Papa Haga and Mama Haga spent most of their time advising Mabige on the dos and don’ts of marriage as well as devoting enough time to prayer. They had taken it upon themselves to inform their neighbours in all the villages around them to pray and be aware of the impending danger. Some of them had accepted it and some dismissed it as an old lady’s fable. However, Mama Haga was determined to convince everyone she came across and always left an impression on their hearts to do as she told them. She was not taking any prisoners and neither was she taking no for an answer. Papa Haga normally would stay at home as he was feeling his age, especially lately, following a nasty malaria attack, which nearly sent him to an early grave.
Mama Haga had nursed him back to health with constant prayers and a diet of natural remedies which he drank with distaste. He had grumbled that the medicines were worse than the malaria. Mama Haga responded, “That’s nonsense, your brain must be full of the malaria bug, you are not thinking straight!”
Papa Haga still protested and told her, “Well, you wouldn’t drink it yourself if you tried, its poison! Maybe you want to kill me off before the evil spirits get to me or even the malaria for that matter!” Mama Haga knew he was having his usual tantrum when he couldn’t have his way.
Mabige often wondered how the pair could be so loved up one minute and at each other’s throats the next. They had both told him that it was the spice to their marriage. He could not work it out or understand it and left the matter well alone as he disappeared into his own thoughts, reminiscing about Beko as his wife and how they would make a lovely couple.
He went to see Mama Haga and Papa Haga to agree on a set date to go back to Goza to pay the bride prize and to set a wedding day. He enrolled the help of another neighbour to escort him as his older brother could not walk the long journey to Goza even if his life depended on it. The two men were to go to Goza in two days’ times after Mabige was convinced he had done all he could to prepare for his fate at the hands of the Mondos. However, he had a good feeling about and as far as he was concerned, nothing was worth risking for the love of his life Beko. He was all the more determined to marry her in a few months’ time once the dowry was accepted and Beko’s hand was given to him in marriage officially.
Two days later, Mabige and his companion from next door, Soku, rose up early to head for Goza and took along with them five goats, three cows and loads of sacks of corn, groundnuts, beans and pieces of expensive cloth. They loaded a cart with all these items and took two strong oxen and harnessed them to pull the cart. It was a heavy load indeed as Mabige didn’t want to take any chances in taking less than what would be expected. He would rather take extra and prove himself worthy of honour and respect from his in-laws to be.
The men walked and took a few breaks along the way to rest the animals, feed and water them. In the heat of the mid-day, they waited for an hour under the shed of trees to rest and to eat. Mabige was on edge as he did not want any demise to befall his precious bride prize animals before they got to their destination, lest his father-in-law, Papa Mondo, would think that he deliberately brought them lame, sick or unfit animals, which would be seen as a slight on his family and especially his daughter.
The donkeys were making a nuisance of themselves by neighing nonstop until they stopped to rest or feed or drink, much to Mabige’s annoyance. He said to Soku, “Listen to the donkeys complaining all the time, no wonder they are never sold as part of the bride prize and neither are they eaten for meat. They should be grateful that they are useful for one thing and one thing only, carrying loads, which they still albeit, moan and complain about!”
Soku laughed so hard he slumped to the ground and retorted, “Leave the poor beasts alone, surely they have feelings too, and I am sure if you were in their shoes, you wouldn’t be happy lugging all sorts of heavy loads, would you? Besides I think the goats are the worst offenders in disobedience, top-class nuisances they are!”
Mabige said, looking at the sorry faces of the animals, “Yeah, I guess you are right, but they are so annoying at times. They are never willing to do anything. It’s almost like you always have to force them to work!”
Soku added, “All right, all right, now can we get back onto the more interesting stuff, like you getting married in a matter of four hours from now?”
Mabige stood there dumbstruck at the realisation that indeed he would soon be married to the love of his life and all of a sudden, his heart missed a beat in anticipation. The two men and their beats carried on walking after all the animals were fed and watered. They had all enjoyed the scrumptious fresh edible leaves the men had gathered from the bushes all around them. Two hours later, they arrived in Goza to ululations and cheerful greetings, because the Goza people immediately clocked onto why Mabige had returned with animals in tow.
Beko saw them approach the village and ran in to tell her mother and
