A girl went to the river to get some water. As she was filling her water container, she saw a young man who came and greeted her.
Then the young man asked her to give him water to drink. When he had drunk the water, he asked her to give him one of her breasts. She thought about it, and asked him, “What do you want my breast for?” He replied, “I want to suck from it.” So she let him suck from her breast; but he removed it, as well as one of her arms, and ate them. She used the other hand and continued to fill the water container. When the water container was full, the young man helped her place it on her back and she went home. He told her not to mention anything about him in connection with the missing breast and arm, or else he would come and kill her. When the girl got home, she put down the water container and went into her bedroom and slept. When those of her family asked her if she was feeling well or not, she replied that she had a fever, and went on sleeping. They give her gruel to eat and asked her to get out of her bed, but she refused to get out. The following morning, they asked her to get up so that she could eat, but again she refused, and so they fed her there. But when people went away, she got up, washed her wounds and dressed them with medicinal herbs. As soon as she heard people coming, she went back to her bed. This went on for several days. One of her brothers decided one day to hide himself nearby, so that he could watch and see exactly what happened when the rest of the family went away to work in the fields. So while she was in the middle of washing and dressing her wound, he appeared and asked her to tell him how and when that had happened. He asked her, “Who cut your breast and arm?” But she was afraid to die and she did not tell him. Her brother insisted on knowing how it had happened. So the girl told him to gather all the other people, relatives and neighbours, before she told him. He did so. They all came together and fenced all around the home, and the men arrayed themselves ready to fight if need be. The girl came out and sat in their midst. They asked when she had fallen ill, and her parents said when. They then asked her how it had happened and she explained exactly how she has lost her breast and arm. As soon as she finished relating her story, she heard: Beautiful girl, beautiful girl, Why do you expose me? She answered, You open, you open And leave alone all but one, My handsome brother is he Who caused me to mention you She realized that the young man was an iimu, and he was now coming from the river to eat her. All the men started shooting their arrows at the iimu, but the iimu came nearer and nearer, and the men shot more and more arrows until the arrows were flying about like locusts. The iimu came to the wooden stockade and started removing it so that he could read the girl, and the people continued to shower their arrows on him. He started eating up some of the men, women and children whom he found on the way, and finally reached the girl. He seized her and swallowed her, but he then fell down dying, because of the many arrow shots he had received. As he was dying, he called out to the few surviving men and said “Cut off my two little fingers and toes, and shave all my hair. Then burn them and grind them into a powder, and you see all your friends and relatives come to life again.” The iimu died, and the people did as they had been hidden. Suddenly they saw all their dead friends and kinsmen come to life again, and they were all greatly amazed. They were all living people together again. The girl also came back to life, with her breast and hand restored to her. (Adapted from Akamba stories by J. Mbiti) Questions
a) From the first paragraph how do we know that the young man had a sinister motive? (2 marks)
b) What is ironical about the activities of the young man in the story? (2 marks) c) Why do you think the Ogre would like to transform itself into a man? (2 marks) d) What is there in the story to justify the statement? The girl wasn’t innocent. (2 marks) e) What is the effect of the usage of the word “iimu” for the Ogre in the story? (3 marks) f) Who are the best audience for this story and why? (2 marks) g) Identify two stylistic devices employed in the passage. (4 marks) h) What can we learn about the values of community? (2 marks) i) Paraphrase the following sentence. She realized that the young man was an iimu. (1 mark) ANSWERS
a) Because when he asked for water he then asked for one of her breasts yet this is a man. (2 marks)
b) The young man helped her place the water container on her bath then threatened her with death if she spoke about this incident. c) To disguise his identify so that no one would suspect him for an ogre (2 mark) d) It was not morally right for the girl to give the handsome man a breast to suck yet this is a stranger. (2 marks) e) Brings authenticity/originality link the story to the locality/setting for aesthetism – Beauty on oral literature. (3 marks) f) Young people – teach them morals. Mark identification – 1 mark illustration g) (i) Simile – like locusts (ii) Song – Beautiful girl Any other relevant 1 mark identification 1 mark illustration Total 4 marks h) They value obedience/human life - Obedience; the girl should not have given the young man audience. - Human life – they went ahead to kill the ogre. (2 marks) She discovered/found out the middle aged person was an ogre/giant/monster Related Searches
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AuthorMAURICE A NYAMOTI |
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