The Fish and the Woman's Secret

A Zaramo woman had a secret sorrow: she could not have children. Every day she would go to the sea and weep. An old Fish with shimmering scales heard her cries and spoke to her. "I can help you," the Fish said, "but you must promise to give me your first-born daughter as a companion for the sea spirits when she comes of age." The desperate woman agreed. She soon gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. The girl grew up, and she was so lovely that a chief from a faraway land wanted to marry her. On her wedding day, as the girl was walking along the shore, the old Fish rose from the waves to claim her. But the girl's mother, who had never forgotten her promise, stepped forward. She offered the Fish a magnificent carved gourd filled with precious beads and milk from a white cow. "This is my child's bride price," she said. "Take this in her place, and let her go to her human husband." The Fish, seeing that the woman had honoured her promise with a respectful offering, accepted the gourd and released the girl from her obligation. The story teaches the importance of keeping promises, even to spirits, and the power of a mother's love to negotiate with the spirit world.