JIMMY BOY CANLAS JR.

BSED ENGLISH 3B

BIG KIHUO AND LITTLE KIHUO

(Folklore from East Africa)

Genre: Folktale

Setting:
 Vakishamba tribe
 Nearest tribe to the North
 Nearest tribe to the West
 Moshi’s tribe

Characters:
Chief Kihuo—static

Father of Kihuo—selfish, doubtful

Kihuo—dynamic, determined, brave, insatiable

Orombo—static, very tall, sadist, violent

Moshi—static, quick, undeceiving, strong, tough

Plot

Beginning
The chief of the Vakishamba tribe has an ambition to remain the chief for as
possible. He doesn’t care when year after year only daughters were born to his
wife.

Rising Action
One day, a son came to the chief’s world. He named his son, Kihuo. He was scared
but his fear didn’t increase because Kihuo didn’t grow, he remained very small.
Climax
The chief mocked his son because of his size and told him that Kihuo is not yet
allowed to enter the community of men and he still needs to grow properly. The
chief never listened to Kihuo, so Kihuo went to a chief who will listen to him. That
chief tested him and after the tests, that chief initiated him into manhood and
from that day on, Kihuo started to grow. The people also considered him as the
chief already and gave a stick to his father. Kihuo becomes unsatisfied with what
he has so, he started looking for ways to expand their territory and to become the
most powerful chief.

Falling Action
Kihuo fought with Orombo because he wants to own Orombo’s land. Orombo’s
people celebrated when Kihuo won over Orombo for Orombo is such a bad
leader.

Resolution
Kihuo isn’t still satisfied with what he did so, he challenged Moshi, who had never
been defeated yet. Unfortunately, Kihuo lost in his fight with Moshi. Kihuo called
himself little Kihuo and from that day on, he never went to war again.

Point of View-Theme
Point of View- Third point of view

Theme of Story: “Be satisfied with what you have and don’t ask for more.”
Big Kihuo and Little Kihuo
A Folklore From East Africa

MORAL LESSON
"Be satisfied of what you have, you may enrich/foster what you have but don't
seek for too much."

VOCABULARY
Oppressing - keep (someone) in subservience and hardship, esp. by the unjust
exercise of authority. (Synonyms: persecute, abuse, maltreat)
Feeling - an emotional state or reaction.
- a belief, esp. a vague or irrational one.
Tyrannized - rule or treat (someone) despotically or cruelly.
Pathetic - arousing pity, esp. through vulnerability or sadness.
Hillock - a small hill or mound. (Synonyms: mound, small hill, prominence,
elevation, rise)
Mocked - tease or laugh at in a scornful or contemptuous manner.
Community - a group of people living in the same place or having a particular
characteristic in common.
Initiated - cause (a process or action) to begin. (Synonyms: begin, start (off),
commence)
Ridiculous - deserving or inviting derision or mockery; absurd.
Then the other chief initiated him into manhood and from that day, Kihuo started
to grow. He returned to his own tribe, went out hunting with other men and
excelled before all others. When he threw his club, it never fails to hit its target.
Now, his father trembled before him. He tried to incite other warriors of the tribe
to oppose Kihuo, but the warriors were loyal to the young man. The old chief
became ridiculous in their eyes. One day, they appointed Kihuo as their chief and
they gave the old man a stick, saying, “From today, you will be called Mesange,
the man with the stick. From today, Kihuo is our chief.”
The man with the stick grew too wick to bear the mockery of the others and so he
went away. Kihuo grew taller still. Day after day, he thought of ways to enlarge his
tribe’s territory, so as to make the Vakishamba people the most powerful tribe,
and he dreamed of becoming the greatest of all chiefs.
Kihuo said, “I have begged my father to submit me to thee three ordeals and to
declare me a man but he refuses and says I am too small. However, I have
prepared myself for the tests in secret. I have practice throwing the club, my right
arm have grown with exercise, and my throws are sure,”
“Let us try you out then,” said the other chief
They went into the bush, and when a hyena crossed their path, Kihuo threw his
club and the hyena’s skull was shattered.
“A throw like that would have even killed a lion,” said the chief. “But what about
your courage ?
are you prepared to creep into a herd of elephants, and to sleep in their midst”
So Kihuo crept in among a herd of elephants, slept there all night, and escaped
safely.
“You have past the second test, too,” said the chief, “How about your cunning?”
kihuo smiled and said, “Am I not playing tricks on my father here and now? He
wanted to keep me as a child and now I have proved what I can do.”

Characters:
 Chief (Father of Kihuo)
 Kihuo
 Orombo
 Other Chief
 Vakishamba People

Setting:
 Vakishamba Tribe
 Nearest Tribe to the North
 Nearest Tribe to the West
 Biggest Tree miles around
 Moshi's Tribe

The nearest tribe to the north he conquered by a trick. He invited the men to
come and, together with his own warriors, he led them to the biggest tree for
many miles around. Then he said, “Let us carve vessels from this tree. It has so
much wood that there will be enough for both our tribes. We, The Vakishamba
people, will do the rally hard work, which is felling. You others need only to catch
the tree as it falls, to make sure that it does not splinter and thus waste much of
wood.”
The Vakishamba men went to work and their axes bit the deep into the mighty
trunk. When it fell, it descended like a mountain on those below whom Kihuo had
invited. Many of them were killed outright. Those who escaped with their lives
were over powered by Kihuo's soldiers. Thus, the Vakishamba doubled their
territory st a single stroke.

