The old woman soon passed a man up in a
palm tree and she asked him if he would give her
baby a little palm wine because the little baby
seemed near death from thirst. To her surprise, the
man came down the tree and placed a calabash of
palm wine at her feet. She said to him, “I do not
have a cup.” He said to her, “do not worry,
mother, let me break this spare calabash that I have
here and I will give the child a drink.”
The woman gave thanks to the man and said to
him, “My son, thanks again, be here tomorrow at
the same time.” She then went on her way.
The man did not know what she meant, but he
could not sleep at all during the night because of
her words. The next day, he felt obliged to be at
the same place at the same time to see what would
happen.
When he got near the place where he had
climbed down the palm tree, he saw a great lake.
He said to himself, “How can this be? I know that
there was no water there yesterday and now there
is a great lake.” Just then the old woman came to
him and said, “Do not wonder about this, my
son.” She said to him that she had punished the
women because of their lack of charity, but that
the lake was full of fish, all the men could fish
there daily, and the supply of fish would never be
depleted. However, she added that no woman
should eat these fish, for if she ate the fish, she
would die. “Let the lake and its fish be prohibited
for women; I, Nzambi, have ordered it so,” said
the woman. She then named the lake “Bosi.”
Thus, the lesson taught by Nzambi about the need
for compassion and generosity remains central to
ethical life in Congo society.Molefi Kete AsanteSeealsoBakongo; God; TabooFurther Readings
Mbiti, J. (1997).African Religions. Maryknoll, NY:
Orbis Books.
Parrinder, G. (1954).African Traditional Religion.
London: Hutchinson House.
Van Wing, R. P. (1921).Etudes Bakongo.Brussels,
Belgium: Goemare. [Translated by Smith, E. W.
(1950). In E. W. Smith (Ed.),African Ideas of God: A
Symposium(2nd ed.). London: Edinburgh House.]Nzambi 467