AFRICAN ORAL EPIC POETRY

Praising the Deeds of a Mythic Hero

by

Fritz H. Pointer

With a translation of The Epic ofKambili

(as recited by Seydou Camara, the griot)

Translated from Mande into English by

Charles 8. Bird
with Mamadou Koita and Bourama Soumaoro

With a Foreword by
Daniel Kunene

The Edwin Mellen Press

Lewiston•Queenston•Lampeter
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Pointer, Fritz H.
African oral epic poetry : praising the deeds of a mythic hero I by Fritz H.
Pointer ; with a translation ofThe epic ofKambili (as recited by Seydou
Camara) ; translated from Mande in English by Charles S. Bird, with
Mamadou Koita and Bourama Soumaoro ; with a foreword by Daniel
Kunene.
p.cm.
English, with English translation from Mandingo
Published in 2012, with Pointer rather than Byrd credited as translator, under
the title: A translation into English of the epic ofKambili (an African mythic
hero).
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-0-7734-4087-6 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-7734-4087-9 (hardcover)
1. Epic poetry, Mandingo. 2. Epic poetry, African. 3. Mandingo poetry-
Translations into English. 4. Oral tradition-Africa, West. 5. Griots--Aftica,
West. 6. Heroes-Mythology-Africa, West. I. Bird, Charles S. (Charles
Stephen), 1935- ll. Koita, Mamadou. ill. Soumaoro, Bourama. IV.
Kamara, Seyidu. Kambili.Title. English. V. Pointer, Fritz H. Translation into
English of the epic ofKambili (an African mythic hero). VI. Title.
PL8491.7.P65 2013
896.345-dc23
2012038968

horssbie.

A CIP catalog record for this book is available from the British Library.

Copyright ~ 2013 Fritz H. Pointer

All rights reserved. For information contact

The Edwin Mellen Press The Edwin Mellen Press

Box450 Box67
Lewiston, New York Queenston, Ontario
USA 14092-0450 CANADA LOS 1LO

The Edwin Mellen Press, Ltd.

Lampeter, Ceredigion, Wales
UNITED KINGDOM SA48 8LT

Printed in the United States of America

I dedicate this book to my family who support and sustain me in
so many ways, often without knowing it:
Liziwe (Liz, Lizzie) Boitumelo Kunene-Pointer, my partner;
Aaron Elton Pointer, my brother;
Leona Dones-Pointer, his wife;
my sisters, Ruth, Anita and Bonnie and June Pointer;
my children, Shegun, Nandi, Somori and Thiyane Pointer
and my granddaughters,
Jadah Pointer-Wallace and Selina Pointer-Fox
 AnAneedote

A three year old came up to his parents on the beach with his
sand bucket full of water. "Here's the Ocean, Daddy," he said.
That attitude is understandable in a three-year-old, but not so
much so when a thirty year-old comes up with a set of ideas and
says "Here is the 1ruth!" You want to say to him, "That may be
your ocean, brother, but there is a lot more where that came
from, and it's not in your bucket!"
 Contents

Foreword by Emeritus Professor Daniel P. Kunene i

Preface iii
Acknowledgments xi
mtroouoooo 1
Chapter One-Some Background on the Epic ............ 3
Chapter Two-Griots and Griottes: Composers
and Performers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Chapter Three-Kambili and History .................. 47
Chapter Four-The Hero of the Epic ................... 57
Chapter Five-Poet and Accompanists ................. 67
Chapter Six-Mooes and Methods of Composition
in K.ambili . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Chapter Seven-Praise Songs, Traditional Religion
and Islam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
Chapter Eight-Birth, Tasks and Triumph ofKambili 111
Chapter Nine-In Praise of Kambili Sananfila 123
Chapter Ten-The Story: A Synopsis 159
The Epic ofKambili 163
Bibliography ....................... .............. 287
mdex....................... .................... 295
 Foreword

Epic? What's that? European scholars have often gone to

cultures they sought to research with preconceived notions and
expectations ofwhat to find, often based on their own cultures. Till
recently, they understandably threw up their arms in despair,
declaring a "lack" of this or that feature they were mistakenly
looking for. But now things have changed quite a bit. Ruth
Finnegan stirred up the hornets' nest by coming up with a "lack"
regarding the epic in Africa in her Oral Literature in Africa! There
were protests and "proofs" galore that she was wrong. Some good
things were coming out of her audacious statement: Scholars rose
up in arms, and in the process found, or revisited, lots of epics that
needed to be revisited, exposed, translated, examined and
analyzed. One such warrior scholar was Professor Fritz Pointer
who researched the epic of Kambili. Though not the first to study
this epic, he nonetheless added his voice to the chorus that directly
or by implication declared Finnegan wrong. Among other things,
Pointer underscores the importance of John William Johnson's
declaration that The Greek [epic] tradition is only one of many. In
several places in Africa and elsewhere, living epic traditions can
be observed in their natural contexts. (Johnson, William John, The
Epic of Son-Jara-"A West African Tradition, Bloomington,"
Indiana University Press, 1986, p. 60) Great observation! But
Johnson just misses the nail's head, as long as he does not put the
original language of the epic at the very center of the "natural

i
ii

contexts," and make the translation secondary. There is no doubt,

however, that epic scholars are not only strongly aware of this
need, but that they are moving towards correcting it.
This is a wave that is getting stronger. It should be directed
towards the grammar, morphology, tonology, phonology,
semiology and other aspects of the original language, so we can
observe the prosody ofthe original poem under discussion, and not
its translation. But there is no doubt that the energy in the
discourse about the epic in African cultures is moving in that
direction. No doubt when it reaches that point, Professor Pointer
will be there, either with Kambili, or some other African epic to
underscore the truth of this statement

Emeritus Professor Daniel P. Kunene

Department ofAfrican Languages and Literature
University of Wisconsin-Madison
 Preface

Kambili, like Jesus, is a famous character who has an epic,

mythic, story dedicated to him; yet, he may have never lived; there
is no historical evidence, scholarly or otherwise; except an epic
poem, based on oral accounts, dedicated to Kambili's being. It is
amazing, quite amazing that a Kambili or Jesus, or Oedipus,
Theseus, Romulus, Hercules, Perseus, Zeus, Jason, even a Robin
Hood and Apollo who, as far as scientific research and scholarly
knowledge is aware, never lived can become famous. Jesus, the
Christian mythic hero, number three on the list that includes the
above noted epic heroes, meets nineteen of the twenty-two
indicators for heroic status, in Lord Raglan's tabulations oftypical
hero incidents: The pattern is as follows:
1. The hero's mother is a royal virgin;
2. His father is a king (or god)
3. Often a near relative of his mother, but
4. The circumstances of his conception are unusual, and
5. He is also reputed to be the son of a god.
6. At birth an attempt is made, usually by his father or his
maternal grandfather, to kill him, but
7. He is spirited away, and
8. Reared by foster parents in a far country.

iii
iv

9. We are told nothing of his childhood, but

10. On reaching manhood he returns or goes to his future
kingdom.
11. After a victory over the king and/or a giant, dragon, or wild
beast
12. He marries a princess, often the daughter of his ptedecessor,
and
13. Becomes a king.
14. For a time he reigns uneventfully, and
15. Prescribes Ia~ but
16. Later he loses favor with the gods and/or his subjects, and
17. Is driven from the throne and city, after which
18. He meets with a mysterious death,
19. Often at the top of a hill
20. His children, if any, do not succeed him
21. His body is not buried, but nevertheless
22. He has one or more holy sepulchers (Raglan 138)
So Jesus, meets nineteen of the twenty-two indicators or heroic
criteria, while Kambili scores seven out of the twenty-two: i.e.,
numbers 1, 2, 4, 6, 9, 11 and 12.
Certainly, cultural and political forces and necessity are
imperative bere. his, in fact, the result ofcultural imperialism that
even the folklore, the myths and stories of one culture, dominates
another. This becomes particularly serious when we consider that
according to a 2010 Oallup Poll, 35 percent ofAmericans believe
 v

(versus ''know'') that the Bible is the literal and inerrant word of
the Creator of the universe. Another 48 percent believe (versus
"know'') that the Bible is the "inspired" word of a Creator. The
same, sadly, is true for literalists and fundamentalists Jews and
their Torah and Muslims and their Koran.
The failme to teach people, worldwide, to understand the joy,
the depth, the metaphorical and symbolic meaning, the creative
fun of oral stories, of folklore, creates the current religious
madness and hysteria and rush toward nuclear war: in the name of
God (Jesus) Allah (Mohammed) or Yahweh (Moses). It may be as
simple as that; especially, when inflamed, exacerbated, by racism,
imperialism, and materialism. There are, for example, many
scholarly studies of folklore and the Bible. Some of the
scholarship in this area includes: J. W. Rogerson, Myth in Old
Testament Interpretation ( 1974), A.B. Lord, "The Gospels as Oral
Traditional Literature" (1978), Susan Niditch, Underdogs and
Tricksters: A Prelude to Biblical Folklore (1987), Folklore and
the Hebrew Bible (1993), Patricia G. Kirkpatrick, The Old
Testament and Folklore Study (1988), and Alan Dundes, Holy
Writ and Oral Lit: The Bible as Folklore (1999). And, what a
wonderful liberation it is to accept a Gnostic rather than Literal
understanding of these stories. How infantile and how dangerous
it is to promulgate myth and symbolic oral narratives as the literal
word of a divine: Jewish, Christian, Islamic or whatever. How
infantile, as a world we are, to use stories, and interpretation of
stories as the basis for the division of people and nations.
Lord Raglan, in The Hero: A Study in Tradition, Myth, and
Drama, informs us that" there is no justification for believing that
any of these heroes were real persons, or that any of the stories of
their exploits had any historical foundation" (13 7). In other words,
these stories including the lands they talk about and-the religious
vi

fundamentalists: Christian, Muslim and Jewish--ere fighting over,

have no claim to historicity.
Even though Raglan says very little about the NewTestament
it is evident that the life of Jesus is similar to this twenty-two
incident hero pattern. What he does recognize and demonstrate is
that the lives oftraditional heroes were ''folklore" and not history.
Current scholarship acknowledges that most material that
constitutes the Old Testament was put together from various oral
and folk traditions, many of them going back to Egyptian and
Grecian times. That was, of course, one of several currents; the
collection that formed the New Testament was another. Biblical
historiography and archeology were developed early in this
century in an effort to substantiate the authenticity or historical
accuracy of the Bible account It is now generally recognized and
accepted that it has done the opposite.
The Bible is not a historical text, and has only vague
resemblances to what took place, as far as historians and
archeologists can reconstruct For example, whether Israel ever
existed is not clear. Yet, as even Noam Chomsky has noted,
elements of the Christian fundamentalists right are one of the
strongest components of "support of Israel"---support in an odd
sense, because they presumably want to see it destroyed in a
cosmic battle ofArmageddon, after which all the proper souls will
ascend to heaven. The impact, the power of story, of art on,
especially, the untrained, untutored, undeveloped mind is often
astounding. I must, in fact, accept Sigmund Freud's conclusion
that ''Religious intolerance ... was inevitably hom with the belief
in one God." What follows is the declaration and political power
to ontologize, assert, and promulgate a Chosen People. Michael
 vii

Lackey in African American Atheists and Political Liberation

states:

Of course, the Canaanites, like African Americans, could

have claimed that they were the Chosen People as well,
but given their lack of political power, it would not have
mattered, since the ancient Hebrews, who, like the white
westerners had the political power to ontologize the
Canaanites as ''no-count rascals," just as white westerners
had the political power to ontologize blacks as "lower
breeds. (148)

Here, I cannot avoid the brilliant Huey P. Newton who said:

"Power is the ability to define phenomena and make it act in a
desired manner." So, the Hebrews ofLeviticus and Deuteronomy
were the ones with the political power to enact the Chosen People
mentality at the socio-cultural level (Lackey 148). Here, we're
talking about Western culture and Europeans (primarily) who
have defined themselves as Chosen. Chosen because they say they
are chosen: with myths, folktales and images that confirm their
selection, their preference. So, Africans can be enslaved and
Native Americans and now Arabs can be extenninated in the
name of some god and freedom. That all are expendable, save for
the Chosen: the Priest, Clergyman, or Rabbi and his flock. The
ever-insightful Michael Parenti puts it this way:

Today there are millions of devotees who eagerly await

Judgement Day, convinced that they number among the
Chosen who will ascend into heaven while looking back
viii

gleefully at the libertines and liberals writhing and

screaming in the lake of fire for all eternity. Nice people
these soldiers of Christ, lovers of the divine. (51)

So, as we note in Revelation, Christianity's last momentous

act brings global carnage and eternal torture to billions of
"innocenf' nonbelievers and "sinners." And, for this, we can
thank a loving, merciful, Father-and-Son deity (Parenti 49). And,
Western culture sees itself as the overseer, the arbiter of this fate,
the fate ofmanJdnd. Perhaps, J. Robert Oppenheimer had it right
after all-speaking of America, after the first test of an atomic
bomb: "I am become death, destroyer of worlds." What obscene
pride.
If the world community were to abandon the idea of a God
independent ofthe human mind altogether, in these final words of
Michael Lackey "no one would be able to claim that they were in
possession of an authentic religion or a true God, because
everyone would have to admit, in all humility, that God is nothing
more than a creature of our own minds and that religion is our
own conception of what things are" (150). The study of world
myths, epics and religion has brought me to this point.
This is not a comfortable place to be given that my father and
mother were both ministers. That, I grew up in the church. There
is also the erroneous notion that African people, universally, are
and must be religious in order to be "authentically'' Black, or that
African people are "by nature" religious. I vehemently reject this
assumption and all that it implies. Knowledge is indeed a human
construction, which means that it is illogical and incoherent to say
that Black people are inherently religious. Finally, in the words of
James Baldwin: "If the concept of God has any validity or any
 ix

use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If

God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him."
Fritz H. Pointer
 Acknowledgments

I thank Con1ra Costa College Board ofDirectors, Chancellor

Dr. Helen Beqjamin and President McKinley Williams for
generously providing me the sabbatical leave time to complete this
work. I, too, must express my deepest gratitude to the Ministry of
Education in Mali, Africa, whose encouragement and cooperation
made the original manuscript possible. Special thanks must also
go to Mamadou Sarr, Director of the Institut des Sciences
Humanies, Falcone Ly, Director ofEducation de Base and Adama
Samassekou, Head of the Section Linguistique, lnstitut des
Sciences Humaines. The African Studies Center of Indiana
University and its former Director, Dr. Patrick O'Meara was a
continual source of moml and financial support to the original
translator of this version of The Epic ofK.ambili, Nancy Quinn.
Also, major thanks and appreciation must extend to Professor
Charles Bird and his wife, Joan, for perfecting this transcription,
and the true hero Sedou Camara the narrator and griot
extraordinaire.
Sincere and heartfelt thanks to Professor Daniel P. Kunene,
emeritus, of the University of Wisconsin who has continued to
encourage me, in spite of my often unorthodox, controversial
ideas. He knows that mine is not the work of an approved and
financed field researcher, but of rigorous and voracious reading
and an insatiable appetite for knowledge of African Orature and
Literature.

xi
xii

Finally, to my colleagues: John Gregorian, Joy Eicbner-

Lynch, Barbara McClain, Walter Masuda and Carolyn Hodge for
enduring my absence. I also want to extend a special thanks to Dr.
J. Vem Cromartie for reading the manuscript and making editorial
suggestions. And, sincere thanks go to Sylvia Macey for her
careful and patient copy-editing and typesetting. And, to my wife,
Liziwe Kunene Pointer for enduring my constant presence and
rehearsal for retirement for one relentless year, eternal love and
thanks.
 Introduction

The purpose of this book is to preserve The Epic ofKambili.

It is, as well, to explicate and explain its content and form in the
context of world epics and today's socio-political realities. It is
most certainly to keep alive and make lasting the value of the
research and scholarship that make this project possible. Also, I
hope to perpetuate The Songs of Seydou Camara translated by
Charles Bird with Mamadou Koita and Bourama Soumaoro by
including an accompanying introduction, analytical essays, syn-
opsis and bibliography that situates The Epic of Kambili in the
milieu of the world's epics. Like the translators, my ''primary
aim" is to "present the work of Seydou Camara on its artistic
merits to the English-speaking reader."
In addition, I examine and interpret the aesthetic and
theoretical devices used to explicate epic literature (i.e. myths,
tales, legends, ritual, song) generally and the Mandinka Epic of
Kambili in particular. I offer a comparative analysis of oral
literature and written texts along with the theories and method-
ology of oral composition and performance as they relate to this
epic; and, to analyze the role and function of griots and griottes,
the guardians of Mandinka oral tradition, in the preservation of
texts.
In Chapter One, I offer background on the epic; Chapter Two
discusses Griots and Griottes: Composers and Performers, Chapter
Three is Kambili and History, Chapter Four is an in-depth
examination of the hero of the Epic, Chapter Five discusses the

I
2

Poet and Accompanists, while Chapters Six and Seven describe

the modes and methods of composition in Kambili and the praise
songs, traditional religion and Islam. Chapter Eight describes the
birth, tasks and triumph ofKambili, Chapter Nine is in praise of
Kambili Sananfila. Chapter Ten concludes my synopsis.
The balance of the book is a reproduction of the Epic of
Kambili with notes. My desire is that you enjoy reading about the
Epic as much as I have in writing about it.
 Chapter One
Some Background on the Epic

African oral epics, seen against the background of the genre

as a whole, have served, and still serve today, the same purpose in
Africa as they have for nearly all of the world's cultures; that is,
to instruct people, while entertaining them, about the values,
traditions, great heroes and historical events significant to their
culture. They are constructed around the exploits of an epic hero,
a human being with certain supernatural characteristics, who
overcomes ~or obstacles and eventually triumphs, both
spiritually and physically, for the sake of his people. In other
words: Departure, Fulfillment, and Return. Or, as the inescapable
Joseph Campbell puts it in The Hero With A Thousand Faces:
"separation-initiation-return: which might be named the
nuclear unit ofmonomyth" (30).
Epics, universally, are also significant in portraying some
stage of the cultural or political development of a people, and are
usually narrated or performed to the background of music of one
or more accompanists. In the hunter's tradition, The Epic of
Kambili celebrates the legendary world ofAlmamy Samori Toure,
''the last great Malinke emperor who answered the exigent call for
national survival, organizing diverse groups in and outside Mali
in one ofthe longest, most successful defensives against European
conquest. He was the last epic hero of Mali before the colonial era

3
4

whose courage, dignity, willfulness, and military genius inspired

the last innovative productions ofthe jeliya" (Salaam 485). Jeliyu
or griots are "a caste oftraditional singers who only marry within
their own caste, thereby safeguarding their secrets and their
hereditary monopoly of the profession" (Salaam 60). The Epic of
Kambill, like all epics, is an artistic vehicle, a literary artifact, of
a people's cultural record.
Unfortunately, "the study of the African epic was born in
denial" according to Isidore Okpewho ("African Oral Epics" 98).
In his seminal book, Heroic Poetry (1952), C. M. Bowra bas
difficulty recognizing the existence of epic or "heroic" poetry in
Africa. When discussing pieces of historical praise poetry and
lament songs from Uganda and Ethiopia, he observes that in spirit
they are "close... to heroic outlook" but that, and here he twists the
knife, "the intellectual effort required" to advance such texts to the
level ofheroic poetry" seems to have been beyond their powers"
(Okpewho 98).
Yet another, now hackneyed, disclaimer came from Ruth
Finnegan. In her groundbreaking book Oral Literature in Africa
she dismisses claims of existence of epic traditions in Africa on
the basis of form in which available texts were presented to
editors. That is, "they do not really qualify to be called 'epics,'
because they have been transcribed mostly in ordinary prose, with
occasional snatches of song. For this reason, according to her, they
do not have the sustained formal characteristics ofthe established
European tradition" (98). Finnegan's conclusion, "epic seems to
be ofremarkably little significance in African oral literature" (99).
There is no better time than now to quote from John Johnson's
study of Son-Jara: "The Man.de Epic":
 5

It is my hope that the rigid model of Greek epic, a dead

tradition that can no longer be observed in action, will not
continue to dominate scholarly thinking. The Greek
tradition is only one of many. In several places in Africa
and elsewhere, living epic traditions can be observed in
their natural contexts. (60)

In fact, in her book Trojan Horses: "Saving the Classics from

Conservatives" Page duBois informs us that ''recent scholarship
suggests that the epic poems attributed to [Homer] are the work of
a long oral tradition of nameless bards" (39). In addition, duBois
adds:

We need to understand our place in global history.

