The Story of Gumha and the Large Rooster
The Story of Gumha and the Large Rooster
Gumha was a famous and powerful leader of the Bagalu Dance Society that used to compete with the Bagika, the other well-known dance group in Sukumaland. They contested with each other on a regular basis and depended on special magical medicine to ensure success in their dance competitions. Because of his powerful medicine, Gumha was responsible for the success of the Bagalu dancers. This made the Bagika dancers extremely jealous, and they did everything possible to bewitch Gumha.
As it happened Gumha had an extraordinary rooster who used to perch on the roof of his house. When the witches approached the home of Gumha in order to harm him, the rooster would start to crow. On hearing the rooster, the witches would become frightened and say: “What is this? The rooster is crowing. It must be getting light. Let us run for it or we will all be killed.” Then the witches would run away without doing any harm to Gumha. The followers of Gumha would say in a boastful way: “Gumha has such powerful medicine that none can harm him not even the witches.”
When Gumha finally died his disciples said: “Our master was not bewitched, but God himself has taken him. Truly there is nobody as powerful as God. There is no one like him. He is the one who gives us our life and he is the one who takes our life away.”
From this story comes the proverb There is only one bull in the world (that is, God is all powerful). (Traditional Sukuma, Tanzania Folktale told by the Sukuma
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