This ancient myth comes to us from Rwanda in Eastern Africa.
Our story takes place a long time ago in Rwanda where lived a woman whose husband had gone to war. He had been gone a long time and the woman fell very ill in his absence. She was too weak and sick to even step out bed. When the night grew dark and cold she wanted to get a fire going. But there was nobody living around there to build one for her.
“It is night already and I can’t even get up to light a fire. How can I chop all that wood and start a fire? There isn’t any one around I can call for help... if only there was someone. Why, even if the Thunder God himself could come ....”
No sooner had she said these words when outside her hut the storm clouds gathered quickly in the sky. There were flashes of lightning and then suddenly there appeared in her hut the Thunder God himself, in the guise of a man with a shiny silver axe in hand!
“A fire you wanted?” he asked before proceeding to effortlessly chop the wood and make a neat pile of it. With a light touch on top of it with the tips of his fingers the wood was lit and soon there was a bright fire going.
The woman was too shocked to react and before she could say anything, he spoke, “Now that I’ve come at your time of need and done what you asked of me what are you going to give me in return?”
The woman trembled in fear and was tongue-tied.
The Thunder god continued, “When your child is born if it’s a girl I would like her to be my wife. Will you give her to me?”
The woman nodded her head vigorously and stammered, “Yeees....’’ She just wanted him to leave. Soon her husband returned and she related to him her strange encounter with the Thunder God. Before long they had a baby and it turned out to be a girl!
As a child Miseke (for that was her name) was allowed to play outside with other children her age.
“Just don’t let her outside when there is going to be a thunder storm,” her father warned her mother. One day, her friends came excitedly to Miseke’s mother. “Do come and see what is happening! Every time Miseke laughs pretty beads come out of her mouth!’’
It was not just beads, copper bangles and other pieces of jewellery also came out of her mouth when she laughed. Miseke’s parents looked at each other with dismay.
“This is the Thunder god’s work. He is sending his bride-to-be gifts as per custom,” whispered Miseke’s mother so that the child wouldn’t hear. It was a custom in that part of the world for a man to send his future wife gifts as she was growing up.
“We can’t take chances any more. Confine the child to the house. She can’t be allowed to go outside now,” said the father. So that was that. And poor Miseke had to stay indoors all day. She helped her mother with the household chores, and sometimes her friends would come over to play. But how long would they want to stay indoors?
One day, when Miseke was around fifteen, her parents went out for the day to visit someone living far away and she was left alone at home. Miseke was weaving a basket when her friends came to her.
“Miseke, we’re going down to the river to get some inkwa. Want to come? Your parents are not here... we’ll return quickly, they won’t even know,” they said. Inkwa was white clay that people used to paint pots and decorate their faces with. Miseke had enough of sitting at home all the time. She jumped at the chance and the young girls set off together.
At the riverside there was already a big pit dug by people before them. “Let’s jump inside and fill our baskets with the inkwa,” said one of the girls and all of them got into the large clay pit. The girls had great fun, filling their baskets with the clay and smearing each other’s faces with it. They laughed and chattered away. Miseke was happy that she had come out with her friends. What fun this was!
Unknown to them, however, the sky was changing above. Dark clouds began to gather all at once and it looked almost as if night was falling. But it was only early afternoon. A storm was brewing and amidst the swirling clouds appeared the form of a man. It was the Thunder God! He stood above the clay pit and asked the girls who were down below, “Which amongst you is Miseke?” He had come to claim his bride!
To be continued….