America's cultural debts to Africa, Latin America, Asia,
the Indian subcontinent, the Pacific Islands, to all those
parts of the world . . One can no longer claim that
Hebraic and classical Greek civilizations are the sole
origins ofa pristine Western culture; we owe to them only
part of what we are. And national identity, the under-
standing Western nation-states have of themselves, is
only part of what students who live in the global twenty-
first century need to know. (49)

So, it is important, today, to include the histories of Africa, Asia

or Latin America, for example, in introductory civilization and
literature courses, rather than to continue teaching only the
European heritage in Western civilization courses (49). Our
heritage as Americans, as a people, as a world is far deeper and
complex than that of the Greek. As much as we can learn from the
study of ancient Athens, we must also remember it was a slave-
6

owning, militarist, imperialist, xenophobic, patriarchal culture

(40).
Examination of several African epics, especially The Epic of
Kambili, shows that their plots are as complicated as in the best
epics from any place or period in the world. They employ all the
familiar elements ofcharacterization, from physical description to
interior monologue and other devices of psychological probing of
character, and they do not leave out exploration of character by
action, dialogue, or observation through the minds and comments
of other characters. Chinweizu continues, "In the matter of
narrative texture, like all oral traditions they display precise and
deft use of detail as well as summations, variations in perceptual
distance, and montage. Their presentations of their stories also
employ philosophical reflections on human life, on death, fate,
destiny, and the paradoxes of social existence, whether in the
narrator's voice or in the voice of characters within the tale. And
proverbs, aphorisms, and judicious allusions are not at all lacking"
(59). So, the study of the African epic is, as Okpewho would have
it, of necessity, a comparative undertaking (111). He goes on:
"Those who resist this imperative either do not really understand
the Indo-European traditions they so eagerly separate from the
African, or are not willing to do the demanding work entailed by
this field ofstudy. To insist that the African epic should be studied
only on its own terms is to promote a narrow-minded ethno-
centrism of dubious merit and intent" ("African Oral Epics" 111 ).
Nubia Salaam, in her 2005 Ph.D. Dissertation, poignantly
concedes:

The biggest revolutionary leap made in the post-colonial

period was the recognition (by the white West-my note)
that a historical epic tradition actually existed in Sub-
Saharan Africa. Since that time a steadily growing
 7

archive of African epics has been collected and

published" ("An Investigation of Malinke Historio-
graphy" 148).

The promulgation of values and didactic intent of many epics

occurs in the very theme and structure ofthese mythic, coming of
age stories. For example, the absolutely ecstatic joy of a mother
and community when a young man or woman is able to stand on
his or her own two feet. For here is the first victory and triumph.
Mamadou Kouyate, narrator of Sundiata: an "Epic ofOld Mali"
states:

When Sogolon saw her son standing, she stood dumb for
a moment, then Suddenly she sang these words ofthanks
to God who bad given her son the use ofhis legs:

"'h day, what a beautiful day,

Oh day, day ofjoy;
Allah Almighty, you never created a finer day.
So my son is going to wa1k!" (21)

Afterwards, Sundiata's griot, Balla Fasseke, voice of the

community, pointing his finger at Sundiata, cries:

"Room, room, make room!

The lion has walked;
Hide antelopes,
Get out of his way." (21)

This is a rebirth. A ''virgin" birth, if you will, since as Dr.

Ford notes ''it is a birth not from another but from oneself, from
8

one mode of self-awareness to another" that is, from our

childhood dependence to adult independence and responsibility
(37). And, Joseph Campbell, in his seminal study of world
mythology The Hero With A Thousand Faces, says concerning the
Biblical story of the virgin birth:

The story is recounted everywhere; and with such striking

uniformity of the main contours, that the early Christian
missionaries were forced to think that the devil himself
must be throwing up mockeries of their teaching
wherever they set their hand. (309)

Images and stories of virgin birth, coming of age and rebirth are
universal in 1raditional tales as well as myth. Creation myths and
stories are also universal. Of course, to consider such myths as
science or history is absurd. Even our beloved Martin Luther
King's views on the divinity of Jesus include:

To say that the Christ, whose example of living we are

bid to follow, is divine in an ontological sense is actually
harmful and detrimental. To invest Christ with such
supernatural qualities makes the rejoinder: "Oh, well, he
had a better chance for that kind of life than we can
possibly have. .." So the orthodox view of the divinity of
Christ is in my mind quite readily denied (Carson Papers
ofMartin Luther King Vol 1 150).

King also understood the "Second Coming" metaphorically, as

 9

every time we open our hearts ... every time we tum our
backs to the low road and accept the high road ... The
final doctrine of the second coming is that whenever we
turn our lives to the highest and best there for us is the
Christ" (Papers 270).

Nor did King believe a whale swallowed Jonah, that Jesus was
born of a virgin or that he ever met John the Baptist (Papers, Vol.
6 78).
Coming of age, a second coming, involves expectations that
question, for example, men dressing as boys their entire lives.
Why don't Americans generally and American males, in partic-
ular, want to grow up? Why do they cling to and believe in
infantile stories, even as adults? In the words of Joseph Campbell:

We remain fixated to the unexorcised images of our

infancy, and hence disinclined to the necessary passages
of our adulthood. In the United States there is even a
pathos of inverted emphasis: the goal is not to grow old,
but to remain young; not to mature away from Mother,
but to cleave to her. (11)

The heroic epic image is one response to infantilism: it is said

ofKambili "He was to save all the people, And rescue all the great
farmers," And, most interestingly, "save all the learned holymen,
And save all the wandering merchants, And save all the travelers"
Q. 1114-18). Being ''hom again" includes more than "born again"
Christians but anyone who has been reborn to a new life calling as
we find in epic characters like Sundiata and K.ambili, the Cid,
10

Gilgamesh, even Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha. Here, I am most

appreciative of the erudition and poignancy of Clyde W. Ford:

The mythic wisdom of Africa encompasses a wide

terrain. Here are epics as grand as Gilgamesh, heroes as
hardy as Hercules, heroines as vexing as Venus,
adventurers as outstanding as Odysseus, and gods and
goddesses as prolific as the pantheons of India and
ancient Greece.
What's more, within the body of traditional African
mythology lie themes whose harmonies we know well
even today. Here are tales of the miraculous creation of
the world, intimations of the virgin birth, lessons of the
fall, accounts ofdeath and resurrection ofa spiritual hero,
reports of the flood, records of the ark's voyage, and
symbols of the chalice, blade, and cross. But don't be
misled; all this is not the evidence of some early
Cbristianization of Africa's soul. These themes appeared
in Africa long before the advent of Christianity, and they
are found through-out the world's great mythologies as
well, although some Christians might wish us to believe
their faith has sole possession. (14)

During this, seemingly, global conflict between Christianity,

Islam and Judaism it behooves us to look more carefully and
critically at our myths, especially our religious myths. Sam Harris
notes: "It seems that if our species ever eradicates itself through
war, it will not be because it was written in the stars but because
it was written in our books; it is what we do with words like 'God'
and 'paradise' and 'sin' in the present that will determine our
 11

future" (The End of Faith 12). So, it is worthwhile to consider

these further observations of Dr. Ford, who finds that:

Much of Christianity dogmatically insists on a literal

interpretation of its mythology. We are to believe, for
example, that the miraculous creation of the world, the
virgin birth of its spiritual hero, and his ultimate death,
resurrection, and ascension to heaven actually took place.
Now these same themes appear in African mythology, but
the emphasis is on their metaphorical rather than their
literal interpretation. (14)

And, much the same can be said for Islam and Judaism.
Fundamentalists of these world religions often insist on a literal
interpretation of their myths and that their holy books are the
inerrant, infallible word of a Male Deity. One problem, of course,
is that there are several such books: The Vedas, Puranas, The
Torah (2000 BC) The Avesta (1000 BCE) The Mahabharata and
Ramayana (500 BCE) Bhagavad Gita (400 BCE) Upanishads,
The Tripitaka (560 BCE) The Lotus Sutra (500 BCE) The Bible,
The Tao Te Ching(400 CE) The Koran (622 CE)Ancient Wisdom
of Native Americans, for example. Judaism, Christianity and
Islam, in particular, promote a Male Deity the world should bow
to who speaks only Hebrew, Greek or Arabic; certainly not
Apache, Cherokee, Zulu or Mandinka or even English, decides
matters as vastly diverse as nuclear war, and the end of life as we
know it, to what time dinner should be served. Some Christians
even believe the Bible was actually written by a Creator of the
universe. In her powerful and fascinating study, When God was a
Woman, Merlin Stone reminds us that for centuries, young
12

Christian, Muslim and Jewish children, male and female have

been taught that:

a MALE deity created the universe and all that is in it,

produced MAN in ms own divine image-and then as an
afterthought, created woman, to obediently help man in
his endeavors. The image ofEve, created for her husband,
from her husband, the woman who was supposed to have
brought about the downfall of humankind, has in many
ways become the image of all women. (Stone xi)

How, we should all wonder, did this idea ever come into being?
Most Christians, Jews and Muslims are aware of the tale of Eve
heeding the word of a talking snake or serpent, of all things, in a
Garden of Eden, eating a forbidden fruit-from the tree of
knowledge, interestingly -and then tempting Adam to do the
same; well, at least offering. He actually makes up his own mind;
without telling Eve of the specific orders given him by the
supreme male deity (Essex 7-8). Eve, now a symbol ofall women;
certainly those who know and identify with this story, is told by
same male deity that she will desire her husband and he will rule
over her. Or, more emphatically, "And he shall rule over you." As
a result, it was decreed by the male deity that woman must submit
to the dominance of man (xii). Merlin Stone adds:

In prehistoric and early historic periods of human

development, religions existed in which people revered
their supreme creator as female. The Great Goddess-the
Divine Ancestress-had been worshipped from the
beginnings of the Neolithic periods of7000 BC until the
 13

closing of the last Goddess temples, about AD 500 ....

events of the Bible, which we are generally taught to
think of as taking place "in the beginning of time,"
actually occurred in historic periods. (xii)

In other words, Abraham, first prophet of the Hebrew-Christian

God, Yahweh, is believed by most Bible scholars to have lived no
earlier than 1800 BC and possibly as late as 1550 BC (Stone xiii).
So, how did this new myth come into being? How did men gain
the control that now allows such a self-serving myth to dominate?

Archaeological, mythological and historical evidence all

reveal that the female religion, far from naturally fading
away, was the victim ofcenturies ofcontinual persecution
and suppression by the advocates of the newer religions
which held male deities as supreme. And from these new
religions came the creation myth of Adam and Eve, and
the tale of the loss of Paradise. (Stone xili)

West Africa certainly was not and is not immune to such a

universal religious myth and its consequences, Native Americans
as well. In The Wisdom ofthe Native Americans, Ohiyesa (Charles
Alexander Eastman) in "The Hypocrisy of the Christians Among
Us" recounts:

I am reminded of a time when a missionary undertook to

instruct a group of our people in the truth of his holy
religion. He told them of the creation of the earth in six
14

days, and of the fall of our first parents by eating an

apple.
My people were courteous, and listened attentively
and after thanking the missionary, one man related in his
own tum a very ancient tradition concerning the origin of
the maize. But the missionary plainly showed his disgust
and disbelief, indignantly saying, "What I delivered to
you were sacred truths, but this that you tell me is mere
fable and falsehood!" (128)

So, Native Americans' beliefs, like Africans' are condemned by

Catholic, Protestant, and I dare say Islamic believers who teach
Biblical and Koranic miracles as literal fact We must, as Ohiyesa
suggests, "either deny all miracles or none, and our American
Indian myths and hero stories are no less credible than those ofthe
Hebrews of old" (128). What seems so evident and simple is yet
a problem for fundamentalists Christians in America (Black and
White) and fundamentalists Muslims and Jews in the Middle East
who cling tO infantile fantasies and supematural beings like
undeveloped children. Stephen Hawking, in his most recent book,
The Grand Design said that in early, dare I say primitive, cultures
"ignorance of nature's ways led people in ancient times to invent
gods to lord it over evezy aspect of human life. There were gods
of love and war; of the sun, earth and sky; of the oceans and
rivers; of rain and thunderstorms; even of earthquakes and
volcanoes" (17). Attend an African American or White Funda-
mentalist church on a given Sunday, especially following a natural
disaster, and you will come away amazed that for these
mesmerized flocks such a god still exists. For some, 300,000
deaths in the Haiti earthquake was punishment by this loving and
compassionate god for the people's association with so-called
 15

Voodoo, and Katrina happened because Ellen DeGeneres, is a

lesbian from New Orleans, according to televangelist Pat
Robertson.
Hawking and Leonard Mlodinow further infonn us that the
creation of our universe, one of many, created out of nothing
"does not require the intervention of some supernatural being or
god" (8). Now we know ''that nature follows consistent principles
that could be deciphered. And so began the long process of
replacing the notion of the reign of gods with the concept of a
universe that is governed by laws of nature" (17). And, Hawking
argues, to say the laws of nature were the work of God, as do
Kepler, Galileo, Descarte and Newton (especially a white male
god--my note) is ''to merely substitute one mystery for another"
(29). "A scientific law" Hawking continues, "is not a scientific
law if it holds only when some supernatural being decides to
intervene ... there are no miracles, or exceptions to the laws of
nature" (30, 34). This is as true in Africa, Asia, the Middle East
and Latin America as it is in Europe.
Kambili, the mythical hero of our study is, after all, a Muslim
male savior: " You ... saved the farmers ... may Allah not take
the breath from you, K.ambili" (1. 2615 and 2620). And, while
some scholars note that the Koran is borrowed from both Jewish
and Christian myths others believe that it is only intelligible in
Arabic. They insist that "as the literal Word of God, the Koran is
the Koran only in the revealed text A translation can never be the
Koran. ... A translation can only be an attempt to give the barest
suggestion of the meaning of words contained in the Koran. This
is why all Muslims, whatever their mother tongue, always recite
the Koran in its original Arabic" (Hitchens 124). While claiming
to be ''the literal Word of God (Allah)" the Koran shares
supernatural elements of talking serpents, a Noah-like flood,
16

virgin birth, Athena-like angels dictating verses or suras,

miraculous cures, Ascensions and Resurrections. There is, for
example," the story of Muhammad's 'night flight' to Jerusalem
(the hoofprint of his horse, Borak, is still allegedly to be seen on
the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque)" and we all know that horses
cannot and do not fly (Hitchens 140). Karen Armstrong puts it this
way in A Short History ofMyth:

Myths about flight and ascent have appeared in all

cultures, expressing a universal desire for transcendence
and liberation from the constraints of the human
condition. These myths should not be read literally. When
we read of Jesus ascending to heaven, we are not meant
to imagine him whirling through the stratosphere. When
the Prophet Muhammad flies from Mecca to Jerusalem
and then climbs up a ladder to the Divine Throne, we are
to understand that he has broken through to a new level of
spiritual attainment. (23)

We also know that dead people do not come back to life; that the
earth moving at 1,100 miles per hour at the equator cannot stand
still to give Joshua extra daylight to continue killing the Amorites
in Canaan; even God or Allah can't break the laws of nature
(Hawking 87); that "the learned holyman (who) transformed
himself into a black cat" (Kambili 1. 1245-46) is not real life.
What we might choose to believe is quite another matter. "Mythi-
cal narratives" Nubia Salaam informs us, "are the most highly
valued forms in traditional history" (15). For many, in traditional,
pre-modern, cultures these mythological stories that describe
human origins and development are regarded as "sacred texts''.
 17

So, in most traditional and ancient cultures, ''Transmutations,

transmigration, mental telepathy, divination are commonly
accepted" (81). Even today, astonishingly, in modem Western
Christian, Middle Eastern Muslim and Jewish cultures, there is an
insistence on the absolute veracity and infallibility ofthe myths of
each, with all others being "ambivalently or marginally recognized
within popular culture and absolutely dismissed in scientific
discourse" (80). Such myths, Christian, Muslim and Jewish, are
sacred, I suppose, because the texts themselves say they are, or
various authors say they are. Dr. Salaam offers this explanation of
myth provided by W. Taylor Stevenson in Myth and the Crisis of
Historical Consciousness:

The essential character of our personal and social lives is

shaped by myth; or it is by the power of particular myths
which determine, byway of determining our fundamental
presuppositions, the way we shape our cultural, social,
political, and economic lives. We do nothing of signifi-
cance which is not informed my myth in a fundamental
way, and the more significant our act, the more this is
true. It is the symbols within the context of myth which
give rise to all thought. (Salaam 15)

Myths, a people's stories, accounts of imaginary or past events,

are important to them. The myths, the stories and tales people
believe in inform their behavior. Once we believe something it
becomes part of the very apparatus of our mind, determining our
desires, fears, expectations and subsequent behavior (Harris 12).
18

A belief is a lever that, once pulled, moves almost

everything else in a person's life. Are you a scientist? A
liberal? A racist? These are merely species of belief in
action. Your beliefs define your vision of the world; they
dictate your behavior; they determine your emotional
responses to other human beings. (The End ofFaith 12)

This is a discussion relevant to our current twenty-first century

malaise. To wit, most people in this world believe that some
Creator of the universe has written a book. Unfortunately, there
are many such books on hand, each making an exclusive claim as
to its infallibility (13). These world religions, Dr. Harris says
are in perverse agreement on one point of fundamental
importance: 'respect' for other faiths, or for the views of
unbelievers, is not an attitude that God endorses. While
all faiths have been touched, here and there, by the spirit
of ecumenicalism, the central tenet of every religious
tradition is that all others are mere repositories oferror or,
at best, dangerously incomplete" (13).

