THE FIRST SERIES

:THE FIRST: THE THREE N0VELS   CONTENTS: ·         THE SONE OF OMBARE who turned into a tree ·         THE DOWN RAID ·         LWANDA MAGERE  the African worrier who’s life was in a rock ·         THE TAMTATION   biography of the co-AUTHOR ·         THE HUNCH GIRL     the ugly one NYAMGODHO SON OF  OMBARE Pride comesBefore a fall                  In far land of gwassi ,Suaba sub County next to the great lake of Victoria of Homa-Ba county in Kenya There lived a man by the name nyamgodho son of Ombare Nyamgodho was born   and  brought up by poor parents whose only source of livelihood was fishing. Nyamgodho therefore became therefore  became a fisherman at a tender age. In formative years, Nyamgodho used to accompany his father during his fishing expeditions until he became  of age, old enough to set up and own his fishing traps. Nyamgodho lived in adject poverty , worked in latters and hardly had a meal  to place on the table since  fishing gave little return. Hisattemptsto many were threatened by poverty   since   no girl would listen to and consider his proposal .He was the laughing stock of the village as his peers and village   girls would often sneer at his inability to marry. Son of Ombare   would not even be invited to beer parties where the haves were invited. Son of Ombare would feel rejected. He cursed himself and gods of his ancestors Nyamgodho felt life had to continue despite all these setbacks and continued to set up   and check his traps even through he got very little returns from them everyday. In many occasions ,He would set his traps and catch no fish .Son of Ombare would sleep hungry and yawn the night long, Scratch his  emaciated belty and wished he were not born. Waking up very hungry one dawn, Son of Ombare decided to check on his traps praying he would catch even a single fish. Reaching the shore where his traps lay, Son of Ombareas usual settled on his traps to find out whether there was something for him .Checking on the first trap he did not see any hope and his spirit were dumped .’A I again “ Son of Ombare asked in desperation. Lifting the 2ndtrap, alas! What did son of Ombare see, awretched, emaciated and ugly looking woman at him in the eyes .Nyamgodho was seized with fear  and astonishment. His mind was blank and several   things crossed his empty  mind. He wanted to run back but the voice from the woman made him stand  rooted in the water  next to the trap .”Take me home Nyamgodho don’t leave me here,” the voice pleaded .In fear, son of Ombare entrapped the emaciated woman and the journey to home began. Behind the woman from the lake followed several herds of cattle, flocks of sheep, goats bleating and poultry chuckling. Nyamgodho could not believe his eyes at what he considered God sent instant wealth. Reaching home, the wretched woman told Son of Ombare to make a  boma for his cattle , sheep, goats and poultry. “From today onwards I am your wife, you have been despised for being unable to own a wife of your own , am here to stay and all these wealth are yours .” the daughter of the lake declared much to the happiness of Nyamgodho. From this day son of Ombare became the darling of the village all the women who had earlier rejected him then began to look at him positively .The elders developed on instant respect for him and his invitations to beer parties became frequently .He was also often invited to the important function to the village and beyond .He all of a sudden became a proud man and married several other women after the daughter of the lake His  homestead prospered since  since there was plenty to eat and merry to make. Son of Ombare was later appointed the chairman of the council of elders in his village and this added a feather to his social cap. He could preside over land disputes, marital matters  and arbitration functions. Sometimes he would come home drunk to the balls, yelling and shouting his real and imagined adversaries. One night, having come from presiding over a land dispute where beer was served in plenty, Son of Ombare was drunk to the eyeballs. Heclumsily staggered towards his homestead and much to his chagrin. He found gates to his boma technically locked. He yelled at his younger wives to open for him to no avail. Son of Ombare then turned his anger  to the daughter of the lake  and began to hurl  insults at her yelling at the top of his voice,” Even    those witched ones  I picked  from the lake cannot hear me .”By this time the daughter of the lake  was already awake  and listened keenly to Nyamgodho ’sensitive words .She gathered herself  from her bed  went to the gate and opened  for her intoxicated Husband “You picked me from the lake  brought me home and made me your wife ,fine but what you have forgotten is the fact that I brought you wealth,I made you somebody out of nobody  and here  you are washing the whole of my body with insults, right away am going back to the lake  from where you picked me, and I am leaving nothing behind, I am going back with all my wealth,” the daughter of the lake addressed Nyamgodho who was still drunk and did not take her  words