Kekula

“When a child is born, a Wise-Mother, who knows all about these things, goes to the hut and examines the child to make sure that all is well with it. And as she took the crying baby in her arms she couldn’t believe her eyes, for on the neck of the infant was the mark of a zebra! She told the parents that in times long past there were stories told of a child born with this mark, ‘but to be honest,’ she told them, ‘I thought it was the hopeful ramblings of old men. This child must be protected at all cost because the legend says that she will be stolen from her people. We must never let her out of our sight!’ And at that point the Wise-Mother stared off into space and gently rocked the baby for a while. The child, though still awake, became very quiet.

The frightened parents cried, ‘what do you see Wise-Mother? Is our child never to be safe?’ Wise-Mother told them of a vision she had just had of an old ruin in the jungle with evil looking tribesmen lurking close by. ‘What does that mean?’ they pleaded. Wise-Mother looked puzzled, ‘I’m not sure, but the legend says that she will be stolen in her fourteenth year and lost to us forever. Only one who bears the same mark of the zebra will be able to save her and bring her back to us.’