The next time a Christian bomber pilot does a ''fly-by'' or a

Muslim suicide bomber destroys him or herself along with many
innocents we should consider the role of belief, of faith, of
religion, of notions of god and country in inspiring, blessing and
rationalizing such insanity. The vulgar pride in the efficiency of
mass murder.
African heroic epics like Kambili, Sundiata, The Epic of
Shalca, The Mwindo Epic, The Ozidi Saga, and other oral nar-
ratives, have been told for centuries by griots, and their female
counterparts griottes in West Africa who are, in the words of the
 19

griot Mamadou Kouyate: "vessels of speech ... the repositories

which harbor many secrets many centuries old. The art of
eloquence bas no secrets for us; without us the names of kings
would vanish into oblivion, we are the memory of mankind; by
the spoken word we bring to life the deeds and exploits of kings
for younger generations" (Niane 1). Here, it will prove useful to
turn to the insights of John William Johnson who identifies two
types of epic forms and traditions, Political Epic and Hunters,
Epic, among the Mandinka:

Epic in Mali and elsewhere in the Mande world may be

differentiated by two sets of criteria First, a structural
differentiation between cyclic and unified epic can be
established. Second, two varieties of epic exist which
represent the recitation of two different, though related,
bardic traditions: that of the casted families and that of
the hunters' societies. (Son-Jara: The Mantle Epic 27)

And, ''whether political or hunter, cyclic or unified, epic is

considered the highest form of the bard. Its structural complexity
contributes to its popularity and high status in Mande folklore"
(Johnson 29).
The Epic ofKambili is in the familiar proverb-praise mode of
the hunters' tradition. Contemporary scholars, intellectuals and
writers (Isidore Okpewho, Daniel Kunene, Njabulo Ndebele, Wole
Soyinka, Ngugi Wa Thiong' o, Chinua Achebe, Ayi Kwei Armah,
Chinweizu, Lucy Duran, Cheikh Anta Diop, Leopold Senghor,
Alex Haley, Naguib Mahfouz, Ama Ata Aidoo, Amiri Baraka,
Charles Bird, Eric Charry, Thomas Hale, Karen Armstrong, Buehl
Emecheta, Maya Angelou, Clyde W. Ford, and Nubia Salaam)
20

using the knowledge and resources of the oral literary traditions

of Africa, together with the literary traditions of other cultures,
have found works ofliterary art with themes and structures similar
to that in The Epic ofKambili. In Toward the Decolonization of
African Literature, Chinweizu, et. al. offer the following:

Our examination of several epics show that their plots are

as complicated as in the best epics and novels from any
place or period in the world. They employ all the familiar
elements ofcharacterization, from physical description to
interior monologue and other devices of psychological
probing or character, and they do not omit exploration of
character by action, dialogue, or observation through the
minds and comments of other characters. In the matter of
narrative texture, like all oral traditions they display
precise and deft use of detail as well as summations,
variations in perceptual distance, and montage. Their
presentations of their stories also employ philosophical
reflections on human life, on dea~ fate, destiny, and the
paradoxes of social existence, whether in the narrator's
voice or in the voice of characters within the tale. And
proverbs, aphorisms, and judicious allusions are not at all
lacking. (Chinweizu, Jemie, and Madubuike 1983)

Such observations are true for The Mwindo Epic, The Epic of
Sundiata, as well as The Epic ofKambili. Kambili, like other epic
heroes, is an archetype: a character, an image that recurs in
literature throughout the world. He is a hero who reflects Peter
Hagin's definition of epic poetry in his The Epic Hero and the
Decline ofHeroic Poetry:
 21

A fictitious action with fictitious characters can perfectly

well fulfill the epic requirement as long as by
representing things profoundly human, thoughts pro-
foundly human, emotions profoundly human, they gain
the amplitude and depth of a picture in which we
recognize ourselves and our existence. The abandonment
of verse, in the process, is only a necessary adaptation,
not the negation of the epic purpose. (Hagin,24)

Epic poetry is national poetry; the hero represents a country

or a cause which triumphs with his triumph, whose honor would
suffer from his defeat. The mythical K.ambili is called upon to
remember the lessons of nineteenth centucy Samori Toure, and
thirteenth century Sundiata; their values, their vision, and their
victories.
The epic poem is fundamentally a song about the heroic deeds
of human beings -lest we forget: Sogolon, the buffalo, mother of
Sundiata; Dugo, mother ofK.ambili, who would be pregnant with
him during the day, and at night Kambili would exit her womb
and walk about the village; or Mary, the virgin mother of Jesus -
endowed with something more than human might and operating
in something larger than the normal human context.
The Epic ofKambili is a success story; an account ofhow a
good hero defeats evil men. Like the suitors in Homer's Odyssey,
the sorcerers and Imams in Seydou Camara' sK.ambili would: with
their backward ways, their fraudulent arts, their impotent
promises, their lack of tact or restraint, decivilize the Mandinka,
Jimini, Africa Like the reader of The Odyssey, one who listens to
or reads The Epic of Kambili is quickly impressed by the similar
thematic role of the suitors, in the case of the former and the
22

sorcerers and "holy-men" in the latter. The suitors like the

hypocritical holy men attempt to personify powers they are
incapable of proving. So, at one point the poet sings: "Since the
vt;ry beginning of the world, The holyman and treachery have
never been tar apart" (1. 11 58-59) and later"Ah! All the holymen
are by the mosque, But all ofthem are not holymen!" (1. 1192-93).
The seeming audacity to be critical oflslam or its representatives
is stunning and necessary. The source of that boldness has been
somewhat explained by Eric Charry in his eloquent and oh so
comprehensive Mande Music:

The hunter ancestry of Sunjata supports the common

belief that hunters' societies and their musicians still
preserve that pre-empire, pre-Islamic heritage. Epics
recited by hunter's musicians have not been as
extensively documented as those concerning Sunjata, but
they are generally believed to refer to a mythic past that
predates Islam and the socially differentiated society of
the Sunjata era. (67-68)

Seydou Camara, like Homer, goes to great pains to make the

deaths of these charlatans expected and deserved, as both
aesthetically and thematically necessary. Odysseus shows no
mercy toward the suitors who have tried to take his wife and home
and kill his son. Likewise, Samori, Kambili's mentor, need show
no mercy toward the sorcerers whose presumptive magical arts
prove impotent. The suitors and the sorcerers are summarily
executed. Because, sadly, that's the way real men handle matters,
I guess.
 23

Realism, therefore, is one of the aesthetic resources of the

griot. In The Epic ofK.ambili, an aspect ofthis realism can be seen
in the executions of the four unsuccessful sorcerers commanded
by Amamy Samori Toure. This central motif, in Kambili, is
indicative of a certain realism, because Samori is an historically
verifiable Mandinka Emperor capable of such actions. As noted
by Paul Radin, traditional African omture does not appear to be a
litemture in which wish-fulfillment plays a big role, or one where
we can assume that the hero will triumph at the end or where
wrongs will be righted (Radin 1952).
African epic omture depicts universal and archetypal
elements: characters, plots, themes and structural devices; it uses
realism and magic realism; it speaks the language ofmetaphor and
metaphysical truth; the Jungian "collective unconscious" myth we
create of heroes representing our highest values and aspirations:
Krishna, Mithras, Zarathustra, Buddha, Christ, Mohammed, The
Cid, Sundiata, Kambili. Ernst Fischer, for example, says that:

Art came to the service of religion only after the

craftsman had attained a creditable sureness ofhand; only
then was he recognized as the repository of a certain
measure of beauty and then enlisted as a trustee of
communal truth. (Fischer 1963)

The symbiosis between private talent and public truth may help
clear up some ofthe misunderstanding ofthe mimetic or imitative
principle under which the traditional artist operates. Much ofwhat
we conjecture to be the creative outlook of the traditional African
artist depends on what we think is his society's view of reality
(Jordan 1973). It is the image, as Harold Scheub relates, that is the
24

basic material for oral narrative art forms and mediates between
audience and reality. Image, Scheub relates:

is so constructed and manipulated in performance that it

shapes the audience's perception of the real. Image is
composed ofwords that are given a unique framework by
means of mytbm, for example, and by intonation and
gesture, by body movements which tend to dance, verbal
and nonverbal elements which tend to drama and song.
Image is a visualized action or set of actions evoked in
the minds of the audience by verbal and nonverbal
elements arranged by the performer, requiring a common
experience ofimages held by both artist and audience, the
artist seeking by a judicious and artistic use of images to
shape that experience and to give it meaning. (Scheub
n.d.)

In African oral literature, orature, rarely has man been

depicted as more completely and inextricably anchored in this
world, more obsessively earthbound: the human experience is the
fundamental frame ofreference. Contrary to the belief widespread
throughout the world, it appears, man in Africa is never thought
of as having once possessed a portion of a divinity and then lost
it. Rather, man is observed in his own integral circumstances, and
his success and failures are seen in relation to his admirable
courage or else of his moral shortcomings (Okpewho 1979). It
appears, however, that the traditional African artist is first and
foremost a realist artist. Daniel Kunene bears witness to this
category of realism in his seminal work, Heroic Poetry of the
Basotho, and, at the same time, provides this study with a
 25

definition of "hero" that will be a standard against which

''heroism" will be judged in The Epic ofKambili:

The heroes are not superior beings except in so far as

their earthly deeds make them so, least of all are they
gods or descendants of gods. They do not possess
supernatural powers, or do battle against other-worldly
creatures such as monsters and demons. The do not go on
adventures to worlds beyond that of man. Nor are they
wont to provide lavish feasts in palatial mansions. In
short, they are ordinary human beings engaged in
ordinary human activities. Not seldom, however, the poet,
in the vividness of his imagination, uses metaphor,
imagery, and symbolism which transport these ordinary
activities to a level of extraordinariness, and the hero is
often described as fighting against monsters, or as being
himself a monster or other terrible creature destroying his
opponents. But this is never meant to be more than
figurative. (Kunene 1971)

The human being, woman and man, is the center oftraditional

African literature. Though either might act in mystical, bordering
on supernatural ways, sometime, in ways inconsistent with an
ordinary, reasonable and prudent human beings. So, in most
instances, we will find that man does not ascend to heaven to have
intercourse with the gods; the gods descend to earth (Radin 1952).
And, A.C. Jordan suggests that any ''fantastic" world is as
germane to the artist's sense of concrete presence as the thicket or
cave in the backyard. In spite ofthe "superior'' strength or magical
powers of sorcerers, monsters, ogres and other grotesque figures,
human beings like K.ambili and his mother, Dugo triumphs over
26

them (Jordan 1973). Such human beings are "superior," only in so

far as their earthly deeds make them so. This does not preclude the
:functional and imaginative role of the supernatural and the
fantastic in the oral literature of Africa, but this earthbound
realism serves to indicate the tremendous empathy the poet
establishes between himself and the subjects of his tale,
particularly the hero. It is his imagination, his metaphor,
symbolism and imagery that transports these ordinary activities to
a level of extraordinariness.
Another aspect of aesthetic realism noticeable in The Epic of
Kambili is the relationship ofthe poet and poem to landscape. The
scholarship of Charles Bird confirms that the field of action in
which a traditional Mandinka hunter operates is the bush, an area
diametrically opposed to the town or village. These two areas
symbolize opposing foroes in the Mandinka cosmos. To gain a
name sung for posterity means overcoming the deeds of one's
predecessors and one's contemporaries (Bird 1974). Success for
the hunter presupposes an intimate knowledge and relationship
with the land; therefore, the poet, who sings the hunter's exploits,
embodies this same reciprocity, this same affinity with his
physical surroundings. Isidore Okpewho illuminates our concern
here:

There is perhaps a subtle but quite defensible relationship

between art and the landscape out of which grows . . .
And it would appear that a good part of the aesthetic
nourishment of traditional African art derives from the
nature of the surrounding landscape and the concomitant
throb of animate company within it. (Okpewho 20)
 27

The legends from the savanna, Okpewho reminds us, reflect

certain leanness. Even the narrative mirth appears relatively lean
in the savanna legends. The Epic of Kambili is a good case in
point:

One is struck by a certain haunting and elliptical effect to

the whole narrative, and oppressive sense of loss, of
decline, and of death. The tales from the forest country
tend to explore a victory over death as over its forces, and
on the whole reflect the throb, lushness, and elan of the
organic life and fellowship around them: a veritable song
of life! It is perhaps no accident of detail that whereas in
Kambili the dominant sentiment is that "all things that
stand eventually lie down," in.Mwindo it is that "whatever
sleeps shall awake." (Ok:pewho 21)

Okpewho extends his analysis of the relationship between

landscape and art to include the plastic arts. Here, he suggests that
there is a certain "elegance" in those proportionately long and
slender antelope figures, masks, and even ancestral figures that
dominate the art of the Bambara and the Dogon ofthe arid Sudan;
here again, the landscape seems to be an influential factor: "There
is little in the savanna flora that would supply the kind of stout and
lusty wooden material necessary for rotund figures" (Ok:pewho).
In this, and ways noted above, the poet, Seydou Camara exposes
and extols significant material and nonmaterial aspects of
Mandinka culture.
 Chapter Two
Griots and Griottes:
Composers and Performers

To some griot and griotte, (singular) or griots and griottes

(plural}-male and female, respectively, are famiJiar terms. To
others, I suggest the wonderful, meticulous and essential work of
Thomas Hale, Griots and Griottes. The volume, 410 pages, in and
of itself speaks to the depth and complexity inherent in these
terms. Hale notes, for example, that:

Some West Africans feel that the word can be insulting,

and say it should not be used because it does not appear
in any African language. But for many African
Americans, griot constitutes an invaluable and highly
symbolic link with their cultural traditions. (8)

Griots and griottes represent such a varied, proud and ancient

tradition that scholars like Mamadou Diawara and many other
scholars, African and non-African, do not like griot because of its
ambiguity (14). One might simply replace it with poet, as I have
often done here, or bard or some other term; yet, keeping in mind
the term's broader meaning and significance. In tact, Prof. Hale
notes that changing the definition ofthis term is precisely what the

29
30

government of Niger tried to do in 1980. Apparently, on

December 18, 1979, the president of Niger, Seyni K.ountche,
complained in a speech to the nation about what he saw as
economic waste occasioned by griots, and that people were
devoting too many of their resources, government and personal,
to gifts for griots. This is no trivial matter when one considers that
gifts have included: automobiles, homes, performance contracts
and on one occasion an airplane (78). His attempt was to
"sanitize" the profession.
In Mali today, for example, griottes have gained considerable
prominence. Lucy Duran observes: "On television, on the radio,
in the market stalls, at live concerts, the stars of Malian music are
all women" (" 'Jelimusow ': The Superwomen of Malian Music"
204). Duran is particularly illuminating, and adds:

These women singers of Mali who have become

successful lead their lives with singular independence. In
the context of a country which is otherwise largely male-
dominated, and where women's liberation movements
have made little if any impact, their behavior could well
be described as showing "unlimited license". These
women are often the recipients of fabulous gifts :from
patrons (both men and women): some have been given
cars, fully furnished houses, gold, large amounts of
money and even in one case a small airplane so that the
singer could visit her patron in a remote comer of Mali.
(204)

In too many countries, even today, when women attain a certain

level of achievement, men do not like that Regardless, the level
 31

of economic independence many of these women have achieved

allows them to drive their own cars, run their own businesses, and
according to Duran "are rumored to prefer the company of
women" (204). The special appreciation of women's voices in
Mandinka culture and history is not only recent. The presence of
griottes in the music of ancient Mali is noted as early as 1354,
when Ibn Battuta visited the court of Mali:

The interpreter Dugba brings in his four wives and his

concubines, who are about a hundred in number ... a
chair is set there for Dugha and he beats an instrument
which is made of reeds with tiny calabashes below it,
praising the sultan, recalling in his song his expeditions
and deeds. The wives and the concubines sing with him
and they play with bows. (Duran 199)

Griot and Griotte are not simple terms. Nor is theirs a simple
profession. Griots and Griottes are part of a major professional
class of artists and specialists that includes: blacksmiths, leather
workers, and weavers, known collectively as the nyamakala.
(Salaam 1-2). Thomas Hale says we may assume that "the
profession goes back many hundreds ofyears before 1352, at least
to the origins of the Ghana empire late in the first millennium"
(79). In fact, the research of Nubia Salaam reveals that: "When
asked about the origins of the griot tradition most griots said it
began with Sourakata, the companion and praise singer of the
Prophet Mohammad. This claim would locate the origins of the
1radition in the seventh century Saudi Arabia, when, in fact,
according to Soumano and the Mande myth of creation, the
tradition is much older" (249). In other words, the griot 1radition,
32

in West Africa, is older than Islam. "A study commissioned by

the government of Niger recommended that the word griot be
replaced with artist, musician, and singer". The attempt was
~uccessful and the term griot, like the profession it signifies,
survives in Niger today (Hale 15). The list of functions of a
griot--genealogist, historian, adviser, spokesperson, diplomat,
mediator, interpreter and translator, musician, composer, teacher,
exhorter, witness, praise-singer, poet, story-teller, both extra-
ordinary and incomplete, belies any oversimplification of the
tradition. Hale elaborates:

By their efforts to inspire people, mediate conflicts, and

facilitate important life ceremonies, they seem to operate
as secular guides to human behavior and as social
arbiters. At events related to birth, initiation, marriage,
family history, sports, music, and government, griots and
griottes are there to witness the occasion, to enliven it, to
facilitate it, and to convey what happened to others. No
other profession in any other part of the world is charges
with such wide-ranging and intimate involvement in the
lives of people. (57)

Some ''purists" perhaps preferjali for males andjalimuso for

females-terms from the Mandinka of the western Mande in the
Senegambian region. But, among the Soninke' of western Mali
and southern Mauritania the term here is gesere '(plural geserun),
sometimes spelled gessere (10). We see the problem here; these
rather ethnocentric terms seem to ignore information about non-
Mande griots in surrounding countries, such as Senegal, Niger,
and Benin. Hale observes most reasonably:
 33

It seems inevitable that griot will continue to serve as the

generic term for these wordsmiths. First, griot has spread
into many parts of the African diaspora, in particular the
Caribbean and the United States, taking on extremely
positive connotations for those who see the profession as
a link to their ancestors. It has entered the vocabulary of
African Americans to such an extent that it would be
impossible to try to suppress it. And like griots them-
selves who travel so widely, the term griot is now
recognized around the world. (15)

Griotte or griottes may not be quite as familiar to some for several

reasons. For, while Hale insightfully observes, "African Ameri-
cans are adopting the term griot as a sign of respect for those who
know about the past, are artists in various media, or are simply
high achievers," he is also careful to note that there is no mention,
however, of pride or recognition of griottes (4). In fact:

When Alex Haley searched for links to his heritage in The

Gambia, he focused his efforts on male griots. There are
no references to female griots in Roots, either the video or
the written narrative. The lack of any images of griottes
stems in large part from deeply rooted and functionally
based gender division in many parts of Africa, as well as
from the very limited amount of research on these female
wordsmiths. (217)

When asked by Hale in 1991 if he had encountered any female

griots, Haley replied honestly, "I never heard of a female griot. .
. . Nobody ever mentioned it, nor did I think about it. ... I took it
34

for granted that there were none" (217-218). Like other fields of
study, especially social science research, African Literature
studies, regardless of whether research is carried out by men or
women, is profoundly marked by the male point of view.
As one who has been reading and teaching Niane's Sundiata
for the past couple of decades, I was surprised to discover that
women are, at least in Mali, the dominant voices ofthis epic in the
modem perfonnance context (221 ). There may even be a griotte
version of Kambili. A woman can sing a hunter's song about a
man. In his introduction to Son-Jara John Johnson says:

Both women and men are involved with praise-poetry and

song . . . .The wife will often sing the songs in her
husband's epics. Also popular is the musician who
accompanies his wife's singing. A full ensemble, such as
that of the Kuyate lineage of the village of Kela near
Kaaba, includes a mastersinger who only narrates, a
woman who sings praise-poems and songs, a female
chorus, a male naamu-sayer, and several male musicians.
(25)

Tentative research in this area has shown that in the Mande world,
knowledge of epic narratives is not gender-limited. Men and
women acquire the same information about Sunjata, for instance,
since they are allowed to attend the (rare) official rehearsals of the
epic. In addition, "despite popular belief to the contrary, it is not
uncommon to hear women perform versions ofSunjata and other
epics" (Duran 201). The only gender difference is that ''women
know the story of Sunjata as well as men, but men can speak the
 35

story, women can only sing it" (Hale 227). So, women focus more
on the praise lines and songs than on the narrative. On the other
hand, Salaam, tells us "In The Epic of Sara, a Malinke epic
usually sung by female griots, the hero is a woman who defies the
tradition of prearranged marriage in order to honor her vow to
marry the man she loves. Through her tenacious integrity,
devotion, courage, and guile she heroically succeeds in marrying
the man of her choice" (112). Salaam illuminates our concern
here:

The epic expounds a cogent argument for marriage based

on love, announcing in repetitive stanzas that love
between man and woman is a union conceived in
paradise. Sara's reward is paradise for honoring her
promise and what is praised is her undaunted integrity.
Sara is not sung for beauty
Sara is sung for a person's behavior
Sara is not sung for charming
Sara is sung for a person's behavior
Behaving is hard! (112)

Although, Salaam continues " historical epics are predominately

centered around male heroes in the Medieval world ofmultilateral
patriarchy, women and goddesses are pivotal figures in epic
narratives, and in African history in particular, where women
perennially emerge as military heroes and heads of states, they are
often the central hero of the epic (112). I am mindful here of the
civilizing role a woman, a harlot actually, plays in The Epic of
Gilgamesh. She is the bait needed to civilize Enkidu: who "ate
36

grass with the gazelle and was born in the hills" (64). He is
referred to as "the savage man". Following the instructions of
Gilgamesh, the hunter/trapper says to the woman:

There he is. Now, woman, make your breasts bare, have

no shame, do not delay but welcome his love. Let him see
you naked, let him possess your body. When he comes
near uncover yourself and lie with him; teach him, the
savage man, your woman's art, for when he murmurs
love to you the wild beasts that shared his life in the hills
will reject him. (64)

When he is satisfied, he goes back to the wild beast, but the wild
creatures all run from him. "So he returned and sat down at the
woman's feet, and listened to what she said" (65). In The Epic of
Kambili, after much travail over the birth of Kambili, the poet,
Seydou Camara sings:

If you are not afraid of females, Master

If you are not afraid of females,
You're not afraid of anything.
A woman's hand knows how to strike a man's desires in
any case. (1.2257-60)

