After a long time, the king of Zumba village wasn’t getting a male child. He didn’t want to take another wife and so he decided to look for a man that could take his place. The suitable candidate would be a married man who didn’t yet have a child. It could be anyone of the villagers.

The king told his elders about his decision and the news was not well received. They tried to come up with other ways the king could have an heir but the king had made up his mind. In the end, they agreed to what the king said.

Two months passed and the king had a dream. He was visited by his father who gave him the characteristics that he should look for when selecting a king. The king had a vision of Bingo, a gate keeper of the palace. The king couldn’t understand the dream, but daily the dream persisted and the king had to call the elders.

The house went insane and everyone was revolted by the news. How could a gate man lead a village? Others said it was impossible but one of the elders asked the king what he thought about this issue.

“These past few months, since the dream began, I have been keeping a close eye on the gate man. I believe that he will be the right man for this,” the king said in his humble and deep voice.

The elders put it to a vote and it was decided; they agreed with the king’s decision. The king called Bingo to present him with the vision ring.

The vision ring was given to the first male child (prince) of a king. If the vision ring was given to the wrong person; either it wouldn’t fit or if it fit, it would bring bad luck to the people in the village. The man wearing the vision ring was bound from sleeping with a woman, even his own wife, until the “purity” term was up. And so Bingo was given three months of purity; he could not sleep with his wife and couldn’t get out of the gate.

On the big day, two elders were there as witnesses. They witness the vision ring not reject Bingo and they were dismayed, even the king himself was shocked.

Something stranger happened when the vision ring was given to Bingo. For a couple of minutes there was a heavy storm. The village people knew that when that kind of storm came to their land, then the vision ring was being led to a prince. But the king hadn’t had a child in two years and there was no announcement made of a new born coming. So who was the crown prince?

Usually there would be celebrations but this time people were distressed about what was happening. They were confused, asking themselves what was going on?

The villagers held a meeting. During the meeting they heard bells ringing and a loud voice shouting: “The Vision King will die! The Vision King will die! The Vision King will die!”

Nobody knew where the voice was coming from and so the news reached the king’s ears.

The villagers were so confused that they had a prince and who this prince was. The traditional healer told the king not to announce the prince to his people, yet, because there was danger coming. He had been the one shouting it in warning from his vision.

In his vision, he had seen someone who knew about this and had planned to suffocate the crown prince. The king ignored the traditional healer and announced the prince. The right hand man of the king plotted to kill the crown prince but when they came they did not find the prince. They decided to go and attack his family and that too didn’t work. The prince had seen visions of these attacks but decided not to tell the king.

He decided to bring back the crown because it was too dangerous for him and his family. He went to the king and gave him the ring.

“Why?” the king asked.

“My king, ask your right hand man and the elders,” Bingo replied.

The king called the elders and confronted them. They apologised to the prince and the king assured him that it will not happen again. The prince took the crown on the word of the king. During the absence of the ring, the prince missed a vision of his family being attacked. The traditional healer warned the king in his dreams and told the king to look after the prince. When the king woke up he went to the house of the prince and found it on fire.

Nobody knew what had happened but the prince had managed to escape. He and his wife, who was now pregnant, ran for four weeks until they reached the ocean. The prince made a raft and they escaped on it. The prince was badly hurt; he was shot twice on his back and leg by the attackers that night, so they needed to rest.

As Adel, his wife, was trying to bandage Bingo’s wounds, her water broke. They were in the middle of the ocean and it was time for her to deliver. A cute, healthy and beautiful angel was born and she was named Portia. Bingo managed to help his wife deliver the baby and after that he gave his wife the vision ring and told her the ring belonged to Portia.

Bingo passed away and Adel had to take care of Portia alone. They landed far from their home village and found a new home in Adel’s home village, Dzudzuno village.

It was nineteen years later when Adel passed away after being sick for a long time. Before she passed away she gave her daughter the ring and told her to wear it. She said great things would happen to her and that she was born to lead. This made no sense to Portia because she was stressed out that her mother was dying and there was nothing she could do.

Adel had wanted to be cremated and scattered in the ocean.

Years went and Portia was known as the ‘queen of dance’. No one in all villages could beat her and Dzudzuno Village was now on the map as the best in dance. The girls and the elders of Zumba village, who were their rival, heard about her. The elders set up a competition for the villages to compete.

The day of the tournament came, all the kings and all the elders from all the villages came. Portia was the best all round and Zumba village was knocked out. Dzudzuno village won and while they were celebrating, the Zumba traditional healer shouted, “The queen of Zumba Village is alive; the curse will be gone! The queen of Zumba Village is alive; the curse will be gone!”

Everyone was astonished even the elders were stunned. The voice kept on shouting and the rain started to fall as the storm began. Everyone from Zumba was celebrating when the traditional healer selected Portia from the crowd and everyone from Dzudzuno village’s jaw dropped.

The story was finally told that this village bowing down to her was the one that killed her father and burnt their house. She refused to accept to lead them and she told them her reasons. Later that night she had a dream where her father was explaining the vision ring to her and her mother was crowning her. And six months after that she had a dream about a killing of all the new born kids that was happening in Zumba. That day she made a decision and accepted the crown and the curse was lifted from the village.

Both Dzudzno and Zumba villages learned to live peacefully with one another.

The End