Once upon a time, there were two twin girls named Neo and Lebohang who did not have a home to live in. Their parents died in the natural disaster that happened on their land, but the girls survived. Then an old woman, who did not like people, found them crying in the bush.
Old woman: Hey kids what are you doing here alone…especially in the bush?
Lebohang: (crying) We… don’t have anywhere else to live.
Old woman: Where are your parents?
(Neo and Lebohang don’t answer the old woman.)
Old woman: Come with me to my house.
(She grabbed their hands and went to the house with them.)
Next day
Old woman: Kids I want you to go and fetch me water from the river.
Lebohang: (with a smile) Ok grandma.
Old woman: (angrily) Hey you little thing….I’m not your grandma!
Neo: Hauu!
Old woman: Now go and fetch the buckets and do your work.
(They took two buckets, the plastic one and the one made of glass)
On their way to the river:
Lebohang: Did I say something wrong to her?
Neo: Who?
Lebohang: The old woman.
Neo: (laughing) No you didn’t.
Lebohang: Why are you laughing. I’ll be the one laughing at you one day.
Neo: Hahaha! You wish.
(The girls poured the water in their buckets and went back home.)
(On their way Neo saw a snake and jumped from fear and the glass bucket fell down and broke.)
Neo: Oh no! The old woman will kill me.
Lebohang: I’m going to tell her.
(Lebohang ran home to tell the old woman what Neo has done and the old woman hit Neo with a stick until she bled.)
Neo: (Crying) Sorry granny, please forgive me.
Old woman: Get out you little thing and never come back. I’m not your granny!
(Neo ran away crying all the way. On the way she met a gold frog.)
Frog: Hey Neo, wipe your tears, my dear.
Neo :(scared) How do you know my name…and you can talk!
Frog: Yes I can talk. And I know who did this to you.
Neo: So what do you want from me?
Frog: I just want to fulfill my duty dear.
Neo: What! What duty?
Frog: You see that palace? (It points with its tongue)
Neo: That’s not a palace that’s a hut, Sir.
Frog: Is it…Go there and do not even knock when you arrive ……and you will see four handsome boys, they will try to offer you
food…even if you are hungry don’t take them. They will offer you wine, juice or tea but you must choose water. If you want to go to
sleep, do not sleep on the bed but sleep on the floor, got it?
Neo: Ok Sir, I’ll do as you said.
(Neo did as the frog said and in the morning when she woke up she saw a crown near her bed. When she looked around, she saw the whole
bedroom decorated with gold cloths. Everyone in the palace was calling her queen. Yes, Neo was a queen. Queen Neo walked near the old woman’s house with her horse.)
Old woman: My grandchild, my grandchild!( The old woman said happily)
Neo: Yoh, ke nkgono wa mang a motsho tjee! And I’m here to fetch my sister.
Lebohang: I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying with granny. (Lebohang was jealous of her sister)
(Neo went back to the palace with a broken heart.)
Lebohang: Granny please hit me hard too! I want to see what made her a queen.
Old woman: What! Why… and I’m not your granny.
(Granny hit her hard and she ran away and cried. On the way she met a frog too.)
Frog: What’s wrong Lebohang?
Lebohang: (scared) Who are you? And how do you know my name? Wow, a frog that can talk!
Frog: Yes I can. You see that palace there? (it pointed with its tongue.)
Lebohang: (Laughing) That’s a hut you stupid!
Frog: Go there and do not knock when you arrive, don’t take their food that they offer you, only drink water and sleep on the floor, got
it?
Lebohang: That’s crazy. (She kicked the frog and went there.)
(She went there, took the food and ate it, drank the wine and slept on the bed.)
Next morning
(She woke up in a very dark skin complexion and an old face with scars. She walked near Old Woman’s house.)
Old woman: (Happily) My grandchild! My grandchild!
Lebohang: Yoh ke nkgono wa mang a motsho tjeee!
Old woman: (shouting) Le wena o motsho!
(The argument became long between them. And Lebohang lived as a drunkard for the rest of her life)
(On the other hand … Neo lived as a queen happily ever after.)
Tell us what you think: Would the story ended differently had the old woman’s attitude been different towards Neo and Lebohang?