Sini the Dancing Girl Tales from Manden

Sini Dance for us
A Tale from Manden
In a small village in Africa there lived a young girl by the name of Sini, whose parents were very poor. Sini had many brothers and sisters--so many, in fact, that we will not try to  count them or to tell you their names. Although Sini had much work to do every day, on the farm and in the hut where she lived, she was never unhappy. When she went into the forests for firewood, she sang. When she washed clothes at the river, she danced. And when she gathered berries on the farm, she talked with the birds. Sini was such a happy girl that no one could remember when she had last shed a tear. One day when Sini was busy about her housework, she heard the sounds of many men coming into the village. "The king's men!" a young boy shouted, and everybody ran out  of their huts to see what news the king's messengers had brought. Sini put away her work and ran out also, along with her brothers and sisters. "The king's household is in need of servants," said one of the men, who was more finely dressed than all the others. Each of the king's men was wearing a robe that was more beautiful than any Sini had ever seen.

"We have come to take with us to the king's house," said the speaker, "a young woman who will be treated as though she is a daughter of the  king." Now these sounded like fine words to the people of the village, and as the men looked about the little crowd that had gathered, all the young women stood very tall and proudly, in hopes that they would be chosen to go to the king's household. "That girl," said the man, and pointed at Sini. It so happened that Sini was the only girl in the crowd who did not want to go, and she begged to be allowed to stay with her parents. She did not want to leave her many brothers and  sisters; but the king's men would not listen to her pleading. They took Sini away to live in the king's household. For the first time in her life, Sini was unhappy. 

The king's wife gave her more work to do than all the other servants, whereas the king's daughters never did anything but sit around and chew their nails and talk about the fine clothes they wanted to have. The king's wife disliked Sini very much because Sini was soon known to be the best dancer in the village. The king's daughters were clumsy and could not follow the rhythms of the  drum. It was not long after Sini arrived at the king's palace that the time came near to celebrate the Donkin. The Donkin was the most important holiday of the year. Nobody worked on that day. All the people in the village would gather to sing and to dance and listen to the music of the drums. Sini was very excited on that morning. She got up early and started right away to prepare for the festival. The king's wife also got up early. She knew that, if Sini danced at the festival, nobody would look at her own daughters. Sini was just getting ready to put on her dancing clothes when the king's wife came into the room.
 
       "What are you doing, Sini?" she asked. 
       "I'm getting ready for the holiday," Sini said. "I will dance all day until the evening."  
       "There is too much work to be done for you to think about dancing," said the king's wife. 
       "Oh, nobody works on the Donkin," said Sini. "Everybody takes part in the festival." 
       "Everybody but you, foolish girl. You must go to the forest today to pick berries." 
       Tears came into Sini's eyes. She could hardly believe what the king's wife had said. "Please do not force me to work on the Donkin," Sini said, but softly, so as not to anger the king's wife. "The berries I can gather tomorrow early. I will get up before the rooster sings and will do twice as much work as I usually would. And I will work straight through until the nightfall." 
        The king's wife shook her head. "You are a lazy girl," she said to Sini. "And the king must have berries to go with his  super. This morning you will go to the farm, and you will spend  the day gathering berries and firewood." 

Sini begged the king's wife to allow her to dance on the holiday, but instead of giving in, the king's wife started to tell Sini about more and more duties that she must complete before the nightfall. There would be so much to do that Sini would never be able to make it to the festival. When the king's wife was gone, Sini put aside her dancing clothes and started to weep.  She thought about her brothers and sisters and her parents. She longed to be back home in her own village again. That day Sini was the only person in the whole countryside to go into the forests. She cried all the way, as she walked along the road; and when she got to the farm, she wept so hard at her misfortune that her tears washed the berries clean before they could be picked from the bush. Sini wept so hard that she did not notice that she was no longer alone. She did not notice that the spirits of the forests, called the djina, had crept up on her. She did not hear the djina, and she did not see them. She was still weeping when the djina reached out all at once and grabbed her, and took her with them away from the world of human beings and into the world of the spirits. 

