!khwa and gaua; rain and spirits

In a dry desert such as the Kalahari, every drop of rain is treasured, for without it, death is eminent. For the Kalahari Bushmen, rain is everything. I found this translation of a bushmen poem, "When the rain clouds turn black" in the book The First Bushman's Path.

when the wind is in the west and the clouds turn back:

when the wind is in the west and we are

thirsty because the rain clouds turn back:

when the wind is in the west and the rain clouds turn back:

when we are thirsty because the wind is

in the west and the sun beats down on us:

when the wind is in the west and the rain clouds turn back:

when the rain has passed along far off in 

the distance because the wind is in the west,

then we shall drink, for the children shall bring us water:

the children will go to dip up water for

us at the water-pits because we are thirsty:

they shall go to the water for us, they shall dip up water:

they will fetch water for us because they want us to drink

because they feel that we are being slaughtered by the sun,

and we shall drink, when they bring us water we shall drink,

because we feel thirsty, and because we feel we are hungry(1).