Suzawaka Phiri Biography

It was not a man who placed a curse on him nor was it a woman. It was not the water he drank nor the river where he bathed his body that was cursed. It was not the hut in which he slept nor the pot he used to prepare his food that was cursed. It was not the stars nor the sun that was cursed. The gods chose to place a curse on his destiny. It was the gods that cursed him.
He remembered the day it happened, the day he was cursed. The day he wandered aimlessly in a place his ancestors told him not to enter. He found himself in a shrine of the old forsaken gods. He found cassava and sweet water. His stomach was empty and continuously asking for food. Uninvited and unwelcomed, Suzawaka chose to eat the food and drink the water. When Suzawaka had his full, a voice from the shrine spoke,

'Who ate the food meant for the gods?
Who drank the waters meant for the gods?
Whose feet found themselves in the shrine of the gods? '

Suzawaka was quiet. He had no words coming out of his mouth, afraid, his heart began beating fast and his body was trembling. The questions were harder than the heart of the Mubanga tree.

'It was I! ' Suzawaka finally answered in a very uneasy tone.

'To the one who ate the food meant for the gods uninvited, he shall be cursed to tell the tales of the gods. To the one who drank the water meant for the gods uninvited, he shall be cursed to sit under the Mutaba tree for the rest of his life. To the one whose feet entered the shrine, he shall be a Leper.'

From that day, Suzawaka has not left the tree nor has he ceased telling the tales of the gods. The curse was a blessing, a blessing that was a curse. There was sweetness in bitterness and bitterness in sweetness.

Thus he became a tale telling teller.