The pride of heritage does not depend on material possessions but on spiritual wealth.
In a village, an old man lived alone with the child he raised. Father Lebongi was known as an unpleasant person, destitute and dirty, with chiggers on his feet and ringworm on his head. However, he must have had hidden qualities because he found a woman with whom he had a unique child. A very handsome boy!
The son was a talented drummer. When he made the skin and wood instrument resonate, the rhythms were as beautiful and modern as electronic music. People began to praise his talent during ceremonies. He traveled from one village to another, but when asked, "Whose son are you?" he refused to reveal his father's name!
Every week, every month, he traveled to distant lands. He arrived in a country where he decided to settle, married a woman, and had children. One day, a dance was organized, and he was invited to play, striking the drumhead with his skilled palms. Enthralled by the audience's cheers, carried away by his own enthusiasm, he played with even more fervor and pierced the drumhead.
"Ah, Lebongi sacrilege!" voices in the crowd exclaimed. "You've burst the sacred drum! We will kill you!"
Before executing him, his executioners demanded to see his father.
"My father? Where can I find him?" Lebongi wondered. "I have ignored him for so long, as if I had already disowned him. Will he accept to come and support me in this problem?"
His conscience spoke to him: "Just go, since he is the one who brought you into this world!"
And so, the young man went to his father's village. Leaving his wife and children behind with his problem, he didn't consider running away.
Father Lebongi was in the forest, cutting kosa stems for making fishing nets. Upon his return, he found his communal space, kandza, neatly swept.
"Who cleaned my kandza?" he wondered.