Now, whenever they spoke of their chief, the warrior called him "The Great
Kihuo".
This they did. Every soldier picked up a stone and placed it on a heap. So a bid hill
of stones arose and the warriors called it big Kihuo. Now, they were full of self-
confidence and they marched into the land of the Moshi, but they were
thoroughly beaten by the Moshi and they suffered such great losses that they had
to retreat on the double.

When they came to the hill of stones that they piled on the previous day, Kihuo
told them to halt, “Let us gather stones again and make them another heap,” he
ordered. This they did and everyone could see that it was a pathetic little hillock.
From this, they knew how many of them had been killed in battle and Kihuo
himself called it little Kihuo.

From that day, he never went to war again.

A long time ago, the Vakishamba tribe had a chief whose ambition was to remain
chief for as long as possible. So he did not mind when year after year, only
daughters were born to his wife. But one day, a son came to the world. The chief
called him Kihuo and he feared him from the start. However, during the child’s
early years, his father’s fear did not increase, for Kihuo grew but slowly and
remained very small.

The chief mocked him for his size even in front of strangers. And when Kihuo grew
to manhood, his father would not allow him to enter the community of men. “You
must grow properly first,” the chief said to his son. “Little Kihuo must become big
Kihuo. Only then you can undergo the three ordeals.”

Kihuo tried to protest, but his father refused to listen to him. So secretly, left the
tribunal territory and went to a chief who would listen to him.
By now, Kihuo has so enlarged his power that he dared to challenge the Moshi,
who had never been defeated by any other tribes.

Kihuo took no girls with him in this campaign, for the Moshi chief was not so easy
to deceive. He had the eyes of an eagle , the lion’s quickness to pick up a scant,
and the hearing of an elephant. His warriors were devoted to him. They were
ready to defend their land.

These things were known to Kihuo’s men and they marched along with drooping
heads. In the plains before the land of Moshi, Kihuo halted his army, “separate
and gather stones,” he said to his men, “let each of you find a stone and then we
shall make a heap of stones, so that we can see how powerful we are.”

But he was not yet satisfied with his success. The people to the west were
governed by a chief named Orombo, who was very tall. The tallest of his warriors
came only to his chest. He often waged war and had already seized much land
from his neighbors. In spite of it all, he was hated by his people. For he found
pleasure in oppressing those he should have cared for. Wherever he went he gave
orders.

"Bring stones!" he cried and men and women had to carry stones to the place
where Orombo stood. No one knew what he wanted to do with the stones.
"Bring planks!" he ordered, everyone had to drag huge planks which were never
used.

One day, he made his warriors chew wormwood roots for his women. These roots
are bitter, their juices make the mouth and the cheeks swell most painfully. The
warriors chewed from morning till night, until some none of them could close his
mouth due to the swelling. A man whom a child was born that day, called his child

Kyasam, which means open mouth.

It took Kihuo six days to prepare himself for the fight. On the first day he killed a
jackal; on the second, a buffalo; on the third, a leopard; on the fourth, a lion; on
the fifth, an elephant; and on the sixth, the vulture.
On the seventh day, the two chiefs met between their massed armies. Orombo
swung a great spear and cried, "Where are you, Little Kihuo? Where have you
gone, you dwarf?"

He flung his spear, but Kihuo ducked and the spear flew into the earth behind
him, as if a snake vanished into its HOLE.

Next, Kihuo threw his club, and before Orombo could say "Tsa!" it stuck in his
skull. As he fell, it was not only Kihuo's men who shouted for joy. Orombo's
warriors too, joined in the cries of victory and made Kihuo their chief.

Kihuo pondered for his six whole days before he thought of a new strategy to
enlarge his tribe's territory. then he confronted an opposing chief with an army
that had doubled overnight. Kihuo had ordered all the young women of the tribe
to disguise themselves as warriors and to march into battle. as soon as the
opposing chief saw the superior numbers advancing, he ordered a retreat and
surrendered half his land to the Vakishamba.

Orombo was a strong giant. He could lift a barrel or beer which needed four men
to carry it, put it to his lips, and empty it at a draught. Once, in doing so, he
swallowed a lizard that fallen from a tree. It made him vomit all the beer he had
drunk and when he saw the lizard lying before him on the ground, he flew into a
rage and commanded his men to kill all lizards in the land. Thus, began a great
slaughter of the lizards.

In these days, he tyrannized his tribe but no one would dare to rebel against him,
although they all despised him.

Kihuo saw that here was an opportunity to increase his own glory, and also to get
rid of Orombo. He staked everything on his skill at throwing the club and he
challenged Orombo to a duel. All the warriors of both tribes were to witness the
contest and accept the winner as chief. Orombo laughed when he heard the
challenge. He emptied a whole barrel of beer and said, "Now, I'm going to enjoy
myself."