Domba Song No. 30  1   Lamba mukalaha u fune vho-Dzhoni!    Refuse the old man and love John!  2  Lamba mukalaha u fune vho-tzwotzwi!    Refuse the old man and love the tsotsis!  3  Wanga mukalaha ndi wa kale,    My old man is too old,  4  Yoo! Vha nga ntshuma 'ni?    What can he do with me?  5  A thi athu fuka wa kale;    I have not yet worn an old salempore:  6  A thi athu fuka '-tsha-lamba'.    I have not yet worn the cloth called shitahe-tsha-lamba.  7  'Lamba-mukalaha' thundu dza makhuwa.    Lamba-makalaha is a cloth you can buy at the white man's stores.  8  -ri yo dzhia 'lamba-mukalaha';    Come, we are going to take a length of lamba-mukalaha;  9  No ndavhelesa a thi nga vha funi.    Even if you look at me, I won't love you.  10  No ndavhelesa, vha nga ntshuma 'ni?    Even if you look at me, what can you do to me?  11  No u a thi nga vha funi.    Even if you show off, I won't love you.  12   tshi nyeke-nyeke;    The cloth, , is bright and dazzling;  13   tshi tiba mutuli.     is wound round the top of the mortar (to prevent maize spilling out).  14  ori ya Manyaga yo thutha mutuli.    Manyaga's lorry crushed a mortar.  15   ri ya Pitori na vho-nyamungozwa;    We are going to Pretoria with the master of our domba;  16  ori ya Gukhula i ya mangadza,    Gukhula's lorry is wonderful.  17  ori ya Gukhula i .    Gukhula's lorry makes a lot of noise.  18  Ndi tse , ndi ye hayani!    Let me go down to the dry country, let me go home!  19  Tshitibu-tibu tsho tsa ,    The tip-up lorry of the Sibasa Local Council has gone down to the dry country,  20  Vho-Makuya vha khou ri lila.    Chief Makuya longs for us (at his domba ).  21  Vha-musanda vho ya Mbaleni,    The chief went to Mbaleni [about a mile from Sibasa],  22  Vho vhuya na khomba.    And he came back with a maiden.  23  Vho-M. vho tsa Ha-Makuya,    Mr M. went down to Makuya,  24  Vho tsa Ha-Makuya vhasadzini.    He went down to Makuya to look for a wife.  25  A hu , magondo ro vala.    There's nothing to fear (lit. to come), we have closed the roads (i.e. we don't get pregnant).  26  oroboni magondo ro vala.    In town we have closed the road  Chorus:  Helele-wee!   Lamba-mukalaha, or Helele-wee, was a immensely popular beer-song during 1956 and 1957. Its theme was relevant to domba, so that it was freely adapted and many new words were added, of which the above are examples. Lamba-mukalaha was the name given to a popular pattern of salempore cloth, of which women made their skirts and cloaks. The implication of the title, 'refuse the old man', was that with the increase of migrant labour girls need no longer look to older men for the wealth that promised security in marriage. The words also refer to the function of domba as a 'marriage market' or 'debutantes' ball'. 'Line' 25 was a popular saying in 1956 about women who claimed that they could offer sex without involving their lovers in the responsibility of supporting children. I doubt if contraceptives were widely used, as there was not any marked absence of illegitimate births in areas near European settlement. I suspect that the women concerned were able to guarantee 'love without fear' because they had contracted diseases. It is interesting that the promotion of 'Western' values and the gradual abolition of domba have created the very sexual and social situations which the much-criticized domba successfully discouraged.