The griot of epic poetry is a narrator of action and valor, and

an interpreter of human life. In many parts of Africa, and the
world, epic or heroic poetry is narrated or performed to the
background of music. Nubia Salaam provides the following
 37

synthesis and elucidation of the significant roles of the griot in

Mande culture:

The West African empires of Ghana, Mali, and Songhay

had a professional class of historians who transmitted
history orally and functioned as advisors to the royal
court, mediators in international and national disputes,
foreign relations experts, cultural and social
anthropologists, ofticiators of rites of passage
ceremonies, philosophers, musicians and entertainers. The
art of history reached its highest level of organizational
sophistication and aesthetic mastery among the
Malinke/Mande historians known as jeliljeliyu or
popularly known as griots. (vi)

A key question in Salaam's thesis and one that is still relevant

today, is: "why, in a culture that used Arabic script and had its
own ideographic script, would the griots, insist on systematically
preserving history through the oral arts?" (vi). Certainly, the
capricious and unreliable nature of material texts and the
vicissitudes of history create problems. Salam is aware of the
sacking ofthe ancient Ghana empire by the Almorivids in 1076 as
well as the "confiscation of thousands of texts during the
destruction ofTimbucktoo and Gao by the Moroccans in 1591left
a paucity of available written records and a fragmentation of oral
history concomitant with the disruption and dispersal of related
ethnic groups" (4). Yet, another reason for preserving the oral
tradition is that from the point ofview ofthe griot, "the allegorical
meanings, the moral and philosophical instruction of historical
38

discourses are far more important than factual details" (11 ). She
concludes:

Unlike modem Western historiography that gives

legitimacy only to written texts and dismisses oral
historical narratives as &historical accounts sprinkled with
pastiches of truth, in the Malinke tradition oral texts are
no less credible than written texts. Because an event is
written does not mean it is true. In a predominately
illiterate society oral historical performances are
obviously more popular than written histories; but that is
not the only reason for the oral tradition's popularity.
More importantly, the aesthetic approach of the griot,
which combines artistic performance and history, leaves
an experiential impression on the audience, the observer
is emotionally drawn inside the circle of performance as
a participant in the historical experience. (12)

The poet and his poem represent a dynamic, reciprocal,

relationship with the community, in many African societies. In
traditional circumstances, a contribution like that of Seydou
Camara would be considered ofthe greatest importance, and such
a griot might be maintained by the community through gifts, fees
and, in the case of such an exceptional artist, through royal
patronage on behalfof the community. In such circumstances, the
poet and the story teller stood at the center of this tradition, as the
community's chroniclers, entertainers, and collective conscious
(Jordan 1973). SeydouCamara, Charles Bird notes, since 1953 has
endeavored to make his living as a traditional singer.
 39

Among the Mandinka, from whom Kambili derives, there are

two types of professional poets: one is associated uniquely with
the hunter's group, and the other is associated with the major
noble families of the Mandinka. The poet for this latter group is
born into his profession; whereas, the traditional hunter's singer
elects to serve as the seer, or reader of omens, for hunters, and
after the hunt sings the praise of the kill (Bird 1972).
Hunters' groups, among the Mandinka, are not defined along
ethnic lines. As an institution, they cross over the traditional
ethnic barriers. In fact, according to Bird, the hunters' groups,
may well prove to be the institution that enabled the people ofthis
area to establish bonds over extended geographic and cultural
areas and to use these bonds for the formation of larger units
which formed the basis of more powerful economic and political
states such as the Ghana and Mali empires (279). It is no accident
that great kings ofthe Mandinka past are portrayed as hunters first
and foremost.
Indicative of the deference paid to the hunter is the sequence
of image sets from Kambili in which Bari, King of the omen
readers, returns from a hunt and has killed an antelope-buck, and
presents it to the jealous, conspiring, 'holy' man. Here, the
eulogues, to offer Daniel Kunene's coinage, are illustrative ofthe
appreciation and esteem in which the hunter is held. Kunene
defines eulogues as: praises, or laudatory epithets referring to
some quality for which the person is distinguished, or some deed
of prowess or cunning, which he has performed. In this following
instance, the 'holy' man praises Bari:
40

Master, I salute You!

I salute you for your hardships!
The Fresh-Heart Cutter and the Fresh-Liver Cutter!
Killer of the Ruthless and Killer of the Hardy!
Cracker of Green Heads and Gouger of Green Eyes!
Eater of Cold Meals and Drinker of Cool Water!
Man, your Mother gave birth to a vicious homed viper,
Allah. (11. 1178-1184)

Aware of the enmity between the omen reader and the holyman,
the poet immerses himself in the story, in obvious empathy with
the hero, and cautions with an appropriate aphorism anticipating
the hero's arrival:

Praising a man is not pleasing to his enemy.

Everyday talk improves a man more than everyday
argument.
The hero is only welcome on troubled days.
(ll. 1189-1191)

These three insightful aphoristic proverbs express the anomalous

(love/hate) relationship of the hero to his community.
Seydou Camara is not a hunter, but has devoted his life to
singing the hunter's praise. The bard is the master of words, and
words, in Mandinka society, are considered to have mystical
force, which can bring supernatural energies to bear. These
energies can both augment and diminish a man's capacity to act.
Thus, in Mandinka culture, the bard, the poet plays an important
role in initiating, mediating and terminating acts, ceremonies and
festivals (Bird v). Beyond this, the poet's task is to clarify the
 41

profound meaning of events to his fellow-man, to make plain to

them the process, the necessity, and the rules of social and
historical development, and to solve for them the riddle of the
essential relationships between man and man, man and nature and
man and society (Fischer 46).
The traditional African oral poet is not a slave to form or
tradition: rather, like the truly imaginative leader ofhis people, he
seeks first and foremost to give fresh validity and meaning to the
community's life and myth with the aid of his creative vigor
(Ok:pewho 23). "In former times," Vincent Monteil writes: ''the
griot also filled a less peaceable function ... they bore the royal
standard to war and could in no circumstances turn back" (Forde
and Kaberry 267).
Seydou Camara, singer of the Kambili epic, was born and
raised in the village ofKabaya, Mali near Guinea. He is Mandinka
and the Mandinka people are spread throughout western Mali,
Senegal, Gambia, Guinea, Upper Volta and the Ivory Coast. As
the name Camara implies, he is a member ofthe blacksmith caste
(Bird v). He is now fifty-four years of age and he began playing
the harp-lute casually as an adolescent. At about the age oftwenty
he devoted himself to the mastery of the hunters' tradition, the
playing of the harp-lute and the singing of their poetry and song
("Heroic Songs ofthe Mande Hunters" [Bird, 277]). "The position
ofthe hunters' bard is the result of a long apprenticeship spanning
upward often to fifteen years" (Bird 279).
It has become convenient to see the bard exclusively within
the context of oral epic, since that is the topic of this study;
otherwise, a full appreciation of him will reveal that his
42

competence embraces other kinds of songs. The poet of oral epic

is among other things a performer. As a performer, therefore,
much more than criticism of written literature cares to do, the
criticism of oral literature asks questions about the context or
process during which a piece of poetry is created (Okpewho 33).
As A. B. Lord observes, "an oral poem is not composed for but in
performance" (Albert Lord 28). Adam Parry once asked a very
pertinent question with regard to the monumental excellence of
the Riad: "Did Homer say on some occasion: 'I'll never do it
better than that: reproduce that version!'?"
One can easily imagine what liberties are taken in this area of
purely imaginative literature, or at least literature that is relatively
free of the tyranny of historical fact, data and chronological
exactitude (Okpewho 26).
Milman Parry states:

The first move in this attempt to rebuild the Homeric idea

of epic poetry will be to show that The Riad and The
Odyssey are composed in a traditional style, and are
composed orally, then to see just how such poetry differs
from our own style and form. When that is done, we shall
have solid ground beneath us when we undertake the
problem of unity in the poems, or judge a doubtful verse,
or try to point out how one epic poem would differ from
another, or how the greatness of a singer would show
itself. (Parry 269)
 43

In The Epic of Kambili, there is a good example of a kind of

improvisational irregularity, or "doubtful verse." The wanior
Kanji (father of Kambili) is unable to have a child, and several
soothsayers are invited to solve the dilemma and name who
among the wives will bear the hero child. If a soothsayer fails in
the task, he is immediately beheaded by the order of Samori
Toure, Kanji's general and ruler of the land. One of these
soothsayers is Merikoro, head of the powerful Komo (blacksmith
cult-group), which is the ultimate mystical power in traditional
Mandinka society. Beheading such a man would be unthinkable;
so, though Nerikoro fails to solve the child dilemma, he goes scot-
free. Here is how the bard introduces the character Nerikoro into
the story:

Nerikoro, the Komo man has come!

Fakoli was a smith, Somori!
If an insult is made to a smith, pleasure will sour.
The world's first child was a smith,
An insult to a smith, pleasure is ruined.
Ah! Smith! Somori!
If you insult a smith ... (Kambili ll. 534-539)

The doubtful verse or irregular reference is ''Fakoli." He does not

feature at all in Kambili as a character, but is very much one, and
an important one, in the Sundiata epic. According to his editors,
the bard Seydou Camara has a version of Sundiata, which is not
yet transcribed. In Niane' s version, Sundiata, Fakoli is the nephew
of Soumaoro, arch enemy of the hero Sundiata. In the great war
44

between these two, Fakoli takes Sundiata's side against his uncle
Soumaoro because the latter has taken his wife Keleya from him.

An "insult" to a smith, such as Fakoli has experienced, is

therefore fraught with serious consequences. In the
relevant context in Kambili, the detail serves a cautionary
purpose and explains why the bard does not subject
Nerikoro to treatment he ordinarily deserves. Thus a
detail or line from one song is deployed, formulaically, in
another song in such a way that it bestows on its new
context a bold associative or metaphorical flavor
(Okpewho 43).

The oral poet's concept of history and fact is different from ours.
For him myth is history. For him history is both what has actually
happened and what is :tabled to have happened. Homer, for
example, gives no date for the Siege of Troy and Gileamesh is
equally silent and moves in self-contained world of the past The
aspect of verisimilitude in heroic poetry is extremely provocative,
but beyond comprehensive treatment within the scope of this
study. The following should, at least, be exemplary of this
concern. At one point, Seydou Camara exclaims: Ahl Comrades!
I don't tell lies. (655)
Yet, within the compass of his poem, a child pulls a buffalo
home effortlessly with a rope, brings a leopard home on a leash,
and a man turns into a lion. Obviously, the very nature of the oral
epic marks it out as unreliable history. The heroic song is an ever-
living event, and the bard is often obliged to use present material
 45

and thus adulterate the basic 'antiquity' or historical accuracy of

his poem.
The text of Kambili is distinguished by anachronisms and refer-
ences that are clearly reflective of the moment of performance.
Sometimes the bard is moved by the magnitude of recent events,
for example:

"I salute you Parisian man of the hour'' (333),

a reference to Charles de Gaulle; or giving deference to his host,

for example:

my apprentices, I greet you.

Guests, I greet you.
Respected guests, I greet you, Allah! (11.57-59)

The singer is a man of his times and some violations of historical

fact are motivated by, perhaps, political self-interest and the
vicissitudes of extemporaneous composition.
The concept of 'heroic age' is only relevant to an interest in
history conceived as a rigid entity, which is alien to the myth-
making genius of the poet of oral epic. For him an heroic tale has
an existence with other tales of the same kind; its interest is not
consciously historical but broadly and simply human. To him
history is truth eternally recreated with the power of song, not as
dry record of the past, but as a vital memory of the past as
exhortation to present action. History for the oral poet, serves to
simplify a mass of material, relates different stories to one
46

another, and evokes a world in which heroes live and act and die
(C. M. Bowra 29). The task of memory and recitation, though the
primary responsibility of a select caste, men and women, is the
heritage of all Mande people.
 Chapter Three

Kambili and History

The Kambili epic celebrates the legendary world of Samori

Toure, the late nineteenth-century ruler of the Segu Tukulor
Empire. Yet, from the thirteenth century world of Sundiata,
Seydou Camara brings in the hero Fakoli and, from the twentieth
century, he gives his salute to Charles de Gaulle. What then is this
'heroic age' around which the bard builds his song? The
argwnents for a static or frozen 'heroic period' are particularly
weak.when tested on Seydou Camara's Kambili. Drawing his
references from the thirteenth century world of Fakoli, the
nineteenth century world of Samori Toure, and the twentieth
century world of Charles de Gaulle (who is not even Mandinka),
the poet is celebrating valor as an ideal, rather than the specific
age in which it is exemplified. The composers ofheroic poetry are
not really interested in chronology and probably know very little
about it; instead they are interested in the things history reveals:
values, ideals, and the dangers attending to these.
In a society where media (e.g., mass communication infra-
structure) is limited, it is usually the oral poet who is responsible
for offering a firm foundation to both past and present cultural
influences, that may otherwise have been treated simply as
passing fancies, and thus allowed to die.

47
48

The authenticity of the character Samori Toure, in Kambili, is

exemplary. Sam.ori Toure functions in the story as an interlinking,
repetitive, bound motif: one without which this particular narrative
could not be told. A bound motif is one that cannot be omitted
without disturbing the entire causal-chronological course of
events. It is from this perspective that the aspect ofhistoricity can
be addressed-especially when we consider that Samori is (to my
knowledge) the only historically verifiable character in the work.
Appealing to history, momentarily, it can be shown rather easily
why Samori Toure functions as such an important, controlling,
structural motifand unifying thematic thread throughout the work.
Michael Crowder's West African Resistance "The Military
Response to Colonial Occupation" contains an article by Yves
Person entitled simply, "Ouinea-Samori," an unwitting synec-
doche that exhumes for us some of the history surrounding this
fascination character.

After more than half a century of colonial activity and a

complete overthrow of the traditional structures of
African society one might expect the earlier periods ofthe
country's history to be judged with at least a minimum of
objective detachment Far from it: the case of Samori
shows that this is not so.
In the course of his long career this formidable
adversary won the respect and admiration of his enemies
the French .... even if they did on occasion misrepresent
his actions, and motives the better to influence public
opinion in France. He was less fortunate with colonial
historians at the beginning of the century, most of them
almost totally preoccupied with justifying the French
imperial order. In this period Samori was cast in the role
 49

of villain and he found himself presented to the world as

a cruel sadist dropping with blood (Crowder 1I 1).

An ironic portrait, to be sure, when we consider that during this

period, the nineteenth century, West Africa was subjected to two
great forces: militant Islam from the north and Christian European
expansion from the south. That only in the closing years of the
nineteenth century was Samori defeated by the French (Anene and
Brown 240-41 ).
This is very significant, because, in their treatment ofKambili,
both Charles Bird, and Isidore Okpewho prepare us for the
historical importance and central space that Samori must occupy
in the Kambili epic. Granted, Bird notes the many respectful
epithets that are applied to Samori, e.g., The lm.an, Toure ni
Manjun, Sorcerer Conquering Sorcerer, Hom Viper, Naked-
Buttock Battler, Naked-Chest Battler, Fresh-Heart Cutter and
Fresh-Liver Cutter, Great-Head Smasher, The Man-Killer King,
Master and others. However, neither Bird, nor Okpewho connect
these epithets to the authenticity ofSamori Toure. Inherent in our
understanding ofSamori should be such insights as:

Samori arouses the highest passions because more than

any other leader in pre-colonial Africa he symbolizes
heroic and determined resistance to the European
conqueror. (Crowder 112)

Neither Sam.ori Toure nor his activities were heard ofbefore I 878.
He bad built a purely African empire and he bad built it in
response to an internal crisis in his own country, not for the simple
purpose of resisting the French. Sam.ori built an empire to meet
50

the crisis, which shook the Mandinka world; He would never have
had the success he did if he had not found immense popular
support among his compatriots. He could never have forged this
marvelous instrument, never have united so many disparate
elements, without his extraordinarily attractive personality, or the
gift of inspiring loyalty and devotion. Among Samori's most
trusted generals were griots. Morifing Dian was one of Tome's
most trusted collaborators and the only one to accompany him into
exile (Hale 45). It is for these, and other reasons praises are
composed for the emperor Samori. In fact, "his heroic effort at
consolidating warring nations against a common enemy is
commemorated in another famous Malinke narrative, The Epic of
Samori Toure (Salaam 11 0).
Interestingly, Mazisi Kunene, in his Introduction titled "A
Zulu Epic" in Emperor Shalca the Great, makes the following
comments concerning the southern part of Africa in the early
nineteenth century:

There have been many outstanding leaders and generals

in the African continent, but none captures the
imagination as Shaka of Senzangakhona. From a small
volunteer army of approximately 200 and a territory that
seemed, in comparison with other neighboring states, no
more than a small, local district, Shaka built in a period of
ten years a formidable standing army of about 60,000 to
70,000 highly trained men. His rule extended over a large
part of Southern Africa. (xiii)

One's past glories and allegiances are the stuff from which
national identity, hubris, and epic literature is made. These
 51

resources, important to the process of nation building, are also the

structural and thematic material available to the bard. Praises and
criticisms of legendary heroes, like Sam.ori and Shaka are a vital
part of the thematic formulae used by poets.
Universally, epics are recognized as a symbol of the origin,
growth and development of the state. Therefore, epic literature
will often include actual historic personages, genealogies, and
authentic events. Nevertheless, we should not use epic stories,
mythic and epic heroes to justify, in the words of Page duBois
''the immutability of humans' impulses to violence and
aggression" or "claims about the eternal inevitability ofwar" (34).
In fact, the essential Salaam says:

No matter how many praise songs were composed for

Shaka Zulu, itsombi (poets), a secret cult of Zulu
historians remember Shaka as a cruel and relentless tyrant
responsible for the decimation of South African
populations and the opening of a cleared path for
European colonization. Shaka is represented as a hero in
official history and as an anti-hero in the records of
collective memory: the oral tradition. (149)

The violence and mayhem attendant with such epic characters can
be explained, aesthetically, structurally, thematically, even
politically but certainly not justified, morally or ethically. It does
not matter the ''hero" this definition of maleness, of being a man,
of heroism sustains our atavism, our backward, primitive nature.
In other words, leaning on the work of Page duBois, who
notes in her Trojan Horses: "Saving the Classics from Conserva-
tives" that these are contemporary scholars, intellectuals and
52

writers. For example, in his On the Origins of War and the

Preservation ofPeace, Donald Kagan is one of the scholars who:

use the ancients [traditional or classic European texts [e.g.

