The thahu is worn by girls who have passed the nobles' vhusha. Its milayo are given to nobles and commoners at tshikanda. They are also repeated during domba. In particular, they describe how a thahu is made, and their references to people and places may help historians to identify the clans who originally used thahu.

A girl of noble rank wearing thahu after initiation.

142 Thahu : no i 'fhi, vhakololo? your thahu: where did you get it [lit.tear it off, referring to the method of manufacture], you noble girls? a) Thavhani ya Tswime on the mountain of Tswime. b) Dzialwa on the hill Dzialwa. c) Thavhani ya Shathama on the hill of Shathama. (See No. 47.)

At Thengwe, the master of domba often said that thahu was found at Govhani, near Sibasa, and he gave the praise of Govhani thus:

"Ngei Govhani Nyamukovholwa: Mukovholwa a sumbe mbonzhe: Muthondolwa a sumbe thumbu." There at Govhani of Nyamukovholwa (lit. the lady of the stoned one): let the one who has been stoned show his bruise: let the one who has been seduced show her stomach.

143

Vhakegulu vha tshi i hangei: vhe' ndi when the old ladies tear off the strips of bark there: they call them 'the soft one', :

Ndi musidzana a bvaho Thenzheni that is, a girl who has come from Thenzheni.

To call such a girl 'soft' is a euphemism, for the women of the powerful family of Thenzheni have long been known as tough customers, hated and feared, and suspected of witchcraft. Chief Makwarela Mphaphule, who died in 1927, is said to have forbidden the men of his capital from marrying any woman of the Thenzheni family.

144	Vha tshi vhuya vha tshi i fhala: vho no fhedza: mafhalelo aya: vhe' Ri a 'fhi? Then they come back and scrape the strings: when they have finished: these shavings: they say "where do we throw them?"	Ri a isa hangei mfudzeni wa mbila? Hai! Ri a isa mulilani wa mbudzi Do we throw [lit. send] them on to a rock-rabbit's droppings? No! We throw them on a goat-track.
145	Zwino vha tshi vhuya hangei : vha wana thandana dzo no oma: vha tshi dzi suka now when they go back outside: they find that those strips have dried: then they work them in their hands, to make them supple:	Vhe'ndi vhasidzana vha khou kwevha they call this, 'girls who are lengthening their labia minora'.
146	Vha tshi dzi when they twist the fibres:	Mutsuli mulamba-malofha, ndi muri we ra bva nawo Thenzheni the white tree called mutsuli, the shunner-of-blood, with which we came from Thenzheni.
147	Vha tshi runga nga luunzhi: hangei hune vha runga ngalwo when they pierce with the awl, the end with which they pierce [when they sew the thahu]:	Munna a konaho a potent man.
148	Ngeno the other end of the awl:	Munna wa tsilu a fool (an impotent man).
149	ya hone the lines [of sewing]:	ngo ya vhatukana the urethrae (lit. seams) of boys.
150	Thahu yo no runga yo no fhela: zwine vha phapha when the thahu has been sewn and is finished: those things that they smear on:	Thindi dza vhathu human flesh.
151	Vha tshi inga tshatsho the ball of fat that they warm up:	Vhanna men.
152	Vha tshi luvhundi the red ochre that they rub on:	Vhasidzana vho vhonaho yavho girls who have seen their monthlies.
153	Hangeno wayo (vhukati ha thahu) there on its crown (in the centre of the thahu):	Thuvunya ya a baby's fontanelle.
154	Hangei lubomoni lwayo there on its rim:	Maremu a a sa athu naka a baby's gums which are not yet beautiful [with teeth].
155	Mbilu ya thahu the heart of the thahu [the inside often consists of a used maize cob]:	Mbilu ya muomva the inside [lit.hart] of a banana.
156	ayo its tassels:	Mutshila wa kholomo a cow's tail.
157	hodzini ho vhofhiwaho on the tips where it is knotted:	hoho dza thunzi the heads of flies.
158	Bulo the whole thahu [lit. a heap of grain which still has to be threshed]:	Musidzana wa tshirovha a girl who has [been treated with] a medicated rod.

The tshirovha is made of the same tree as the thahu, namely muembe, the wild custard apple: Anonna chrysophylla Boj. The rod refers also to the male organ.

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