"Come children, sit around the fire," called grandmother.

The children came scurrying into the hut before her sentence was over. "Let me tell you a story about a brave chief and his daughter, Ngesh."

"Long ago there was a brave chief and his daughter, Ngesh."

"But Grandma, Ngesh is the nature spirit".
"Yes, I know, let me finish the story will you".
"OK."

Ngesh was kind and beautiful. Her hair was long and smooth. Her eyes could be soft and comforting or hard and frightening as a lion's. Her skin was milk chocolate colored and very smooth, and she was tall and slender.

Ngesh's father was handsome and strong. He was the chief of the Kuba people. The chief loved his daughter more than anything, for his wife had been taken captive by the Mbebele people.

"But the Mbebele and the Kuba people aren't enemies," said a child.
"They were a long time ago," said Grandma.

Ngesh's beauty was the reason that almost all the women in the village hated her. Only a few women were her friends. Her servants were the only ones who liked her because they were the only people who really knew her. They had served her from birth and saw past her beauty.

The men, however, were a totally different story. All of the men, who were high enough in status, would give her anything she desired. And she would accept it all. She was honest, but not stupid. The only reason she was not married yet was because her father would ask her if she wanted to marry the man. She would always say no. But some men would keep trying. So Ngesh and her father would play tricks on the men. So they would leave the village in shame.

Ngesh was a very happy young girl, except for one thing. She wondered where her mother was. The chief kept nothing from Ngesh and he never lied to her except about her mother. Whenever Ngesh would ask about her mother, he would say that she had died giving birth to Ngesh. But one day, Ngesh overheard her father praying to the gods that his wife would return from captivity.

Her mother was not dead after all. Ngesh was determined to find her. That night she gathered everything she would need for a long trip. She left before the sun came up.

She traveled for months on end, nearly dying more than once. Finally, she found her mother, but she was dead. She recognized her by the tattoo on her right hand. It was identical to Ngesh's tattoo. Ngesh cried and mourned for days until finally she knew what she must do.

Ngesh poured her life spirit into her mother and fell down dead beside her. Ngesh's mother woke up to find her daughter dead beside her. She recognized her daughter the same way Ngesh had recognized her. Ngesh's mother ran home to tell the chief.

When the chief heard the news, he was very sad and arranged a large funeral that everyone attended. From that day on, since she died in the woods, Ngesh became the nature spirit fated to protect nature and everyone who respected it. Much like nature though, Ngesh formed a dark side.

All those years of men only wanting her for her beauty filled her with disgust. All those years of women gossiping about her filled her with hatred. Only the love of her father kept her from snapping. So it is, that nature has a dark side. But since Ngesh was the Kuba chief's daughter, the Kuba always have a good harvest.