Gakondo

Rutegaminsi Son of Tegera

Part One: going through the Earth
Once upon a time, there was a man named Tegera. He was a trapper by trade, and a very good man, kind to humans, animals and all livings things, especially the small and the weak. His neighbours liked him, though they were baffled at some of his acts of kindness. He would go into the woods on his trapping duties, then spend most of his time doing strange things like helping moles out of traps, saving spiders from predators, or disentangling sunrays from thickets.

One day, Tegera did the most eccentric thing of his whole life: he announced to his family, relatives and neighbours, that he had engaged his yet-to-be-born son to an unborn girl in a far-distant land he had never been to, on the other side of the world. Nobody knew what to make of this, and they all thought he was losing his mind. Soon afterwards, Tegera died. Some time later, his wife gave birth to a son, and she named him Rutegaminsi, as her husband had decided before his death.

When Rutegaminsi was grown up, he was told about his prenatal engagement to an unknown girl, living in a distant land, about which none but his now departed father had ever heard. Strange enough, the young man began to feel a great longing for this unknown bride. He would often dream that she was calling him, waiting for him. Soon, he became so restless that his mother had no choice but to let him go away in search of this improbable bride, who lived at the other end of the world.

Early one morning, the young man left his family home and set out on his quest. But once out of the gate, he realized he did not know where to begin. He was standing there, trying to think of what to do next, when a mole walked up to his side, introduced itself as his father's friend, and asked him where he was going.

"I am going to the other side of the world, to look for my fiancée, but I don't know the way. I don't even know which direction I should take."

"The way to the other side of the world," said the mole, "passes through the earth, not over its surface. Don't worry, that's my province, I'll help you."

The young man thanked his new friend. Immediately, the mole began to dig a hole in the ground, and when it was big enough, he invited the young man to follow him. The mole went on tearing at the soil, with the young man crawling behind him blindly, trying to clear the soil the mole was throwing behind in order to create a tunnel. The work seemed to go on for ages. At long last, Rutegaminsi began to see some light, and knew they had come to the end of the tunnel.

"Here we are," said the mole with a toothy grin, as they emerged out of the hole. "You are now on the other side of the world!"

Rutegaminsi shook the soil off his body, took a few deep breaths, and began to look around hopefully, but he could see nothing.

"Look over there," said the mole. The young man's eyes were slowly adapting to the strange light of the other side of the world, and as he looked in the direction indicated by the mole, he saw, in the far distance, the dim outline of a young woman. He looked harder, trying to focus on the figure, and saw her wave at him, calling him. He knew then that he had found her at last. He rushed forward, but the mole stopped him: right there in front of them, was a great chasm, impossible to cross. And there was no bridge over it. As he began to move along the rim in search of a bridge, the mole said, "Don't waste your time, there is no bridge anywhere. But do not despair, your father has friends everywhere, even in this desolate place," said the mole enigmatically.

Rutegaminsi thanked the mole again, and began to look for something to bridge the awful chasm. But everything in that land was so strange, its vegetation so peculiar, that he could find nothing. He sat down, feeling tired and confused. He tried again to see his fiancée, but a thick fog had settled over the whole place, and he could see nothing. He was beginning to lose hope when suddenly, something shimmered before his eyes, and a little spider appeared before him, greeted him politely and asked him what he was doing in this place, looking so sad.

"I'm trying to find a way of crossing over to my bride's home," said the young man.

"Ah! And who are you? Where do you come from?"

"I come from the other end of the world, and I am Rutegaminsi, the son of Tegera!"

"Oh! Are you really?" said the spider excitedly. "I know your father! He is my friend! I will help you!"

The little spider moved to the rim of the chasm, and began to spin away at great speed. Soon, a multicoloured web had spanned the chasm, and the little spider was back, inviting him to cross over to the other side. The young man was not at all reassured, for the "bridge" appeared to have no more substance than as a rainbow. As he stood there hesitating, he heard someone calling his name, and recognized the voice of his dream bride. Then he forgot his misgivings, and followed his friend the spider across the spidery bridge.

