Storytelling and the Tale of Njabala
My foundational experiences as a child participating in storytelling sessions with my family also informed how I approached the study and representation of the songs and stories featured in this book. Like many Baganda children growing up in my native kingdom, Buganda, I looked forward to visiting my grandparents because they told stories and taught us how to tell them. Most storytelling sessions took place after dinner and featured collective music-making by the fireplace. Here we shared tales that instructed, corrected, rebuked, and inspired us. The stories we shared addressed a wide range of topics, including the risks of traveling alone at night and interacting with strangers; the importance of collaboration and division of labor; the benefits of hard work and good time management; being in the right place at the right time; extending kindness and assistance to those in need; visiting members of one’s extended family regularly; and honoring parents and elders. By engaging with these topics, we unearthed the hidden meanings embedded in Kiganda stories. Each storytelling session—highlighting the value of learning from one another—felt like a reenactment of the Kiganda proverbs, Amagezi muliro; bwe gukubulako okima wa munno (Knowledge is like fire; if you lack or run out of it, you fetch some from your friend) and Amagezi gakuweebwa munno (Knowledge is given to you by your friend). Here, “fire” means fire in one’s hearth, “your friend” can mean one’s neighbor, and “knowledge” can be interpreted to mean “good advice.”
I still recall the storytelling session when I first heard my grandmother narrate the tale of Njabala. The session opened with her asking each of us to share something personal about our day or week so she could curate a set of stories for the evening. After everyone spoke, she began narrating the story. According to her version, a woman gave birth to a daughter and named her Njabala. Njabala was so beautiful that every man in her village desired to have her as a wife. Being the only daughter of a single mother, she received a lot of pampering. Consequently, she became a lazy girl and could not do any task by herself. For every task Njabala would call on the mother to help her out. The mother would immediately respond to the daughter’s call. Unfortunately, Njabala’s mother soon died, which forced Njabala to find a marriage partner. But as a married woman she could not perform any chores. Njabala’s weakness made her husband quarrel with her each time he returned home. His frustration in turn made Njabala feel restless and regretful, and she cursed her mother, who had not prepared her for adulthood. She would do so by singing,
“Jangu maama, gwe wankuzanga ekyejo
Come, Mother, it is you who spoiled me
Buli kye nkola, omusajja takyagala
Whatever I do, my husband does not like it
Ne bwe njoza engoye, agamba nti sizitukuza
Even when I wash clothes, he says that I do not make them clean.”
As Njabala was still desolate and confused, her mother’s spirit would appear and begin doing Njabala’s chores while she sang the following:
“Njabala Njabala
Njabala, Njabala
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Abakazi balima bati
Women dig like this
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Bwe batema nga bawala
They dig as they till
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Ensukusa basimba
They plant banana suckers
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Olusuku balutemera
They plow the plantation
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Bitooke babisalira
They prune the banana plants
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Bikata babitema
They make mounds
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Malagala babyala
They implant stems
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala
Bijanjaalo basiga
They plant beans
Njabala, tolinsaza omuko, Njabala
Njabala, do not let my son-in-law ever find me, Njabala.”
“Mounds” and “stems” refer to planting potatoes. Njabala’s mother did her daughter’s chores and sang while Njabala was looking on with folded hands. Friends of her husband noticed this and tattled on Njabala, telling her husband that a spirit was performing her duties for her. Not believing this, he sought to find the truth himself and prepared to spy on Njabala. One day, as the spirit of Njabala’s mother was busy helping her with chores as usual, the husband arrived. He was shocked to see the skeleton of Njabala’s mother digging. This prompted him to whip Njabala severely and to divorce her afterward. These events marked the end of their marriage.
After narrating this story, my grandmother asked me and the other children to comment on its potential morals and applications, suggesting that our responses would help her know whether the tale had resonated with us. Each of us ascribed various interpretations to the tale’s meaning, and we did not move on to the next story until everyone had shared his or her interpretation, which was an integral part of our collective discourse. According to one family member, the story demonstrated how happiness founded on laziness is very short-lived. Another one shared that it reminded him of how it is easier and better to teach and correct children when they are still young. Yet to another family member, the story had two main lessons: what befalls one when one knows it is coming robs one of little; a person cannot be liked by everybody. My response to the prompt highlighted the importance of learning by doing and empowering the learner, both of which have been core principles of my research engagements.