Kikuyu folktales

Near the roots of a great mũgumo fig, where elders hold council and birds rehearse songs for the morning, lived Mũthoni, daughter of Tortoise, Ndũgui. Her face had the quiet brightness of dew, her voice carried the fairness of measured rain. Suitors came with goats, gourds of sour milk, bundles of sugarcane. Ndũgui, who loved clever bargains, said to each,