Subtitle (76)
0:06If any of his wives ever birthed a son,
he'd be killed immediately.
0:13That was the threat Shemwindo, ruler of
the village of Tubondo, had delivered,
0:19for he wanted all the power to himself.
0:22But he was about to meet his match—
0:25and enter a rivalry that would take
him to the underworld and back.
0:30Six of Shemwindo’s wives had daughters,
0:33but when Nyamwindo
finally went into labor,
0:37the midwives witnessed a birth
unlike any they'd ever seen.
0:42Nyamwindo’s baby, Mwindo,
materialized from her belly button,
0:47wielding a magical conga scepter,
already laughing, talking, and walking.
0:54The women agreed to keep
the birth a secret.
0:57But a stealthy cricket saw everything
and carried the news to Shemwindo.
1:04Outraged, he hurled spears
at his newborn,
1:08but it was like they couldn't touch him.
1:10The tyrannical chief ordered his soldiers
to construct a wooden drum,
1:15wrestle Mwindo into it,
and toss it into the river.
1:19From inside, Mwindo cursed his father,
vowing to return.
1:25Once he was out of sight,
1:26Mwindo raised the drum to the water's
surface and made for safer shores,
1:32where his paternal aunt, Iyangura, lived,
wedded to a water serpent.
1:37She was far wiser than her brother.
1:40And as Mwindo laid out
his plan for revenge,
1:43she resolved to counsel him
on his journey.
1:46But they wouldn’t make the trek alone:
1:49throughout their quest, they’d be
accompanied by different friends and foes.
1:54By the time they reached Tubondo,
Shemwindo had already fled.
1:59And though Iyangura advised Mwindo
to be merciful, his rage led him instead,
2:05and he summoned lightning
that decimated the village.
2:09In the midst of the chaos,
2:11an uprooted kikoka plant
caught Iyangura’s eye,
2:15and she realized that her brother
had used the plant’s roots
2:20to escape into the underworld.
2:23Iyangura held fast to one end
of a great rope,
2:27and Mwindo descended into the frigid,
subterranean realm after his father.
2:33First, Mwindo reached the lair of Muisa,
god of the underworld.
2:39With a glint of cruel mischief,
2:41Muisa said he’d reveal Shemwindo’s
hiding place—
2:45only if Mwindo planted thousands
of banana trees on an arid mountainside.
2:51Unintimidated, Mwindo bewitched
countless axes into tilling the soil.
2:57But before he could celebrate his victory,
Muisa retaliated,
3:02sending an enchanted weapon
to pin him down.
3:06In turn, Mwindo ordered
his scepter to strike back,
3:10and Muisa lay defeated.
3:13But Mwindo was no closer to finding
his father—
3:16until Hawk appeared and divulged
his whereabouts:
3:20a dark cave guarded by Ntumba,
a fearsome aardvark.
3:26But before Mwindo defeated the beast,
Shemwindo fled again,
3:31and the chase persisted
through the depths of the underworld.
3:36Soon, Sheburungu,
the supreme god of fire,
3:40materialized before Mwindo
and challenged him to a betting game.
3:45Round after round, Mwindo
gambled everything—
3:48Tubondo’s land, people, and property—
and lost.
3:53When he thought he had
nothing left to wager,
3:57Mwindo realized these things
weren't his to give.
4:01The next round, he pledged
his own cherished conga scepter.
4:06And it was this sacrifice that turned
his luck and won him the game.
4:12In the same moment,
Hawk and Sparrow sounded the alarm,
4:16warning Mwindo that his father
was attempting to escape again.
4:20But this time, Mwindo managed
to capture the runaway ruler.
4:25And yet, while Mwindo had thought that
seeing his father begging for mercy
4:31his thirst for revenge
had all but evaporated.
4:34He remembered his aunt's advice,
4:37and all the people of Tubondo who’d
long endured his father’s cruelty,
4:44Shemwindo in tow, Mwindo
retraced his path with a new resolve.
4:49First he yielded all that Sheburungu lost
in their gambling game,
4:54receiving his blessing in return.
4:57Then, upon seeing that Ntumba had
reconstructed the cave he destroyed,
5:02Mwindo offered his sympathy
and earned Ntumba’s well wishes too.
5:08Mwindo and his father reemerged
from the kikoka root transformed.
5:13Mwindo had won the gods’ respect
and Shemwindo’s atonement.
5:17With his aunt's guidance, he restored
the village and pardoned his father,
5:22who officially apologized to Tubondo.
5:26And over time, Mwindo gained
the people’s trust
5:29as a kind, just leader who ended
age-old cycles of despotism.
