This Congolese folktale tells the story of Nzambi’s daughter, a beautiful princess kept under her mother’s care until she reached womanhood. When it was time for her purification in the sacred paint-house, she was sent on a long journey with a slave as her companion.

Along the way, the curious daughter kept asking about the strange things she saw—snakes, antelopes, eagles, butterflies—and each time, the cunning slave demanded her jewels, cloths, and ornaments in exchange for answers. Finally, the slave tricked her into exchanging clothes, arriving at the paint-house disguised as the princess.

The real daughter of Nzambi was left to toil in the fields like a slave, singing sorrowful songs that no one believed. But when a trader passed by, she seized the chance to send a message back to her mother. Upon hearing the truth, Nzambi rushed to rescue her daughter. The deceitful slave was exposed, stripped of her stolen finery, and punished by being locked away and burned.

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