As regards poems Wallaschek remarks (6) that “the Kaffir in his poetry only recognizes a threefold subject:  war, cattle, and excessive adulation of his ruler.”  One Kaffir love-poem, or rather marriage-poem, I have been able to find (Shooter, 236), and it is delightfully characteristic: 

     We tell you to dig well,
     Come, girl of ours,
     Bring food and eat it;
     Fetch fire-wood
     And don’t be lazy.

A KAFFIR LOVE-STORY

Among the twenty-one tales collected in Theal’s Kaffir Folk Lore there is one which approximates what we call a love-story.  As it takes up six pages of his book it cannot be quoted entire, but in the following condensed version I have retained every detail that is pertinent to our inquiry.  It is entitled The Story of Mbulukazi.

There was once a man who had two wives; one of them had no children, wherefore he did not love her.  The other one had one daughter, who was very black, and several children besides, but they were all crows.  The barren wife was very downcast and often wept all day.

One day two doves perching near her asked why she cried.  When they had heard her story they told her to bring two earthen jars.  Then they scratched her knees until the blood flowed, and put it into the jars.  Every day they came and told her to look in the jars, till one day she found in them two beautiful children, a boy and a girl.  They grew up in her hut, for she lived apart from her husband, and he knew nothing of their existence.

When they were big, they went to the river one day to fetch water.  On the way they met some young men, among whom was Broad Breast, a chief’s son who was looking for a pretty girl to be his wife.  The men asked for a drink and the boy gave them all some water, but the young chief would take it only from the girl.  He was very much smitten with her beauty, and watched her to see where she lived.  He then went home to his father and asked for cattle with which to marry her.  The chief, being rich, gave him many fine cattle, and with these the young man went to the husband of the girl’s mother and said:  “I want to marry your daughter.”  So the girl who was very black was told to come, but the young chief said:  “That is not the one I want; the one I saw was lighter in color and much prettier.”  The father replied:  “I have no other children but crows.”

But Broad Breast persisted, and finally the servant-girl told the father about the other daughter.  In the evening he went to his neglected wife’s hut and to his great joy saw the boy and his sister.  He remained all night and it was agreed that the young chief should have the girl.  When Broad Breast saw her he said:  “This is the girl I meant.”  So he gave the cattle to the father and married the girl, whose name was Mbulukazi.