The Childess Woman

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
In the days when the world was fresh from the
creator's hand, there lived a woman who had no children.
Because of this, she grieved much and weeped in secret,
for her husband has ceased to love her, while the
other women of the village mocked and pointed their fingers

(00:20):
at her as she passed. One day, when she was
seated at the door of her hut, two pigeons flew
in and scattered the ashes of the fire over the floor,
calling to one another, wukutu, wukutu. They also come to
mock me, said the woman, because I have no child

(00:45):
to scatter the ashes, and she bent her head and
weeped anew. Then one of the pigeons came to her, saying,
make a wound in your breast, and let the blood
from the wound fall into this pot, covered over, and
there let it be for nine months. But when the

(01:07):
ninth moon is at the fall, take off the cover,
and in the pot you will find a child. The
woman did as the pigeon had commanded, and for nine
long months she guarded the pot, which stood in a
corner of the hut, wondering and turning over in her

(01:28):
heart the words which the pigeon had spoken. When the
ninth months hung a great golden ball in the heavens.
She knelt before the pot and lifted the cover, and
there within lay a beautiful man child, stronger and fairer

(01:48):
than any baby born was in the crawl. While she knelt,
the woman heard a sudden fluttering of wings, and through
the door of the hut there flew in a pigeon.
Wrap your child in blankets, it said, wrap him up well,
and keep him hidden from sight, that the other woman

(02:11):
may not see him. Then the bird flew out into
the moonlight, and there came another, saying, give your son
food enough for a man, that he may grow quickly.
So the woman wrapped the child in blankets and took
him to the back of the hut, that none who

(02:32):
passed might see him. She gave him food enough for
a man, as the pigeon had said, and before the
sunset on the next day, he had grown from a
helpless baby to a youth, tall and listen as a sapling.
When darkness fell, the woman lit a fire in her

(02:54):
hut and again covered her son with blankets, bidding him
lie still lest he should be seen. That night, her
husband returned from a hunting expedition. He was weary and
set down to rest while she made ready his supper.

(03:14):
Nor did he perceive the boy who was hidden at
the back of the hut. When the woman has served
her husband, she took a portion and set it before
her son, saying, eat this my child. Whose child is this?
Asked the man, to whom are you giving meat to?

(03:37):
My son? Answered the woman, But you have no son,
he exclaimed, Nay, but I have said she the pigeons
told me to draw blood from my breast and let
it lie in a pot until it grew to be
a child. I listened to their wisdom, and behold, here

(04:00):
is my son. The man was overjoyed, and the woman
rejoiced because her reproach had been taken from her. They
lived together in peace and happiness until the end of
their days. End of the Childless Woman by S. O. L.
Mac Pherson