seriously. At the c***k of dawn the daughter of the lake decide to leave for the lake and behind   her followed, the cattle, sheep, goats and poultry. In the stampede Nyamgodho was woken up by one of his  younger wives  who informed him that all his wealth was going .In his  drunken stupor  ,he staggered behind the daughter of the lake pleading with her to come back but she would not hear of it, she had made up her mind to go back  to the lake. He followed helplessly as the daughter of the lake and her wealth trooped into the shore .True to her word she entered the shore with all her wealth  and disappeared leaving Son of Ombare tongue tied at the shore where he turned into a tree. To date when one hits the tree I bleeds  and the animal footprints can still be seen imprinted in the rocks at the shore at Nyandiwa trading center in Suba Sub County ,Homabay County in Kenya.         THE DAWN RAID. The village of Masaku in western Kenya was known for its tranquility and wealth. It took all it could to be called a prosperous village endowed with all sorts of resources ranging from land reliable rainfall large herds of cattle sheep goats to good harvest   every season. The village head and his mistresses were respected and valued by all the village who saw the head as their source of security and cohesion. Every year, the village marked bumper harvest with a colorful celebration where people from all walks of life were invited, beer brewed in plenty not to mention all tribes of delicacies prepared and served  and the dancing that was to continue throughout the night. The villagers had been yearning for the day that year .The village head and his committee finally set and announced the date and day for the celebration. People were undoubtedly happy and preparations began in earnest. It was only a week away from the date of the announcement. The arena of the celebration was cleared and lavishly decorated. The stage was a doubt set for a landslide accession. The D- day arrived and the air was filled with ululations and drum beatings as young energetic women and men vibrated their shoulders and hip to the tune of songs and drums. The village was engulfed in smoke and aroma of to delicacies being prepared served bulls, sheep, goats and chickens had lost their lives  as the invited and the uninvited guests began to troop in from far and near The ululations and dancing stopped briefly whentheorganizers announced that people be settled and have something to bite. People grouped themselves according to the peers and food was served in plenty .Young people, especially young men with roaring appetites downed the mountains of Ugali served before them within no minute and were demanding foe more. Theteeth less old men munched theirs chunks of meat calculative. The women and children piled themselves under one of the shades downing what they had taken in with bowls of soup amid jokes and laughter’s. Eating over, the village head stood up and silence the gathering to make a short speech in his speech, he thanked everyone in attendance for their coming. He introduced his distinguish guests and announced that singing and dancing will go on until the following morning but peace and order  must be maintained .Elders would continue drinking and leave at their own pleasure .Young men in the village would provide security during the  night long dance and children were to go to sleep early. The singing and the drum beating rendered the cool night air as old and young women flapped their breasts again their chests dancing around the chief and experienced drum beater, a mono-eyed and chain tobacco smoker man by the name Oloo Winga. The women wriggled their body  and swayed their hips advancing towards men in the dancing arena. The singing and dancing reached fever at dawn drums vibrating under the expert hands of  Winga a man known far and near for wife inheritance. Many people now felt rather tired and sleepy as their raiders struck. The raiders descended on the village from all directions, attached and rolled unsuspecting villagers indiscriminatelyserved. Women and girls were r***d before they were killed in cold blood .The young men tried to repulse them, but instead they fell victims of the raiders. In the stamped, the expert drum beater managed to escape together with handful of young men. The raiders then made for the cattle boma, drove all the animals away leaving behind a trail of death and destruction. The scene of joy and laughter   became a scene of the previous day became of sadness and wailing. It was later learned the attackers had come from  a neighboring community. Those who survived the raid had a story to tell to the coming generations and they will never forget it the rest of their lives.                                         