The Old Man's Swollen Knee,

Meria

Elder Lister
Staff member
A long long, time ago, there was one man who had lived too long without getting any children. This man had a swollen knee which was full of puss and which hurt him very much. One day he went to the medicine-man and the medicine-man cut open his knee. Now when this knee was cut open, there came out three children. One he named Njiruni, the other Nyamatuananga and the third child Nyamathiriti. Now he used to leave these children to look for food. When he brought back the food he sang:

'My little, little knee made me rich made me poor
Bore me one, two, three children,
One Nyamathiriti, one Nyamatuananga
Njiruni open for me. I bring something you know
I bring something you do not know.'

And Njiruni opened the door for her father. This went on for many days until Njiruni was a big girl, loved very much by her father.
One day he said to her: 'Never listen to any other voice except mine. If you hear anybody else's voice, do not open.'
Now there were some young men who wanted to take Njiruni away. They tried to imitate the father's voice but Njiruni never opened. One man, however, persisted and he was finally able to sing like Njiruni's father. One day the young man sang and Njiruni opened:
'I want to take you with me,' he said. Now Njiruni loved her father but she could not refuse to go because she feared a beating or worse force. She and her sisters left the hut but before they left Njiruni took with her three calabashes containing different seeds and as they went she poured these along the path.
When they reached the home on the other side of the forest beyond the hills, Njiruni was married to this young man. Her sisters were likewise married to different men in different parts of the country.
Soon Njiruni became heavy with child and she bore this man a son. The boy grew and became very strong and Njiruni and her husband loved him very much.
Back at home her father came and stood outside and as usual he sang his song:

'My little, little knee, made me rich made me poor
Bore me one, two, three children,
One Nyamathiriti, one Nyamatuananga
Njiruni open for me,
I bring something you know,
I bring something you do not know.'

But nobody came to open the door for him. He sang again and this time he pushed the door and saw the empty hut. He became very sad and cried bitter tears but his tears would do nothing, his children had already gone.
While Wanjiru was looking after her family, her father was wasting away. He used to sit outside his hut hoping that one day Njiruni would come. One day when he was sitting down, he noticed that the castor oil plants along the path were in straight lines. He started to wonder how and when these plants were planted until he finally decided that he must follow the line and see what lay ahead. He stood. He took a bundle of things and followed the line of the castor oil seeds. The line started in the same manner. He followed on and on. Then the millet line culminated into a Mûkombi line until he found a hut at the end of this line. He went to the hut and there he found Njiruni. But Njiruni did not recognise him though she kept him and looked after him. He stayed there and when Njiruni went to the shamba (farm), and her husband and son went to look after the many cows, sheep and goats, the old man was left sitting outside playing with Njiruni's little child. He used to say to the child, come here and I shall sing a song I used to sing to my little girls:

'My little, little knee, made me rich made me poor,
Bore me one, two three children
One Nyamathiriti, one Nyamatuananga
Njiruni, open for me,
I bring you something you know
I bring you something you do not know.'

In the evening, the child said: 'Mother, I was taught a new song by the old man. I shall sing to you'. And when the child sang, Njiruni pinched the child saying, 'Why do you remind me of the lost ones?'
One day Njiruni did not go to the shamba and she heard the old man sing:

'My little, little knee made me rich made me poor,
Bore me one, two, three children
One Nyamathiriti, one Nyamatuananga
Njiruni open for me,
I bring something you know
I bring something you do not know.'

Tears of happiness and grief filled her eyes and she rushed to her father embracing him telling him to forgive her. And when her husband came and learnt who the old man was, he gave him cows and sheep and built a hut for him. They all stayed in that place.

The end
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