One day, Mme Maneo planted a pumpkin seed.

It grew into a very big pumpkin. The pumpkin blocked her garden path.

Mme Maneo wanted to move the pumpkin. She went to her neighbour. "Mme Mapalesa, please help me to move my pumpkin. It is blocking my path," said Mme Maneo.

The two ladies pushed and pushed, but that pumpkin did not move.

They went to Mme Masello. "Please help us move Mme Maneo's pumpkin!" they asked. Mme Masello came to help them. 

The three ladies pushed and pushed that pumpkin, but still it did not move. "I don't know what to do," said Mme Maneo.

Just then a little worm came into Mme Maneo's garden. It was hungry. It nibbled the big pumpkin.

"Stop!" said the pumpkin. But the little worm nibbled again.

"Stop! You are tickling me," said the pumpkin. "I don't like it." 

And the pumpkin rolled away down the hill.

The pumpkin stopped in a field at the bottom of the hill. Two shepherds found it.

"What shall we do with this pumpkin?" they asked. "Let's eat it," they said, "it looks delicious."

The shepherds took a big stone and tried to break open the pumpkin.

"No!" cried the pumpkin. The shepherds jumped back. The pumpkin began to open.

Out of the pumpkin came a moloi. She had one arm, one eye and one leg. She looked terrible.

"Don't disturb me," said the moloi in a big voice. "I am the pumpkin chief." The pumpkin closed again.

The shepherds were very frightened. They ran home to tell their parents.

"Oh! We are so lucky!" said their parents. "Don't you know about the pumpkin moloi?" "It is a very special pumpkin," said the shepherds' parents. "You must leave it alone."

"Next summer the pumpkin will open again and the moloi will scatter pumpkin seeds all over our villages. We will have many, many pumpkins to eat," said the shepherd's parents.

And so it happened that the next summer, Mme Maneo's pumpkin burst open.

It was full of many, many seeds.

Out came the pumpkin moloi. With her one leg she climbed out of the pumpkin.

With her one eye she looked across all the villages.

With her one arm she threw all those seeds across the valley.

The seeds grew into beautiful big pumpkins in all the gardens in the valley.

That winter everyone in the villages had lots of pumpkins to eat. They went to Mme Maneo. "Thank you, Mme Maneo!" they called.