LWANDA MAGERE. Long time ago there were hostilities between the luo and the kipsigis communities of Kenya  over cattle raids and grazing lands. The two communities were always at war raiding killing each other with impunity .The kipsigis suffered heavy casualties more than the luos. The Kipsigis heavily suffered at the hands of respected and feared luowarrior by the  name of Lwanda Magere.The word Lwanda  means Rock. The body of LwandaMagere was all rock and whenever they went to war with the Kipsigis he would kill many of them since his body could not be pierced  with spears .Instead the spear would bend at the tips. The Kipsigis dreaded Lwanda Magare and they wondered where his strength lay. They then hatched plan .The Kipsigis elders sent amassing to the luo that they wanted to meet their elders to make a peace truce since  they were tired of the war. The luos agreed and the elders from both communities chose aneutral ground where they met and resolved that they would never again go to war with each other. TheKipsigis  agreed at  the meeting to award the luo hero warrior LwandaMagere with a beautiful a kipsigis girl as his wife to act as a sign of the peace truce they had made and the luo elders blindly agreed not knowing what the kipsigis had up their sleeves. LwandaMagere was handed his beautiful bride in a pompous ceremony  conducted by elders from both communities. LwandaMagere stayed happily together with  his new bride  and years passed without the two communities going to war. LwandaMagere had come to trust his new bride seriously. One day,Magere fell sick and called his wife and instructed her to take a blade and make  a small cuttings on his forehead and then apply  medicine in the cutting  .Magere was resting on a three legged stool outside his house  and the woman did as she was instructed. When she tried to make the cuttings on his forehead the blade  just broke as it could not pierce through the rocky forehead. Magere then instructed her to cut the forehead of his shadow and then apply the medicine .The woman was shocked when she saw blood oozing from the shadow  .The source of his strength had been  discovered. After several months, the woman fled back to her people and informed them that Magere’s strength  lay in his shadow .If they wanted to kill  him they should  spear his shadow the theKipsigis hurriedly conducted  a raid on the luos breaking the peace truce .They  killed the luos enmasse since they were caught unaware. The luos decided to avenge the raid and descended on the kipsgis.Magere killed many Kipsigis warriors since no warrior could reach where he was. But one of the Kipsigis warriors speared his shadow and the luo giant fell down dead. On seeing that the giant had fallen the luo warriors took to their heels. The body of lwandaMagere turned into a big rock and it is said that when one sharpens ones spear on the rock when going hunting, he would kill many animals .The rock can be traced to central, Nyando sub county of Kisumu county in Kenya.   THE TEMTATION   After my university education ,I got a job immediately .i enjoy working for the government and though the salary was not as good as that offered by the private  sector , I was contented to serve my nation ,I had done civil engineering course at university and was keen to mark my contribution in nation building I look at the heap of the file before me and wondered when i would be though with the paper work .I was handling many projects and that district work officer was expecting to submit a report on the project progress in two days’ time .something was nagging me and I felt confused I remembered the conversation I had the previous day  with Paul may work mate ,and I shuddered Dennis open your eyes .if you let this opportunity pass, you will never get another one luck comes only lifetime Paul had said Opportunity what opportunity, Paul I asked  Stop being naive , Dennis you have the chance to make good money out of this project have you forgotten that the government as set aside a lot of money for the project . you think such amount of money should all be spent just to tarmac  one small stretch of road in this country ?wake up Dennis !beside I will show you how this things are being done !!Paul continued Then the truth of Paul source of immense wealth has truck me .the man had a fleet of matatus in town .he had also a number of house which he let out and other property he lived lavishly and always had money when others had none .i was wondering what Paul had meant by saying that I was sitting of a gold mine A knock on the door brought my thoughts to the present Paul and at all potbellied man got in. ”how are you Dennis ?”Paul Greeley “I’m fine and you ?i replied “am okay “ Paul replied He look at the heap of the files on my desk and shook his head “ooh!by the way , meet  Mr. Omach ;he introduced his company . I offer my hands .Mr. Omach had a firm handshake haven though he seemed nervous so what can I do for you gentleman I asked my  friend Omacch is one of the contractor  who submitted  their quotation to tarmac the road from  Malamu to kasese said Paul and lowering his voice he said  I want you , please to help him “Help him? What do you mean help him?”I asked confused. “Denis stop acting like a child. Things have changed totally it is scratch my back and I will scratch yours. MrOmach here can help you realize your dream”, Paul explained “I don’t know you want me to do here