Long ago, there was a wise and kind old woman.

She lived on an island in the middle of the great Zambezi River.

When the people in the nearby village were hungry, she took them fish.

They were thankful and invited her to stay and eat with them.

But she did not.

The chief of the village was a proud and greedy man.

"Who are you?" He demanded. "Where do you come from?" And "why was I not served first?"

The old woman just smiled, got into her Mokoro and sailed back up the river.

This made the chief angry, so he followed her.

He walked for many hours and eventually saw an island in the middle of the river.

There, the old woman climbed out of the mokoro and went into the hut, he camped nearby to watch her.

The next day, she stepped into her mokoro and said, "Mokoro, mokoro here is my wish. Sail down the river to where there are fish."

The mokoro moved itself into the water and sailed down the river. The chief followed. The mokoro stopped at a spot where the water was calm.

Then, the old woman spoke again, "Mokoro, mokoro, here is my wish. Fill yourself up with just enough fish."

In a flash of silver, the fish jumped out of the water into the mokoro. Then the old woman clapped her hands, held them to her heart and bowed her head in thanks.

The mokoro sailed itself back to the island.

"The mokoro should belong to me, not to that old woman," said the chief.

He waited until the old woman was at the far end of the island.

He swam across the river, stepped into the mokoro and repeated the words he had heard her say.

"Mokoro, mokoro, here is my wish.
Sail down the river where there are fish."

The mokoro took him to exactly the same spot. Then he said the rest of the words. "Mokoro, mokoro, here is my wish. Fill yourself up with just enough fish."

There was a splash of silver and the fish jumped into the mokoro. More jumped in.

Fish covered the chief's feet and he could not move. What he had not done was give his thanks. So, no matter how he shouted to make them stop, the fish kept jumping in.

Soon the mokoro was full. It was about to sink when the old woman appeared.

She clapped her hands twice, held them to her heart and bowed her head in thanks. The mokoro sailed back to the island.

It emptied the fish and the chief on the bank. Then it turned, moved to the middle of the river and slowly sank to the bottom.

"You!" said the old woman angrily, "you will remain on this island and eat all the fish you have caught. You will not leave here until the pile is gone."

This time when the old woman returned to the village, she had nothing with her.

The magic mokoro was gone. She told the people what had happened to the chief.

Then, because she was kind, she showed them how to weave nets and catch their own fish.

The people were very grateful.

To this day, the villagers live happily.

They now have a kind and wise chief who rules them.

They are able to catch fish and feed themselves.

To this day, the wise old woman has never been seen again.

The magic mokoro is still there at the bottom of the river.

The chief is still eating the fish he caught. The pile never gets smaller and is still in the middle of the Zambezi River.