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And this the boys did, and took such good care of their sister that, as she was very small, she soon forgot that she had ever had a father and mother. The Sacred Milk of Koumongoe Far way, in a very hot country, there once lived a man and woman who had two children, a son named Koane and a daughter called Thakane.
Alas for you! why were you not a boy! Thakane, in great surprise, asked the meaning of her distress; and the old woman told her that it was the custom in that country that all the girls who were born should be given to the ogre to eat. Then Thakane clasped the baby tightly in her arms, and cried: 'But it is not the customer in MY country! There, when children die, they are buried in the earth.
'Yesterday Masilo beheld Dilah, and ever since he has entreated me to give him back his daughter. 'If I let her go he must pay me a thousand head of cattle in exchange, replied the old woman. And Thakané carried her answer back to Masilo.
He ordered his servants to bring a pile of skins for Thakané to sit on, but told her father he must sit on the ground. Then, catching sight of the girl's face, which she had kept bent down, he was struck by its beauty, and put the same question that the rabbit, and the elands, and the gazelles had done.
'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.
However, they were so anxious that he should marry, that they willingly accepted Thakane as their daughter-in-law, though she did bring any marriage portion with her. After some time a baby was born to her, and Thakane thought it was the most beautiful baby that ever was seen. But when her mother-in-law saw it was a girl, she wrung her hands and wept, saying: 'O miserable mother! Miserable child!
But the father paid no heed to what the rabbit said, and only walked on the faster, bidding Thakané to keep close behind him. By-and-by they met with a troop of great deer, called elands, and they stopped when they saw Thakané 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.
No one shall take my baby from me. That night, when everyone in the hut was asleep, Thakane rose, and carrying her baby on her back, went down to a place where the river spread itself out into a large lake, with tall willows all round the bank. Here, hidden from everyone, she sat down on a stone and began to think what she should do to save her child.
Suddenly she heard a rustling among the willows, and an old woman appeared before her. 'What are you crying for, my dear? said she. And Thakane answered: 'I was crying for my baby I cannot hide her for ever, and if the ogre sees her, he will eat her; and I would rather she was drowned than that. 'What you say is true, replied the old woman. 'Give me your child, and let me take care of it.
She has touched the sacred tree which belongs to her mother and me alone. And, turning his back, he called to Thakané to follow him, and they went down the road which led to the dwelling of an ogre.
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