MrOmach should wait for the lender committee decision on the matter I argued. “Remember all you have to do is recommend MrOmach Company to the committee that’s all. The other bit is aesy not so MrOmach asked Paul “Yes it is very easy indeed. I have already talked to three members of the committee they have no objection in fact they are only waiting for your recommendation sir and there is something big for you” Mr OMACH saying lowering his voice. “I don’t know how I can help you I will study the tender document carefully tomorrow the firm that meets our specification will definitely get the job. I don’t see any other way, I said with finality At this point MrOmach removed a brown envelope from his briefcase and placed it on my desk. Then Paul and Omach walked out  I stared at the envelope trembled what if my boss came to my office and found it there? I pranged from my chair picked up the envelope and slipped it in my dreamer, however I had a strong urge to know what it contained so I went to the door and locked it then I removed the envelope and opened it Good heaven! What I saw made my mouth open wide my heart throbbed! Wads and wads of notes were carefully bound by a rubber band I counted and counted, three hundred thousand shillings!! I sat back on my chair and looked at the ceiling thinking what to do if I accepted the money I would  indeed solve my financial problems I was educating my sisters and this drained my finance on the other hand I knew I was not supposed to accept bribes. It was a serious offence and the government had established special court to try corruption case. I resolved what to do. I did not sleep that night for the matter disturbed me very much the next day I went to my office earlier than usual .than Paul came and asked me what I had decided. I told him I would talk to him later after Paul left I completed the work on my desk and then together with the tendering committee we opened   The tender box . after consultation with the others, I recommended Tala road works who had satisfied the requirement Omach  company did not qualify to get the tender’s  then I took the envelope with the money and returned it Paul . the letter worked at me , looked at the envelope , looked at me again , opened his mouth to say something but only shook his head instead . What goes round comes round .after three years the books of the development were addled and an investigation was launched on request of auditor general. Fifteen members of staff , were aerated and for corruption and jailed . Paul was one of them .and before he was buddle into the police jeep he worked in my direction .i looked at him and shook my head sadly . I saw regret it in his eyes but wasn’t it too late for him now   THE HUNCHBACK GIRL. Long time ago in the village of Tatu there lived a hunchback girl by the name Sasi .the villagers considered her ugly un embarrassment and a disgrace .her parents were also unhappy for having such a child .Sasi ,however had a great gift of sensing things before they happened ,which her parents and villagers constantly ignored .She could for instant sense drought before it occurred .She would tell her husband then latter would finally tell the villager’s. No one took her seriously .In the village men and and boys were valued more than girls and women .the rationale behind this was that was that the boys and young men defended the village and sustained the clan after the girl got married off quickly to an old man against her wish after all she was only a woman Though ugly Sasi admired handsome men She had fallen in love with Maraba just before she had been married off Maraba also loved the girl. The villagers had assaying that the beauty was in the eye of the admires eyes but people wounded what he had seen in her however much he loved her Maraba could not  be allowed to marry Sasi Mmaraba was the handsome chief son His father wanted him to marry the neighboring chief daughter who was very beautiful .Maraba was not so keen on her but he had to obey his parents and clan In the thick Mount Kenya forest there lived an ogre Sasu sensed the ogre’s intention long before it appeared in the village .she sneaked out of the village before the ogre struck. She could not leave Maraba behind The orge a rrived at dawn and swallowed the old men and boys again it was not satisfied soon it swallowed the old women planning to save the young women and marry them .still not satisfied it gobbled the young women too and slept .Its belly stretched to the river that separated the village and the forest nearby Soon after Sasu and Maraba returned to the village there wasn’t a soul anywhere there was nobody to take care of the village properly composed of cows, goats, sheep donkey and food in the granaries .Maraba  out the throat of the sleeping orge .Sasu to open the ogres belly and out came the villagers .They were very grateful to Sasu and Maraba for saving them .the villagers now allowed Sasu and Maraba for saving them . The villager now allowed Sasu and Maraba to marry. The couple lived happily ever after   COMBINED BY: DENNIS M NYAWANGA AND JACK NYAWANGA