You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as

you attribute in the following way:

Mazanendaba
Author - Lerato Gomolemo Tsimang
Illustr
Illustration
ation - Salim Kasamba, Isaac Okwir, Jacob Kono, Magriet
Brink and Catherine Groenewald
Language - English
Le
Level
vel - First paragraphs
© African Storybook Initiative 2021
Creative Commons: Attribution 4.0
Sour
Source
ce www.africanstorybook.org

Mazanendaba
Lerato Gomolemo Tsimang
Salim Kasamba

English
Since then, Mazanendaba
learned that she must stop being
a story teller of the village gossip
and started spending more time
with her family, teaching them
more skills.....
12
A long time ago, when the world
was still young and people were
still living in small villages, there
was a woman in the village by
the name of "Mazanendaba".
1
 The next animal she was a Mamba snake.
Mamba snake was shy :

"I don't even know what a story is" she

whispered in a hoarse voice and dispeared into
the green grass.

Mazanendaba was living in a

beautiful house by the river with
her children and husband. She
loved her family and tried by all
means to teach her children all
the skills she could including
swimming. Swimming was their
favorite.

2 11
"You give them a house to stay, clothes wear,
food to eat and on top of that they they still
want stories? Hayi, I am lucky I am not a human
mother!!?

Mazanendaba'family would
regularly take her family to the
river to swim, splash and have
good time chasing each other.
They were also fishing regularly.

10 3
 Then she met a big mother Baboon, she stood
clumsily in front of Mazanendaba and said :

Ha! What are you saying? Are telling me that

human children are more problematic than
others? You give them a house to stay in,
clothes to wear, food

Mazanendaba's husband,
Zenzele was a sculpturer . He
was a tall strong man
specializing as a sculpturer.

4 9
He smiled a toothy smile and said :
"I know lots of stories. For instance I could tell a
story about ehh.... . ehh....!!
I am sorry, I am in hurry!! Next time I see you I
will tell you!!!
As a sculpturer, he used to carve birds,
springbok or kudu drinking water from the river
and many other artifacts from wood and use
them to decorate their house until the house
ran out of space to store artifacts.

8 5
One day Mazanendaba was longing for olden With lot of hope in her head, she set off to find
days whereby they use sit around the fire some stories. The first animal that she met was
listening stories and folklore. Her Husband, the Hare, a well known trick star.
advised her to take a walk in the forest and
maybe she could come across animals that
could tell storie

6 7