CHAPTER XXXII

A BABY NKENGO IS BORN TO THE OLD NKENGOS

One day a tiny baby was born to the old nkengos. He was yellow in the face like his parents; his elongated little hands, with their slender fingers, and his small feet, with their diminutive toes, could have gone through an ordinary finger ring of a human being, so small were they.

The skin of his body was somewhat lighter than his face and thinly covered with short black glossy hair. His ears were very large for his head. The palms of his tiny hands were white, but no sign or color of blood showing through his skin was to be seen on any part of his body.

The second day after he was born he could cling to his mother, so that she could easily carry him. The baby nkengos are not so helpless as human babies.

Every evening the mother took the little nkengo to her bower and he slept by her side. She loved him dearly and took good care of him, and saw that he was not cold, and would cuddle him many times during the day and night close to her breast. The old nkengos would often say to each other, “Let us take good care of our little one.”

The time came when the little nkengo began to get some of his first teeth. He also began to talk nkengo, which he learned from his parents. He was exceedingly fond of his mother, and loved to be continually fondled, and as soon as she stood still, he would go to her to be caressed. He would stand between her legs, or lie on her breast, while Papa Nkengo stood gazing at them both.

The little one soon showed a bad temper, and was very self-willed; and if anything displeased him, he would become angry, utter piercing cries, stamp his foot on the ground, and refuse to be pacified until he had his own way. He was a great trial to his mamma. Sometimes she would let him cry until he was tired. At other times she would fondle him. Then he became quiet and fell asleep between her legs, or down by her side, with his little head resting on her breast. Strange to say, all the babies of the men of the woods have bad tempers.

The little nkengo took naturally to climbing trees, being born with long arms and long hands, and feet that could be used as hands. One day, as he was practising on a young tree, and was hanging, holding on to a branch by one of his arms and then raising himself by the power of his muscles, the big nkengo said to his mate: “Our little one is making great progress in climbing; soon he will climb trees and go about among their branches as well as we do, and then he will be able to get his living without help.”

The little nkengo grew up fast, but his jaws were not strong enough, nor his mouth big enough, to enable him to crush the hard koola nuts. So when they came to a koola-nut tree, under which the nuts had fallen, his parents would break them and pass them to him afterward, to his great delight. Every time he came across any koola nuts, he would try to crack them, but he could not, and this would make him very angry. He wanted to become a full-grown, powerful nkengo at once.

He now ascended many trees; and as the extremity of the branches was too slender for his weight, he would, nkengo fashion, extend his long arm and pluck the fruits. Sometimes when he felt lazy—and the men of the woods often feel so—he would seize with his feet a branch full of fruit under him, and bring it up and pluck his food from it.

One afternoon, as the three were wandering in the forest, they came upon a suspicious-looking thing. The old nkengos looked at it with much distrust. It was a trap made by human beings to catch monkeys with, and near it was some fine big juicy fruit that they had put there to tempt the monkeys.

The old nkengo inspected it carefully and said to his mate, “I scent here the human beings.” He had hardly uttered these words when he saw their footprints. Then he gave a grin, and added, “The human beings can make traps to catch the monkeys, njokoos, and other animals, but they never can succeed in trapping us nkengos. We know their tricks and snares; we are too knowing for them.”

They kept a sharp lookout, and told the young nkengo not to go near the trap, for he was not old enough yet to know all the wicked ways of the human beings; and they talked to him, and warned him of the danger of such traps, and told him to look at it carefully, so that he would know one the next time if he should encounter it.

Rainy and dry seasons passed; the young nkengo grew larger and larger, and his first teeth began to drop out and be replaced by others. When the old nkengos saw this, they said, “Our offspring is getting on finely; soon he will have all his teeth, his jaws will then be stronger, he will be a fine strapping nkengo.”

One day they came across a koola-tree, beneath which many nuts were scattered over the ground. The young nkengo at last broke one with his teeth. Then he gave a big shout of joy. The old nkengos were delighted when they saw this, and said, “He is now able to take care of himself.”

Time passed; the three nkengos kept the even tenor of their way, and led the life which nkengos lead. After remaining ten or fifteen days in a place, the food was eaten up for some distance around, and they moved away and built new shelters. One day the young nkengo, who had many times watched his parents make their shelter, made one for himself, to their great joy. Then they said to each other, “Soon he will leave us and go into the forest by himself.”

Some days afterward the young nkengo said to the old folks, “I am going to leave you and act as you did yourselves once.” The following day he left them, and wandered all alone in the forest and built his own bower.

But he felt lonely, for he was without a mate; he bemoaned his fate. Once in a while he would call out, “Whoe! whoe!” but there was no response, for he was the only nkengo in that part of the forest.

He continued his solitary ramble, till he reached a beautiful clear stream, the water of which was as smooth as glass. Going to the bank, he saw himself reflected in the water, but did not know that what he saw was only his image. At this sight he was delighted and said, “At last I have found a companion that will live with me,” looking intently at what he believed was another nkengo.

Then he stood up and saw the shadow do the same. He thought it was rising to come to him and was happy at the sight. Then he opened his mouth and said, “Whoe! whoe!” and he saw the image open its mouth. He became very eager and jumped up and down, and saw the image in the water do likewise. Then he said, “Nkengo dear, how happy I am to meet you!” And the form in the water made the same motions.

The nkengo was so glad to think that his lonely days had come to an end that he became much excited, and as he moved, the image moved also. When he shook his body, the reflection did the same, and it repeated whatever he did. Every time he opened his mouth to speak, or moved his arms, the supposed nkengo in the water did likewise. He could see the face plainly, the wrinkles, the eyes, the flat nose, the thin lips, the big ears,—in a word, the whole body; but he never thought it was his own image.

He extended his arms toward the shape, and the shape did likewise; he advanced to the very brink of the stream, and the image did the same. Then he thought, “The nkengo is coming toward me,” and moved his arm forward to caress his mate; but instead his hand touched the water and the ripples made by it hid the image for a while, and he thought his mate had disappeared. He did not know what to make of this. Then he yelled, his hair became erect on his body, and the water having become quiet again, he saw the image also yelling with its hair erect. That angered him and he said to himself, “This is a fighting nkengo, and cannot be my mate. We must fight.” Then he made another dash to seize his antagonist, and this time he dipped his arms deep into the water. At last he realized that the nkengo was his own image, and he went away much chapfallen, and resumed his wandering in search of a mate. Every day he called aloud continually, and one day he heard a response. He went toward the voice, and there saw a beautiful young nkengo, and said to her, “Will you be my mate?” She replied, “Yes,” and they lived happily, as did their old parents, and led the same kind of a life in their turn.