Nyambe
Nyambe lived among men. It was a peaceful time as there was no death in the world. The god had provided a great tree and, when men grew old, they would live under the tree for 9 days and they would be rejuvenated.
As time went on, mankind began to lose respect for Nyambe. Their familiarity made them contemptuous. Nyambe called them all together and set them a task. He gave them a bundle of sticks all bound to gether and asked them to break it.
Because the sticks were bound to one another, no man could break them. Nyambe told them that they were like the sticks. If they had stayed bound to him, they would never have broken, but they had drifted away from him.
Nyambe uprooted the magical tree of life and walked away, leaving mankind to learn about death.
Adapted from 'A guide to the Gods' by Richard Carlyon
