself!” he told them. The bank was far away and the ripples from the boat spread slowly across the water. Sibanda thought he had gone far enough. He laid the paddle on the bottom of the boat. He put five fat worms onto a hook. He tied the other end of the line to the back of the boat. He threw the hook 3
into the water and the line pulled behind the boat as he drifted slowly. Suddenly a tiger fish saw the bunch of worms and chased after it. It bit the worms. It felt the hook in its mouth. It jerked on the strong line, but it couldn’t get free. It jumped out of the river. It splashed water and snapped its teeth. The fish shone silver and blue in the sunlight. “I have caught a fish!” Sibanda shouted excitedly. The fish shook its head quickly, but the hook wouldn’t come out. Sibanda pulled on the line. The fish was still fighting hard and he couldn’t pull it in. The big tiger fish fought for a long time. It jumped out of the water. It made a big splash as it fell back in. After a while, it began to get tired. Sibanda pulled the line in slowly. The fish came up to the side of the boat. It flicked its tail and splashed water over Sibanda. “Hey, don’t do that,” he laughed. He stood up and pulled the big fish into the boat. It fell into the bottom. The fish snapped its long sharp teeth at him. Sibanda kept away from it. It would bite his foot if he got too close. He saw how big the fish was and he was very excited. “Wait until Baba sees this!,” he shouted out to the fish eagles. He put more worms on the hook and threw the line into the water again. He sat back and watched the elephants drinking water. Some of them were bathing in the river. They squirted water out of their trunks. There were hippopotamus in the water too. The bull opened his big pink mouth. “Waugh, waugh, waugh,” he yawned loudly. Sibanda looked at his big tusks. 4