The sacred milk of koumongoe

lah, whom her father Masilo cast out!
And in a moment the old woman appeared holding the baby in her arms. Dilah had become so big and strong, that Thakane`s heart was filled with joy and gratitude, and she stayed as long as she dared, playing with her baby. At last she felt she must return to the village, lest she should be missed, and the child was handed back to the old woman, who vanished with her into the lake.
Children grow up very quickly when they live under water, and in less time than anyone could suppose, Dilah had changed from a baby to a woman. Her mother came to visit her whenever she was able, and one day, when they were sitting talking together, they were spied out by a man who had come to cut willows to weave into baskets. He was so surprised to see how like the face of the girl was to Masilo, that he left his work and returned to the village.
`Masilo,` he said, as he entered the hut, `I have just beheld your wife near the river with a girl who must be your daughter, she is so like you. We have been deceived, for we all thought she was dead.`
When he heard this, Masilo tried to look shocked because his wife had broken the law; but in his heart he was very glad.
`But what shall we do now?` asked he.
`Make sure for yourself that I am speaking the truth by hiding among the bushes the first time Thakane says she is going to bathe in the river, and waiting till the girl appears.`
For some days Thakane stayed quietly at home, and her husband began to think that the man had been mistaken; but at last she said to her husband: `I am going to bathe in the river.`
`Well, you can go,` answered he. But he ran down quickly by another path, and got there first, and hid himself in the bushes. An instant later, Thakane arrived, and standing on the bank, she sang:
Bring to me Dilah, Dilah the rejected one, Dilah, whom her father Masilo cast out!
Then the old woman came out of the water, holding the girl, now tall and slender, by the hand. And as Masilo looked, he saw that she was indeed his daughter, and he wept for joy that she was not lying dead in the bottom of the lake. The old woman, however, seemed uneasy, and said to Thakane: `I feel as if someone was watching us. I will not leave the girl to-day, but will take her back with me`; and sinking beneath the surface, she drew the girl after her. After they had gone, Thakane returned to the village, which Masilo had managed to reach before her.
All the rest of the day he sat in a corner weeping, and his mother who came in asked: `Why are you weeping so bitterly, my son?`
`My head aches,` he answered; `it aches very badly.` And his mother passed on, and left him alone.
In the evening he said to his wife: `I have seen my daughter, in the place where you told me you had drowned her. Instead, she lives at the bottom of the lake, and has now grown into a young woman.`
`I don`t know what you are talking about,` replied Thakane. `I buried my child under the sand on the beach.`
Then Masilo implored her to give the child back to him; but she would not listen, and only answered: `If I were to give her back you would only obey the laws of your country and take her to your father, the ogre, and she would be eaten.`
But Masilo promised that he would never let his father see her, and that now she was a woman no one would try to hurt her; so Thakane`s heart melted, and she went down to the lake to consult the old woman.
`What am I to do?` she asked, when, after clapping her hands, the old woman appeared before her. `Yesterday Masilo beheld Dilah, and ever since he has entreated me to give him back his daughter.`
`If I let her go he must pay me a thousand head of cattle in exchange,` replied the old woman. And Thakane carried her answer back to Masilo.
`Why, I would gladly give her two thousand!` cried he, `for she has saved my daughter.` And he bade messengers hasten to all the neighbouring villages, and tell his people to send him at once all the cattle he possessed. When they were all assembled he chose a thousand of the finest bulls and cows, and drove them down to the river, followed by a great crowd wondering what would happen.
Then Thakane stepped forward in front of the cattle and sang:
Bring to me Dilah, Dilah the rejected one, Dilah, whom her father Masilo cast out!
And Dilah came from the waters holding out her hands to Masilo and Thakane, and in her place the cattle sank into the lake, and were driven by the old woman to the great city filled with people, which lies at the bottom.