The Green Frog And The Water Seed


During one late winter season, the people of Nhare village were a busy lot. A word had been sent by the Chief that a very important government guest was coming to the village.

'Make sure the whole village is very clean. Please get rid of anything that would make our place look dirty.'� The Chief had ordered his men.

Tall grass was cut short. All dirty pieces of paper were burnt. Trees were pruned and beautiful flowers grown almost everywhere. Whilst women spent all their day cleaning the homesteads, man were either repairing old fences or repainting all the houses. For the whole month the Nhare people worked and worked.

One morning the Chief called for a meeting with all the villagers and said,
'Oh yes. I am the one who has called you good people. I want to thank you all for a job well done. Now our village has the best look in the country. Lets clap hands for ourselves!'�
Wawa wawawa wa people clapped
'Again!!'� shouted the happy Chief
Wawa wawawa wa

'Very good people. Now, there is only one thing you forgot to clean. Would anybody want to guess?'� he started looking this way and that waiting for a response. Nobody talked.
'Yes, I knew you would never notice it. Go and clean up all our wells. Get rid of all the dirty things in water that we drink, okay?'�

'Yes your honour!!'� the villagers answered in a chorus.
In cleaning the wells, the villagers killed all the frogs save for one big green one that hid itself in the mad.

'I will teach these villagers a lesson. How could they kill all my relatives? Are we dirt? In what way have we wronged them? I will definitely teach them a big lesson,'� grumbled the big green frog.

That very night, the big green frog from moved from one well to another drinking all the water. By morning the following day the whole Nhare village had no water. All the wells, dams and rivers were dry. The villagers were very surprised. They stood in groups of four people or six discussing the miraculous event.

'Somebody has cast bad luck on our village. We are all going to die of hunger and thirst. Lets rush and inform the Chief,'� the elders who were discussing rushed to the Chief's palace.

' Chief Chief, the whole village will soon die!'� said one elder panting. He had come running all the way.

'Die? Why should my people die? No ways. We have enough food for everybody and more than sufficient water to drink. No other village soldiers are half as good as mine. So tell me who will kill us?'� said the proud Chief seated in his big comfortable chair. He was puffing at his pipe as he talked.
' All the wells, the rivers and the dams have gone dry. People have no water to use to prepare breakfast right now. Its very strange Chief,'� said the village elder.
'The wells have all gone dry? It can't be. I don't believe what you are saying. I will go and see for myself,'� said the Chief as he quickly left his seat and went to inspect the village.

The Chief went round the whole village to check if what the village elders had said was true. Not even a single well or dam had a drop of water. There floors all looked dry and cracked. The Chief started sweating.
'This is very strange. I have never heard or seen such a thing in my life. What are we going to do when the important visitor comes? We will not be able to cook delicious food for him. All the villagers will look very dirty due to lack of water for bathing. These are acts of witchcraft,'� the Chief shook his head again and again.

A meeting for all villagers was called urgently. The Chief was very bitter this time.

'If there is anybody who has cast a curse on my village please make sure you reverse. How can we just wake up without water? Surely this is a true work of sorcery. Once I consult with my traditional prophets and be given the name of the culprit, that person will be in hot soup,'� said the angry Chief.

Still the angry green frog kept on singing still hiding under a dump rock;

Let the Nhare people suffer and suffer
The same way they made my relatives suffer
Let all the water bodies run dry and dry
Let the hot sun draw closer and closer from the sky
I want them all to cry, cry and cry
Let all trees, grass, flowers go dry and dry
Let no rain come down
Let no breeze cool the land
Let no dew wet the grass
Let the Nhare people suffer and suffer!!

The whole village suddenly grew very hot. All the leaves from trees went dry and all the once green grass grew brown. Those beautiful flowers wilted and dried.

