--- title: Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird. — Kaffir folk-lore · full text with trees description: Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird., «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: A number of girls once went away from their homes early in the morning for the purpose of getting imbola (the red clay with which --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/14/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [corpora](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/) / [tales](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/) / [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/) / Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird. # Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird. Story of the Cannibal’s Wonderful Bird. of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal: the whole text, 43 sentences and 771 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. A number of girls once went away from their homes early in the morning for the purpose of getting imbola (the red clay with which they colour their bodies and clothes).[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") Among them was the daughter of a chief, a very pretty girl.[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") After they had collected the imbola, they were about to return home, when one of them proposed that they should bathe in a large pool of water that was there.[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") To this they all agreed, and so they went into the water and played about in it for a long time.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") At last they dressed themselves again, and set out for home; but when they had gone some distance, the chief’s daughter noticed that she had forgotten one of her ornaments, which she had taken off when they went to bathe.[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") So she asked her cousin to return with her to get it.[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") The cousin refused.[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") Then she asked another girl, and another, but one and all refused to go back.[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") She was thus obliged to return to the water alone, while the other girls went home.[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") On arriving at the pool, a big ugly cannibal with only one leg came up to her, caught her, and put her in his bag.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") She was so frightened that she lay quite still.[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") The cannibal then took her round to the different villages and made her sing for him.[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") He called her his bird.[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") When he came to a village he asked for meat, and when it was given to him he said: “Sing, my bird.”[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") But he would never open the bag so that any one could see what sort of a bird he had.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") When the girls reached home, they told the chief that his daughter had reached the age of ntonjane, and they selected one of themselves and shut her up in a hut.[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") The chief believed that story, and so he killed a large ox and said the people must eat.[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") That day they ate fat beef, and were very merry.[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") The boys took meat, and went away from the village to eat it.[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") The cannibal, who did not know that the girl’s father was chief at this place, came there just at this time.[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") He said to the boys if they would give him meat he would make his bird sing for them.[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") So they gave him meat, and he said: “Sing, my bird.”[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") The girl’s brother was among those boys, and he thought the bird sang like his sister, but he was afraid to ask the cannibal to let him see.[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") He advised the cannibal to go to the village where the men were, and told him there was plenty of meat that day.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") The cannibal then went to the village and made his bird sing.[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") The chief wanted very much to see the bird, but the cannibal would not open the bag.[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") The chief offered him an ox for the bird, but the cannibal declined the offer.[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the chief made a plan.[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") He asked the cannibal to go for some water, and said he would give him plenty of beef when he returned.[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") The cannibal said he would go if they would promise not to open his bag while he was away.[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") They all promised not to touch the bag.[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") They gave the cannibal a leaky pot to carry the water in, so that he was gone a long time.[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") As soon as he was out of sight the chief opened the bag and took his daughter out.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") At first he could not believe it was his daughter, for he thought she was observing ntonjane.[34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") But when he knew how those other girls had deceived him he said they must all die, and so they were killed.[35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he put snakes and toads in the bag, and tied it up again.[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") When the cannibal came back he complained of the leaky pot, but they gave him plenty of meat to satisfy him, so he picked up his bag and went away.[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") He did not know what had happened while he was absent.[38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") When he came near his own house he called to his wife: “Make ready to cook.”[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") He sent and called all the other cannibals to come to a feast, and they came expecting to get something nice.[40](40/ "tree and pragmatics") He let them wait a little to get very hungry.[41](41/ "tree and pragmatics") Then he opened his bag and thought to take the girl out, but found only snakes and toads in it.[42](42/ "tree and pragmatics") The other cannibals were so angry when they saw this, that they killed him and made their feast of him.[43](43/ "tree and pragmatics") - ← previous: [Story of Ironside and His Sister.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/13/) - next →: [The Story of the Cannibal Mother and Her Children.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/15/) - ↑ back to [Kaffir folk-lore](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/)