The Odyssey, The Riadj to justify his sense of the
immutability of humans' impulses to violence and
aggression, not proving their universality, but through
ancient example simply asserting it. The wars of the
classical Greeks and Romans provide him with the
foundation and the authority for his claims about the
eternal inevitability of war. He uses classical antiquity to
justify a contemporary politics of military expenditure,
interventionism, and American imperial ambitions. His
version of ancient history serves his political purposes,
while distorting both history and the classics. (duBois 34)

The Epic ofKambili is not about war, certainly not war between
states or nations. Ifanything it depicts what Mazisi Kunene would
refer to as a kind of "reluctant war". That is, at times, "a battle
would involve only a single, chosen representative from each
side" or conflicts were resolved "by the initiation of national
poetry contests and dances" (Kunene xv-xvi). In The Epic of
Kambili, this "war" is between Kambili and the lion-man Cekura.
Kambili is the hero of this particular song of Seydou Camara
and, in the context ofthis story, is called upon to exhibit his ability
to restore, if only mythically or symbolically, the ancient empire
of the Mandinka people, to its deserved grandeur. Quite often the
strength of a culture is fully reflected in the exploits of its epic
hero. Kambili (symbolically) is being asked to restore harmony to
disharmony and order to chaos.
 53

When Camara sings of Samori, or when he sings ofKambili,

he's creating an artistic image of revolutionary Africa, the
embodiment in word of a new, self-aware African personality. It
is promulgated, by word and example, to Camara's contemp-
oraries and kinsmen: "that is what you ought to be like. The age
in which we live demands it. The world at whose birth we are all
present needs it" (Fischer 47).
Besides actual historical events and personages, what are
some of the other resources of the oral narrative process? The
unfixed nature of oral composition/performance makes it clear
that the poet is trained in the rigid use of memory, and in the
flexible technique of improvisation. Since the song is composed
''in" and not "for" a performance, the poet is likely to be content
that other ingredients of his craft (music, drama, histrionics, etc.)
will make up for the incidental irregularities and inaccuracies of
historical "fact" along the way.
The poet, of oral narrative epics, must also acquire an
eXtensive repertoire of songs, in order to sharpen his poetic skill.
The editors of The Mwindo Epic tell us, "the expert narrators and
singers may know a fairly large number of texts." (Daniel
Biebuyck and Kahombo Madam 6) And the editors of Kambili say
the following of the repertoire of the Mandinka bard:

A typical evenings performance will include songs for

amusement and dancing, ritual songs which can be
danced only by those who have performed certain deeds
and, at the close of evening, an epic song of one of the
many hunter heroes. We have recorded twelve epic
performances ofSeydou Camara and well over fifty ofhis
songs. (Bird ix)
54

One of the essential resources for the training of the singer (for
such is the name these oral poets most often give themselves), is
the process of acquiring an extensive repertory of songs.
The foundation of the formulary technique, described by
Milman Parry, resides in the fact that the bard has a vast number
of tales or lays from which to draw easily deployable phrases and
themes. Homer too has been credited with quite a few songs.
Within The Odyssey, we get a picture of the bard's varied
repertory, when Demodokos sings ofthe Trogan experience ofthe
Achaeans, and draws tears from Odysseus. Milman Parry, in The
Making of Homeric Verse, embellishes this concern when he
writes:

It is my own view ....that the nature of Homeric poetry

can be grasped only when one has seen that it is
composed in a diction which is oral, and so formulaic,
and so traditional .
. . . .Not having the device of pen or paper which, as he
composed, would hold his partly formed thought in safe-
keeping ... he makes his verses by choosing from a vast
number offixed phrases which he has heard in the poems
of other poets.
. . . .The young poet learns from some older singer not
simply the general style of the poetry, but the whole
formulaic diction. This he does by hearing and
remembering many poems, until the diction has become
for him the habitual mode of poetic thought. (Parry 328)

Among the Mandinka, the traditional path of training griots and

griottes was from father to son or mother to daughter though there
were exceptions. Their compositions are "oral ... formulaic and
 55

traditional." As caste artisans, griots and griottes are considered

"a separate people in the minds of the people among whom they
live" (Hale 201). Therefore, "a child born into a griot family is
exposed to both the values and the sounds of griot life on a daily
basis" (173). From a very early age, griot children are taught to
recognize that they have a special status. It is said that every time
an old African dies, "another museum disappears." Ominously,
Christopher Miller of Yale University's Department of African
and African-American Studies declares "The current generation
of 'griot depositaries'---oral historians fully trained in the
traditional way-may well be the last" (71 ).
 Chapter Four

The Hero of the Epie

A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into

a region ofsupernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there
encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero
comes back from this mysterious adventure with the
power to bestow boons on his fellowman. (Campbell30)

The above conception of the hero, and of heroic prowess, is

widely spread and, despite its different settings and mani-
festations, shows the same main characteristics from culture to
culture (Bird 123). The hero is frequently a formidable. self-
centered, and disruptive character; but he also has moments in
which he feels a tremendous concern for his fellows and instincts
oflove. When Seydou Camara sings, ''The hero is welcome only
on troubled days" he captures the contradictory relationship
between the hero and the society.

The hero is asocial, capable of unrestricted cruelty and

destructiveness, whose presence is always a threat to the
stability of the collectivity. He is however, perhaps the
only member associated with the group who is capable of
swift and conclusive action. (Bird vii)
57
58

The society is thus damned with the hero and damned without
him. His relationship to society is concomitantly gregarious and
antagonistic. Bird further points out that, in Mandinka society, the
ability to perform deeds is linked to an energy called nyama, the
energy of action. This energy can both protect and destroy the
performer of deeds. Therefore, much of the occult science in this
area is focused on the control and manipulation of this energy.
Talismans, medications, incantations, and fetishes are designed for
the augmentation and appeasement of the energy of action. The
hunter, being a man of action, must become a specialist in occult
science. Much of the content of Kambili is devoted to the occult
(Bird viii).
An oral poet, like Seydou Camara, endeavors to represent
certain balancing elements without which the society in which the
hero lives will cease to exist. The balancing factor may consist in
love, loyalty, friendship, power or forgiveness. Kambili is a
formidable and invincible hero, the 'hope of the group,' and the
salvation of the community is ensured by his marriage to Kumba.
Johnson notes that, "there is a strong folk belief among many of
the people in Mali that a hero is destined to fulfill a role. The hero
does not represent a role model of morality. He may have to
violate social norms in order to fulfill his destiny'' (42). Indeed,
some of the praise-names employed for Kambili, like those for
Son-Jara, do not portray compassion but rather the opposite:
"Killer of the Ruthless and Killer of the Hardy" and "Cracker of
Green Heads and Gouger of Green Eyes!" But, not only that, it is
prophesied that: "He will not only be a hunter, He will be a lion-
killing hunter. He will save your regiments, He will rescue all our
sons, And rescue the champion fanners, And rescue all the wood
gatherers" (I. 409-413). There is the use of the same Mandinka
 59

proverb in The Epic of Kambili as in Son-Jara, expressing the

same ambiguous relationship between hero and community:

Nana ma man di fo ko-jugu-lon.

The hero is welcome only on troubled days.

Charles Bird and Martha Kendall in writing about "The Mande

Hero" in Explorations in African Systems ofThought state:

The (Mande) hero is someone with special powers used

to work against the stabilizing and conservative forces of
his society; he is someone who, in pursuing his own
destiny, affects the destinies of others. He is the agent of
disequilibrium. (13)

Mande peoples, it appears, depend on the individual who resists

conformity,just as much as individuals who do not conform. They
realize that they require the individual who will change things,
even if such changes are potentially destructive (15).
Approaching the hero from the standpoint of his origins, the
hero of epic poetry, invariably, has the advantages of birth that set
him above the rank and file. Sundiata, a historical figure, was the
son of a king and later a Mansa (emperor). The hero, Kambili, is
the son of Kanji, a general of emperor Samori Toure, to whom
Kanji is particularly close. Mwindo, of The Mwindo Epic, is the
son of the king of Tubondo. Achilles is a prince, son of King
Peleus and son of the goddess Thetis, a sea-nymph. Gilgamesh is
King of Uruk, two-thirds god and one-third man.
60

The emergence of the hero into the world is usually marked

by some awe or mystery; there is often something portentous,
something foreordained, about his entry into the world, or into his
sphere of action.
In Kambili, there is this sense of foreboding. Kambili is the
subject of a painful trial of skill in which several soothsayers lose
their heads: because, though their magic symbols describe the
coming of a male child, they are unable to name which of Kanji's
wives will be the mother of the hero child.

The bag is only for signs.

It does not know people's names. (376-377)

All the soothsayers are agreed that the awaited child will be "a
vicious hunter," the ''hope of the group," and "invincible."
Kambili's "career'' in the womb of his mother, Dugo, is itself
portentous:

And after nightfall around about midnight,

Dugo' s Kambili would get up and walk about.
As the dawn was lightening,
He would come back
And throw himselfback down on his mother's mat as
If nothing happened.
Mother! she cried, Mother!
During the day, here I am Dugo pregnant.
During the night, here I am Dugo with empty stomach.
I can do no more with this thing inside me, Mother.
(1520-1528)
 61

The hero Mwindo follows a similar career while he is in his

mother's womb. "Where the child (Mwindo) was dwelling in the
womb,.it climbed up in the belly, it descended the limb, and it
went (and) came out through the medius. In the Homeric poems,
fantastic births are set amid meteorological turmoil similar to that
seen in Sundiata.

Suddenly the sky darkened and great clouds coming from

the east
hid the sun, although it was still the diy season. Thunder
began to
rumble and swift lightning accompanied by a dull rattle
of thunder
burst out of the east and lit up the whole sky as far as the
west Then
the rain stopped and the sun appeared and it was at this
very moment
that a midwife came out of Sogolon's house, ran to the
antechamber
and announced to Nare' Maghan that he was the father of
a boy. (13)

Prophecy, foreordination, and foreboding seem to be core cliches

in the thematic structure of epic narrative. The Kambili Epic is
well seasoned with references like, "Look to him born for a
purpose, for him coming for a purpose." By his ancestry, his
birth, and his early development, the hero gives us an awesome
promise of things to come.
At the moment of the hero's recognition and proclamation of
his powers, the poetic fancy of the bard is fully activated. Such a
moment comes, in the Kambili epic, during the celebrations ofthe
62

wedding between Kambili and his bride Kumba. When the hero
is told ofthe bloody rampage of the lion-~ Cekura, he merely
responds that the lion-man is a push-over:

They bad thus finished the wedding procession.

The wedding speeches had been given, Allah!,
When the message bad been given to Kambili,
It was none but the hunter Kambili' s voice:
"This man-eating lion, Allah!
If the man-eating lion is going to die, ....
Ah! If the man-eating lion is going to die in Jimini,
The lion is going to die with one shot in Jiminil"
(2091-2098)

The hero may not always die from the risks that he takes; in fact,
epic poetry usually depicts a victorious hero. Characterization, per
se, bas little relevance for the bard of traditional heroic song. The
oral poet combines a sense of spontaneity with an equivalent
attitude of selectivity. The poet of oral epic cannot do well other-
wise. In such a poem, the interest is national rather than indi-
vidual. The hero's survival is a metaphor for the nation and of its
invincibility and durability. Because Kambili, Mwindo, and
Odysseus survive is no less heroic than a tragic end.
To suggest that heroism is better conveyed by naked strength,
than by the aide ofmagic or other supernatural devices, represents
a misunderstanding of imaginative literature. Okpewho bas
appropriately commented:
We cannot, in fact, fully appreciate the heroic personality
without examining the supernatural dimensions of that perso-
nality. We are unlikely to find many traditions of the oral epic in
which the hero achieves his amazing feats by sheer force ofnaked
 63

human strength. And considering that, in many of these epic tales,

the denizens of the supernatural world are treated with con-
siderable dramatic interest-gods and spirits participating in the
action of the tal&-rather than simply as figures of speech, it
becomes hard to accept any definition of "true heroism" that
underrates the influence ofthe supernatural in the personality and
circumstances ofthehero. (Okpewho 105-106)
Sometimes, however, divine intervention is not so obvious,
and what emerges is a picture designed to give heightened interest
to the superlative might of the hero. When this happens, the hero
is represented as the wielder of a supreme magical power. He has
tremendous confidence in his own innate might, and the
supernatural element in that might is employed "to ritualize" his
optimism. There is an interesting example ofthis conflict between
the natural and supernatural in KambUi, where the dialectic of
Islam and cult magic, faintly evident inSundiata, is quite obvious.
This particular dialectic is revealed by some of the gnomic, or
aphoristic lines with which the tale is strategically highlighted. At
one time it's that:

Allah is not powerless before anything. (86)

At another time the bard showers his praise on the superior power
of magic and the occult:

Look to the talisman's Angel of Death for that not

easy for all.
The praise for Tears of the game.
No man becomes a hunter if he has no good talisman.
You don't become a hunter if you have no knowledge
of the occult. (2406-2409)
64

Kambili reflects some ofthis history ofcontradiction, between

the Islamic crusade and the traditional outlook, in the Western
Sudan. In a number of places in the song, there is conspicuous
mockery of Islamic figures and attitudes as a way of revealing
their inadequacies in comparison with the powers ofthe occult, for
example:

Ah! All the holy men are by the mosque,

But all of them are not holy men! ....
All the holy men are by the mosque,
But they all don't know to read.
(1192-1193 and 2004-2005)

In another instance, a Muslim holy man, who takes part in the

Kambili riddle, is treated as a tremendous fraud and schemer and
is dismissed from the scene in disgrace, to the advantage of Bari
the cult sorcerer. The case we have here must be one where the
heroic personality is conceived as supreme, in a world where all
mystical or spiritual power is simply the tool of that supremacy;
so that

in spite of the obtrusive tributes to 'Allah' and 'destiny'

construed in vaguely Muslim terms and serving an
equally vaguely gnomic purpose, the essential mystical
force of the story emphasizes the hero's superior might
unsubordinated to any vague transcendences. (Bird 109)

The world in which the hero lives is a somewhat more than human
one, and he needs more than the ordinary human accouterments to
cope with it.
 65

Of the Homeric songs Okpewho states:

. . . rebel or not, Achilles owes his excellence to the

supernatural element in his personality-whether we see
this as Zeus' goodwill or Achilles' own part-divine
parentage--and perhaps the uniqueness of the Homeric
songs lies in the skill with which the poet bas reduced the
supernatural nuances to anthropomorphic terms. (Bird
112-113)

~ hero is invariably engaged in a cause, which involves the

interest ofhis community. Even before his birth, the image of the
hero is conceived in terms that demonstrate a community's
concern for itself in relation to the hero. One expert soothsayer
invited to predict the circumstances of the birth of Kambili has
this to say to Samori, the arbiter of the divination:

He will save your regiments,

He will rescue all our good sons,
And rescue the champion farmers,
And rescue all the wood gatherers.
(410-413)

The final proof of Kambili's heroic promise comes at the

moment of his triumph over the communal crisis. Kambili
destroys the lion-man, Cekura, with a single blast of his rifle; in
gratitude the hunters (the cult-group which the epic celebrates),
raise him up, above their shoulders, and salute his prowess:
66

You have taken us from under the execution sword

Kambili.
You have rescued the hunter,
And saved the farmers,
And saved the whole army.
May Allah not keep you behind.
May Allah not take the breath from you, Kambili.
(2615-2620)

Kambili represents a character in whom the virtue and, perhaps,

the failure of living is superhumanly concentrated: a character
who represents the highest ideals to which a society can aspire in
its search for excellence and security. "Furthermore" says Joseph
Campbell:

we have not even to risk the adventure alone; for the

heroes of all time
have gone before us; the labyrinth is thoroughly known;
we have only to
follow the thread of the hero-path. And where we had
thought to find an
abomination, we shall find a god; where we had thought
to slay another,
we shall slay ourselves; where we bad thought to travel
outward, we shall
come to the center of our own existence; where we had
thought to be
alone, we sball be with all the world. (25)
 Chapter Five

Poet and Accompanists

The oral poet develops a repertory of repeatable images and,

at an early stage in his development, a flexible structure; the
images chosen from the repertory are repeated, as frequently as
necessary and desirable, to develop a narrative plot. The form is
that of formulaic repetition: the repeated praise or proverb with
necessary prose details: and expansible images that by repetition,
move the story forward (Scheub 357). In Kambili, this repetition
takes the form of formulaic epithets and proverbs:

Skinning knife of the game (23)

And:
The hero is only welcome on troubled days (988)
And proverbs, e.g.:
A name is paid for; a name is not to be foroed (1039)
And dramatic chants:
Master, you filled them with knowledge
Ah! You filled him with sorcery! (2026-2027)

67
68

And historical personages, such as Samori Toure: all of which

serve as the structural resources and dynamic themes that organize
and move the narrative forward.
Repetition is also the consequence of, inspired, spontaneity
and improvisation; a result of the poet being so thoroughly
overjoyed by the appropriateness of a phrase that he is moved to
repeat it over and over. In such a case, it becomes clear that the
text is the product of an oral performance in which, perhaps, the
poet used a musical instrument to support the lyrical feeling
engendered by the happy statement. Voice, tone, and rhythm often
r~veal the attitude of the speaker or narrator to the subject matter
ofawork.
The poet, is not without a certain amount ofpride, and Seydou
Camara has several lines, in Kambili, which give due considera-
tion to his abilities as an oral poet, for example:

Ahl It's the voice of Seydou!

The thing is not easy for all.
It's the sound ofbarp-playing Seydou from Kabaya. (51-53)

Some bards attribute their creative powers to a divine source. The

Mandinka griot traces the source of his art to a certain Sourakata,
who was the closest companion and aide of the Prophet
Mohammed. Ancient Malian society is, generally, reputed to have
come from Mecca, and the griot who shared the counsels of his
lord, naturally, saw himself in the position that Sourakata held
with Mohammed. (Okpewho 48)
Such claims tend to reinforce the bard's tremendous self-
esteem and concern for his image. A Mandinka bard may consider
himself, and no one else, the chosen one in his craft, com-
 69

missioned by divine powers to deliver the ''truth" in song. The

self-aggrandizement may be a presumption or, simply, a defense
mechanism against injured pride, in today's Africa. In the more
communalistic world of the olden days, this attitude helped the
bard assert his claim to value and usefulness among his kinsmen.
The histrionic resources ofthe Homeric songs are functionally
unknown to us, largely because the texts we have today are the
product of several generations of careful doctoring (Bird 56). In
traditional African songs, heroic and otherwise, music is ''the
thing,'' it is the "soul of the griot''. Without the right rhythm, the
narrator seems to lose the thread of his inspiration.
In the Kambili epic, the performance is punctuated throughout
with Seydou Camara's comments on the music and warnings to
his accompanist (See Appendix 1). And when he is pleased, when
he is getting the right rhythmic backing, he acknowledges this
with such compliments as:

Ah! Allah has been good to harp-playing Seydou.

Playing before the European is not easy for all.
The strings have been good to the Kabaya smith. (278-280)

The poet depends on music and rhythmic accompaniment for

the success ofhis performance. The role of words is considerably
modified and controlled. Okpewho contends that the music can
attain to such a remarkable degree that the need for words is
drastically reduced. His reference is to some areas of West Africa,
where the "talking drum" is used as an accompaniment, as among
the Yoruba ofNigeria and the Akan of Ghana, numerous phrases
may well be delivered on the drum. (Bird 62)
70

The narrator in The Mwindo Epic accompanies himself with

a rattle, and a percussion stick, and musicians and percussionists
keep up with the rhythm, while bumming and singing as the bard
progresses. Seydou Camara's accompaniment is a six-stringed
harp-lute as well as a ridged metal pipe which is scraped by an
iron rod, and a complex rhythmic support given by the bard's
voice. Homer speaks of the bard accompanying his song on the
lyre. The lay in Beowulf is played to a harp. And the Yugoslav
singer uses a gusle, a simple one-string violin.
That the songs of Homer are indebted to the oral tradition is
abundantly clear, from both their structural character, i.e. epithets,
meter and rhyme, and the heroic outlook they reveal. The
Bowraist problem of the superiority or inferiority of words or
music in heroic poetry is moot or, at most, dissolves into
complementariness in the African situation. Seydou Camara's
warning to his Ibythm man is illustrative:

Man, pay attention to the rhythm!

Don't miss the rhythm whatever you dol (1985-1986)

It is impossible to say that, in any particular culture, the music

is subordinate to language or vice versa. Seydou Camara
demonstrates that in the oral epic of the Mandinka, meter and
verse can be achieved by the use of breath groups or breath bars.
If not accompanying him or herself, a griot or griottes may be
accompanied by musicians playing a kora and/or balafon.
Mandinka balafon players begin to learn to play as early as four
years old, but don't sing or recite until they have proved their
talents on the instrument.
The balafon is a xylophone made of a series of about twenty
harmoniously tuned hardwood bars, or keys, resting on a bamboo
 71

frame under which are suspended small calabashes as resonators.

