Page:Swahili tales.djvu/103

Rh there are surely kenges, and thirdly, there are surely snakes, and fourthly, whatever there be, there are frogs, and they bite people, and I fear all these things." "Well, master, bathe just here in the stream."

Its master went into the stream and bathed. And it said to him, "Rub yourself well with earth." And it said, "Take some sand and rub your teeth well with sand, for your teeth are dirty." And he rubbed himself well with earth, and rubbed his teeth well with sand. And it said, "Come along then, come out, the sun has gone down, let us be off."

And it brought the clothes and said, "Open it, master;" and he opened the clothes and put them on. And he put on the lordly loin-cloth, and he put on the kanzu of doria, and fastened on the dagger with the gold filigree, and he put on the black joho, which was a very good one, and twisted on the turban of karyati cloth, and that very good, and he put on the shoes, and put the sword under his armpit, and took in his hand the mtobwi walking-stick.

And it said, "Master!" And he said, "Here, my son, here, my benefactor, here, my burier, here, my orator, here, my light." And it said, "There, where we are going, don't you let any one word whatsoever come out of your mouth, beyond saluting and asking the news. Don't add a word more, leave all the talking to me, you have no word to put in." And he said, "Very good." And it said, "Yonder I have asked a wife for you; and the dowry, and the clothes, and the mkajas, and the turbans, and the ubeleko, and all the customary gifts for the wife and her mother and her father, I have given them all." And he said, "I will not say anything." And it said, "Mount the horse, and let us go."

The gazelle went running, and stopped at a distance and said, "Master, master!" And he said, "Here!" And