The Chief, together with the village elders quickly ran to consult with the traditional prophet on what to do.
'A curse has been cast on the entire village. The gods who live in the air are not all pleased with what the villagers did. You spilt innocent blood. The innocent blood is now taking revenge. Anyway, for the sack of my own security, I will not say much. The spirits tell me that a rainmaker will come. She will tell you what needs to be done to correct the situation. When she comes please follow all her instructions carefully,'� that was all the traditional prophet could say.
'But when is the rainmaker coming? It better be soon for my people will perish with thirst and hunger. Please let it be soon,'� the Chief begged.
'I have no power within me to say exactly when the rainmaker will come. I also have no power to command her to come soon. Just be patient and wait for her,'� explained the traditional prophet.
'Anyway, thank you for your advice. We will try to wait,'� said the sad Chief

The Chief and the village elders sadly walked back to the village. It was in the afternoon and the sun was very hot. They were all sweating badly.
'I am almost roasting. I have never seen such a hot sun. All the tree leaves have dried and have been blown off. There is shade to shelter us from the hot sun,'� complained one elder.
'My throat is now dry. I badly need just a mouthful of water to quench the thirst. I will soon faint,'� complained the other elder.

When they got to the village, everyone was waiting for them. They all wanted to hear what the traditional prophet had said.
'Listen my people!'� the Chief addressed them. 'We have been to the traditional prophet, the most powerful one in the land. He has said that we should wait for a rainmaker to come and bring some rain. No date of the rainmaker's visit was given, but he said we should patiently wait,'� added the Chief.

The villagers dispersed and went to their homes complaining. Their kids were crying for food. The cows mooed for grass and water. The sheep bleated for a drink as well. Dogs barked and barked with hunger.

Two days passed by and no rainmaker visited the village. Many people were now very hungry. A word got to the government guest that Nhare village was now in trouble. He postponed his visit. The Chief was not pleased at all. He nearly ordered his policemen to arrest the traditional prophet for lying.

'If the rainmaker does not come in the next two days, the prophet must be arrested for lying. Look, my people are suffering. Our important guest has cancelled his visit. What the hell is happening in my village!'� bellowed the angry Chief.

The green frog laughed and laughed. It sang a secret magic song and it changed into beautiful young lady dressed in a nice white gown. She wore a red headwear and had a golden stick in her hands. She walked from the direction of the dry river.

'Hello my friend. How do I get to the Chief's palace?'� the beautiful young lady asked a young boy who was herding cattle in hot dry pastureland.
'The Chief's palace is that nice house built on the hill top. Come I will show you the way,'� said the young boy as he led the way.
'You are a nice boy. You look quite hungry and miserable, what is the problem?'� asked the beautiful young lady.
'I have never eaten anything for the past three days. People from by village are suffering,' answered the poor boy looking at the lady. 'You look beautiful, health and smart. Is there water and food where you come from?'� he asked the lady.
'There is plenty of water and more delicious food than my people can finish. I come from a very nice looking place where the trees and grass are evergreen. It is also very cool and the flowers very colourful and give sweet scent,'� explain the lady, dimples showing on her face as she smiled.
'Can I accompany you to your place on your way back?'� asked the young boy.
'Why do you want to ran away from your village? the lady asked.
'I am afraid of dying from hunger. Please lady help, help my people,'� the boy sadly knelt before the beautiful lady and begged.
'Alright, alright, lets get to the Chief's place first. I promise I will help your people if they follow what I say.

The two walked and walked in the hot sun. The young boy's face became very wet with sweat. Surprisingly the beautiful lady never sweated.

'Your honour, I have brought you your visitor from the cool lands. Her name and place of origin I never asked. She is a beautiful lady fitting for the title of a princess. I will leave her to name where she comes from, her name and the purpose of her visit'� explained the young boy as he knelt before the Chief and bowed his head as a sign of respect.

The young lady extended her tender hand to the Chief and smiled.

'My name I will not say. I come from a place where the seeds of rain come from. I have come to meet your people,'� said the lady.

The Chief almost jumped from his comfortable seat where two guards were fanning him for cool air.
' Did I hear you properly? You come from where water seeds are made? Are you the rainmaker? Tell me young lady, are you the rainmaker we are waiting for?'� the Chief asked as knelt in front of the visitor. The young lady just smiled.
' Call everybody for a meeting. Tell them to come running. Tell the people the rainmaker has come. Quick boys, quick!!,'� the Chief was very happy.

