A children’s song from the Nandi of Kenya (see also Who Will Throw Goat’s Dung at Me for another Nandi song for children) celebrating the arrival of the new moon.
When the moon is new
The children, if they are Nandi,
The Twilight Song of the Honey-Bird
A Gikuyu herdsboy’s song from Kenya. It sets up a chain of language which links together humorously all aspects of life (see also Who Will Throw Goat’s Dung at Me?).
Honey-bird, honey-bird,
Get arrows, get arrows…
Who Will Throw Goat’s Dung at Me?
A Nandi children’s song from Kenya, a humorous word-chain that links together all aspects of the children’s future life.
Who will throw goat’s dung at me?
What will you do with goat’s dung?..
The Eggs
A Shona children’s song from Zimbabwe. “Zinjanja”, mentioned in the chorus, refers to a hill to the east of Harare where the ruins of an ancient temple are located. This is believed to have been built by the Torwa Rulers who lived there from approximately 1450 to 1693 AD.
There were once some girls,
There were once some girls,
Let’s go to Zinjanja…
Dancing Song for Children
This song was recorded by Romanus N. Egudu (n.d.) in the Udi Division of Igboland, Nigeria. The song is a pleasant game with words, but it can be taken in different ways. The boy has lost his pet rat. Everyone knows where the rat is. Is the problem that they daren’t approach the leopard’s house? Or is it implied that the leopard has eaten them all?
The boy was looking for his rat.
Nda
His rat was hiding in leopards’s house…
