Namorutunga
Simon Ipoo
Zablon Alex Nguku

Long time ago, in a Turkana village, people loved to dance edonga, the traditional dance.

Turkana County is found in northwestern Kenya. It is an arid and semi-arid region.

1

Every evening they gathered together and danced edonga.

The whole region came to know of this village and its dancers.

2

People from nearby villages also came to this village to dance.

3

A stranger heard of the famous village.

He sent his messenger to go there before him.

4

When the messenger arrived, the villagers were afraid. They wondered who he was, and why he had come.

The villagers prepared food and animals to be slaughtered.

5

The villagers gathered and waited. They sat the whole day until evening.

But the stranger did not arrive.

6

That night, the villagers danced as usual until midnight. 

There were many dancers. Everybody in the village was excited.

7

While they were dancing, the stranger arrived.

Although he was a stranger, he looked just like the other villagers. They did not notice him at first.

8

When it was the stranger's turn to dance, he joined the men.

But his dancing was strange and different from the others.

9

People were amused and began to laugh at the stranger.

Some dancers fell down laughing. Some sat down, and others knelt laughing.

10

The stranger did not like people laughing at him. He decided to curse them. He stopped dancing and everyone became a stone in the position they were in.

Some were lying down, others standing, others sitting and kneeling. Then the stranger left the village.

11

Since then, those stones remained there.

At night they can be heard singing and dancing edonga.

That is how we have the site of Namorutunga in Turkana County.

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You are free to download, copy, translate or adapt this story and use the illustrations as long as you attribute in the following way:
Namorutunga
Author - Simon Ipoo
Translation - Simon Ipoo
Illustration - Zablon Alex Nguku
Language - English
Level - Longer paragraphs