When the word got to the village, people ran like they were mad. Old man and women also limped to the Chief's place. Everybody wanted to get there before everyone else. Kids strapped on their mothers' back cried as the mothers ran. Dogs could not be left behind. They ran by their masters' sides.
'Listen my people. The rainmaker is finally here. Lets all listen as she tells what to do in order to put an end to this dry spell,' said the Chief he turned to the young lady and said 'Over to you rainmaker.'�

'People of Nhare village the gods are very cross with you. You shaded innocent blood. Why did you kill the innocent frogs? What wrong had they committed? Can somebody answer me please?,' asked the rainmaker in a soft voice. She toyed with her golden stick as she spoke.

Nobody answered. The rainmaker was angry. She pointed at the sun with a stick and acted as if she was pulling it down. Suddenly the heat increased. Children cried and elders sweated.

'If nobody answers me I will continue pulling the sun,'� she warned the people.

'Forgive us rainmaker, we did it out of ignorance. Tell us how we can correct the mistake. I promise we will follow your instruction,'� the Chief begged

The rainmaker kept quite for some time. She looked at everybody gathered at the Chief's place and shook her head.

'Ok, I will forgive you on one condition. You will have to brew beer to appease the spirit of the angry gods. The beer will only be cooked using fire from people's hair. Every member of the village has to contribute enough hair for beer brewing. Just now I will give you little water to use for making the beer. Do you all agree?,' she asked

'Yeeeeeeeeeessssss!!!' people answered in a chorus.

'Right, secondly, there will be tadpoles in the main dam soon after the first rain. You should all make sure you nicely catch these and transfer the to every well, river, rivulets and pools in the village. Not a single tadpole should die during the transfer process. Are we together?'� asked the rainmaker.
'Yeeeeeeeeeesssss!!!'� people answered together again.

'Ok I will now go. Please make sure you follow what I said. If you don't, this place will never receive rain. It will become a desert.'� Said the rainmaker as she made some strange antics wit her golden stick.. A cloud formed in the sky and in no time heavy rain started pouring down. Sharp lightning tore through the sky, followed by a heavy thunder. At that time the rainmaker just disappeared. She reappeared at the village's main dam in the form of a big green frog. She laid millions and millions of eggs that quickly hatched into several tadpoles.

For several days that followed, all the people of Nhare village were bald headed as they had cleanly shoved their heads to amass enough hair for beer brewing. Men, women and children moved about the village with shiny baldheads. They took the tadpoles from the main dam to almost every well, river, pond and pools in the village. The village became known as 'The village of the baldheads'

Beer was finally brewed and the appeasing ceremony held. The important government visitor was also invited to attend. People sang traditional songs the whole night. Everybody danced to the tune of the drums. Cows and goats were slaughtered for meat. Everybody ate and drank to their satisfaction on that day. In the late afternoon, heavy rains pounded the ground. It rained and rained the whole night. People never stopped dancing and singing. Everybody was very happy. Even the government visitor danced too.
'The gods are now very happy. We should always live in harmony with other members of nature. Never ever just kill innocent insects and animals,' advised the important visitor when people had taken a short break. He then lifted his clenched fist and shouted at the top of his voice, 'Hip hip!!!'�
'Huleee !!!'� the villagers answered
'Hip hip!!!'� shouted the Chief
'Huleee!!!'� answered the villagers again.

In the dams, rivers and wells tadpoles, which had grown to frogs, were also celebrating. The frogs croaked and croaked. When one listened, one would hear as if the frogs were saying;

Seed seed, water seed
Rain rain, rain seed.
Seed seed , water seed
Rain rain, rain seed.

After a week, the whole Nhare village had grown new green grass. The trees grew green leaves. The rivers were flowing. The sun was no longer as hot. The villagers started planting new crops in their fields. Life was back to normal.










By Maxwell Mutami @2005

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