8 - Imaitsoanala

A Sakalava tale

 

 Retold by Namborin’I Nandrasana

Illustrations by Patoo

 

 

(4) Once upon a time, a long long time ago, Mother-Ivorombe, the giant bird, built her nest on an island. She laid her eggs and sat on them. But one of the eggs did not hatch and Ivorombe asked

 Iangoria her servant to keep it for her to eat it later. Soon enough though, the egg hatched and,  lo and behold, a human being, a little girl popped out of the egg. Full of joy and very  happy they  called the baby girl Imaitsoanala.

 From that moment on, Ivorombe set about finding the best pieces of prey for her daughter.

 

(6) Everytime she went out hunting, Ivorombe was afraid  that someone would steal her daughter. As soon as she was getting  close to their home, she would sing out: “I can  smell people, I can smell people!”

 One day, Andriambahoaka, the Lord from the north accompanied by his servants, came to the island where Ivorombe had built her nest.

 

(8) Andriambahoaka the king was very surprised seeing the girl and asked Iangoria, “whose child is this pretty, chubby girl? I would like to make her my wife when she is  a little bigger.”

 Iangoria answered, “She is Ivorombe’s daughter, My Lord. Watch out for her mother! You should leave double quick because she is due back any minute. And anyway, this girl is too young to get married!”

 When Andriambahoaka heard this he went off back home.

 

 (10) Back at his place, Andriambahoaka told his wives what a marvel he had seen. He had made up his mind to marry Imaitsoanala when she came of age.

 The first and the second wives and all his subjects gave him their blessing and said : “ May your heart’s desire and your dreams be fulfilled, our  beloved king! May you be strong and grow old in peace with your people”

 

 (12) Some time later Andriambahoaka met Imaitsoanala again. He courted her with sweet words, saying : « Fair maiden! My love for you is beyond my words, I wish to have you for a wife.  Will you accept my proposal?”
Imaitsoanala replied: « I thank you Lord, for your kind words, but you would never bear to live with my mother. Just leave me  where I am.”

 

(14) “My mother is a very frightening  bird of prey”, she added, « How could a great lord like yourself live with a mother-in-law who’s a bird ? »

 But the king was obstinate. He could put up with anything, he said « None of this matters, my sweet one.  I love you so much that I’m not afraid of anything. »
Iangoria, the servant, implored him to wait for Ivorombe, but alas, out of respect, she had to give in to Andriambahoaka and he took Imaitsoanala away with him.

 

 (16) Ivorombe leapt up and made off as fast as she could when she found her child was not at home.

 But Imaitsoanala and Andriambahoaka had prepared grains of rice, corn and beans before leaving. They ordered the servants to scatter these along the route that Ivorombe would take in order to distract her. And really, Madame Bird set to gathering them up, horrified by all this waste and the behaviour of her daughter.

 « What are they thinking of, throwing away rice that’s ready to eat.  And what’s more, they left, abandoning me, without even asking for my permission, I the one who brought this child into the world. »
In the meantime Andriambahoaka and Imaitsoanala had arrived safely at the king’s home and a large crowd greeted them joyfully.

 

 (18) The day arrived when her mother decided to visit Imaitsoanala. But she flew into a rage and showed how wicked she could be.  Ivorombe pecked  her daughter’s eyes out , flayed her skin, took her eyes and her skin  home, hanging them over her fireplace.

 From that time on, Imaitsoanala was despised by the other two wives:  « Look at that great bag of bones, what’s more she’s got two empty sockets for eyes.  If he marries her all the same, the wretched creature will have to share all the work with us».  So saying, her rivals brought her very thin rushes from which to weave mats. Imaitsoanala, who was powerless and in despair, burst into tears.

 

 (20) Just at the same time, while Ivorombe was boiling some rice, Imaitsoanala’s  eyes above the fireplace shed tears into the fire.

 She thought to herself, “I must go and visit my daughter , she is crying because she suffers from my punishment  which was really cruel . Her life must be too hard, that’s why she’s crying so much. »
When her mother arrived, Imaitsoanala told her what had happened. Ivorombe took pity on her and wove her mat for her.

 

(22)  Andriambahoaka’s first two wives were furious at this and they gave Imaitsoanala even more hard tasks.  These made her cry even more and her mother came to help her again.

 The king’s two evil wives were beside themselves with fury and they said to him: « Isn’t your wonderful new wife nothing but a bird’s offspring? We’d like to face her in front of the crowd, we’re ashamed of hearing from the people how beautiful she is.  She’s nothing but a bag of bones with two empty sockets in place of eyes. »
The king had to agree to this, because he couldn’t hold out any longer against the pressure of two women.

 

(24) Ivorombe prepared her daughter carefully. She restored the eyes and skin to her. She  also brought Imaitsoanala gold, a superb toga,  and all kinds of sumptuous accessories.

 A huge crowd gathered.
The three wives were called and were told to go into the courtyard. The first and second wives arrived with their heads held high with pride and they took up their positions in the eastern corner of the square.
As for Imaitsoanala, she came in from the north side completely covered in veils. 

 

 (26) Then she showed her face! Every member of the population exclaimed at how beautiful she was.  The two other wives were booed at and were so ashamed they left the village as fast as they could.

 Andriambahoaka’s  heart  was full of joy. He took Imaitsoanala home and she became his one and only wife.

 After a while, they had a child and they called him Andriambahoaka like his father, for he was to inherit the kingdom.

Tales, tales,…

 

 (1080) C, ropf