The African Tokoloshe

Zimbabwe's Tokoloshe is large, covered in furapparently still resident there.
with long talons and a bony spine reaching all theA couple of recent stories involving The
way down its back from the top of its skull. ItTokoloshe in Zimbabwe:
also has glowing red eyes, emits a foul stench andIn 1999 a woman living in the second largest city
speaks in a rasping voice. Fear of them is suchof Bulawayo summoned a witchdoctor to
that many people will not sleep on the floor, andexorcise her house, believing that her maid had
will raise their beds higher by placing brickscontacted a Tokoloshe and asked it to harm her
underneath the legs. This enables them to seeemployer. The woman was of Portugese descent,
one hiding underneath the bed before they retireborn and brought up in Mozambique and then
for the night. There's a good reason to fear aZimbabwe. The witchdoctor got rid of it, and the
Tokoloshe - it is claimed they will climb into themaid fell ill and left the service of her employer...
bed with the inhabitant and bite off a sleepingTokoloshes were busy that year, because one
man's toes and have their wicked, Tokoloshe wayMember of Parliament - ironically the man in
with a woman... vile creatures indeed! Somecharge of security for the country's president
people will not even mention the name TokolosheRobert Mugabe - blamed a disgruntled employee
for fear of summoning this extremely unwelcomefor sending not one but THREE Tokoloshes to
guest. A person can summon on to inflict harmattack him...
upon another, and if this happens then a Nyanga -In the same year (Zimbabwe obviously has an
witchdoctor - may intervene and chase the eviloverpopulation of Tokoloshe) six teachers from
being away. Although only the victim and thethe same school in Gurvuve, a village in central
culprit dealing with it can see a Tokoloshe, theZimbabwe, resigned over claims that a male
creature is clearly visible to children and acolleague had summoned a Tokoloshe to
friendship can develop between the two. Theyoverpower them so that the teacher could "have
generally don't harm children - perhaps this thehis way" with them while they slept. Can you
African version of an invisible playmate commonhonestly see any self-respecting Tokoloshe
to so many children from all over the world?putting up with THAT?
There's a story in Zimbabwean folklore that tellsMy family was not immune from the Tokoloshe.
of a beautiful girl who used to bathe in a river inOne night my eight year old brother (Bryan) was
the Manica province in the Eastern Highlandscamping at the Matopos area with his scout cub
every day. A Tokoloshe living in the water fell introupe. The little boys had spent all evening doing
love with her, and one day while she was bathingwhat little boys do best - sat around the fire
"proposed love" to her. Naturally she was horrified,sharing terrifying stories of The Tokoloshe. Poor
and rushed home to her human boyfriend, whoBryan was the youngest cub scout, and when he
promptly made his own "proposal" and gave herwent to bed in his little tent found it difficult to
nine bracelets as a betrothal gift. Delightedly shesleep. So when he heard a rasping sound and felt
wore them the next day when she went to bath,something scratching at his sleeping bag the poor
and when it saw them he grew so angry helittle boy rushed out of the tent in terror...
seized her, cut off the arm wearing the bangleswhereupon the rasping sound turned into peals of
and threw it in the river. Incredibly in the earlylaughter!
1940s a prospector named Captain ValentineHe did forgive his best friend for using a dead
found the remains of a human arm AND ninebranch from a tree to scratch his bedclothes!
bangles buried in the sand on the river bank, andLittle boys can be cruel!
gave it to the Harare Museum in 1953... it is