The spider led the young man across the wispy bridge, and on to the other rim of the chasm. But the place seemed as dim as it was deserted, and there was no one to show him the way to his bride's home. As he stood there, feeling lost and very lonely, a beam of light flashed before him, greeted him and introduced itself as his father's friend, the sunray his father had helped out of a thicket, and pointed the way to his bride's home. Rutegaminsi followed the path lit by the little beam, found the house of his future in-laws, and waiting arms of his dream bride.

As he was preparing to eat, a little fly appeared and whispered into his ear: "Your father saved me from a trap, and for his sake I must warn you: the people of this land do not eat! They only drink milk. If you eat this food, you'll never be allowed to marry your beautiful bride." Rutegaminsi sent the food away, drank the milk, and went to bed.

The following morning, he was shown a large herd of cattle, and told to identify the cows his father had given as engagement gift. "How can I?" he wondered. "They were brought here before I was born." As he was helplessly gazing around the herd, a spotless white egret flew up to him, and told him that it was a friend of his father's and was ready to help him. "Just point at the cow on whose back I'll land." Rutegaminsi did as the white bird told him. After he had identified all the cows, his future father-in-law nodded rather dryly, and told the young man he was willing to give him his daughter in marriage, but there were a number of preliminary chores to be gone through.

For his first chore, Rutegaminsi was given farm implements and a basket of grain, and shown a field to till and sow. The field was very large, and overgrown with the most daunting-looking weeds, thorns and brambles. "Where shall I begin?" he wondered. Suddenly, a variety of animals gathered around him, and told him they were all friends of his father's, indebted to him for various acts of kindness, and offered to help him with the clearing and the tilling and sowing. Soon the work was done, and the young man thanked all his friends and went back to report to his exacting father-in-law. Then he went back his lonely lodgings.

The next morning, he was shown a newly built house, nearly finished but for the roof cover. He was told to get thatching grass and come and cover the house. He went to the surrounding hillsides, and cut the required quantity of grass. As he was wondering how he would carry so much grass on his own, the wind came over and offered to blow the grass over to the house. He began to work the thatch around the roof, as skillfully as he could, knowing that his father-in-law would not accept shoddy work.

The next morning, he was given an axe, taken to the foot of a nearby hill, shown a great rock, and told to split it up into smaller pieces. "What for?", he asked. "To make fire, to provide heat and light", was the rather curt answer. He understood then that, in the land beyond, stones, not wood, were used for fuel.

This time he was really at a loss. What would he use to splinter that rock? At that instant, a lightning flash stood in front of him: "I'm a friend of your father's. He found me one day trapped in a rock cleft and helped me out. I'll help you!" Then there was a thunderbolt, and a splitting sound, and a mass of long, straight splinters fell from the rock. Then the lightning flashed back to heaven, and a great silence fell over the narrow valley.

The young man stared in amazement, and then sat down, feeling dizzy and quite weak. When he had recovered from the shock, he wondered how he would carry these "sticks" up the hill. "To begin with, what kind of rope would be strong enough to tie them with?" he wondered aloud. "Oh! Don't worry about that, I'll help you!" As he looked around, he saw a form emerging from behind the rock; it was an inciira, a spitting cobra, the royal serpent, slowly uncoiling and slithering across the remaining piece of rock towards him. "I'm a friend of your father's", the cobra said with a friendly hiss. "Here, I'll stretch out and you'll arrange the pieces of rock across my back, and then I'll twist myself around them. Just one thing: be very careful how you move, don't hurt my back as you climb up the hill, and when you get to the top, make sure you ease the burden down very gently, so you don't crush my head." The young man did as the cobra told him, slowly and gingerly lifted the mineral fuel to his head, and, watching every step, climbed up to the hilltop.

It took a while for the young man to recover from that last effort. Then a few days later, his father-in-law sent for him and congratulated him. He had passed all the tests, and he was now ready for his wedding. The following morning, the young man was led to a group of young women, all very beautiful, all dressed alike, with their lovely hair dressed exactly the same style. Which one is your fiancée?" he was asked. As he stood there looking from one girl to the other, in total confusion, a small butterfly fluttered to his ear, whispered to him: "Just watch me!" The butterfly fluttered away towards the group of young women, and settled on the lowered eyelashes of one of them. As he looked at her closely, he recognized her as his bride: he had seen her so many times in his dreams.

"Well done!", the household cheered.