Songs And Tales From The Dark Continent

Authentic regional singings and sayings feature folklore from the Ndau tribe of Portuguese East Africa and Zulus of South Africa: labor chants, dances, laments, songs of war, meditation, and love, plus proverbs, legends, fables. Extensive editorial commentary, metrical and literal translations, notes on pronunciation.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1920 edition. Excerpt: ... their hearts beat quickly and thus sets their little bodies in a glow. Literal translation) Body, dry off, dry off, Body, dry off, dry off, Quick, quick, Body, dry off, dry off, You're dry, you're dry, Body, dry off, dry off! 'The "th" is pronounced like "t" followed by a slightly aspirate "h." see Appendix, page 159. LABORING-SONGS I Kwae'ja no Makashot' Day Dawns with Freight to Haul (Song of the Dock-Hands at the shipping-port of Beira) Beira is a large seaport and much freight destined for the interior and for Rhodesia is there unloaded.1 The work begins at daylight, and the boxes are carried off the ship and away by the natives. Everything is done by hand, and by black labor. An overseer reads the label on each box and directs the natives, so that every piece of freight must be turned in order that the label may be seen. This song, sung by the men while at work, sums up the monotonous, daylong task in the simple phrases: "Day dawns with freight to haul"; and "look for the label." The song has also been adopted as a popular dance-song (a transmogrification similar to that of many of the work-songs of the American Negroes). It is usually sung at the dances which take place during the festive drinking of "do'lo," the native beer. Compare the tune of this chant with the lovely and plaintive little song in the legend of "The Daughter and the Slave" (page 125); the melodies are strikingly alike, though this one shows European influence in the swing of its major phrase and in the three repeated notes which end the cadence. That a song sung by natives working in Beira might well be tinged with European influence will be seen from the following quotation from R. C. F....

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.