Play time: 02:17 minutes. Recorded in Mago, Kenya, March 19, 2014.

Mukana Ni Yenya Kutsya Mu Lukali

Sapenzia Khadoto

Sasa vama vahilane ma vamenye. Na haundi mukana undi anyala kutsia lukali na vandu vava ni mioyo jinde jitaveye milahi dave. Mundu anyala kunina kutula hano atsie wambale yamanya mwana wa fulani yatsia wambale. Na amanya anine paga atsie wene yila atsie kusatsila mwana wu mundu ula. Aduki yo avole ga yenyi gosi kuli wanga mukana ula iveye, kuli wanga kindiki chekoleka. Vandu vene vala vaveye vadoto vamanya valonda mang'ana gene gala valuha vavola mukana oyo ndi tsia. Lakini ni vaveye vatenyi kolonda mang'ana gandi gi tsimbemba dave vamanya vatulitsa ku tsa matoyi vavola nakuhuli ku undi mundu navola. Ku kale nindio vandu vahilana nitali kalunu vana vanyolana tsa kuli anyoye mukana amuteva ku yive utula hayi dave, uve ihiri ki dave; vahilana tsa kali viko. Na mwana na atsi havundu na aveye mwiko ku madiku gali ga kale mukana na atsiyi havundu hango havo, vashilani; ma vaduki hango ma mukere naaveye ho ateve "mukana yive utuli hayi? uveye mwana mukana mundiki?" Yitsukana yavola ihiri yanga mukere anoho yanga musakulu, vumanya vuchie asubui kale mukere ula amanya avuguli engoko ahe mwana ula amuvolele uyu nu mwiko wa hano, uyu ni mbotso wovo anoho ni musiala wovo munyala komenya naye dave. Yive cha okola utsie" Ma mukana atsia na naveye mukana atahulila dave anoho muyayi; muyayi nagayi mukali wange ndakoleta vivuli vamanya valeka. Vakaleka badaye gamanya gatula yo vavola chiko. Vanyola avana vamanya vava valahi da isaa yindi avana vakalika tsa; wivula mwana akutsa. Sasa ni vatsa kumanya badaye ndi mundu kumbe yali mwiko na gadamana. Ku avana vateva ku vandi dave vatsitsa tsa ndio.

When a girl wanted to get married

Now they will get married and stay. Maybe the girl may want to get married and the people have hard heart. Someone can border a vehicle and go to Mbale because he knows that the child of someone has been married in Mbale. He/she will go there and speak lies or bad things against that couple. She gets there and speaks everything about the home of the girl. The way things are happening there. If those people are easily convinced they normally send the girl away. But if they do not want to follow lies they forget about the things and they say they will wait to hear it from someone else.

That is how people used to marry long time ago, but these days people do not ask where the girl is coming from, her tribe they get married even the relatives. And if a boy or a girl got married to a relative when the girl came to that homestead they have married. They get to there and the woman asks "you girl where are you coming from? You belong to which tribe?" if she said the clan of the father or the mother, in the morning the woman will take a hen and give her. Then she tells her that she is a relative either a brother, sister or cousin hence they cannot stay together. "What you do is that you go back home" the woman says. Then the girl leaves and if she does not get heed of instructions, or the boy says that he has already married her, the parents leave them. At the end things happen and they say it is because of marrying a relative. They may give birth to children who are not normal, they give birth to children who die, now they realize it later that one was a relative and things are worse now. Now children do not ask the others they just get married.