A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

Overview

Kadiembe arrives at a hearing involving Musudi a Tumba, a blacksmith, and A-Mulombe a Nganzu, a company of black birds. They have obtained hoes on credit and promised payment in wax after emptying their hives. When the third month comes, the blacksmith cannot distinguish individual debtors among birds of the same appearance. They demand that he name and identify exactly who received each hoe. Their chief Na Katete cannot settle the case because the blacksmith can only accuse the company collectively.

The dove alights in a tree, asks about the dispute and hears both the claim and denial. She thinks, flies away briefly and returns. Instead of asking the blacksmith to solve the identification problem, she points out several birds and orders him to bind them. Some confess; others deny the debt and ask to be released so they can identify the responsible bird. The printed conclusion states that all those bound pay the wax and the debts are cleared. It then recasts the dove’s cooing as her continuing judgment of this case. This is the tale’s etiological ending, distinct from a zoological explanation or a report of a modern court practice.

Dove speaks in courtBrief departure and returnDirects binding of defendantsConfessions and repaymentCooing explained as judgment
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Origins & earliest records

Jelemía dia Sabatelu contributed tale XVI, which Chatelain identifies as Mbaka in both origin and dialect. The judge is the named turtle-dove Kadiembe; other bird names in the debt argument are hypothetical identification examples, not a roster of separately acting characters.

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Records & interpretation

Complete tale XVI, Blacksmith and Blackbirds, bilingual pp. 150–153; English pp. 151, 153. Contributor and explanatory notes XVI pp. 290–291.

Selected bibliography

Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.

  1. 01

    Folk-Tales of Angola

    Héli Chatelain, collector, editor and literal English translator; named contributor in origin · 1894

    Complete tale XVI, Blacksmith and Blackbirds, bilingual pp. 150–153; English pp. 151, 153. Contributor and explanatory notes XVI pp. 290–291.

Family & connections

A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.

References

Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.

  1. Collected Ki-mbundu text with facing English translation and contributor notesChatelain 1894 — Kadiembe the Debt-Judging DoveResearch access: 2026-10-05

Image credits

A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.

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