THE THUNDERSTORM.

Specimens of Bushman Folklore, by W.H.I. Bleek and L.C. Lloyd, [1911], at sacred-texts.com

When the rain fell upon us at night, I did thus, while the rain fell, I lay, playing the "goura",[1] like

[1. A description of this musical instrument will be found on p. 100 of "The Native Races of South Africa", by the late Mr. G. W. Stow (London, 1905), and a picture of it in the preceding plate (fig. 8).]

||kunn.[1] And mamma said to me, did I not see how the rain was lightening; that I did like ||kunn; did I not know that ||kunn was a person who used, if people scolded him, he used, (when) he was angry with the people, to say to the people, about it, that the people seemed to think that the rain would fall; but (on the contrary) the rain would stand still, while the rain did not fall. The rain used really to stop; when ||kunn had said that the rain would not fall.

When mamma rebuked me, I did not listen to her, for, I lay, playing the "goura", like ||kunn. And mamma became silent; when she saw that I did not seem as if I heard her. And mamma lay down; I lay, playing the "goura".

And the rain did thus, as I lay, playing the "goura", the rain first seemed to shine into our eyes. And the rain did thus, (when) we were thinking that it was going to lighten and it seemed as if the rain were closing our eyes, when it was the light that entered. our eyes; we stood shutting our eyes, while we felt as if darkness kept our eyes closed. And when we had not (yet) opened our eyes, the rain gave us things on account of which our eyes seemed as if they were green; and the rain lightened, while our eyes felt green.

And the rain, lightening, went over us; and the rain did as follows to a stone which stood outside, in front of our hut, the rain, lightening, shivered it.

And mamma exclaimed: "Ng ng ng ng ng!" And father questioned mamma, as to what was the matter

[1. ||kunn or "Coos Groot-Oog" was a rain sorcerer, wbo lived at !khai |ku (also called "Evvicass Pits", on account of a tree which stands by the Pits).]

with her; had the rush of the storm[1] reached her that she exclaimed as if in pain? And mamma told father about it, that ) the thing seemed as if the rain were tearing off her skin; therefore, she had exclaimed with pain. And mamma said that we had wished to fall dead; it was our fault that we had not been willing to obey her when she rebuked us about a very little thing. We had wanted to see (what would happen) when we did not appear to hear when she rebuked us.

I had acted thus, when mamma told me to leave off playing the "goura",--like ||kunn,--I would not listen; I was the one who saw that the rain had intended to kill us, on account of my doings.

[1. The narrator compares this to the wind from a cannon ball.]