|| A Kenyan Tribal Legend ||
The Kikuyu tribe have a curious folk tale concerning the origin of fire. This has now become merely a fairy-tale told to children.
A long time ago a man borrowed a spear, katimu, from a neighbour to kill a porcupine which was destroying his crops. He lay in wait in the field and eventually threw the spear when it came. But it was only wounded and ran off with the spear in its body and disappeared down a burrow.
He went to the owner and told him that the spear was lost, but the owner insisted on having it back.
Then the man bought a new spear and offered it to the owner in place of the lost weapon. But the owner refused it and again insisted on the return of the original spear.
The man then proceeded to crawl down the porcupine burrow, and having crawled a long way found himself eventually, to his surprise, in a place where many people were sitting about cooking food by a fire.
He had never seen underground people in person and never saw fire before. He stood gaping at both of them.
The underground people asked him what he wanted and he told them of his errand. They then invited him to stay and eat with them.
He was still a bit afraid and unsure if he could trust them. So he said he could not stay as he must go back with the spear which he saw lying there.
They made no effort to keep him, but told him to climb up the roots of a mugumu tree, which penetrated down into the cavern, and said that he would soon come out into the upper world.
They gave him some fire to take back with him. Gratefully, he took the spear and the fire and climbed out as he was told.
This is said to be the way fire came to man; before that people ate their food raw.
When the man reached home, he returned the spear and said to the owner, “You have caused me a great deal of trouble to recover your spear. If you want some of this fire which you see going away into smoke, you will have to climb up the smoke and get it back for me.”
The owner of the spear tried and tried to climb the smoke but could not do it, for it was just gas. The owner kept trying and failing.
Then the elders of the tribe intervened and said, “We will make the following arrangement: fire shall be for the use of all, and because you have brought it you shall be our chief.”
The underworld people referred to in this tale is called Miri ya mikeongoi.
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