Kaukalange

By Eric Kalunga

Once upon a time in land far far away there lived a little girl who had a cat. The cat was called Nunda and it was evil and it ate the neighbour’s chickens_

The neighbours complained but the little girl and her parents refused to do anything about it because the little girl loved the cat so much.

So Nunda ate and grew and it ate some more. Soon it ran out of chickens and began to eat goats. It ate the goats and it grew.

It grew so much that people began to fear it. They pleaded with the owners to get rid of it but again they did not listen.

Then nunda began to eat calfs and then cows. It ate all the cows in the village and all the goats and the sheep as well until there were no animals left.

Then it began to eat little children. By this time it was too late to do anything. The cat had grown to the size of a small house.

People tried to escape but it ran them down and ate them. Soon there was no one left but just one woman who was pregnant.

She was frightened and went to hide in the ceiling of her house. The beast never found her.

She gave birth to a baby boy. The moment that the baby came out she placed him inside a hot frying pan with sizzling oil. She fried the baby.

And the boy then leaped out of the frying pan, grown and talking.

She called him Kaukalange, child of a snake.

He asked his mother about his brothers and sisters and his mother told him that nunda ate them. He then asked where his aunts and uncles were and his mother told him that nunda ate them. He asked about his neighbours and all the other little boys and girls outside and his mother told him that nunda ate them all.

Kaukalange then vowed to kill the monster that ate his village and free everybody. So early the next morning he set out with a bow and arrows to seek and defeat the monster.

In the evening he came back dragging behind him the carcass of a huge animal.

He called out to his mother, “mother is this nunda?”

His mother peeked out of the house and shook her head, “no, my son, that is not nunda. You have just killed an elephant, nunda is a thousand times bigger.”

The next morning Kaukalange set off again in search of the monster cat. In the evening he brought back a lion.

“Mother,” he called out again, “is this nunda?”

His mother peeked out of the house and shook her head, “no, my son, that is not nunda. You have just killed a lion, nunda is a thousand times more terrifying.”

The morning after that the boy set out again to find nunda and free his people. Later that evening he came back empty handed.

His mother came out to meet to him, “what happened my son?” she asked.

He said, “I met a big and terrible animal today, we fought and I defeated it. But I couldn’t bring it here for you to see because it was too heavy.”

“Come, show me where this animal is and I shall tell you of it is the terrible nunda,” his mother told him.

Together they set off. Deep in the forest they came upon the carcass of an animal as big as a mountain. Arrows were sticking out of its body and the trees nearby were all flattened to the ground.

“Is this nunda, mother?” Kaukalange asked.

“Yes indeed my son,” his mother replied, “this is the beast that ate everyone in our village.”

Kaukalange quickly drew a knife and sliced open the belly of the beast. All the animals and people that nunda ate came tumbling out.

It was a long stream of people and animals. People set up fires to warm themselves in the night chill while waiting for others to come out of Nunda, There was great joy as old friends and relatives saw each other and hugged.

The last person to come out was Kaukalange’s uncle. He had an arrow sticking out of his left eye. One of the arrows that shot the animal went through to him. He was not very happy.

“Who did this to me?” He screamed angrily.

He wouldn’t listen when people told him it was an accident. He demanded that they hold Kaukalange for him so that he could pierce the boy’s eye in return.

At hearing this everyone was very angry. They then took him and put him back inside the stomach of nunda. Then they sew the belly shut with him still inside.

Everyone was glad to see him go. They thanked Kaukalange for freeing them and went back to the village where they lived happily ever after.

The end.