Story Corner: The story of Urusaro and Umurisa

Once upon a time, a widower called Bigirwa lived with his only daughter Urusaro. Urusaro was sad because she missed her mother so much. In order to make his daughter happy, Bigirwa decided to marry again. Urusaro’s stepmother had a daughter called Umurisa. This meant that Urusaro had a new sister to play with. Unlike her mother, Urusaro’s stepmother was so cruel to the extent that she planned to kill her. One day her stepmother dug a very deep pit under a mango tree and covered it with a mat. The next day she sent Umurisa far away to her auntie’s home. When they were alone at home, she sent Urusaro to collect mangoes for her. Urusaro climbed up the mango tree. While she was collecting mangoes, her stepmother came and rebuked her for climbing the tree. “Why didn’t you use a stick to get the mangoes? Girls do not climb trees! Jump on that mat and get down quickly!” she shouted. Urusaro jumped and fell in the deep pit. When Umurisa came back, she asked her mother where her sister was. Her mother claimed that she did not know. Umurisa started singing and crying. She refused to eat anything before seeing her lovely sister, Urusaro. When she finished singing, she heard Urusaro singing after her but she could not see her. Bigirwa, the father came back from work and asked for Urusaro. The stepmother said that she did not know where Urusaro was. Umurisa sung again and Urusaro sung back. They followed her voice and found her inside the deep pit covered with a mat. They pulled Urusaro out and she hugged them all. No one was happy with what the stepmother had done. She apologised and asked for forgiveness. Urusaro forgave her and they lived happily thereafter Ends