Nomi and the Magic Fish

This is an African folktale that was written by a 15year old South African. Nomi was a beautifully tall girl. Her sister Nomsa was very short & not very attractive as some say she was ugly. Nomi’s father marries again and his second wife doesn’t like Nomi, beats her, sends her to bed without food. Nomi set to look after cattle as ordered by the stepmother. While in the field Nomi has an encounter with a fish. The fish feeds Nomi bread and milk after hearing her cries and her story. Nomi’s stepmother notices that she is not hungry and of course doesn’t believe her story that a fish feeds her. The stepmother beats Nomi again. The stepmother/Second wife tricks the husband into eating the fish so it cannot feed Nomi again. The fish tells Nomi of its impending doom and tells Nomi after it is dead what to do with its bones. Nomi throws down bones, the Chief finds bones and then the Chief orders the girls of the village to come to him to pick up the bones. Nomi comes and picks up the bones and as a reward the Chief says he will marry her.