Latest / Sandman Stories Presents / EP 283: Uganda- The Flame Tree, The Buffalo Woman (Baskerville)

Transcript

EP 283: Uganda- The Flame Tree, The Buffalo Woman (Baskerville) · Sandman Stories Presents

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  Welcome back listeners to Sandman's Stories Presents, a
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  folklore podcast where I read you to sleep or until the next
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  story. I'm your host, Dustin.
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  If you want a little extra Sandman.
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  I have extra stories that are too spicy for the main feed
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  available on my Patreon and you can join at the free tier and
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  get everything. Today we are starting a new book
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  of Ugandan folklore to replace the Nigerian folklore book.
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  In the first story we learned about the origins of a soft tree
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  with pretty flowers, and in the second we learn about the
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  heartless humans and how to cure sadness.
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  OK, let's begin the flame tree. Once Upon a time there was a
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  little girl who lived in the village of Sea.
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  Her parents had no other children and as she grew older
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  they saw with joy that she was more beautiful every day.
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  People who passed through the village saw her and spoke of her
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  beauty until everyone in Calgary knew that the most lovely girl
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  in the country lived in the village of Sea and everyone in
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  the province called her the Maiden.
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  The Maiden was a gentle, sweet child and loved all the animals
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  and birds and butterflies and flowers and played with them and
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  knew their language. Her parents were very proud of
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  her, and often talked of the time when she should grow up and
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  marry a great chief, with many cows and gardens and people, and
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  bring great wealth to her tribe. When the time came to arrange
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  her marriage, all the chiefs came and offered many gifts, as
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  the custom of the Baganda is. But the maiden said, I will
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  marry none of these rich chiefs. I will marry Tutu the peasant
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  boy, who has nothing, because I love him.
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  Her parents were very grieved when they heard this and would
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  have tried to persuade her. But just then a messenger
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  arrived from the Sikhibobo to say that the king of Uganda was
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  going to war with Mububi, the chief of the Buvuma Islands, and
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  all the chiefs went away to collect their people for the
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  King's army. Then the chief of sea, who is
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  called Kibevu, called all his men together, and Tutu, the
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  peasant boy, went with them. The army marched down to the
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  shore to fight the Islanders, who came across the blue waters
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  in a fleet of war canoes, painted and decorated with horns
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  and feathers and cowry shells and beads.
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  The maiden was very sad when she said goodbye to Tutu.
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  Be very brave and win glory, she said.
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  Then my father will let me marry you, for I will never marry
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  anyone else. But when the men had marched
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  away, and only the women and children were left in the
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  village with the old people, the maiden forgot her brave words,
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  and could only think about how she could bring Tutu safely
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  back. She called to her friend the
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  Hawk. Come and help me double.
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  I fly quickly to the Lakeshore and see my peasant boy.
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  Tell me. I think of him day and night.
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  I cannot be happy until he returns.
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  The Hawk knew Tutu well, for often on the hillside he had
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  played with the children. The Bhaganda called him double
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  Eye, for they say that with one eye he watches the earth, and
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  with the other he sees where he is going.
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  The Bhaganda reached the lake and there was a great battle,
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  and Tutu, the peasant boy was killed by a stone from an
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  islander's sling. But the Bhaganda rallied and
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  drove the enemy back to their canoes, and Mububi beat the
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  retreat drum, and his men returned to Buvuma.
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  The hawk flew very quickly, and while he was still a long way
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  off, he saw Tutu lying there where he'd fallen on the Lake
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  Shore. The soldiers were burying the
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  dead, and the hawk watched a sea where they would bury the
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  peasant boy of sea so that he might show the maiden his grave.
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  The maiden waited on the hillside for the hawk's return,
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  and the moments seemed like hours.
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  She called to a bumblebee who was near her friend.
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  Go quickly to the lakeside and greet my peasant boy.
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  Tell him I wait here on the hillside for his return.
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  The bumblebee flew away quickly, and when it reached the
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  Lakeshore he asked the hawk for news.
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  The Islanders have fled in their canoes, but Tutu, the peasant
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  boy, is dead. A stone from a sling killed him.