Hale explains:

The balafon appears to be a clearly defined masculine

instrument, perhaps because of its origin in the oral
tradition of the Sundiata epic or because it is an
instrument that requires a certain amount of strength to
cany and play with any vigor, a reflection of men's self-
image as the stronger sex. (163)

Ensembles composed of a kora, xalam, balafon, and nege, or

tidinit, ardin, t'bal, and tambourine are typical (163). Men, also,
only play the kora. Eric Charry in Mande Music shows it may
have been invented somewhere in the Senegambian region,
apparently by the Mand.inka of the Gabu empire, which included
parts of The Gambia, southern Senegal, and Guinea Bissau ....
The most widespread definition of kora is 'harp-lute' (115). It is
one ofthe most delicate and complex instruments in the world. To
learn to play the twenty-one stringed Ieora and chant an epic for
five hours takes years of training. Roderic Knight, in his research
on professional Mand.inka griots and griottes provides this
thorough and detailed description of the kora:

The body is made from a large half calabash, from 40-50

centimeters in diameter, covered with cowhide from
which the hair has been removed. The covering reaches
two thirds of the way around the curved sides of the
calabash, leaving a shallow dome of the natural surface
exposed. The covered portion of the calabash wall is
decorated with upholstery tacks in geometric or pictorial
72

designs A second hole, either round or square, is also cut

in this decorated band, near where the right hand holds
the instrument.
The player traditionally sits on the floor, holding the
instrument with the cowhide facing him and the rounded
back ofthe calabash facing the listeners. The neck, or falo
-a stout pole of African rosewood-towers above him at
120-130 centimeters. The neck pierces or "spikes" the
body vertically and the lower end forms a tailpiece on
which the instrument rests.
The player holds the instrument by two wooden
handgrips flanking the neck and parallel to it, and plucks
the strings with the forefingers and thumbs. The
handgrips are long, extending beneath the skin to the
lower rim of the body where they reappear. They bear the
pressure exerted by the bridge, which rests between them
and above a crossbar that is also pinned behind the skin.
In addition to their practical function, the handgrips can
be decorative as well. They are usually cut longer than
necessary and carved. In addition, the right handgrip has
a musical function: some pieces call for the player to
strike it with the forefinger, producing a resonant
thump-a technique called bulukondingo podi.
The strings (julo), made of graded strengths of
nylon monofilament line, are attached to the neck via
rawhide collars (konso) woven in a "Tmk' s Head" knot.
The instrument is tuned by adjusting the collars up or
down. Stretching from these collars to an iron ring at the
base of the instrument, the strings diverge into two rows
and pass over notches cut in the sides of the upright
bridge (bato). At this point the two rows are essentially
parallel to each other, with eleven strings on the left, ten
on the right. From the iron ring at the base, forged and
then burned into place by a blacksmith, anchor strings
 73

reach up to meet the playing strings. Each playing string

is tied to its anchor string with a weaver's knot just below
the bridge. Before the importation of nylon fishing line in
the mid-twentieth century, kora strings were made from
rawhide.
The laborious process involved cutting long thin
strips, twisting them to Form a round cross-section, then
stretching each one on a bow to d.cy. (Hale 154-155)

Today, Toumani Diabate born and raised in Bamako, Mali has a

reputation for being one ofthe most creative kora players of his
generation, with five CDs to his credit, linked to a tradition
requiring a high level of expertise and dexterity. The Mande
Variations is a meditation on formidable technique and incredible
musicianship. Born into a leading family of Mande griot
musicians in Mali, he is the son ofthe most celebrated kora player
of his time, Sidiki Diabate (1922-96) known as the "king of the
kora." Mande Variations further establishes this Mandinka harp
as one of the world's great solo musical instruments. Eric Charry
informs us "in Mande society, Jelis (Griots and Griottes) have the
exclusive right to play certain instruments that others do not take
up. It is their birthright, honed by years of apprenticeship" (49).
The eminent and essential Charles Bird tells us in Oral Epics from
Africa:

When the recording ofKambili was made in the spring of

1968, Seydou was about fifty years old. He had begun
playing indigenous instruments of the Wasulu region as
a young boy and had shown considerable promise,
particularly on the dan, a six-stringed lute. He began his
interest in the donsonkoni, the hunter's lute-harp, through
his initiation and extensive interest in the Komo societies
74

of the Wasulu region .... Seydou gradually ... devoted

himself exclusively to playing the hunter's lute-harp,
serving as a singer for the Wasulu hunters and as a bard
for the Komo society. By 1953 he had developed his art
to such an extent that he drew the attention of the
influential deputy, Jime Jakite. Jakite brought him to a
major political rally in Sikasso, where Seydou won the
hunter's bard competition which elevated him to national
celebrity.
Spealdng is not easy,·
Not being able to speak is not easy.
I'm doing something I've learned,
I'm not doing something I was bomfor. (2088-
2090)
He recorded a number of songs for the national radio and
his voice was frequently heard on Radio Mali's
broadcasts ... in the mid-1960s.... Seydou earned his
living performing for hunters and their associations at
their festivals, funerals, weddings, and baptisms, traveling
to many of the major towns in southern Mali: Segu,
Kutiala, Sikaso, Buguni. He got little for his services,
usually receiving a worosongo, the price of kola nuts
(between one and two dollars), a traditional gift usually
given as a greeting gesture. He performed wherever and
whenever he could, often up to twenty times per month.
The most important part of Seydou's poetics was
rhythm. He created his lines, unfolded his narratives
against the rhythm of his Donsonkoni, which itself was
dependent on the forceful drive of the iron rasp scraper,
among whom the best were his wives, Kariya Wulen and
Nunmuso. Seydou's apprentices played the bass lines on
their donsonkonis and Seydou played across the top.
Seydou laid his language over the top of this as if his
 75

voice were the lead instrument in the ensemble,

sometimes locking into the rhythm, sometimes in
counterpoint, sometimes somewhere in between. (100-
101)

Charles Bird further identifies griot Seydou Camara as "a

consummate musician" whose mastery of the lute-harp is
legendary and classical. He was a Muslim, but had no problem
ridiculing the Muslim clergy "whose hypocrisy he saw as
ludicrous" (103).
Other histrionic or theatrical devices employed by Camara,
serve to reinforce certain idiophones or onomatopoeia used in
describing actions and movements to humorous effect. InKambili,
he employs such a device as he describes the cumbersome
motions of two villainous women, "galump, galump, galump".
There is less of a accent on words than on the circumstances
surrounding their delivery.
In Africa, the performance, not the tale, is the thing. There is
considerably less emphasis on the narrative element, in favor of an
accentuation of other elements, which give the performance its
dominant flavor: for example drama, music, and audience
participation.
In their effort to classify mankind in different types, the
Manidinka narrator, or griot, gives a special place to those men
who live for action, and for the honor which comes from it. They
seem to believe that the life of action is superior to the pursuit of
profit or the gratification of the senses, and that the man who
seeks honor is himself an honorable figure. In several instances,
in Kambili, Seydou Camara substantiates this view. For example:
76

The jealous one doesn't become a hunter.

A woman-chaser doesn't become a hunter. (1 02 and 104)
 Chapter Six

Modes and Methods of Composition in Kambili

When considering the art of composition of the oral epic, we

must constantly bear in mind the live moment of performance:
with its music, histrionic resources, the emotional relationship
between singer and audience, as well as the occasion of
perfonnance. Each performance is the product of one specific
moment or context and, in a creative tradition of the oral epic, is
never faithfully repeated (Bird 135). Okpewho writes:

Though there are some fixed structural laws which the

narrative must obey by the nature of its oral medium, the
results of any perfonnance depends mainly on the
particular audience before whom the singer performs and
the mood and atmosphere in which he does the job.
(Okpewho 174)

How absolute is the "formula" approach of Milman Parry?

The idea that a "group of words is regularly employed under the
same metrical conditions to express a given idea." (Parry 269)
Okpewho believes that Parry is correct in establishing the formula
as a basically mnemonic unit of oral composition; and that,

77
78

From a stock of phrases and lines which tradition and

long use have stored in the bard's memory, he constructs
fresh lines and scenes and in that way supports the overall
fabric ofhis tale. (Okpewho 138)

He is careful to note, however, that African verse tales have, so

far, shown none of the Homeric rigidity, but the formula is surely
a feature of oral composition among African bards of heroic
poetry.
Seydou Camara's Kambili furnishes a variety of examples.
Okpewho identifies, as the simplest type of formula, the 'noun-
adjective combination'; the combination of noun (e.g. name) and
epithet or identification (e.g., patronymic or qualitative). Such a
formula is the phrase "Kambili Sananfila," a simple name-
patronymic formula of the type, "Beowult son ofEcgtheow."
Other noun-epithet formulas, which occur frequently in Kambili,
are ''Mother Dugo the Owl" and "Toure ni Manjun," which
combines name with totemic symbol. In Sundiata, Alexander the
Great is called "King of gold and silver," in The Riad we get
"Agamemnon King ofmen" and "Hector tamer ofhorses": and in
Mwindo, we have the hero's untiring reference to himself as
"Little-one-just-born-he-walked."
In Kambili, the formulaic phrase is not restricted to the noun-
epithet combination. There are several examples in which a verbal
matrix has been used for the construction of gnomes or praise-
proverbs often occurring consecutively for several lines. The
following is illustrative:
 79

Look to the doorsill for the sight of all things. Salute the
co-wife's knife for leaving nothing behind.
Look to the salt for the success of the sauce. Salute the
sitting-stool for seizing all the smells. (11-14)

Okpewho explains these lines as consisting of a verb or verb

phrase ("Look to" or "Salute") and a conjunction (''for"), a pattern
to be given more thorough treatment in my discussion of the
structure of praise in Kambili. Other functional phrases built
roughly on the pattern of Homer's ''winged words," help in
constructing the main body of the narrative. By one such pattern
the bard initiates dialogue. The fonnula for this is:

He said," ... .!" "Yes?" the reply.

On this pattern has been constructed the beginnings of dialogues

between characters in various scenes in the story. Between Samori
Toure' and Kanji (Kambili 1), between Samori Toure' and one of
the soothsayers, the sandal-man (Kambili 18) and between Cekura
and the other lion-man (Kambili 71 ). These examples, of the call-
and-response formula, are all contained in one line.
The prosody of Kambili has a quite different basis from that
ofthe Homeric epics. The metric line ofthe hunter's bards, among
the Mandinkaofthe western Sudan, as among the Akan of Ghana,
and the Yoruba of Nigeria, is built on the basis of "breath-
groups": what this entails is that the bard endeavors to get in as
many words as he can within a single breath, so long as this is
done within individual segments of the rhythmic accompaniment
from the background music. Charles Bird has described the
80

process as follows. First Samori Toure' invites the man to solve

the child riddle, and the pattern of request is clearly a thematic
one:

(a)He spoke to the black bag man

"Man, come help me in this child affair."
He came with his black bag ....•. (304-306)
(b)He called to the cowry thrower.
"Come help me with this child affair,
You have no equal in reading omens,"
Well, the cowry thrower came.
He came with his winnowing basket,
And came with his ten and two ... (399-404)
(c) He called out to the old sandal-man.
"Come help me in this child affair,
You who speak the bitter truth.
Hurry the old sandal-man along, Allah!"
The old sandal-man came.
He brought a piece ofbalenbon bark,
And the rib of a ram,
With a cowry on the top of his head ....(440-447)

Each soothsayer answers the same variation on the idea that his
particular sign or tool cannot speak but is only a symbol. Their
execution is also thematically described as the emperor Samori
orders their death by his extraordinary sword. Formulaic themes
are useful for the horizontal growth of the story. Like his
counterparts in the Greek and South Slavic heroic traditions, the
West African bard uses themes frequently to keep his story in
unimpeded motion and stylistic harmony.
The bard is free to decide the mix of the three modes in any
particular performance. Charles Bird is important, as is Gordon
 81

Innes, for their identification and description of the three poetic

modes of the Mandinka epic. With slight variation they refer to
these three modes as (1) the proverb-praise mode, (2) the narrative
mode, and (3) the song mode. In the following two sections we
will take an in-depth look at the praise-proverb mode. The
narrative mode tells the stoJ:y and for that the reader is referred to
the synopsis: and the song mode, I~ is self-explanatory.

The essential metrical requirement is that the singer keeps

in rhythm with his instrumental accompaniment. He may
therefore form lines of one syllable or fifty syllables,
depending very much on his virtuosity in rapid speech,
and his subtlety in weaving the mythms of his language
around those ofhis instruments. The singer can play with
background mythm by forming couplets or even longer
verses. (Bird 283)

The metrical character of the poetic line, in Mandinka epic, is

based on the rhythmic accompaniment provided by, at least, one
six-stringed harp-lute. The base rhythm is a complex variation of
a 4:4 rllythm with accents on the second and fourth beats.
Enjambments are the rule rather than the exception, and a set of
lines produced as a single breath group often will incorporate five
to ten of the lines (Bird X).
Formulaic lines are most applicable in what Milman Parry has
called the ''theme"; what Albert Lord has defined as a recurrent
element of narration or description in traditional oral poetry.
Theme is not restricted, as is formula, by metrical considerations.
Rather, the essential element in the theme is the idea that it
embodies. Kmnbtli exhibits numerous examples of the theme
pattern. The most notable ofthese involve the trial of skill Samori
82

Tome' set up for various soothsayers. The issue concerns who,

among Kanji's nine wives, will be mother of the hero-child,
Kambili.

The theme bas become the appropriate unit of narration

here because the contestants are going to be subjected to
the same question, will fail the test on the same
significant point ofthe hero's mother's name, and will be
given the same order of execution. The words and the
order of lines are not exactly the same in all cases, but
there is a high level of similarity such as would qualify
them for classification as themes. (Okpewho 144)

Like his counterparts in the Greek and South Slavic heroic

traditions, the West African bard uses themes frequently to keep
his story in unimpeded motion and stylistic harmony.

"When the fool is told a proverb,

its meaning has to be explained to him."

Kambili has received genuine, full, and penetrating analysis

and commentary from Charles Bird and Isidore Okpewho. One of
the strongest aspects ofBird's work, aside from the methods by
which The Tales ofSeydou Camara was researched, taped, and
presented in its final form, is his description of the three poetic
modes ofthe epic. These he calls (1) the proverb-praise mode, (2)
the narrative mode, and (3) the song mode. In the text itself, the
proverb-praise mode is set off in italics, the narrative mode, in
Roman script, is indented, and the song-mode is further indented
with song choruses still further indented. For the English reader,
this provides a viable, and readily identifiable, structural coher-
 83

ence to the work as a whole. What, for purposes of this analysis,

I have identified as aphorisms, i.e., a short sentence expressing a
wise or clever observation comes closest to Bird's designation of
the ''proverb-praise mode." I have elected to concentrate on the
proverbial (aphoristic) aspect ofthis mode in this section, and the
praise aspect in the next section. The bard decides, somewhat
extemporaneously, the mix of the three modes in any particular
performance. In the following pages, I will examine (1) the
meaning and recurrence of aphorisms, (2) the patterns ofnarrative
symmetry they create, and (3) show how they are vehicles for the
expression of ideas central to the meaning of Kambili.
Proverbs, aphorisms, a method used to make general
observations on life, demonstrate the bard's virtuosity in rapid
speech, and his claim to truth. Aphorisms are also used as a handy
device for giving the oral composer/performer a few moments'
break from the narrative, to collect his thoughts for the next part
of the story. The bard employs aphorisms, most noticeably at the
beginning of his narrative, to tune up his vocal and mental
acumen, to warm up his audience, and to establish his veracity and
authenticity. The three aphorisms that follow are exemplary:

Eating the traditional dish is not an evil deed. A man's

learning and his ability are not the same. Harp-playing
Seydou ofKabaya has come. Falsety is not good, Master
(36-39).

In a long narrative like Kambili, the poet will use as many as

one hundred fifty different aphorisms, or proverbs.
Isidore Okpewho has made a comparative study of the epic,
using Sundiata, The Mwindo Epic, and Kambili, and non-African
84

materials consisting of The Riad, Beowulf, Gilgamesh, and the

Parry-Lord collection of Serbo-Croatian heroic songs. The
question raised (and answered) by Okpewho is: just how relevant
is the formula approach of Milman Parry in the treatment of
African oral literature? Okpewho' s answer is that African "verse"
tales do not show any of the Homeric rigidity, but the formula is
a feature of oral composition among African bards of the heroic
narrative song. He writes that:

The formulaic phrase in Kambili is not restricted to the

noun-epithet combination. We also have several examples
in which a verbal matrix has been used for the
construction ofgnomes or praise-proverbs often occwring
consecutively for several lines (139).

The following is good example of a formulaic proverb using

a verbal matrix:

Look to the doorsill for the sight of all things. Salute the
co-wife's knife for leaving nothing behind. Look to the
salt for the success of the sauce. Salute the sitting-stool
for seizing all the smells (11-14).

The recitation of several (more than three) aphoristic phrases,

consecutively, is evident in this opening part of the story, as the
poet tries to build up the pace of his performance, as well as
articulate the basic ideas and didactic themes imbued in the epic
of Kambili. Such expressions regularly used, under similar
metrical and thematic conditions, justify their definition as
 85

"aphoristic-formula"; that is, the synthesis of two literary

elements, the aphorism and the formula. Together, these function
as one of the basic mnemonic devices providing direction and
meaning to the synchronic and diachronic development of the
narrative. Synchronic, as I am using it here, refers to the page-to-
page growth of the story, and diachronic refers to the cover-to-
cover perception of the story.
The art of composition of Kambili is oral, spontaneous,
formulaic and traditional. It is the product of a live moment of
performance, with its music, histrionics, the emotional relation-
ship between the singer and his audience, as well as occasion.
Each performance is the product of one specific social occasion,
and in the creative oral tradition of the Mandinka people of the
Western Sudan, two versions of the same narrative are rarely
identical.
What survives of this tradition comes to us at two removes,
translated from an oral traditional performance into print and from
an African language into English. My lack of familiarity with the
original language means that I am obliged to ignore matters of
word play, e.g., myme, alliteration and assonance, and other
elements of verbal art that would materially inform the
organizational patterns ofthe work, in favor ofthis more manifest
stylistic element, the aphorism.
The ideas the bani wishes to convey to his audience are the
result of narrative, song, and aphoristic formula, the latter being
a laconic simplification of the moral and didactic message
incorporated in the work as a whole. Plot is revealed through the
more verbose, when compared with the precision ofthe aphorism,
narrative-mode. There are numerous examples of the narrative-
mode inKambili, but these are all incised with an appropriate, less
86

intellectually complex, aphorism. A noticeable example of the

incisiveness of the aphorism involves the trial of skill which
Samori Toure' sets up for the various soothsayers on the issue of
who, among Kanji's nine wives, will be the mother of the hero-
child, Kambili.

He spoke to the omen reader, and spoke to the cowry

thrower. He spoke to the great holy man. He spoke to the
man of the Koran. "Come help me in this child affair,
those of you who speak with Allah." He spoke to the
spirit master. "Come help mien this child affair, those of
you who know the cowries, So that Kanji can have a
child." (215-224)

As Samori ends his call for help from the various sorcerers, the
bard poignantly inserts an aphorism:

He spoke: "Ah! Master! The thing is not easy for all."

He spoke: "The man ofthe house and the man ofthe bush
are not one." (225-226)

This aphorism makes a decisive distinction between the sorcerers,

i. e., "The (men) of the house," and the hunters, ''the (men) of the
bush." The sorcerers are subjected to the same question; they fail
the test on the same significant point ofthe hero's mother's name,
and are executed. It is only Bari, the sorcerer-hunter, who is able
to give the name of the hero's mother. The narrative mode tells
this story and the aphorism accentuates the essential theme and
idea it conveys.
 87

The recurrence of aphorisms creates a pattern of narrative

symmetry in which the story of Kambili is placed. The list of
aphorisms in the first forty-four lines of the poem provides some
ofthe essential thematic parameters ofthe story. Selectively, these
are, with the frequency of their recurrence:

# A slave passes a late evening,

5 A slave doesn't stay long among you. (5-6)
5 Then look to the tracking dog for the hunting dog.
6 Look to the sitting-stool for seizing all the smells.
1 Look to the doorsill for the sight of all things.
Salute the co-wife's knife for leaving nothing behind
Look to the salt for the success of the sauce. (9-13)

2 A coward doesn't become a hunter,

And become a man of renown.
1 A women chaser doesn't become a hunter,
And become a man of renown.
1 A jealous husband doesn't become a hunter,
The mourner never leaves the house. (26-31)

5 The hidden brave is up to no good.

A man dies, he never ends his problems.
2 Eating the traditional dish is not an evil deed.
3 A man's learning and his ability are not the same.
(34-37)

1 Look to Camara's sacred tree for the scared tree of

Mecca.
The wing descends, the wing and its captives.
The wing ascends, the wing and its captives.
Long Bow, our Ancestor, your enemy striking arrow!
You hit a balenbon. (40-44)
88

The apprentice bard, as he learned how to compare heroic

verse by hearing other bards recite, stored in his memory
expressions that could be deployed strategically throughout his
spontaneous composition when thematically or metrically
expedient. The metric line of the hunter's bards, among the
Mandinka, is built on the basis of breath-groups. The bard
endeavors to get in as many words as he can within a single
breath, so long as this is done within the individual segments of
the rhythmic accompaniment from the background music.
The criterion used for dividing lines throughout the poem is
that ofbreath groups. A line represents a single breath group, and
the end of a line marks a pause. This is not to suggest that there
can be a distinct pause after each line, especially in rapid speech
where aphorisms are most useful, it is difficult to be sure where
the breath pauses are; the essential metrical requirement is that the
singer keep in rhythm with his instrumental accompaniment.
The thematic use of aphorisms as metrical units of meaning
is evidenced by the mismatch oflslam and cult magic. At one time
it is that, "Allah is not powerless before anything" (86). At another
time the bard showers his praise on the superior power of magic
and the occult, for example:

Look to the talisman's Angel of Death

for that not easy for all.
The praise for Tears of the Game.
No man becomes a hunter if he has no good talisman.
You don't become a hunter ifyou have no knowledge
of the occult. (2402-2409)
 89

The idea imbued in these aphoristic lines reflects the historical

conflict between Islam and traditional religion in West Africa. In
a number of places in the poem, there is conspicuous mockery of
Islamic figures, as a way of demonstrating their inadequacy, in
comparison with the powers of the cult, for example:

Ah! All the holy men are by the mosque,

But all of them are not holy men! (1992-1993)
All the holy men are by the mosque,
But they all don't know how to read. (2004-2005)

The outcome of this thematic conflict is when the Muslim divine

who takes part in the Kambili riddle is treated as a fraud and
schemer and is dismissed from the scene in disgrace, to the
advantage of Bari, cult sorcerer and hunter. The aphoristic lines
related to this, and the events that follow, point directly to the
theme of the integrity of the holy men; and the structure of the
lines, if read aloud, suggests something of the metrical patterning
of breath groups:

"Ahl Falsity is not good!

