Machendu lives in the village of Latanja. She lives alone in a ramnbling big
house. An inheritance from her dead father. Machendu is the only child of a
very wealthy man. When her father died, he had left for Machendu lots of
possession. Farmlands, cattle, herds of goats, sheep, chicken and barns of
yam. And the large house too.
Since her parents died and left her all alone, Machendu becamne quite
irresponsible. She does nothing else but to eat and stuff her self with every
kind of fatty delicacy she could lay her hands on. In the evenings, she will
go to the local tavern, where the young will buy for her pito, kunu, and all
kinds of local brew for her to drink.
Machendu became notorious as the laziest woman in the entire village.
Since she started living in the big house alone, she has not once swept it.
She lives among her messy and smelly pots and pans, in the midst cf the
dusty and extremely dirty floor and cobwebs, that have accumulated over
the years in the house. She lives with the cockroaches, rats, flies, spiders,
and other insects and rodents that infest the old dirty house.
Despite Machendu’s obvious wealth, no one visits her in her house because of the extremely dirty state of the house.
No courters nor suitors come to Machendu
Not only because she is obese, but she is also always so unwashed. Her clothes are forever dirty, untidy, torn and dotted with food stains.
Every one berates Machendu concerning her sloppy way of living. They tell her
that she is utterly useless.
“Oh no” she would say “I am not useless at all, you see when a parent does
not want his or her child to go astray, they use me as their example. Look
daughter I will not like you to be like Machendu” she would mimnic and laugh
heartily, her whole bloated body wobbling in mirth
Machendu continued eating and getting fatter and fatter. She got so fat that
she could not move around easily any more nor come out of the house. Yet
she continued stuffing herself with meat, wine and fatty food.
Then one day, Machendu fell ill.
When after some time the neighbors did not see any sign of her nor hear
any noise from within the old house they started to worry about what must have
become of Machendu. On investigation however, they found out that she is seriously ill.
A native doctor was summoned. He came and after looking Machendu over
he ordered for a big white cockerel. This was brought. The native doctor
killed it and made some hot pepper soup, with yam as supplemnent. After
he has eaten the whole dish, he made a chain with the chicken bones. This he hung
around Machendu’s neck. Then he sprinkled her with the blood of the cock
and then said some incantations and left. He had assured the ailing woman
that she would be all right in a short while.
The first day passed, then the second and third, yet Machendu did not get
any better, instead you she got worse.
Therefore another doctor was called in.
He demanded a big goat and cowry money. Then he
made Machendu to wear around her neck some beads made of chicken bones and some peculiar foul smelling leaves. Then he brewed some concoction made out of
the roots and herbs. He mad asked her to drink this. He too left with his goats and cowry money, promising Machendu that she will be up and about in two days.
Two days passed, buf instead ot her getting better as promised, her health detoriorated.
Then a third doctor was called, He came, assessed the situation and
demanded a cow, He made fire in the room to heat the place up. He covered
Machendu with a thick cattie hide. He put some foul smelling leaves into the
fire and told Machendu not to leave the room until the fire died down. By
that tme she wouid be hale and hearty he promised. He too left with his
Cow.
As the fire died down so was Machendu dying. She got worse and worse.
At last, the chief of the village heard about Machendu’s plight. The chief and
Machendu’s father when he was alive, had been good friends. So he sent his
special and personal doctor Fomot, to go and attend to Machendu.
Old Fomot got to Machendu’s house. He saw the situation and shook his head. Fomot
is the wisest old man in the entire village, He looked at the sick woman and
announced in a morbid tone:
‘Lady, it is a pity that no one can help you. For sure you will die soon. I can see death all over your house.
As stand here, I can see it in those those cobwebs all over this house.
can see death all over your house. Unless you get up and clear out all those cobwebs, death will jump down from there and surely kill you before dawn”
He left without another word.
Slowly, the now visibly frightened Machendu struggled down from her sick bed and worked as hard as her abused body could allow her. Before dawn however she has cleared all the cobwebs in the whole house.
The next day, old Fomot came calling again. He observed that Machendu
has cleared all the cobwebs, yet he shook his white haired head solemnly,
as the sick woman watched him anxiously, ‘Now I can see death in these
dirty and messy pots and pans scattered untidily all over the place’. He left.
Machendu now attacked the dirty dishes. She washed and cleaned all the
plates, pots, pans and other dirty utensils littering her house.
The next day Fomot the wise old one came again. Again he declared that
death still lurks in Machendu’s abode. Now it is crawling all over the dirty
and moldy floor, all over her dirty and stained clothing, all over the place. He promptly left.
Machendu who is much afraid of dying dragged herself up from her bed and bent herself to the gruelling task of of sweeping, scrubbing, washing, drying and all.
The work was taxing, but she kept at it till morning when all was done.
Not long in that morning, Fomot arrived again. “Will I still die?” the exhausted, yet visibly frightened Machendu asks him.
Of course, you will die, as sure as this morning”
“O dear” she wept, Why, but I have driven death from the house. I have cleared the cobwebs, wahed the pots and pans and clothings. Cleaned the floor and all. Where is it now?
“Oh, it is in your body” announced Fomot
Machendu jumped back. She walled. ‘Oh oh oohhooo, I am dying. Please dear good
sir, help me” she pleads desperataly with old Fomot.
“Is there no solution? she asked, with her heart in her mouth
“Oh yes, there is only one solution” Fomat brought out a bag of corn saeds
“Take these to your farmland, seven steads away, after the plateau. There dig
up the ground all over that farmland and plant all these seed. Plant all by yourself, so as to be sure that the death causing sickness does not come back with you.
This she did,
Next he made her carry a basket full yam to sell in a distant market.
Then it was her eating habit. He made her give up her fatty, meat and wine, She has to eat mosty vegdables. She got stronger and healthier with this.
This Machendu and Fomot drama continued for monthes and months on end.
At the end of one year there had occurred in Machendu a wonder
transformation. She had tumed into a ravishing beaut y. An elegart pretty
lady of high breeding, which she really is.
Though all her fat and sloppiness have disappeared, yet she continued with Fomot’s prescriptions. She was still afraid that she would die, though she was no longer feeling sick.
It was at this stage that the king’s eldest son, saw Machendu and falls
desperately in love with her, But Machendu refused his love af advances
because she told him, she will die soon.
When old Fornot found out what was happening, he had to intervene and
assured Machendu that death has gone from her. It was then that she
agreed to marry the prince.
That is how the fat woman married the prince.
Moral: Laziness is death.
Hard work and diligence are sure ways to achieve the good things of life
