Then, suddenly, she saw a faint light out in the road. She strained her eyes, and saw the light grow brighter—it was coming toward her. She wiped the tears from her eyes, and the being came into focus. It was an old, gnarled woman walking toward her—only she was missing half her body! She had one arm and one leg, one eye and one ear, as if she had been ripped down the middle. Daado looked up at the extraordinary creature, smiled timidly, and sniffled. Then the Spirit sang out:
Daado, Daado, do not cry,
Do not cry, you’ll get there, by and by. Daado, Daado, do not fret, Do not fret, the moon will rise still yet. Daado, Daado, come to me. Come and I will make you what you long to be. Daado again wiped the tears from her eyes and gave the Spirit a heartfelt smile. The Old Woman smiled back and asked in a slow, warm voice:
“Daughter, where are you going at this time of night?” “I’m going to town to meet the King and his son, the Prince,” said Daado. “But you see, my mom and dad are dead, so I stay with my stepmother, and she makes me do all the work while her daughter sits and does nothing. But today the whole village was going to go greet the King, so I did all my chores early so I could go too, but my stepmother gave me more and more things to do so I wouldn’t finish till sunset. I think she’s hoping I’ll get eaten by the Hyena. And now it is dark and I am lost and my complet is wrinkled and there is dirt on my face and...” and Daado again began to sob. But the Old Woman reached out a hand and said, “Daado, do not cry. You are brave. You were not afraid of me like all the others. I will take you to town. But first, you need a bath!” And the Spirit summoned a pan of water and dish of soap and cleaned Daado. Then she plaited her hair and gave her a fine silk complet. When the moon rose, Daado looked down at herself and was amazed—she was beautiful. “Now we shall go get you a prince,” said the Old Woman with a wink, and the two started off into the moonlight. When they reached the town’s edge, the Spirit said farewell, and Daado walked to the chief’s compound, where she assumed the King was staying. When she arrived outside the gate, she took a deep breath and stepped inside, and her entrance was like the coming of the first rain. |
“You there,” said the Prince, suddenly getting to his feet, “come here and tell me your name.”
“I am Daado,” she said with a bow. “I come from the next village over.” The Prince smiled and was about to welcome her to sit when a shrill voice rang out behind them. “Daa-doo!” the voice cried—it was her wicked stepmother. “Daado, how did you... what, wasn’t the Hyena hungry?” Then she reached out to take hold of Daado, but the Prince (who had been watching everything with a look of concern) singled to his men, and they grabbed the stepmother before she could lay a finger on Daado. Kicking and screaming, she was carried from the compound, and then tossed out of town. That night, the wicked stepmother didn’t sleep. Murmuring and muttering to herself, she paced back and forth for hours, slowly succumbing to madness. When at last the sun rose, she threw open the door and called for her daughter in a shrill, crazed voice. The girl peaked her head out of the door, and the mother burst into a rant: “Daado! It was Daado that I saw, wasn’t it? Daado, I say. But she was beautiful. So beautiful. Daado was beautiful.” The daughter didn’t say anything. “But how?” the mother screamed. “How? It had to have been the Old Woman in the Tree! That’s how. That monster helped Daado! And now Daado will be a queen.”—Still the daughter said nothing.—“You! You will go to the Great Tree and call on the Old Woman and tell her to make you beautiful. Then you will win the Prince and we can live happily ever after!” The daughter was not so sure about this—her mother had always warned her to stay away from spirits—but she was an obedient child and left without breakfast. The journey was difficult, for the sun was hot and the girl was not used to walking long distances. And so when she finally did arrive, all she could think of was water. “O, mighty Tree,” she said, “please give me some water.” And just like that, the water appeared. The girl drank till she was satisfied, and then remembered she hadn’t any breakfast. “O, mighty Tree,” she said, “please give me some bread.” And, just like that, the bread appeared, and the girl ate till she was full. Then, at last, she remembered her mother’s orders. “O mighty Tree,” she said, “please give me beauty.” And a single white flower floated down from the top of the Tree and landed in the girl’s hand. |
The girl smiled, then turned and saw the Old Woman, her gnarled, ripped body glistening in the sunlight, standing out in the road. Terror flooded the young girl’s senses and she took off running.
The Old Woman felt a pang of disappointment, then that familiar surge of hatred, and she leapt up and came down on the girl, who was never seen again. The next morning, the wicked stepmother was pacing in her compound, sick with worry and madness, when she heard a knock on the gate. When she opened it, she nearly fainted from shock—there, at her door, stood Daado, dressed like a princess, and standing beside her was the Prince! Daado threw open her arms and said, “Dear Mother, fortune smiles on us today. I have found a husband, the dear Prince, and we are moving together to the capital. But you are family, and I want you to accompany me. The Prince tells me there is more than enough room for you and my sister.” But this was more than the stepmother could handle. She took several steps back, mumbling, “No, no, no, no.” Then when Daado and the Prince entered after her, the wicked stepmother lost her mind entirely and started running away from the two—backwards. She had not gone far, however, when she tripped over a bucket beside the well, lost her balance, and fell down the deep dark hole. She was never heard from again. |
On their way out of the village, the Prince’s carriage went by the mighty Baobab. Daado yelled for the driver to stop, then got out and approached the massive tree. Then she spotted a fruit lying cracked at her feet, so she leaned down, took a seed, and slipped it in her pocket.
“This is so I won’t ever forget you, Mama. Thank you, thank you, thank you.” And Daado got back into the carriage and the two drove off into Happily Ever After. |