Mupita

In Fred Kafankwa’s Bwile performance, Mupita lives in the bush and checks the pits he has dug for game. One day he finds a lion trapped in a pit. Though frightened, he agrees to help after the lion pleads with him. Mupita drops a log into the pit so the lion can climb out. The grateful lion asks Mupita’s name, and Mupita explains it through the image of carrying things on one side. The lion then calls him when it has killed animals for food. Mupita goes to the bush and carries buffalo, eland and elephants home, loading them on one side. The gifts are generous, but the lion takes offence at how he carries them.

The lion repeatedly grows angry and tries to attack Mupita. In the first attack, it leaps from cover and impales itself on the hunter’s spear. Mupita frees it. Two days later, after its wound has healed, the lion calls him again and resumes bringing game. Its resentment returns, and it makes another attack that ends with the spear again. Kafankwa’s performance closes by saying that this is how enmity between people and lions began.