The Story of the Monster, Wezikya
Once upon a time, there was a local man, who lived with his wife and four girls. The children were very disobedient, and would never listen to what they were told. They seemed to have no fear of their parents and would do as they pleased.
When they would go out into the forest to collect firewood, their parents would tell them,
“When you’re out in the forest, gather the wood as quickly as you can and return home. Stop spending time out there in the woods! Just gather the wood and come back in a hurry.”
But the children never listened. They would always spend long hours out in the forest, to the dismay of their parents.
But one day, the kids had gone to collect wood, and while they were out there, the weather turned bad. Heavy rain began to fall and the children became worried. They didn’t know what to do! They began to run, until they came across a huge stone with an opening in the side.
It was a house, built into a large, smooth rock face, and the children left the firewood behind and rushed inside.
They sat down, relieved to be out of the rain, and looked around. There was nothing much to see in the house, it appeared to be mostly empty.
But as they were sitting there, suddenly, a monster ran by the door.
This monster was Wezikya!
Wezikya came running into the house, he too was trying to escape the rain. He entered his house, for you see, this was where the monster would come to cook and eat.
The young girls became scared as Wezikya sat down. He had been carrying meat, and as he sat there, he began to eat the meat, staring at the children.
Finally, Wezikya asked, “Where did you come from?”
The children replied, “We came here to collect firewood”.
The monster looked at them closely, “You came here for wood”, he replied, “But you people never come to this house, how did you end up in here?”
“We were scared of the rain,” the children told Wezikya, “We came inside to take shelter”.
The monster paused for a moment. “I’m going to give you some of what I’m eating, so you can share it with me,” he said. “We will eat it together. You’ve come to my house, so you can eat with me”.
As told by Kisembo Beatrice
The kids didn’t know what to do. The words of their parents echoed in their minds,
“When you go to the forest, come back quickly! Don’t stay there, playing. Now look what you’ve done! You didn’t come back, what are you going to do now?”
The kids sat there, silently afraid. Wezikya got up and served some soup into one of his bowls. He handed it to the first girl.
This girl was smart. She didn’t eat the food, instead, she hid it by her side. Then the monster gave some food to the second child, who also hid it away. Even the third child was clever enough to hide the food instead of eating it.
Wezikya gave the fourth child a bowl of food, but this child was greedy. She ate all the soup and some meat along with it!
After a little while, the monster noticed that only one of the children had eaten his food. But he just sat there, watching them.
Soon, the rain began to subside and the children wanted to leave. As they got up to go home, Wezikya blocked the door.
In a terrifying voice, he demanded,
“GIVE ME MY MEAT!”
The first child began to sing,
“Your meat! Please take it, take it, oh giant one!”
Then the monster shouted,
“GIVE ME MY SOUP!”
And again, the child sang out,
“Your soup! Please take it, take it, oh giant one!”
The huge beast shook his head,
“Girls nowadays,”
He said to himself,
“Pass through the door and go home.”
And he stood aside to let the girl go home.
The second girl approached the door. Again, Wezikya demanded,
“GIVE ME MY MEAT!”
“Your meat! Please take it, take it, oh giant one!”
“GIVE ME MY SOUP!”
“Your soup! Please take it, take it, oh giant one!”
“Girls nowadays! Pass through the door and go home.”
And the second girl was allowed to pass.
When it came to the third girl, the monster made the same demands.
“GIVE ME MY MEAT!”
“Your meat! Please take it, take it, oh giant one!”
“GIVE ME MY SOUP!”
“Your soup! Please take it, take it, oh giant one!”
“Girls nowadays! Whatever made you not listen? You are free to pass and go home.”
Now Wezikye came to the fourth girl. This was the girl who had so greedily eaten his food.
“GIVE ME MY MEAT!”
“I ate the meat, oh giant one! Oh, giant, I ate your meat!”
“GIVE ME MY SOUP!”
“I ate the soup, of giant one! Oh, giant, I ate your soup!”
“Girls of today! Whatever will it take to get you to listen? Go and sit over there.”
This time, the monster sent the girl back into the house. As the other children picked up their firewood and made for home, the monster returned to his house, where the child was sitting, and ate her.
When the children got back home, their father asked them, “Where is my other girl?” But the children lied.
“We lost her,” they said, “The rain came down so heavily and everyone split up and ran off”. When the father repeated the question, the children kept quiet. They were afraid that if they told the truth, they would be beaten.
The family waited for a long time for their poor girl to come back, but of course, she never did.
You see? Because they didn’t listen to their parents, the poor girl ended up dead!
Me, I left the family when the girl was still missing. The parents didn’t know what to do with themselves. All I could do was make my way home.
