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Wacici, a MythSource painting
Kikuyu

Wacici

01Identity

Wacici in Kikuyu tradition

Wacici is the named girl at the centre of ‘Wacici and Her Friends (Kikuyu),’ an account presented by Ruth Finnegan in Oral Literature in Africa and attributed there to Njururi (1966: 86-89). The story begins when Wacici’s friends become jealous after a tooth expert praises her beauty. They take her into the forest under the pretence of gathering firewood and bury her in a porcupine hole.

Her brother retraces their route, notices footprints and abandoned firewood, and hears Wacici calling from beneath the earth. He digs her out and brings her home, where her family gives thanks for her survival. Elders hear her account and fine the girls’ fathers; the girls are shunned for a time. Wacici later marries, has children and lives happily.

SourceOral Literature in Africa (Ruth Finnegan, 2012): Chapter 13, ‘Prose Narratives: II. Content and Form’; ‘Wacici and Her Friends (Kikuyu),’ printed pp. 348-351

Top questions

The quick answers

02The myths

The myths of Wacici

1 myth, with sources recorded for each.

Wacici and Her Friends

In the account presented by Ruth Finnegan, Wacici joins her friends on a visit to a tooth expert. When he praises her beauty, they grow jealous. On the way home they lure her into the forest, saying they will gather firewood. There they push her into a porcupine hole and cover it, then return to their homes without telling anyone.

Wacici’s parents search for her. Her brother suspects the girls, retraces their route and finds footprints and a bundle of abandoned firewood near a freshly covered hole. He hears Wacici calling, digs her out and carries her home. Though weakened by hunger and fear, she is otherwise in good shape. Her family gives thanks for her survival. Wacici tells the elders what happened; they fine the girls’ fathers, and the girls are shunned for a time. The account ends with Wacici’s marriage, children and happy life. Finnegan cites Njururi (1966: 86-89) for this Kikuyu tale.

Wacici and Her Friends, a MythSource painting of the scene

5 sources· checked 2026-10-02

  1. 1Oral Literature in Africa (Ruth Finnegan, 2012)T1
  2. 2Oral Literature in Africa (Ruth Finnegan, 2012)T1
  3. 3Oral Literature in Africa (Ruth Finnegan, 2012)T1
  4. 4Oral Literature in Africa (Ruth Finnegan, 2012)T1
  5. 5Oral Literature in Africa (Ruth Finnegan, 2012)T1