Many brides may take a husband,
They all don't give birth to hunters.
Mother Dugo the Owl will give birth.
A name is bought; a name is not to be forced.
A fish may escape a net,
He won't get out of one stretched out all over."
(1113-1119)
Ah! Treachery is not good!
Treachery always ends up on its author. (1141-1142)
Ah! Since the very beginning of the world,
The holy man and treachery have never been far apart.
(1158-1159)
90

In this way, proverbs are helpful in sustaining meter and com-

menting on theme.
Proverbs are also used to mediate between the narrative and
song modes, and to emphasize or comment on a particular image
or episode. When, for example, the Iman and Bari find out,
through their various arts, that Kanji can only have a son by his
rejected wife, Dugo, the bard opens the episode with the following
aphorism:

No matter how long the day, It is never without end.

Old age does not let you sit do~ If you don't have
someone to do your part (849-850)

The first two lines repeat one ofthe basic themes ofthe poem e.g.,
the inevitability of change: while the second two lines suggests
the importance of children in furthering the work of the parents.
The narrative that follows the above aphorism tells of Bari's
occult work in preparing Dugo for motherhood. This brief
narration is followed by a song (865-882), in which Bari asks
Dugo the expectant mother of the hero-child Kambili, why she is
crying; to which she answers, "I'm crying for this child affair."
The song ends with a variation ofthe aphorism cited above, "Each
day's dawning is not the same" (894). This proverb is followed by
another song in which Bari is trying to comfort Dugo and to give
her hope of a better tomorrow, while Dugo's response expresses
the dimensions ofher dilemma as the rejected wife: as having not
yet slept with her man, Kanji, as being the object of the vicious
jealousy of the co-wives, and ends with another aphorism
emphasizing the hope and value of progeny e.g., "Death is not
hard unless one leaves nothing behind" (916).
 91

On a diachronic, horizontal axis, these terse statements of

general truth provide a superstructure for the overall design of the
narrative; while on the synchronic, vertical axis, as strophic or
interludial passages, they punctuate the story and are evidence of
the poet's versatility and genius.
The design of the epic as a whole is reflected in the smaller
narrative units of the story. This design, both diachronically and
synchronically, is chiastic. Chiasmus is a form of antithesis, a
particular kind of word order in a sentence or line of poetry that
shows a reverse parallelism of its related parts. It is a concentric
word order in which a statement is made and then a comment on
that statement Chiasmus is generally used to indicate a reversal
in the order of words so that the second half of a statement
balances the first half in inverted word order. The term can,
however, also serve to express the interrelationship of words in a
poetic line or phrase that balance and parallel each other without
the second half being reversed or inverted, but corresponds in
some way to the first. A phrase like:

(1) A slave passes a late evening,

A slave doesn't stay long among you. (5-6)
Or
(2) A jealous husband doesn't become a hunter,
The mourners never leaves home. (30-31).

may serve to illustrate this use of chiastic patterning. In each

phrase, the second line is a comment on the first: and with each
repetition ofan aphoristic phrase the bard reestablishes theme and
chiastic design.
92

Seydou Camara uses proverbs freely, to keep his story in

unimpeded motion, and in thematic and stylistic harmony. Of the
two examples just cited, the first is repeated five times and the
second is repeated once. With each repetition of a formulaic
aphorism, the bard reinforces theme e.g., the inevitability of
change, heroism, or some fundamental social value; and structure
e.g., the chiastic pattern of statement comment on statement Seen
in context, these connotations become more fully evident:

Ah! Master, Kanji and his good journey!

The dancers of the hero's dance have diminished
The blessed child, Dugo 's Kambili has gone.
The omen for staying here is not easy on things with souls.
A slave passes a late evening.
A slave doesn't stay long among you.
There was no reason for Mother Dugo the Owl's going to rest,
The lion has no reason to seize the child of man, Kambili.
(1-8)

The poet surrounds the chiastic-aphorism with narrative, and a

plethora of action verbs denoting constant movement and change
e.g., '~011rney," "dance," "diminished," "gone," "staying,"
"going," "seize". These words of motion and change evoke the
image of the hero, "Dugo's Kambili," and envelop him in an
atmosphere of action. The phrasing and imagery are not left
isolated, and are commented upon by juxtaposition with the
praises obtaining with heroic action:

Skinning-knife of the Game, we salute Kambili Sananfila!

Great buffalo fighting is not easy for the coward.
Great buffalo fighting is not easy for the unsure.
A coward doesn't become a hunter,
 93

And become a man of renown.

A woman chaser doesn't become a hunter,
And become a man of renown.
A jealous husband doesn't become a hunter,
The mourner never leaves the house.
Salute Jinina as the rifleman.
Heroes, let's be off! (23-33)

Here the chiastic-aphorism is circumscribed with epithets,

descriptive expressions that summarize the qualities of heroic
action for the Mande hunter. Inaction like, "The mourner (who)
never leaves the house" is castigated, and unproductive,
promiscuous action such as, "The woman-chaser (who) doesn't
become a hunter ... "is similarly rebuked.
In addition to providing a workable, manipulatable pattern for
the synchronic (vertical) and diachronic (horizontal) growth ofthe
story, chiastic-aphorisms serve the added purpose of commenting
on character and plot: as the pattern, statement/comment on state-
ment, repeats itself in microcosm (synchronic), and macrocosm
(diachronic) from the beginning to the end of the epic. For
example, line eight, "The lion has no reason to seize the child of
man, Kambili' ," is a clever bit of foreshadowing, by which the
poet begins the poem with its ending. In this way, the chiastic
paradigm defines and unifies the structural perimeters ofthe entire
work; while internally the, chiastic-aphorism, pattern functions as
the thematic/structural vehicle for telling the story.
Again, with reference to line eight: Seydou Camara, with his
poetic license, creates suspense and anticlimax by the use of the
ambiguous yet provocative "seize". As it turns out, the lion
"attempts" to "seize" K.ambili but is instead killed by him:
94

The lion has no reason to seize the child of man,

Kambili (8)
The man-eating lion was dispatched with one shot. (2622)

The chiastic pattern; that is, a kind of antithesis, a reversal in the

order of words so that the second half of a statement balances the
first halfin inverted order, also operates as a independent principle
and obtains with or without proverbs. Proverbs, as indicated
earlier, are vehicles for the expression of ideas central to the
meaning of Kambili; they do not tell the story. The story is an
elaboration of the conflict identified above; in simple, logical
terms, that plot consists of the conflict of man against beast, in the
broadest sense of that term, i.e., the animals around us and the
animal in us.
There is no absolute criteria as to the amount of freedom the
composer/performer has in his selection and use of chiastic-
aphorisms, except that necessitated by .meter and theme.
The chiastic pattern prevails in all three. modes. Its use in the
comment/statement on comment, design of aphorisms has been
adequately demonstrated. In the narrative mode there is the
example of the opening statement on comment upon in the
conclusion: the following example is from the trial of the
soothsayers:

He spoke out to the man of the Koran

"Come help me with this child matter,
Those of you who speak with Allah."
He spoke out to the spirit men, like the cowry man,
"Come help me with this child matter,
Those of you who know the cowries ... " (218-223)
 95

In the first line the persona is the voice of the bard, and in the two
lines that comment on his statement, the persona is the Iman
Samori.
Chiasmus is also the organizing vehicle for the song mode. In
the song sung by Bari to Dugo, (865-885), the statement by Bari
is in the form of the following question:

Ah!Favored Dugo, why do you cry so?

The next ten lines are a litany of this refrain.

Lines 886 through 899, intermittently, repeat the aphorism:

Each day's dawning is not the same

Again emphasizing the theme of change, Bari tries to encourage

the despondent Dugo. Dugo' s reply is an aphorism, that repeats
the idea of the importance of progeny, and is an appropriate
comment on the theme of inevitable change:

Death is not hard unless one leaves nothing behind

Five of the next seven lines are one-line chiastic aphorisms that
are variations of the theme of death:

Last judgement does not pass a man by ifhe comes from

Mecca
96

And

Death does not pass a man by

If he has raised a great family

And

Death does not pass a man by

If he has mastered the world.

These aphorisms are followed by the resumption of the narrative

mode and plot.
It is the proverbial phrase that patterns meter and theme and
serves as a marker, a guidepost, for the bard, as he moves from
one mode to another. From the beginning to the end of the epic,
aphorisms bring poignant meaning and stylistic balance to the epic
as a whole.
The aphoristic phrase is a viable structural device for shifts
from its own autonomous reality-there are at least fifty different
aphoristic sayings in the epic; to the narrative mode, to which
there are about eighty shifts; and to the song mode, there are eight
different songs in this version of Kambili.
The bard Seydou Camara, utilizes condensed statements of
truth in original combinations of words and narrative context.
They are not merely repeated, but are placed in apposition or
linked to new characters, new episodes, and new patterns of
epithets. Repetition is not tediously automatic because the creative
genius of the poet develops each aphorism into new thematic
expressions in which there are new relationships with characters
and themes, with fresh, creative, nuances in wording, as the
following examples are indicative. Here the chiastic-aphorism
concerning the ''jealous husband" (130-131), is circumscribed
 97

with new epithets and thematic laden aphorisms, as well as subtle

word changes:

Look to the Fresh Heart-cutter for the Fresh Liver-Cutter.

Killer of the Ruthless and Killer of the Hardy!
Green Head Smasher and Green Eye Gouger!
The jealous one doesn't become a hunter,
The jealous one's blind never leaves the house.
The woman-chaser doesn't become a hunter either.
The great lover doesn't become a hunter.
Nor does he become a man of renown.
A name is a thing to be paid for; a name is not to be
forced (99-1 07).

In this example, the terse and astute warning "The jealous one
doesn't become a hunter ..."is juxtaposed, antithetically, with
epithets qualifying heroic prowess e.g., "Killer of the Ruthless,"
"Killer of the Hardy!" etc.; while subtle word changes like: "The
jealous husband ... " has lost its specificity and become, "The
jealous one ... "; "The mourner," has become "The jealous one
(who is) blind," and "A coward" has been replaced by "The great
lover." Seydou Camara handles these changes of words and
relationships with poetic skill and sensitivity. His knowledge of
his language and its possibilities allows him to avoid repetitive
monotony in his use of aphorisms; rather, he seeks nuances,
synonymous expressions, providing verbal and grammatical
freshness.
The following list is an example of how aphorisms speak for
themselves as units of meaning, conveying both structure and
idea; these are further evidence of formulaic-themes.
98

The numbers show how often a particular line is used.

A man't totem is not the woman's loincloth
2 Neither is the woman's totem the woman's loincloth.
Almighty Allah may refuse to do something,
4 Allah is not powerless before anything.
A name is a thing to paid be for;
9 a name is not to be forced.
6 Last judgment's darkness is never without visitors.
6 The hero is welcome only on troubled days.
2 All things that stand eventually lie down.
5 Words are beautiful from the father's mouth
more so than the uncle's.
1 Defecating suits the old hound.
1 No matter how long the day, it is never without end.
Old age does not let you sit down,
if you don't have someone to do your work.
2 Treachery always ends up on its author.
1 When the well gets old,
Its frame no longer sees the light of day,
It has fallen down into the well.
1 Praising a man is not pleasing to his enemy.
If you should kill an unreasonable man,
You have not killed a good man.
1 It's the female magician that defeats the cannibal
sorcerer!
Every flower on a tree doesn't give fruit,
1 Were it not so, the branch would break,
Man, should one man not succeed, then another will.
1 Since the world was begun, man,
Kings have always come from the hunters.
1 The hunter dies for the harp-player.
The farmer dies for the glutton.
 99

The holy man dies for the troubled.

The king dies for his people.
To each dead man his funeral song, Kambili.

These aphorisms, along with several others, express the broad

thematic borders of the epic. Some of them accentuate the theme
of changes; others juxtapose the familiar conflict between Islam
and the occult, suggesting that Islam and traditional religion
occupy different areas ofthe same intellectual-philosophical space
in the African numina. Others express the banal equality and
commonality of man and the universe; while some evoke the
conflict between Kambili, the hero, and Celrura, the villain.
Heroism is definitively qualified when the bard says:

The hero is welcome only on troubled days.

and

If you should kill an unreasonable man,

You have not killed a good man.

and then, as if to temper, to humble the heroic consciousness,

Man, should one man not succeed, then another will.

This final example suggests the inextricable, symbiotic,

relationship between hero and poet:

The hunter dies for the harp-player.

100

The aphorisms Seydou Camara employs are complete units of

meaning honed to thematic and metrical precision. For example:
the hunter (hero) does not die for his people; rather, "The king
dies for his people." This distinction is very precise; as the bard
makes it known that the hero is a special kind of personality,
unlike the king, the holy man, the farmer, the coward, the jealous-
one; the hero dies for praise and frame and the poet sings of his
exploits.
In this example, it is the complete phrase itself that is faithful
to the chiastic design, as the last line:

To each dead man his funeral song, Kambili.

comments on the four preceding ones.

The story of.Kambili is composed ofthree major sections: the
events leading up to his birth, his youth up to his marriage to
Kumba, and the events leading up to the death of the Jimini lion-
man, Cekura.
Aphorisms in the first part of the story end with the mention
of Kanji, Samori's field general, going to Samori and asking for
his help. This section ends, line 170, with a most apt aphorism:
Ah! The hero is welcome only on troubled days. Kanji's
problem is that he has nine wives, but no children. The bard has
prepared the audience, for the ensuing problem ofcompetition and
conflict between the wives, with a bit of relevant foreshadowing:

Salute the co-wife's knife for leaving nothing behind. (12)

Here, the cultural insights of Charles Bird are supportive:

 101

The co-wife's knife refers here to the knife used in the

excision ceremony. If the co-wife were to excise another
co-wife, it is sure that she would leave very little
remaining after the operation, ensuring that their co-wife
competitor would not have a great deal to offer the
husband. (Bird 103)

Samori calls all the omen readers and magicians :from Kayirawane
to find the answer for Kanji's sterility. If they cannot solve the
problem, Samori threatens to take their heads. A number of
magicians consult their varied arts for the truth and each discovers
that a great son will be born to Kanji. However, when asked which
wife will have the child, the magicians cannot supply the
information and they are summarily executed. The aphorism,
"Look to the sitting-stool for seizing all the smells" (1 0, 66, 364,
439), resounds throughout this sequence as the magicians exact
payment :from Kanji in the form of cows, sheep, goats, chickens,
and various articles of clothing but are unable to say who among
Kanji's wives will be the mother of the hero-child, Kambili. A
broader interpretation of the "sitting-stool," would be that one
should not attempt to hide the truth. Before the trial, and
subsequent execution of the fraudulent sorcerers, Seydou Camera
reels-off another litany of aphorisms, as if to build the thematic
platform, to provide emotional momentum for this first climax
(185-298).
 Chapter Seven

Praise Songs, Traditional Religion and Islam

The words, and the order oflines, are not exactly the same in
all instances, but there is a high level of similarity that would
qualify them for classification as themes. One of the sorcerers is
Nerikoro, head of the blacksmith cult group. Beheading such a
man would be anathema to the Mandinka society and though he
also fails to solve the chills dilemma, he is left alone. With
characteristic chiastic flavor, spiced with aphorism, the bard
introduces the character Nerikoro into the story:

Nerikoro, the Komo man has come!

Fak:oli was a smith, Samori!
If an insult is made to a smith, pleasure will sour.
The world's first child was a smith,
An insult to a smith, pleasure is ruined.
Ah! Smith! Samori! (533-538)

These lines introduce the first song in the epic, a praise song for
the blacksmiths (534-580). To emphasize the superlative power of
the smiths, Seydou Camara introduces the story's first fantastic
element: Nerikoro transfonns himself into an eagle, "And rose up
into the clouds, flapping" (648). This event serves to heighten the
distinction between characters, class, and institutions, both in the

103
104

narrative and, perhaps, in Mande society. Lines 610 through 688

is another song to the Komo, blacksmiths society. The song ends
with a hemistich of the very first aphorism isolated in this study:

Ah! E! The slave does not know his end. (689)

What follows, in lines 695-720, is a praise song for Islamic

holy men: which serves to introduce the lman, a new character,
into the story. Having been inured in the opening recitation of
proverbs by, "A man's learning and his ability are not the same"
(37), the audience can anticipate the conflict, but must await the
poet's narrative eloquence for resolution. Skillfully, the bard
intensifies the conflict:

It is not good to put aside tradition for one day's pain. (720)

A variation of an earlier provelb:

Eating the traditional dish is not an

Evil deed. (36)

The other side of the conflict is stated in the provocative lines:

Ah! Since the very beginning of the world,

The holyman and treachery have never been far apart,
There is no end to the holyman's wants. (1. 1158-1160)

These lines reflect the historical contradictions between the Islamic

incursions and the traditional outlook in the Western Sudan. The
significance of this theme, stated aphoristically, chiastically in
song and narrative, is exemplified by the protracted and repeated
 105

use in the epic. This conflict does not begin to be resolved until
much later in the story by such phrases as:

Ah! All the holy men are by the mosque,

But all ofthem are not holy men! (1992-1993)

All the holy men are by the mosque

But they all don't know how to read. (2004-2005)

The conflict between Islam and traditional religion is per-

sonified by the Iman, and Bari the Omen Reader. In symbolic
language, incomprehensible and untranslatable into English, Bari
begins to read the omens of the future, singing the praises of his
tradition:

It's the omen for the birth of the child (784)

The only two seers left, the Iman and Bari, are to determine who
will be the mother ofthe hero-child, K.ambili. Islam has co-existed
with traditional Mandinka culture: it has shaped and been shaped
by local cultures wherever it has taken root (Charry 22) Salaam
goes even further noting "if anything, Islam was readjusted to fit
contours of Mandinka culture rather than the other way around;
!$lam was not arabized but Africanized, and except for the addition
of Muslim modes of expression, ritual prayers, and real or
imagined Arab genealogies there were few changes made in the
structure and organization of the historical tradition" (2261-62).
The story ofDugo, introduced on line 310, is reintroduced on
line 813 as the rejected wife who, ''has been put out as a goatherd."
The Iman and Bari find out, through their respective arts, that
Kanji can only have a child by his rejected wife, Dugo, who has
106

been sent out by the other wives. The song that follows (870-886),
is one in which Dugo makes an appeal for help to Bari the Troth-
Seer. This is followed (887-901) by a song in which Bari asks
Dugo why she is crying. This song ends with the aphorism:

Each day's dawning is not the same (901)

Demonstrating the symmetrical and thematic utility of formulaic

proverbs. In essence, Bari is trying to comfort Dugo, to give her
hope of a better tomorrow. Dugo responds in song (902-926),
expressing the dimensions of her dilemma as the rejected wife; as
having not yet slept with her man, Kanji; and as being the object
of the vicious jealousy of the co-wives. The song ends with a line
evoking the hope and value of progeny:

Death is not hard unless one leaves nothing behind (923)

Dugo's response is, complimentarily, accompanied by a new litany

of laconic, aphoristic lines:

Last judgment does not pass a man by if he comes from

Mecca.
Man, don't you know many good men of Mecca have gone to
rest?
Death does not pass a man by if he has raised a great fiunily.
Death does not pass a man by if he has mastered the world.
No matter how tall the man, he'll end up one long mound.
Look to Yarasuru for the soul-seizing angel. (928-993)

It is Bari, the Truth-Seer, who first discovers the correct answer to

the riddle ofthe child's mother. To protect Dugo, Bari prepares an
 107

enigmatic, sacrifice for her, and a trick for the favored wife. Here
Seydou Camara uses the formulaic-aphorism coupled with a
fantastic element as his vehicle:

A name is bought; it is not to be forced. (1039)

I cannot say the name.

