Page:Folk-lore - A Quarterly Review. Volume 22, 1911.djvu/65

Rh told several times to me, and there were always some slight variations, omissions, or additions. But one sentence was never altered, was never forgotten, and was always told to me with an expression that clearly showed that special importance was attached to it. This was in connection with the incident when Woto meets the pygmies in the forest. They are always made to say, and that in the very same words,—"What a man! No men, howsoever strong they may be, may try to seize him. Women alone shall hold him captive." There may be nothing remarkable in this; but, when it is repeated over and over again, and every informant uses the same terms, and all refuse to enter into explanations, it becomes as bad as a nightmare.

These Bushongo stories are only a small part of the legends preserved by them, and they have furthermore a remarkable treasure of interesting proverbs.