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| 1 |
 u vhone madembe! |
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Come and see wonders! |
| 2 |
Ndi a fa; hu sale vhavhuya! |
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I am dying; may the good people remain! |
| 3 |
Ndi a fa nga maganatiba, |
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I am dying of worries in my heart, |
| 4 |
Nga mabilu a madinana. |
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Of complaining hearts. |
| 5 |
Vhuhadzi a vhu   , |
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Your husband's home does not prosper well, |
| 6 |
A vhu  ,  -thahu. |
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It does not prosper and is still a tiny home. |
| Chorus: |
Khofhe dzi na muthetshelo. |
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Sleep is there for tasting. |
Lines 1-4 are often sung by women when pounding maize. The expression  -thahu is not clear:  is a diminutive of  , but thahu almost certainly does not refer to the ornament worn after the nobles' vhusha.
When they sing this, the girls sit with their legs in front of them and with their clenched hands together, knuckles against knuckles. They pound their thighs in time to the music; when its speed increases, they look up and 'pull' in time to its metre, as if they are pulling a rope.
The song is to remind a girl that when she first marries she is expected to work hard at her husband's home. A young wife may have only a little sleep, and then she must get up and pound maize. |
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