BANTU NEGliUES 701 



" Oh, I don't mean that one ; try the other." 



The sister then advanced a little way, and when Kintu saw her coming he also 

 advanced to meet her, whereon the sister ran back to Nambi, and they both 

 prepared for fiiglit. Kintu, however, did not continue the ])ursuit, but returned to 

 the cow. 



After some time Nambi and her sister decided to come close to Kintu, and when 

 a hundred ]iaces only separated them Nambi spoke to him. 



" Who are you ? " 



"I am Kintu." 



" And what is that," pointing to the cow. 



" That is my cow." 



Nambi and her sister withdrew to consider whether this could possibly be true. 

 They returned directly and asked : " We have never seen anything like you before ; 

 where did you come from ? " 



" I do not know." 



Kintu at this i)oint milked some milk on to the palm of his left hand and 

 drank it. 



" What do you do that for 1 " asked Nanilii. 



"That's my food," replied Kintu. 



" We see no water here. What do you drink 1 " 



"I drink milk." 



The girls then retired for another conference, and Nambi confided to her sister 

 that she believed this was a man ; nothing else could do such extraordinary things. 

 They returned to Kintu and submitted their decision, and Kintu said : " Yes, I am a 

 man." 



Nambi then told him all about themselves, and suggested that he should 

 accompany them to Mugulu. Kintu agreed on condition that they also took his cow. 

 This they declined to do, and disappeared. 



As soon as they arrived they told ^lugulu that they had found a man and a cow. 



"Where?" asked Mugulu. 



"On the earth." 



" Not a real man, surely 1 " and Mugulu smiled as if he did not lielieve them, but 

 they suspected he knew all the time. 



" Oh yes, a real man. We know he is a real man because he wants food, and 

 when he is hungry he drags the udder of his cow, and squeezes out white juice, 

 which he drinks." 



" I shall make inquiries." 



"He is very nice," said Nambi, "and I wanted to bring him up here. May I go 

 and fetch him ? " 



" Leave the matter to me," said Mugulu, and the girls withdrew. 



Directly they had gone Mugulu called his sons and said : " Go to the earth and 

 test this story about a real man being there. Nambi says she saw a wild man and 

 a cow, and that the man drank the cow's juice. Fetch the cow." 



The boys prepared to start at once. 



" Soka olinderira " (" Wait a bit "), said Mugulu ; " I don't want the man. He 

 will probably die when he sees you ; the cow only." 



The boys arrived near Kintu's resting-place, and he was asleep. They took the 

 cow and carried her off". When Kintu awoke he did not see the cow, but just then 

 he did not start in search of her, as he supposed she had only wandered a short 

 distance. Presently he got hungry, and tried to find the cow, but in vain. He 

 ultimately decided that the girls must have returned and stolen her, and he was 



