{"product_id":"2940013669673","title":"Sandi the King-maker","description":"In the village of P'pie, at the foot of that gaunt and hungry mountain\u003cbr\u003ewhich men called Limpisi, or Limbi, there lived a young man whose parents\u003cbr\u003ehad died when he was a child, for in those far--off days the Devil Woman\u003cbr\u003eof Limbi demanded double sacrifices, and it was the custom to slay, not\u003cbr\u003ethe child who was born upon her holy day--which was the ninth of the new\u003cbr\u003emoon--but his parents.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTherefore he was called by acclamation\u003cbr\u003eM'sufu-M'goba--'the-fortunate-boy-who-was-not-his-own-father'. All\u003cbr\u003echildren who are born of sacrificed parents are notoriously clever, and\u003cbr\u003eM'sufu was favoured of ghosts and devils. It is said that when he was\u003cbr\u003ewalking--young he climbed up to the cave of the Holy Devil Woman herself,\u003cbr\u003epassing through the guard of Virgins, who kept the hillside, in a most\u003cbr\u003emiraculous way, and that he had tottered into that dreadful cave whence\u003cbr\u003eno human had emerged alive, and had found the Old Woman sleeping.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe came forth alive and again reached the village. So it was said--and\u003cbr\u003esaid secretly between husband and wife, or woman and lover (for these\u003cbr\u003elatter trust one another). Aloud or openly not one spoke of such a\u003cbr\u003efearful exploit or even mentioned the Old Woman, save parabolically or by\u003cbr\u003eallusion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut to this visit and the inspiration of The Cave-of-Going-In were\u003cbr\u003eascribed the wonderful powers which came to him later in life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is told that, seated at food with one of the families which had\u003cbr\u003eadopted him, he suddenly broke an hour's silence.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"K'lama and his goat are dead by the deepstones.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Silence, little child,\" said his indignant foster-parent. \"Are you not\u003cbr\u003eashamed to talk when I am eating? In this way all devils get into a man's\u003cbr\u003ebody when his mind is thrown all ways.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNevertheless, a search-party was sent out, and K'lama and his goat were\u003cbr\u003efound dead at the bottom of a rocky bluff; and one old man had seen this\u003cbr\u003ehappen, the goat being suddenly mad and leaping with K'lama at the leash\u003cbr\u003eof it, just as the sun rim tipped the mountain-top. At such an hour had\u003cbr\u003eM'sufu spoken!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThen another miracle. One Doboba, a gardener, had flogged M'sufu for\u003cbr\u003estealing bananas from his garden.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Man,\" said M'sufu, rubbing his tingling seat, \"a tree will fall upon you\u003cbr\u003ein two nights, and you will be with the ghosts.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd two nights after this Doboba died in such a way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe story and the fame of M'sufu spread until his name was spoken even in\u003cbr\u003ethe intimate places of the Old King's hut. And there came one Kabalaka,\u003cbr\u003eChief of all the Tofolaka, this being the country which is separated from\u003cbr\u003ethe Ochori by the Ghost Mountains, and Kabalaka was a great man in the\u003cbr\u003eking's eyes, being his seni-seni, which means Chief Minister.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Oh, prophesy for me, M'sufu,\" he said, and before the whole twittering\u003cbr\u003evillage--aghast at the advent of this amazing prince and his ten\u003cbr\u003ecompanies of spearmen and his dancing women--M'sufu stood up.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lord,\" he said \"the crops of the land will be good and better than good.\u003cbr\u003eBut the crops of the Fongini shall die, because no rain will come and the\u003cbr\u003eearth will crack.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"What else?\" said Kabalaka, not displeased, for he hated the Fongini and\u003cbr\u003eLubolama, their chief, and was jealous of his influence with the Old\u003cbr\u003eKing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Lord,\" said the young seer, sweating greatly, \"the son of your wife is\u003cbr\u003esick and near to death, but on the rind of the moon he shall live again.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKabalaka bent his brows, for he loved the son of his wife, and made a\u003cbr\u003eforced march back to Rimi-Rimi to find the child already laid for death,\u003cbr\u003ewith clay upon his eyelids.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Wait until the rind of the moon, for this child will not die,\" said\u003cbr\u003eKabalaka in a confident tone, but inwardly aching.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo they waited, watching the fluttering breath of the boy, the women-folk\u003cbr\u003egoing out every morning to pluck green leaves to deck their bodies in the\u003cbr\u003edeath dance. But on the rind of the moon the child opened his eyes and\u003cbr\u003esmiled and asked for milk.","brand":"WDS Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47070111695088,"sku":"2940013669673","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013669673_p0.jpg?v=1763583722","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013669673","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}