Our fathers have told us that in olden days the Nandi lived by hunting, and did not know how to cultivate the soil.

One day some warriors went on a raiding expedition, and on the path saw some elephant excrement, out of which some eleusine plants were growing. They gathered the ripe grain, which they took home with them and planted. In course of time it grew and ripened. Nobody would eat it, however, for fear of it being poisonous, and each man attempted to persuade his neighbour to try a little, but without success.

There lived a woman in the kraal who had no husband, but she had a beautiful child. The inhabitants of the kraal decided to give some of the grain to this woman, to see whether it was good to eat or poisonous. “If it kills her”, they said, “it will not matter, for we can then take the child”.

The woman took the grain, and ground it with a stone, after which she stirred it in water, and ate it.

The next day she asked for more, and the people, seeing that nothing happened to her, suggested putting the grain near the fire to see if it was good when roasted. The woman ate the roasted grain, and again asked for more. When she had eaten a third time, the people noticed that she was getting fat, and they all partook of the grain. And they have eaten it ever since.