Matengo Folktales by Joseph L. Mbele, Joseph L. Mbele (Translator)

From the Publisher

This book presents English translations of 10 folk tales from Southern Tanzania which the author recorded in the mid-1970's. 'Matengo' is the author's mother tongue and, in addition to the English translations of the folk tales, there are some songs presented in the original Matengo as well. Covering a wide range of themes and styles, these translated folk tales help the reader appreciate the stories in their original cultural context. Also found within is an essay on folklore in general, and a commentary is provided on each story. Both the layman and the college student can enjoy this book.

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• Forewords & Introductions

Forewords & Introductions

However, there are still many African societies whose tales have not been recorded and published. From some societies we have only a small selection of tales, or songs, or some other form of folklore. There is thus still much work to be done.

The tales in this collection come from the Matengo, who live in southern Tanzania, East Africa, on the eastern side of Lake Nyasa. They inhabit a mountainous region, between 5000 and 6000 feet above sea level. The land is cool for much of the year, and quite cold from April to July. The Matengo are hard working peasants; they grow coffee, maize, beans, peas, wheat, potatoes, pumpkins, cassava, and a few other crops, including a wide variety of fruits. Each household also tends to have some cattle, pigs, chickens, goats, and sheep.

The tales and other folklore of the Matengo have not been recorded as extensively as those of other ethnic groups. The earliest known recording of Matengo tales was done by Catholic missionaries. It is possible that some of what they recorded is still in manuscript form in the missionary archives in Europe, but in 1908 Fr. Johannes P. Häfliger became the first person to publish Matengo folktales.

Although there are many published collections of African folktales, there are not many studies of these folktales suitable for the average reader between high school and college. There is not yet a tradition of teaching and studying folktales. One of the causes for this is the lack of critical works on folktales suitable for the beginning student. This lack, in turn, has continued to reinforce the belief that folktales are not a subject worthy of serious study.

In writing this book, I have sought to share some thoughts about the nature of Matengo folktales. I invite you to think about what I say and about the tales; for these tales challenge us to think and explore themes and structures, just as literature does.

I recorded these tales in the early seventies with a cassette recorder. I did not then have professional training in folklore fieldwork. I was then developing a keen interest in folklore, especially folktales. It was only in later years that I got a better sense of how folklore fieldwork is done and documented.

"Hare and the Great Drought," "How Hare Helped Civet," and "What Hare Did To Lion and Hyena" were told by my late father, Mzee Leodgar Mbele, in our home at Lituru Village, with my mother, brothers and sisters as the audience. "Hare, Civet and Antelope" and "The Tale of Two Women" were told by my childhood friend Joseph Ndunguru, also of Lituru. Both of us were about twenty years old at the time. "The Tale of an Uncle and his Nephew" was told to me by my late brother, Kajanuka, of Mbinga, then in his mid- teens. He was visiting us at Lituru, and he told the tale there in my small bachelor house. The "Tale of Nokamboka" was told by Mrs. Kangologo of Lituru, at her house. She was a woman in her late twenties or early thirties. Her mother-in-law, her children, her neighbours' children, my friend Joseph Ndunguru, and I were present.

In the summer of 1977, I went to Litembo Primary school, in my home district of Mbinga, southern Tanzania, to collect folktales. I was able to get a number of pupils to tell tales. To ensure that the pupils would feel free and relaxed, I allowed them to go into a room all by themselves to tell the tales, recording them into my cassette recorder. I did not then realize that this prevented me from observing who was telling which tale and how. At that point, my own understanding of folklore fieldwork was rather rudimentary. But this is how I collected three tales in this collection: "Katigija," "Hawk and Crow," and "The Monster in the Rice Field." They were all told by school girls in the company of other school girls and boys. The other tales that were told on that occasion are not included here. I hope to translate them at a future date.

This book is not for specialists. It seeks to provide an introduction to Matengo folktales, using English translations of those tales. I hope to present a selection of Matengo tales in a proper scholarly format in the future.

Translating oral tales presents many problems. It is impossible to translate accurately what is expressed in a given language. There will always be differences between the original and the translation. The problem becomes more serious when the two languages are as far apart as Matengo and English, representing two very different cultures.

This problem is due not only to the fact that words in one language may not have equivalents in the other language. There is also the problem that sounds that have meaning in Matengo may not have meanings in English. There are also ideophones, which cannot be translated. One example that I find interesting, whenever I think about these problems, is the way different cultures represent the crowing of a cock. In English, the cock is supposed to crow: "Cock-a-doodle doo!" In Matengo, it is "Ngou ka le kye ng'oo!" Every language has its own rendering of this very well know phenomenon. When translating a Matengo folktale into English, I prefer keeping the Matengo form of such phenomena rather than the English form.

Matengo, like most languages of Tanzania, is not a written language. We do not have a standardized system for representing its sounds. This language has vowel sounds which do not exist in other African languages like Swahili. These required special symbols. Two sounds in particular need special attention. I have rendered them as "ou" and "ei," that are similar to the sounds in the English words "cope" and "cape," respectively. Each tale in this book is accompanied by my comments. These comments are not meant to represent the way the Matengo interpret these tales, nor are they meant to convey what these tales may have meant at any time in their course of their existence. The comments are merely my personal response to the tales, my thoughts, and my impressions as I follow the tales. They are neither comprehensive nor final. There are many other things that I could have said about the form, content, and functions of these tales. You can and should be able to say a lot of things about these tales which I have omitted.

Some of the tales in this collection have been published. "The Story of an Uncle and His Nephew" appeared in Umma, the Journal of the Department of Literature, University of Dar es Salaam, vol. 5, 2 (1975), 92-96; "What Hare Did to Lion and Hyena" appeared in Umma, Vol. 6, 1 (1976), 80-82; "How Hare Helped Civet" was first published in Earthwatch, July/August (1993), 14-15.

In the course of my research, I received financial assistance from the Research and Publications Committee of the University of Dar es Salaam, and the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), which I gratefully acknowledge. I also wish to thank Professor Tonya Huber-Bowen of the University of Kansas, for taking an interest in some of the trickster tales in this collection and using them in her classes. My own students at St. Olaf College also inspired me by their response to the trickster tales I gave them to read in my Hero and Trickster course. I wish to acknowledge with much gratitude the assistance and hospitalily granted to me by the Matengo people. I have fond memories of the evenings when my late father, Mzee Leodgar Mbele, told us stories. I dedicate this book to him.