The two friends

the two
Miwili
friends
Mapal
An African Folktale

Two boys were born on the very same
day in an African tribe, and they grew
up to be firm friends.

Ndemi was rich. Jinjo was poor.

Ndemi’s life was PLAY…until he got bored…

One day.. Ndemi had a yearning to see something of
the world outside.

So he asked his poor friend to go along with him.

In the next village Ndemi saw a beautiful girl.

He immediately
asked her to
marry her..
Malama

Then he said
"I would be prepared to give a
hundred cattle for such
loveliness."

"My father is Chief of the village,“
Malama replied,
"and it is his wish that I should marry
a man capable of doing
superhuman things. He sets a task
for my suitors, such a difficult one
that I fear I shall grow old without
ever being married."

So Ndemi faced the
Chief and said,

"Sir, I wish to marry your daughter, surely the
most beautiful woman in the whole of Africa.
Tell me what to do and it shall be done. Where
others have failed, I shall succeed, because my
love for your daughter is boundless."

But the young man became hopeless when the
Chief told him what his task would be.

What do you think
is his task?

Guarded by an old woman,

Spend 6 days and 6 nights in a hut

NO food
NO water

And if he did not succeed, he would be killed. Because of
love, he accepted the conditions.

Do you think Ndemi
will survive?

Of course, Ndemi had a plan for this.
With Jinjo’s help, he made a small hole on the
wall, and through this hole he quietly pushed
a hollow reed, dipping its end into the
calabash of water.
On the other end, Ndemi was able to drink.
Then Jinjo plastered the wall with mud to
hide the hole, and quietly stole off into the
darkness.

Then became
suspicious for no
suitor lasted more
than three days.

On the fifth night, she
commanded Ndemi to sleep
against the wall while she laid
down on his bed mat.

Later, she heard soft scraping noise and later a hollow
poked and water came out.

So she shouted!

‘ Cheaterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!
The chief will hear about this
in the morning. And the
calabash will be my evidence
that will end your life.’

Jinjo was worried. He heard his friend crying.
Suddenly a voice came out squeaking out of
darkness.

What do you think
was it?

to the rescue!!

"Look down," squeaked the voice,
"I am Davyaga, the rat. Tell me your problem and I
will try to find a solution."

So Jinjo told his story, then the rat said;
"Leave it to me. You sleep well tonight. Your friend is
no longer in danger." And he was gone, rustling
through the dry grass. Reaching the old woman's
hut, chew a hole through the wall.
He pushed the calabash through the hole where his
friends, the white ants, stood waiting, drawn up like
soldiers on a parade-ground. Then they started
eating the calabash, not even the smallest chip
remained.

found that she had no
evidence, and as nobody
would believe her fantastic
story

Ndemi was able to marry
Malama and take her back
to his village with him.

There his father built a house for them, and a
house for the poor Jinjo. To Ndemi and
Jinjo, he gave magic knives, made by the
giants in the far-off mountains and so alike
that nobody could possibly tell the difference
between them.

"One day you will need the magic of the knives,"
said the father.

After some months
Jinjo, announced that he
had a desire to travel to a
faraway village and find a
wife for himself so that he
could be as radiantly happy
as Malama and Ndemi.

So he planted a tree.
When the tree had grown and
he was about to set off on
his travels, he said to Ndemi,
"See how it flowers, this
cotton-seed tree of mine
that I planted in a hole cut
out by magic knife. If these
leaves become withered and
dry, it will be a sign that I am
either dead or in the most
desperate trouble. Good-
bye, and may your
happiness grow during my
absence."

Then he traveled across plains until he could see
in the distance a village.

Approaching, he heard the
sound of weeping and
wailing, a vast sad sound
coming from the throats of
hundreds of people.
And just ahead of him
he could see a lonely
girl sitting in the dry riverbed

What was that sound?
a. A humming bird
b. A hurting chimpanzee
c. Jack with no Jill
d. Itsy bitsy spider
e. The crying ladies
f. All of the above

Ooppss..Wrong Photo!!
This is not
African Australia’s
Folklore Next Top
Model

Translate in Cebuano -

Kalima

She was as beautiful as Malama,

and he was in love with her before he even
came close.

Then Jinjo asked,
‘why are you here?’

What do you think is the answer of Kalima?

a. “Can’t you see it? Im sunbathing!”
b. “im having my footspa. ‘Wanna join?”
c. “This is my house!”
d. “I want to go under the sea.”
e. “wla lang! bet ko lang, may problema ba
pre”
f. All of the above

Nah!
All your answers are wrong

Then she shared, "The River God is cruel
and demanding.
The river flows only when a young girl is
sacrificed.
One by one, all the young maidens have
been devoured by the River God, and
now it is my turn.

I am Kalima, the daughter of the chief.
I am the last one left, and my people
will die without the water.

So go away and leave me, before the
River God comes at sunset to devour
me.

But Jinjo refused to go, for what
man will leave the woman he
loves when she is in danger? All
day he sat with her, telling her of
his love for her, and how he
would take her back to his village
as his wife after he dealt with the
cruel River God.

As the sun sank, out of the
earth came the biggest
snake. The young man was
filled with fear, but he
dashed forward and with a
sweep of his magic knife
he cut off the monster's
head.

Kalima and Jinjo married
immediately, but
because she had -
according to tribal law -
already been sacrificed
to the River God and
therefore no longer
really living - they had to
build their hut some
distance from the
village.

A few weeks later there was an astonishing
happening.

Every piece of meat in the village -
chops, steaks, even sausage sizzling in the pan
- suddenly jumped up and ran towards the
distant hill.

The young man could not believe his eyes.
Never before had he seen meat actually
running.

"This happens quite often," Kalima explained to him.
"The meat runs to that distant hill. Where the rock
swallows all of it and will do the same to anybody
who goes near it.

This has never stopped, for all are
afraid of that rock and never go
close enough to be engulfed."

A few days later Jinjo went hunting with ten young
men from the village. Seeing an antelope, they gave
chase, and running near rock, then suddenly its
mouth opened and swallowed them all.

Meanwhile, Nde
mi knew
something
happened to
his friend
because the
tree withered
and the leaves
dried up.

So he searched for Jinjo.
When he arrived at the hut,
Kalima thought her husband
had returned from the hunt.

So Kalima and the villagers
explained to him what happened.

Ndemi set off to rescue his friend.

Ndemi strode up to the rock, and the watchers saw
it bending over to swallow him.

But he stabbed at it with his magic knife, and the
watchers cheered as the rock broke into two
halves, and the ten lost hunters and Jinjo
marched out, singing, laughing, happy to be back
with their friends in the sunlight again.

"Which one is my husband?" cried Kalima as the
two young men, looking exactly alike, stood
before her.

"Such likeness!" she cried. "Such
friendship and devotion! How truly
wonderful it is and how proud I am of
both of you."

They went back home with
and the two young men and Malama and
Ndemi, built
Kalima remained dearafriends for the
rest of their long lives.
house near Jinjo

The two friends

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The two friends