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  I wait to see his grave so that I might show it to the maiden.
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  The bumblebee was afraid to go back with the news, so he stayed
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  near the hawk and watched. Meanwhile the maiden waited in a
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  fever of impatience, ever gazing at the distant lake and pacing
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  up and down. She saw a flight of white
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  butterflies playing hide and seek around a mimosa Bush and
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  called to them. Oh, white butterflies, how can
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  you play when my heart is breaking?
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  Go to the Lake Shore to see if my peasant boy is well.
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  So the white butterflies flew away over the green hills to the
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  lake and arrived on the battlefield just as the soldiers
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  were digging Tutu's grave. And they settled sadly down on a
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  tuft of grass, their wings drooping with sorrow, for they
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  loved the maiden who often played with them in the
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  sunshine. Far away in the sea hills the
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  maiden watched in vain for their return.
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  Filled with fear, she cried to the sun.
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  O chief of the Cloud Land, help me take me on one of your beams
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  to the Lakeshore, so that I may see my peasant boy and tell him
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  of my love. The Sun looked down on her with
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  great pity, for he had seen the battle and knew that Tutu, the
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  peasant boy, was dead. He stretched out one of his long
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  beams, and she caught it in her hands, and he swung her gently
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  round till she rested on the Lakeshore.
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  When she saw the soldiers lifting Tutu's body to lay it in
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  the grave, she cried to the Sun. Oh, chief of the Cloud land, do
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  not leave me, burn me with your fire, for how can I live now
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  that my love is dead? Then the sun was filled with
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  pity and struck her with a hot flame, and the soldiers were
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  very sorry for her too, and they dug a grave for her next to
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  Tutus. When the people of Sea visited
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  the graves the next year, they found a wonderful thing, for a
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  beautiful tree had grown out of them with large flame colored
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  blossoms, which ever turned upwards to the sun, and they
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  took their seeds and planted them in their gardens.
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  Now the country is full of these beautiful trees which are called
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  flame trees, but the old people call them Kif of Bughazi because
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  the stem is as soft as a woman's heart and a woman can cut it
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  down. The end.
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  OK, and story #2 The Buffalo maiden.
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  There once was a little girl who lived with her uncle and aunt.
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  Her uncle loved her, but the aunt was always unkind to her.
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  Now this aunt was really a witch, but nobody knew it.
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  One day she said to her husband, You must send that little girl
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  away. I cannot stand her anymore, she
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  is so naughty. But go first to the forest, to
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  the old wizard who lives there, and he will tell you what to do.
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  So the old man went to the forest, but he did not know that
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  his wife had told the wizard what to say.
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  The wizard said, take the little girl to the forest and leave her
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  there. Then he was sorry for the man
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  and added, If you do this, good fortune will come to the child,
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  but many years must pass. Very sadly the man returned
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  home. He took a gourd of milk and some
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  Indian corn, and told his little niece to follow him into the
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  forest. When they had walked a long way
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  they sat down to rest, and the child was so tired that she fell
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  asleep at once. Then the uncle put down the
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  gourd of milk and the Indian corn and went sorrowfully home.
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  When the child woke it was very dark in the forest and she was
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  terrified at the sounds around her and feared the wild animals
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  might come and eat her. But she heard a chirping voice
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  in the tree above her and saw a large cricket sitting on a
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  branch just over her head. Climb up into this tree, said
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  the cricket, and you will find a nice bed to sleep in.
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  So the child climbed up at the fork of the tree and there was a
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  lovely place full of dry leaves where she curled up and was soon
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  again fast asleep. The next morning she saw that
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  several buffaloes were resting under her tree, and as she was
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  very hungry, she thought, I will go and ask the cow Buffalo to
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  give me some milk. The buffaloes were very sorry
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  for the child left all alone in the forest and they said.
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  You will soon die of hunger here.
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  Come and live in our crawl in the jungle, and you shall have
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  milk every day and a little Hut of your own.
