Long time ago, in the village of Elunyiko, there lived a man called Ndong'a and his wife called Namukhaywa. They had six children. All of them were girls.

When Namukhaywa was pregnant with her seventh child, Ndong'a warned her, ''If you give birth to another girl, I will leave you. But if you give me a baby boy, I will hold a big party for you!''

When it was time to give birth, Namukhaywa went to the traditional midwife. "Would the child be a girl or a boy?" She wondered.

It was a boy AND a girl - twins! She called the boy Mukhwana, and the girl she called Mulongo. As she looked at Mukhwana, she was very happy. But as she looked at Mulongo, she felt sad. There was only one thing she could do.

Namukhaywa left Mulongo in the care of the midwife and took Mukhwana home to her husband.

She proudly showed Ndong'a the baby boy. He was very happy and called the villagers to celebrate the birth of his son.

Mukhwana grew up to be a fine young man. And Mulongo grew up to be a fine young woman.

One day, while minding his father's cattle, Mukhwana saw a very beautiful girl. ''This is the girl I want to marry, '' he said to himself.

But when he asked to marry her, she sang this song: Our Mukhwana, Someone said, Mukhwana, If she gives birth to a girl, Mukhwana, She will be killed, Mukhwana, If she gives birth to a boy, Mukhwana, They'll bring him home, Mukhwana, A big cow would be slaughtered, Mukhwana, And another one, Mukhwana.

This happened again and again. Mukhwana did not know what to do, so he told his mother, ''I have found a beautiful girl. I want to marry her, but every time I ask her, she sings the same song.''

To this surprise, his mother said, ''What the girl is singing about is true. That is your sister. You were born twins. Your father wanted a son, not a daughter. So I left your baby sister with the midwife and brought you home to your father.''

When Mukhwana told his father the story, he knew that he had been wrong. He called Namukhaywa and together they went to the midwife to fetch Mulongo.

When Mulongo arrived home, her father and the village elders slaughtered a goat. They performed the traditional ceremony for reuniting Mulongo and her seven siblings.

A year later, Mulongo was married to the son of the rich king of that village. She brought a lot of wealth and happiness to her family.