praise song to the Rhinoceros (Credo Mutwa)

Praise song to the Rhinoceros,

by Credo Mutwa (excerpt)

Ubbejane, you are the thunder of the valleys

You are the roar among the mountains

You are the noise upon the plains

And you are the horn that the moon loves to kiss!

You are the Rhinoceros

You are the invincible one

You are the weak eye that sees into years that are yet to come

You are the sharp ear that hears a lover’s whisper in the tall grass

You are the great foot that tramples everything into the ground

You are the delight of the woodcarvers

You are the joy of the painters

You are the song of those who cast in metal

You are Ubbujane, the Rhinoceros!

Together with the Elephant, Indlovu, many generations ago, you danced the world into existence, so that green things may grow upon this world…

…You are Ubbejane, the Rhinoceros

You are the darling of the waxing moon

You are the thunder of the mountains

You are the vibrations on the rocky ground

You are the hardworking one, the labourer who laboured so that the Earth Mother might plant green things upon this earth…

It was believed that your dung, Ubbejane, which no-one dares set on fire to make a fire, can bring peace and and take away enmity between people,

Ubbejane, long may you roar across the plains of Africa…..

….Ubbejane, animal of our forefathers

Pillar of the land of Africa

Post that supports the green world that we know

Long may you live Ubbejane!

May you have a thousand sons and a million daughters!

Oh beloved of the moon goddess, Bayete!

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