U lima - HOEING A RIVER GARDEN Girls hold the model hoes in preparation for working the garden. They are supposed to be singing. On the evening of the day on which was performed, the master blew the phalaphala trumpet after the girls had danced domba once. Very soon, a number of old women and young graduates of former madomba gathered in the courtyard. During a second performance of domba, the master's assistant handed out the 'hoes' made in the afternoon to every fifth or sixth girl in the line of sixty-four girls present. Then he gave the twelve banana stalks to some girls. The master stopped the song and explained to the girls:     "Hu iwa tshikovhani tsha musanda u yo lima. No no lima ni gobela. No no gobela, na dzivhela, na yo arali hu na . Na dovha na ya muvhuyano." "We are going to the chief's garden which is near the river, to hoe it. When you have hoed, you will sow maize by spitting out of your mouths into holes in the ground. After you have sown the maize and have later planted more in the gaps that show after the first sprouting, you are going to visit the garden to see if there are any weeds. Then you weed a second time, to pull up the weeds that have come up since your first weeding." (Note: the disparity in length between the Venda and English versions is due to the fact that the master used several technical terms from the horticultural vocabulary.)     (i) U lima - hoeing The master started a hoeing song, and the girls sang the chorus and went through the motions of hoeing, whilst youths and married women danced excitedly (-pembela) in front of them. There was a great commotion, with women trilling and lads blowing the phalaphala trumpet. Girls were told to dance out in pairs, whilst the others sang Domba Song No. 14.     (ii) U gobela - sowing After a rest, they began to go through the motions of sowing maize, while singing another hoeing song, Domba Song No. 15.     (iii) U dzivhela - filling the gaps After another rest, they sang domba briefly, and after this they 'sowed the maize in the gaps' (-dzivhela). For this, they sang khulo. One is tempted to see a relationship between the hocket technique of filling musical 'gaps' and the action of sowing the maize.     (iv) U tahula - weeding After a further rest, they began to weed the garden, but without any music.     (v) Muvhuyano - the second weeding For the second weeding, they sang a well-known beer song. Then another interval gave the girls a chance to warm themselves by the fire.     (vi) U - inspecting the maize The girls were told to put down their hoes and sing domba. After a few minutes, the master stopped them and said: "Now you must go and see how the maize is doing. Andries [calling his assistant], go over to the path and see if there is anything there! Perhaps the cobs are ready. Or is it true what I have heard, that the maize has been eaten by pests?" The assistant went to look. He came back and reported that some mice had eaten the maize. The master went off with him and then agreed that this was so. He told the lads to build a temporary hut (thumba) with some grass which they would find near the path, so that people could stay in the hut and keep a look-out for pests. Four lads erected a miniature 'hut' by the path near the entrance to the courtyard. This consisted of a pile of grass about two feet high, arranged like a cone on the ground.      (vii) The hunt for the porcupine Nungu (the porcupine). Note the three 'quills' in the back of the clay model.       The master's assistant had some difficulty in arousing the girls' interest in looking for the porcupine, even though the lads were enthusiastic. The moon was full, and so the assistant was able to make a great show of looking for the porcupine, prowling stealthily in front of a line of novices. Excitement grew as one shouted, "There it is!" But then, "No! That's not it!" "Here it is! I've found it!" shouted another. "No, you haven't. That's just a pile of muck" Peals of laughter, and more false alarms. Then the assistant found it under a disused drum in the council hut. He came into the courtyard, saying triumphantly, "I found it in a cave, and I killed it with a spear." He put it down, with its quills toward the domba fire. After a short pause, the master and one of the chief's wives played the pembela rhythm, and the girls were told to dance accordingly:  Tenor Drum Bass Drum Overall Rhythm   The rhythm for -pembela dancing. Both drums are beaten with sticks on the centre of the skin. The master was so excited that he beat right through the skin of the bass drum and had to pull out the drumstick. Needless to say, he made a most appropriate and much appreciated comment on the symbolism of this accident. After this, the girls danced domba and were dismissed.     Lesson Apart from the obvious lesson about gardening duties, there are a few milayo to accompany the hoeing cycle:      297 Mavhelele o gobiwa when the maize was sown: Muthu a na musadzi: u goba ndi musi vhunna vhu kha musadzi a man is with his wife: the sowing refers to the time when the semen enters the woman.      298 U dzivhela sowing maize in the gaps left after the first sowing: Musi wo lala na musadzi, a sa vhe na thumbu. Zwino na ya na mushonga: musadzi a . Na dovhe na lalana u swikela thumbu i tshi mela the time when you have slept with your wife but she has not fallen pregnant. So you go to a doctor and are given medicine: and your wife takes it. You go on sleeping together, until there comes a time that her stomach begins to grow big.      299 Muvhuyano the second weeding: Musi u tshi lumula , u tshi when you have weaned your child, you want another baby.      300 U the inspection of the maize: Musi vha tshi ri muthu uyu o no vha na thumbu: mavhele ha lambi kavhili. Arali no luvhelwa nga : na ri, "Kha ri vhuyelela ri vhe !" when a woman has already been [successfully] pregnant: and has reaped her maize twice. If you have been blessed with a child: you say, "Let us have yet another baby!"    To return, click 'Back' in the browser. Next