Now, in case you have not heard, the world of the spirits is not so very different than that of the world of people. The djina like to do most of the same things that people enjoy. The djina dance when they are happy (and sometimes when they are sad); the djina work and play, and they love to make music, especially on the drum. The djina also have holidays that they celebrate, in much the same way as people. In fact, the djina even look like people. As it happened, on the day that Sini was caught, the djina were celebrating the holiday of the Donkin in the spirit world, just as the people were celebrating in the village. 		 The djina felt very lucky to have caught Sini on such an important day. Sini was such a good dancer that word of her skill had spread even to the ears of the djina. "Now," said the djina, "since the king's wife was so cruel as to send you to pick berries on the holiday, you will from now on be a djina, like ourselves, and not a person. You will have our powers, and you will live with us here in the forests. You will dance with us today, when we play the drums, and you will sing and help us celebrate the Donkin." And what could Sini say but yes, since she was no longer a person but a djina? 

That same afternoon a hunter was passing along the road on his way into the village to celebrate the holiday, and he happened to see Sini at a distance. "Sini," he called, "what are you doing in the forests on the Donkin?" And he ran to catch up with her, but the closer he came to where Sini was standing, the less he was able to see her. In fact, the hunter came so close that he was not able to see Sini at all, because Sini was now one of the djina, and the djina can be seen by people only at a distance. The closer a person comes to a djina, the more the djina fades away. The hunter came to  stand on the very spot that Sini had stood, but she was nowhere to be found.

"Sini," called the hunter, "where are you?" And Sini answered the hunter. "I'm standing right here beside you." She was close enough to touch the hunter, though he could not see her. "The king's wife sent me to pick berries on the holiday," said Sini, "and I was caught by the djina." The hunter was sorry to hear that the king's wife had done such a cruel thing. Besides, he knew that the people of the village would miss Sini at the festival. "You must put on your dancing blouse," said the hunter, "and come dance with us today!" "No," said Sini. "I will put on my dancing blouse, but I must stay here and dance with the djina." The hunter looked very unhappy, and he said, "Sini, you must put on your dancing skirt and come dance for us in the village." 

"No," said Sini again. "I will put on my dancing skirt, but I will stay here in the forests and dance with the djina." Now the hunter's face was sad indeed. "Sini, please put on your dancing shoes, for the people in the village are waiting for you to come and dance." "I will put on my dancing shoes," said Sini, "but now I am one of the djina, and I will stay and dance with them here in the forests." There was nothing for the hunter to do but to leave Sini and return to the village. But when he got to the village, the people were looking for Sini. Nobody had seen her. Everybody was wondering when she would come to dance. "Sini has been caught by the djina," said the hunter, and she will not come to dance on the Donkin.  "Then we must all go and beg her to come," said the people, "because the holiday will not be the same unless Sini is here to dance with us." To hear this made the king's wife very angry. Nobody wanted to see her own daughters dance. But there was nothing she could say, because she did not want the people to know she hand sent Sini to pick berries, since that was a terrible thing to do to somebody on the holiday. The people of the village followed the hunter to the place where he had last seen Sini, but when they got there, Sini had disappeared. There were only bushes and trees and birds in sight.

"Sini," called the hunter. "Where have you gone?"  He had hardly gotten the words out when Sini appeared under-neath a baobab tree. But this time she was not alone. Although the people of the village could not actually see the djina, they could feel the spirit presences all around, under the trees and in the bushes. "Please do not be afraid," said Sini, "for the djina will not harm you today." 

"Will you put on your dancing blouse," said the people of the village, "and come and dance with us on this day?" 
          "I will put on my dancing blouse," said Sini, "but I will stay here and dance with the djina." 
         "You must put on your dancing skirt," said the people' "and come to the village with us to dance." 
         "I will put on my dancing skirt," said Sini, "but I will stay in the forests and dance." 
         "Please put on your dancing shoes," said the people, "and dance with us on the holiday." 
         "I will put on my dancing shoes," said Sini, but now I am one of the djina, and I will stay here and dance in the forests." 

The people of the village were so unhappy to hear that Sini
would not return with them that they called on the djina all around them, in the bushes. "Please allow Sini to become a person again so that she will come back with us to the village." The djina became very angry. "We are celebrating the Donkin today," they said, "and we must not be disturbed. Sini was sent to the farm and was not allowed to dance, and that was wrong. But it is also wrong for you to come here today and bother us in  the midst of our holiday." The people begged the djina and pleaded with them to let Sini go. They promised that, if Sini should be allowed to return, they would see to it that no person ever, ever again  would go into the forests on the day of the Donkin. Because of this promise, the djina decided to let Sini go but first they made the people bring them many presents from the village. Sini went home with the people of the village, and as far as we know, that was the last time that any person went into the forests on the Donkin holiday.