The Night the Tokoloshe Stirred

Bianca Bouwmeester

In a quiet Zulu village, a man and a woman lived together, but often quarreled. One night after a bitter argument, their small hut echoed with sharp words and wounded pride.

Under the pale moonlight, she walked to the edge of the village where the sangoma lived. “Send something to trouble him.”  “What you send out may not return as you wish.” But the woman’s hurt was deep and her pride would not bend.

Far away, the shadows deepened and something unseen began to move. That night, the Tokoloshe stirred.

As the man tried to sleep, he felt the air grow cold and he heard faint scratching. His dreams turned restless, his nights uneasy. Each time he closed his eyes, something tugged at his blanket or laughed softly from the darkness. The villagers soon noticed his tired eyes and trembling hands.

An elder, understanding what was happening, told him, “Raise your bed on bricks. The Tokoloshe cannot reach you if you sleep higher than his grasp.” Desperate for peace, the man followed the advice and placed a stack of bricks under each foot of his bed.

One evening, she returned quietly to the sangoma, asking him how to make things right. He told her simply, “Peace cannot be summoned, only chosen.” From then on, every bed in the village stood on sturdy bricks and every quarrel ended with gentler words.

Ubusuku uTokoloshe Wavuka Ngalo

Bianca Bouwmeester

Okei. Eskotini esula gehit. Owes lisan, owes fazane, babisala ndawo onyagotakusli esgunezi nga bani. Ngobu onyopsugu inzu. Yabwe ayitwele amazwe yabukali nogu zinla. Indota ayitwele inkaani nogu zikosha. Yasola oesifazane nguputetengu lapo oesifazane waisetiniwe indugutelo yake wame meza ngu guba inkliziyo yowesilisa inonya. Galopo psogu kwa pagama amazwe ganye nemizwa.

E kwineni ovesi fazani wa fula tela ikungateki ili wa puma wa ya emnyango, emweni opoli ili wa sipsu. Intugutelewe ake evuta nga pezu wenkeziyo aishi yengi mufa. Nga panti kogu kanya kwenyanga wa hamba wa ya emapetelewe eni esi kuti la puga kutlalakona isangom. Izi nyembezi zake zaazome ngulaga ngesikati efiga emnyango isangom. Kumele afunde intonipo, kusho oesifazan. Izi lakeli vevezela, yimizwa intugutele.

Tumele auguti iloguzo mkataza, intonzo menza ezo uplum. Isango masampega iskati esi dengapambi koko baskulum. Mutanami, sishongo mwaya opant. Intugutele lo emema ubugu bifuti imi mwaya aesi zimu dungapant.

Koksizayon. Loko ugu tumelayo kwa ngase kwa nga buwe nje ngugufisa kwa ako. Kepa ugu limala ugu isfazani kwa ugu julile futi ugu zi kenya kwa akebe kwa ngege kukutu. E kineni isa goma savuma. Sabuta amatambo aso na makambi. Sa lebe la amazwi asendulo ebu mnyamin.

Gu udele hizi tunzi za jule futi kwa nga bonagale za kala ugu nyagasa. Gubusu ugu utigolo oshe wavele.