Ballade Of The Little Cattle Herdsman Poem by Gert Strydom

(after C. M. van den Heever)

In the twilight the hillocks around him is grey
where the small herdsman do take the cattle to a corral,
his thoughts is miles away at his own straw hut where a fire burns
and on his ghoera he plays a soft tune that lingers

Chorus:
he is somewhat startled when the cattle come to a halt
suddenly he do notice that the cattle are chewing the cud and going nowhere,
in the footpath there is a strange small man-beast
a monster that do only exist in nightmares,

he realises to nowhere he can flee quick enough,
tests the sharp assegai with stabbing movements in the air
and fear brings him to a halt next to the cattle
when the monster walks nearer and nearer and coughs.

"You play well, so very beautiful, you small umfaan,
play another song just where you are standing, "
the boy lets the assegai and ghoera drop,
looks with anxious eyes at the tikoloshe

it's if his legs become lame under him
when the tikoloshe do come still closer to him
"Umfaan, tell me from where do I come? "
From shock the herdsman is speechless

but the words of the tikoloshe again rings with thunder
The dangerous little man walks closer still.
"You come from there far, from the mountains of the Unkulunkulu, "
he follows the eternal plan and the tikoloshe does not take another step.

Where the word Unkulunkulu keeps him from the child
while with dark murderous eyes he looks at him:
"It's right Umfaan, I come from the mountains of the Great-Great
do carry on with these cattle, " but the herdsman do not trust the peace

looks away from the monster, slowly picks up his assegai and ghoera,
do take the footpath with the cattle and play a very sad tune,
the footpath cuts past a small stream when the tokkeloshe does disappear
but for the child the tikoloshe remains a monster straight from hell.

[Reference:"Die wagtertjie stap" (The small herdsman walks)by C. M. van den Heever.Poet's note:A ghoera is "a primitive music instrument made by natives and played by them, consisting out of a bended stick where a sinew-string is spanned between its ends, with a flat piece of feather-pen inserted on the one end of the string; by holding the mouth on the feather and blowing softly, the player can let a few soft sounds of various pitches come forth." A Umfaan" is a young boy.The "Unkulunkulu" is the Great-Great, the Upper being and omnipotent Lord God.An assegai is a slender iron tipped spear of hard wood especially used by South African native peoples.]

© Gert Strydom