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THE SACRED MILK OF KOUMONGOE 147
great deer, called elands, and they stopped when they saw Thakane and sang :
Why do you give to the ogre
Your child, so fair, so fair ?
' You had better ask her,' replied the man, ' she is old enough to give you an answer.'
Then, in her turn, Thakane sang :
I gave Koumongoe to Koane,
Koumongoe to the keeper of beasts ;
For without Koumongoe they could not go to the meadows :
Without Koumongoe they would starve in the hut;
That was why I gave him the Koumongoe of my father.
And the elands all cried: ' Wretched man! it is you whom the ogre should eat, and not your beautiful daughter.'
By this time it was nearly dark, and the father said they could travel no further that night, and must go to sleep where they were. Thakane was thankful indeed when she heard this, for she was very tired, and found the two skins fastened round her almost too heavy to carry. So, in spite of her dread of the ogre, she slept till dawn, when her father woke her, and told her roughly that he was ready to continue their journey.
Crossing the plain, the girl and her father passed a herd of gazelles feeding. They lifted their heads, wondering who was out so early, and when they caught sight of Thakane, they sang :
Why do you give to the ogre Your child, so fair, so fair ?
'You had better ask her,' replied the man, ' she is old enough to answer for herself.'
Then, in her turn, Thakane sang :
I gave Koumongoe to Koane,
Koumongoe to the keeper of beasts ;
For without Koumongoe they could not go to the meadows :
Without Koumongoe they would starve in the hut;
That was why I gave him the Koumongoe of my father. |
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