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  So the little girl climbed on the old cow Buffalo's back, who
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  was the granny of the herd, and went with her to the crawl,
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  which was hidden away in the thick jungle.
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  At first she was sad and unhappy and homesick.
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  She wanted her uncle and her friends in the village at home,
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  and the old granny Buffalo could do nothing to comfort her.
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  Then the great bull Buffalo who ruled the herd called a council
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  of animals together and said. How can we make a child happy
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  who has? Come to live.
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  With us in the forest. The animals are very much
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  distressed, for they all wanted to be kind, but the child sat
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  and sobbed, for she was lonely and homesick.
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  Just then an old tortoise who'd been asleep for many years woke
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  up and came shuffling into the council.
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  The child will be quite happy if you take away her heart.
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  He said for. It is the heart.
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  Of a woman that brings all the trouble into the world.
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  If she cannot love, she will have no trouble if she has no
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  heart. She'll be quite happy.
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  So they cut out the little girl's heart and tied it up in
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  wild plantain leaves and hung it up in a cedar tree, and they
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  built her a Hut under the cedar tree, and she settled down
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  happily and cried no more, and her heart hung far above out of
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  reach, where no one could touch it.
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  From that moment on the child changed.
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  At first the Buffalo Granny was pleased, because she stopped
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  crying and was quiet. But soon she grew puzzled
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  because the little girl was so strange.
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  Every day she did unkind things, and she laughed when she hurt
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  the little animals. She pushed the little Cubs into
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  the forest pools when they came for a drink, and she climbed up
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  into the trees and threw little birds that couldn't fly out of
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  their nests. And when their mothers cried,
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  she laughed at them and clapped her hands.
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  There was one animal who had not been at the Great Bull Buffaloes
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  Council. The little hare was away at the
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  time on a long journey, but when he returned the other animals
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  told him about it. He looked very grave.
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  The little hare knows more about people than any other animal,
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  for he often goes to the villages, and he understands
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  man's language. He watched the little girl every
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  day. He grew sadder.
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  Years passed by, and the child grew up into a beautiful woman,
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  but she had no friends in the forest, and all the animals were
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  afraid of her, and none of them loved her.
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  If they growled she stared at them, and they slunk off, for
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  her eyes frightened them. One day the Seki Bobo's men were
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  hunting buffaloes, and one of them followed a wounded animal
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  through the jungle, when, to his surprise, he saw a lovely girl
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  come down the forest path. When she saw the wounded Buffalo
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  she laughed and went back, and the man was so frightened that
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  he came back the way he had come and told the other hunters, and
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  they told the chief. Then the chief sent a party of
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  men to the forest, and they followed the Hunter's trail and
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  came to the buffalo's crawl, and there they saw a beautiful girl
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  milking a Buffalo and singing. I am the Buffalo maiden.
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  The Buffalo crawl is my home. Jungle land is my Kingdom,
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  wherever I will roam. I hate the golden sun beams that
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  fill the glades with light. I hate the silver moon beams
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  that chill my Hut at night. The birds are dumb when they see
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  me. The animals are my foes, for I
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  am the Buffalo maiden, as all the jungle knows.
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  They were afraid to speak, and they went quietly back.
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  Then the Seki Bobo went to the capital and told the chiefs in
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  the King's council, and the king and all the Princess heard that
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  a beautiful girl lived alone in the depths of the forest in the
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  Buffalo Crowl. There was 1 Prince, braver and
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  kinder than the others, and he was sorry for the girl, so he
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  took one man with him and went to the forest to find her.
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  But when he found her he loved her very much.
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  But the girl only laughed at him and threw stones at him.
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  Some of the stones hit him, and they hurt very much.
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  And every day he grew more and more miserable.
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  One day while he was walking in the forest, he found a doe with
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  a sharp thorn in its foot. He took the thorn out and
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  carried the poor tired creature to its home.
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  The doe was very grateful, and said, Tell me what I can do to
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  thank you. And the Prince answered, Tell me
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  how I can make the girl I love, love me.
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  The doe was very sorrowful. You will never make her love
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  you. She is unkind and cruel to
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  everyone. But I will ask the other animals
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  and perhaps they can give me some advice.
