--- title: Story of the Girl and the Mbulu. — Kaffir folk-lore · full text with trees description: Story of the Girl and the Mbulu., «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal: the whole chapter, every sentence with its dependency tree and pragmatics. It begins: There was once a widow woman who had one son and two daughters. --- [Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/tales/pg71335/16/) [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 Girl and the Mbulu. # Story of the Girl and the Mbulu. Story of the Girl and the Mbulu. of «Kaffir folk-lore» by George McCall Theal: the whole text, 39 sentences and 776 words. The small number after every sentence leads to its own page with its syntax tree and pragmatics, parsed by Mova itself. There was once a widow woman who had one son and two daughters.[1](1/ "tree and pragmatics") On a certain day she went to her garden, taking with her one of the girls.[2](2/ "tree and pragmatics") While she was away the boy quarrelled with his sister and killed her.[3](3/ "tree and pragmatics") In the course of the day the woman sent the girl that was with her to the hut, and when she came there a fly told her what had happened.[4](4/ "tree and pragmatics") She did not believe it.[5](5/ "tree and pragmatics") Then a mouse told her the same thing, but still she did not believe it was true.[6](6/ "tree and pragmatics") Afterwards the fly told her to look in a certain place, and there she saw the head and the bones of her sister.[7](7/ "tree and pragmatics") When the woman came home and found out what had happened, she killed her son.[8](8/ "tree and pragmatics") Then she gave the girl a stick, and told her to go to her uncle’s house, saying that when she got there she must strike the ground with the stick, and all the clothes and other things that belonged to her would then rise up out of the earth.[9](9/ "tree and pragmatics") The woman said she was now all alone, and therefore intended to kill herself.[10](10/ "tree and pragmatics") The girl was very sorry, but she did as her mother told her.[11](11/ "tree and pragmatics") When she was a little way off, she looked back and saw smoke coming out of the hut, from which she knew that her mother had burned herself and was no longer a person under the sun.[12](12/ "tree and pragmatics") After this she met an old woman, who called to her, but she took no heed and walked on.[13](13/ "tree and pragmatics") Next she met a mbulu at a place close by a river.[14](14/ "tree and pragmatics") The mbulu said, whoever wetted any part of their body in crossing the river must go in and bathe.[15](15/ "tree and pragmatics") The girl was standing on the bank, and the mbulu struck the water with its tail and splashed it in her face, so that she had to go in and bathe.[16](16/ "tree and pragmatics") Then the mbulu took her clothes and put them on.[17](17/ "tree and pragmatics") When the girl came out of the water she asked for her clothes, but the mbulu said: “I will give them when you are dry.”[18](18/ "tree and pragmatics") So they went on together.[19](19/ "tree and pragmatics") After a while the girl asked again, and the mbulu said: “I will give them when we get to the village.”[20](20/ "tree and pragmatics") But when they arrived there the mbulu said: “You must tell the people here that you are my servant, and that I am the daughter of a chief.”[21](21/ "tree and pragmatics") The poor girl was so afraid that she promised to do so.[22](22/ "tree and pragmatics") They were well received at the village, because the people believed that the mbulu was a great person.[23](23/ "tree and pragmatics") They wondered at her voice, but she told them she had been ill and her throat was not well yet.[24](24/ "tree and pragmatics") After a time one of the men of that kraal married the mbulu, and the real girl was sent to the gardens to drive the birds away from the corn.[25](25/ "tree and pragmatics") While engaged in this occupation she used to sing about the mbulu taking her clothes and passing itself off for a person, until the women who worked in the gardens took notice of this song of hers.[26](26/ "tree and pragmatics") Then they made a plan to find out if what the girl was singing was the truth.[27](27/ "tree and pragmatics") They said: “The tail of a mbulu will want mice and fat,” so they set snares to catch the mice.[28](28/ "tree and pragmatics") In the night the tail was pursuing mice, and itself got fast in a snare.[29](29/ "tree and pragmatics") The mbulu then asked the man who was married to her to go and get some medicine, as she was sick, and when the man went she took off the snare.[30](30/ "tree and pragmatics") After this they made another plan.[31](31/ "tree and pragmatics") They said: “The tail of a mbulu will seek milk,” so they dug a hole in the ground, put milk in it, and required every one in the village to jump over the hole.[32](32/ "tree and pragmatics") The mbulu was unwilling at first, but they urged her.[33](33/ "tree and pragmatics") She tried to jump quickly, but the tail could not pass the milk.[34](34/ "tree and pragmatics") When it went down the people saw that this was a mbulu, so they killed it and buried it in that hole.[35](35/ "tree and pragmatics") After this the same man who had married the mbulu took the girl to be his wife.[36](36/ "tree and pragmatics") She had a child, and one day, when it was playing, a square pumpkin came out of the ground where the mbulu was buried, and tried to kill the infant.[37](37/ "tree and pragmatics") But the people chopped the pumpkin in pieces, and burned it.[38](38/ "tree and pragmatics") They afterwards threw the ashes into a river, so that nothing more could come of that mbulu.[39](39/ "tree and pragmatics") - 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