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  So when the doe's foot was healed, she went to the big Gray
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  elephant and asked his advice. Tell your Prince.
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  Said the big Gray elephant. That the girl is cruel and
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  unkind. He had better shook a wife in
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  the capital. So the doe went to the lion.
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  If the Prince has been kind to you, he is much too good for the
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  girl, he said. She is hard and.
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  Cruel and never sheds. Tears as the women in the
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  villages do. All the animals said the same
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  thing. And at last the Dome at the
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  little hare and told him her trouble.
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  It isn't her fault, said the hare.
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  They took away her heart from her when she was a little girl.
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  How can she be kind without a heart?
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  Let the Prince steal her heart that hangs in the cedar tree,
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  and then she will love him. So the doe went and told the
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  Prince, You must steal her heart, which hangs in the cedar
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  tree above her Hut, but you must go alone at night.
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  So the Prince went alone through the dark forest at night and
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  came to the buffalo's crawl. The moonlight was shimmering
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  through the Gray shadows as he picked his way between the
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  sleeping buffaloes up to the maiden's Hut, and there above
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  him in the cedar tree hung the heart.
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  He climbed the tree and clasped the heart in his arms, and as he
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  did, the girl asleep in the Hut below felt great fear.
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  Someone has touched my heart. She cried softly and
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  tremulously. She opened the door and saw the
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  Prince and fell at his feet, sobbing.
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  Oh my Lord, you have my heart in your arms.
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  Take me too. So the Prince took her away to
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  the capital, and they lived happily together for many years.
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  The big Gray elephant called a forest council together, and
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  they passed sentence on the old tortoise and killed him, because
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  his advice had been so bad. For this is the law of the
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  Mobira Forest. If any animal gives bad advice
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  to the council, he is killed. And the forest council sent a
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  messenger to the Prince and told him what they had done, and he
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  was glad. For though the heart of the
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  woman causes all the trouble in the world, it also brings all
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  the joy and her tears are like the spring rains and make the
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  earth beautiful. The end.
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  Well, I really like the origin of the flower and tree story.
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  It was heartbreaking to read about the girl and her love.
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  And I'm not sure what would happen if I lost he young.
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  That would really destroy me. I might ask to be burned by the
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  sun. And the second story was just
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  lovely and it shows how having a heart is important.
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  I didn't like the, well, all the trouble in the world's from a
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  Woman's heart. Didn't like that, But the rest
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  of it was pretty cool. And I try to take it with me
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  everywhere that having a heart is important, caring about
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  people is important, being kind is important.
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  Let's try to be kind. Still not bad for the first two
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  stories of the book and the podcast.
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  Shout out is to chat Tsunami, a couple of Scottish dudes talking
• 17:25
  about gaming and anime and lots of other nerdy stuff.
• 17:28
  They are fairly laid back and both have a lot of fun talking
• 17:31
  about stuff they enjoy. And so if you like their show as
• 17:33
  much as I do, go and give them a like a listen and a review.
• 17:36
  And if you want to join me on my Patreon you can always do it for
• 17:39
  free and hear me reading spicy stories and the listener.
• 17:43
  Shout out is to San Carlos City in the Philippines.
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  It is located in the Negritos Occidental province.
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  The name Negritos Occidental refers to the Austronesians that
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  were some of the first inhabitants of that area.
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  They have darker skin and shorter, curlier hair than the
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  rest of the Philippines. The city was originally named
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  Nabinkalan after a Negritos chief's daughter, Nabinka.
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  She is said to be gorgeous, smart and strong.
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  In 1856, a new name was given to the ever enlarging city, San
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  Carlos City, and it has been under the flags of America,
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  Japan and the Philippines as it is to this day.
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  And of course I would love to visit.
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  The Philippines has a special place in my heart and I was
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  looking for the language of the Negritos, but it says most of
• 18:30
  them use Tagalog or other languages.
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  Now their native language is pretty well gone, and since I
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  couldn't find their language, I say to my listeners in San
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  Carlos City, thank you and good night.