I will write it on holy paper. (1 049-1 050)

A few lines later we are told:

A tornado ripped off the roof of the hut.

Ahl The holy paper was blown out by the wind. (1075-1076)

The Iman, through jealousy, tries to trick Bari, but Bari's magical
ability is too great and the Iman withdraws. The sprinkling of
aphoristic lines related to this, and the events that follows, point
directly to the theme the poet wishes to convey (i.e., the qualities
of heroism).

Ah! Falsity is not good !

Many brides may take a husband,
They all don't give birth to hunters.
Mother Dugo the Owl will give birth.
A name is bought; a name is not to be forced.
A fish may escape a net,
He won't get out of one stretched out all over. (1113-1119)

Ah! Treachery is not good!

Treachery always ends up on its author. (1141-1142)

Ah! Since the very beginning of the world,

108

The holy man and treachery have never been far apart. (1158-
1159)

Praising a man is not pleasing to his enemy.

Every day talk improves amanmoretban every day argument.
(1189-1190)

Such exchanges do not necessarily denigrate Islam, but they show

thematically that the knowledge to be gained from Islam is inferior
to their own traditional sources. Subsequently, Dugo is secretly
brought back to the palace by Bari and bedded with Kanji. Later,
during her pregnancy, the extraordinary "Dugo's Kambili would
get up and walk about" (1.1521 ), and then return before daybreak.
This motif suggests the superlative power of Dugo and the hero-
child, Kambili. Hunters' societies and their musicians which The
Epic of Kambili celebrates "still preserve" in the words of Eric
Charry, "that pre-empire, pre-Islamic heritage. Epics recited by
hunter's musicians have not been as extensively documented as
those concerning Sundiata, but they are generally believed to refer
to a mythic past that predates Islam and the socially differentiated
society of the Sundiata era" (67-8). In fact, the hunter's musician,
a term that does not convey the significance and depth of the
relationship with the hunter, functions more like a priest, an
intermediary between the hunter and supernatural forces. Charry
says the Mandinka hunter's musician is called sora and there are
no hereditary restrictions on becoming a hunter's musician.
Clearly, ''the relationship between the hunter and his priest-
musician is a close one," as can be seen from the following lines
depicting that relationship sung by the narrator ofKambili, Seydou
Camara:
 109

I've seen a hunter, I've seen my friend

I've seen a hunter, I've seen my brother.
I've seen a hunter, I've seen my sharer of pleasures
Should the hunter be a Komo
I will be his bard
The Komo doesn't fight a~
If he hasn't a good bard.
Skinning-knife of the Game, we salute Kambili Sanan:fila!
(I. 16-23)

Charles Bird explains: "Initiation into the Komo is an initiation

into the knowledge that governs the order of the Mandinka
cosmos"(Bird 104) It is the legislative, judicial and spiritual arm
of the society. Thus, it appears," in the Mandinka sense ofhonor,
an opponent must be worthy of fighting. If he is ... he will be
worthy of having a great bard to sing of his deeds" (1 07).
"Skinning-knife of the Game" is, ofcourse, one ofthe many praise
names for hunters.
 Chapter Eight

Birth, Tasks and Triumph

Soon Kambili is born. The first part of the epic reaches its
climax; the favored wife's response is terse, aphoristic, and
inflated with sour grapes, as she appeals to the mercy of Kanji:

Every flower on a tree doesn't give a fruit;

Were it not so, the branch would break.

Man, should one man not succeed, then another will.
(1571-1573)

Lines 1650 to 1680 is a song, prelude to the second part of the

story, sung by the once favored wife who is now admitting her evil
jealously. She bas promised emperor Samori that she would sweep
his courtyard with her bottom if she were not the first to bear Kanji
and heir; Samori holds her to that promise. The bard's Seydou
Camara's, sensitivity to the need of humor, of comic relief, is
genuinely expressed:

Ah! The favored wife got up and left,

Her bottom reddened like the hearth of a forge,
And called out for her comrades,

Ill
112

And leaned down over her bed,

And raised up her great bottom.
''For Ood's sake, bring me a fai4
And come and fan my bottom.
My bottom is blistered and burned!" (1640-1680)

Following this hilarious event, Kanji wife, who is to blame for all
ofDugo's original hardships, tries to kill K.ambili; but Kanji, in a
brilliant imagistic scene, dismounts from his marvelous white
stallion and kills the evil first wife. Prophetically, the bard has
prepared us with such prior references as:

The birth ofKambili was not easy for Jimini (260)

and

He will be a child of fortune.

He will not be an unfortunate child.
He will be the man of the hour and the man of destiny.
(361-363)

K.ambili' s precocious boyhood exploits portend his heroic prowess

and future greatness. He begins by fighting with the chickens and
ducklings. Later he brings home a leopard, then a buffalo on a
leash, thinking them to be his firther' s stray pets.
The bard suspends, momentarily, the aphoristic formula
Having served its guiding, didactic, thematic function, the poet can
now concentrate on those acts that qualify the hero, K.ambili.
K.ambili grows up to be a leader ofthe hunters. This second section
ends with his marriage to Kumba, a beautiful girl with con-
siderable magical talents.
 113

The third and final part ofthe epic begins when it is announced
that there is a lion-man in Jimini, and Kambili is engaged to
destroy him before the lion-man devours the entire village. Cekura,
the lion-man, created a serious problem for Samori, and the people
ofJimini. Cekura was once married to Kumba, but 'holymen' had
decreed that she should leave him for Kambili and she does. As a
result, an inspired marriage song for Kambili and Kumba takes up
the next one hundred fifty lines. The song itself is an echo of the
formulaic theme ofconflict between Islam and traditional religion:

Ah! All the holy men are by the mosque,

But all of them are not holy men!
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery! (2004-2007)

The tasks of the hero made known, the wedding procession

finished, the bard returns once more to the characteristic,
ventilative aphorism to end the wedding ceremony:

Look to the chair for seizing all the smells.

A sandal that's stepped in dung leaves its bits behind.
(2109-2110)

Lines 2133 through 2164 comprise another litany of gnomes

slightly different from those seen in the first forty-four lines of the
poem. Repetition of lines is not a monotonous, tedious one,
because the poet weaves them into fresh, original combinations;
which, in this case, is the vehicle for another kind ofsong in praise
of the antelope and the heroic hunter. For example, the familiar
line, "Look to the sitting-stool ... "(10, 66, 364, etc.) appears in
114

this recitation as, "Greet the chair ... "(2134). The reference to the
"loincloth," as not being "the man's totem" (68), receives an added
nU&nce, e.g., "Greet the loincloth as the breeze-catching cloth"
(2136). The praise song to the antelope demonstrates the chiastic
pattern without aphorisms.

Great stallion of the plain without saddle.

His belly, great; it's not from begging.
His mouth, white; but his mouth hasn't dipped
in the worthless one's mother's flour.
His tail is close to the ground; the worthless
one's hand won't get it
His ear, great; it will never be the worthless
one's mother's scoop. (2154-2158)

The lines that follow are aphoristic and direct our attention back to
the plot, and the hero's ultimate confrontation with Cekura, the
lion-man:

A man dies for this sharer of secrets, Father.

A man dies for his sharer of hopes, Allah.
A man dies for his sharer of wealth, Man.
A man dies for his sharer of secrets, no lie.
(2161-2164)

These lines prepare the hero by focusing his attention on the

danger he is sure to face. The hero, as Seydou Camara repeatedly
reminds the audience, is born for a purpose, and his life and death
must be meaningful.
 115

Kambili's wife, Kumba, learns the identify of the lion-man,

with the help ofBari, the King ofthe Omens. Bari is then called to
discover the source of the lion-man's power. The aphoristic line
that comments on Kumba's task is:

The woman's hand knows how to strike a man's

desires in any case. (2260)

Bari instructs Kumba to go to Cekura and bring to him a hair

from his head, his arm, and his crotch: a sandal off his foot, and a
pair of his old pants: and to lay these on the omen board. Kumba
tricks Cekura, obtains the necessary items, and returns them to
Bari. Once more, Seydou Camara's poignant and strategic use of
aphorisms punctuate this episode:

Look to the talisman's Angel of Death for that not easy

for all.
The praise for Tears of the Game.
No man becomes a hunter if he has no good talismans.
You don't become a hunter if you have no knowledge
of the occult. (2406-2409)

Bari turns to Kambili and tells him to bury the items by an old
tree near the market, and to consult the idol Nya-ji. Cekura, in the
meantime, has called together his lion-men and is plotting to kill
Kambili. Kambili sets a trap, using a young boy as bait. The song
that ensues, Lines 2453 through 2467, is an appeal, by the step-
mother of the child of Samori, to let her child go. Again, the
aphorisms are suspended during this intense narrative action.
Kumba brings Cekura, the lion-man, into the trap. The lion-man's
magic causes Kambili to fall asleep. As a consequence, the boy is
116

in great fear, and in this frightful state, the poet skillfully and
appropriately reactivates those aphoristic lines most thematically
relevant to the event:

Born for a reason and learning are not the same.

A man doesn't become a hunter,
If he can't control his fear.
The coward doesn't become a hunter,
Or become a man or renown.
Death may end the man; death doem't end his name.
(2520-2525)

Concomitantly, these lines complete the chiastic organization of

the epic as a whole. These are the last aphorisms used in the epic,
as the next l76lines of the story ends the epic with narrative and
song.
To compare Kambili with a shorter text, let's look at another
Mandinka text, "Janke Waali". This text was collected by Gorden
Innes in the book Kaabu and Fuladu "Historical Narratives of the
Gambian Mandinka" (University of London, 1976). The text of
"Janke Waali" is S19lines as compared to Kambili's 2,727lines.
The structural design of"Janke Waali" exhibits much of the same
characteristics as Kambili. There are, for example, the same three
modes of vocalization; what Innes calls, (I) the song mode (2) the
recitation mode, and (3) the speech mode. These correspond to
Bird's designation of(A) song mode (B) proverb-praise mode, and
(C) narrative mode, respectively. The same characteristics, of the
three modes, obtain for G. Innes and C. Bird, so I may at times use
''recitation mode," in place of the "praise-proverb mode," or
"speech mode" in place of "narrative mode."
 117

In.Kambili, the poet, Seydou Camara, begins his narrative with

a prelude, which gives the audience an indication of the historical
figure who will be the focus of the forthcoming narrative. The
opening breath group of the poet's song, the prelude, is nearly
always in the proverb-praise, recitation mode, and is used to
induce, in the audience (and perhaps the poet himself), the
appropriate mood for the enjoyment of the narrative (Bird 14).
In the first forty-four lines of Kambili, the prelude, lines are
exclusively in the proverb-praise mode: as the bard uses a litany of
aphorisms to establish his subject and the thematic outlines of his
narrative. In "J&Dke Waali," the prelude takes up the first ten lines
of the narrative in the song mode, with the last three lines
occurring in the aphoristic, proverb-praise mode:

Today did not see the creation of the world,

today will not see the end of the world.
Surely you know that on a day ordained for living
a man will not die;
Likewise on a day ordained for dying
a man will not be able to remain alive. (14-16)

After the prelude, the poet switches to the narrative mode for
telling the story, with occasional embellishments in the song or
proverb-praise mode. The poet, Amadu Jebate, in his "Janke
Waali," uses the song mode three times and the aphoristic,
proverb-praise mode five times.
Like Kambili, proverbs in "Janke Waali'' reflect a chiastic
structure, and their use is occasioned by thematic and metrical
considerations. The five aphorisms used by Amadu Jebate in
"Janke Waali" are follows:
118

Today did not see the creation of the world,

today will not see the end of the world.
Surely you know that on a day ordained for living
a man will not die;
Likewise on a day ordained for dying
a man will to be able to remain alive. (14-16)

At the going forth of the men of noble birth

there is dust and wind,
at their coming home, sadness and satisfaction. (1.119)

"Dew is no praise for a swamp,

good horsemanship is no praise for a man of Saama".
(131)

A rash man and a brave man are not the same thing at all.
(240)
A man fights with a man,
But you don't fight with the whole world. (263)

In each of the above lines, the second part of the line is a comment
on the first part; they compliment each other chiastically or
diagonally.
There is some correlation between certain modes of
vocalization and certain kinds of subject matter, but it is not a one-
to-one correspondence. The oral poet uses aphorisms in the
proverb-praise mode to make general observations on life, and as
means of stating with brevity fundamental truths and social values.
Seen in context, aphoristic expressions also perform the task of
accentuating and conveying specific themes. They punctuate ideas
by capsulizing them in a brief, unpretentious comment.
 119

"J&Dke Waali" describes the fall ofKaabu, which happened in

the reign of Janke Walli, its last ruler:

Kaabu appears to have been a confederation of states,

under the supreme authority of the ruler of the state of
Puropaoa, who bad his capital at Kansala in northeast
Guinea-Bissau. According to oral tradition, Kaabu
endured for over six hundred years, and its founding is
generally ascribed by the griots of one of Sunjata's
generals, Tira Mkhang, who moved west after Sunjata's
victory over Sumanjmu in the thirteenth century. (Bird31)

Some areas of Kaabu had substantial Fula minorities, and the

Mandinka rulers of Kaabu are reported (by griots) to have often
treated their Fula subjects in a humiliating and heartless manner.
As a consequence of this treatment, some of the Fula subjects
revolted about 1867. They managed to secure the support of the
Fula of Futa Jalon, and after several year's campaigning, this
combined Pula force struck at Kansala, the heart ofKaabu. When
his capital was on the point of falling to the attacking Fula, Janke
Waali touched off the power magazine, blowing himself and his
wives to pieces (Bird 32).
"Janke Waali" address itself to the inevitable realities of life
and death. This theme is introduced in the prelude and echoed in
the plot, as Janke Waali prepares himself and his wives for death:

Janke Waali had loaded a pistol and it lay on the

ground; he had spread a big lion-skin in one
of the powder magazines
He gave orders, "'pen the powder magazines and pour
their contests on top of each other."
120

The griot was saying, with added embellishments,

"On a day for living a man will not die;
Likewise on a day for dying no head will escape."
He added, "there is an expression, A kooring's white
bones, but not A kooring's white hair.
Today's death and a fresh grave."
They evacuated all the s1rongholds,
Till nothing remained except King Janke Waali's
Stronghold. (397-404, emphasis added)

The underlined phrase is repeated twice in this short narrative,

which suggests something of its thematic and structural
importance; other aphorisms are stated only once. In another
instance, as the Fula prepares to attack Kaabu, we again observe
the bard's strategic use of formulaic aphorisms:

At the going forth of the men of noble birth there is

dust and wind, at their coming home, sadness and
~on.(ll9)

In the preceding example, the chiastic structure captures the

feeling and imagery of movement, as the bard speaks of "going
forth," and "coming home," and then effectively juxtaposes the
feelings of"sadness and satisfaction". Amadu Jebate continues in
the narrative mode and dots the episode with a proverb suggestive
of epic hubris:

They surpassed all other princes ofhorsemanship.

They did not use a bridle.
They took tattered sacks and laid them on the
horse's back,
But they would jump even a deep river on horseback.
 121

Those were the princes of Saama.

"Dew is no praise for a swamp,
good horsemanship is no praise for a man of Saama"
(126-131, emphasis added)

This proverb is in the form of an analogy; since dew falls on

all rice swamps, it is no praise of a rice swamp to say that dew falls
on it. Similarly, since all the princes of Saama are superb
horsemen, it is no praise ofany one ofthem to say that he is a good
horseman. Saama is another home of the Fula. Line 131 is
thematically consistent with, and is a concise summation of, the
preceding six lines.
The line achieves another concise summation, "A rash man
and a brave man are not the same thing at all." King Janke Waali
spoke these words to his adversary Maalang Bulafeema who had
been wamed not to kill a certain monkey. Maalang Bulafeema
killed the monkey anyway, initiating the following dialogue
between him and Janke Waali:

"You should not have touched this monkey,

Because this is the monkey that the oracle wamed us about."
Maalang Bulafeema looked at him and said, "King Janke,
If you would but admit it, you are afraid of dying,.
So get up off the royal lion-skin and let me sit there."
He said, "MaaJang Bulafeema and Ynnkatnaadu,
A rash man and a brave man are not the same thing at all."
(234-240, emphasis added)

The fifth and final use of an aphorsim in this text occurs on line
263. Janke Waali's son, Saaraf~ comes to tell him of the coming
of the Fula from Futa Jalon and says to him:
122

"Count these grains of sand. When you have finished,

you will have finished counting the Futa men.
The Futa men and the grains of earth are of
equal number."
His father said to him, "My son, how is that?"
He said, "Father, a man fights with a man,
but you don't fight with the whole wodda
Let us flee!" (260-264, emphasis added)

These examples indicate that the poets, Amadu Jebate and

Seydou Camara, use the same narrative techniques, e.g., the three
modes of vocalization, and proverbs as important thematic and
structural elements in both their works. The distinguishing features
are in length and content What defines Kambili as epic, and
"i&Dke Waali" as simply "a D81'1'8tive" is precisely these features;
"J&Dke Waali" is ofshorter length and lacks the depth oftreatment
observed in Kambili.. The plot of"Janke Waali" lacks the embel-
lishments of extensive use of songs, praise and aphorisms that
characterize.Kambili. Given the vicissitudes oftime and authorship
"Janke Waali" can be viewed as a ''potential epic."
With the embellishment and embroidery of the cbiastic-
aphorism, an otherwise banal plot is rescued and infused with new
life. The various uses of the aphorism: as mnemonic device, as a
comment on completed and beginning subjects, as a cbiastic
phrase that comments on itself, as a self-contained statement of
general truth; aphorisms, when used with skillful propriety, are
significant for both the meaning and structure of Mandinka oral
literature.
 Chapter Nine

In Praise of Kambili Sananfda

Historians, anthropologists and sociologists have recognized

the age-grading system of social organization as an important
institution accounting for the unity and smooth functioning ofpre-
colonial African states. Age was the most important factor
detennining the extent of rights and obligations. The oldest
members of the society were highly respected and usually in
authority. The idea of seniority through age was reflected in the
presence of age-grades and age-sets in a great many African
societies. This social system is also useful as a method of literary
organization (structure) and thematic development, particularly
evident in the Mandinka epic, Kambili, and is the basis of praise
names given the hero.
The interlocking responsibilities of the various age-grades
required that each grade have its own social, economic and
political role. Usually, there were at least three age-grades,
corresponding roughly to the young, the middle-aged and the old.
Around the ages of six and seven to age twelve were the years of
fun and games, although some little jobs began to be mingled with
the play. Primary education included story-telling, mental
arithmetic, community songs and dances, learning the names of
various birds and animals, the identification of local plants and

123
124

trees, and how to identify dangerous animals. Child training also

included knowing and associating with members of one's age
group as brothers and sisters, and regarding them as brothers and
sisters until death and beyond.
The next grade above childhood was teenage to age eighteen.
Now both training and responsibilities were stepped up. Playtime
was either over or significantly reduced. Education and training
became more complex and extensive. Upon their performance at
this age level, the youths' entire future depended. The young man
was now required to learn his extended family history and that of
his society, the geography of the region, the names of neighboring
states and the nature of the relations with them, the handling of
weapons, hunting as a skilled art, rapid calculation, the nature of
soils and which kinds grew what best, military tactics, care and
breeding of cattle, bartering tactics, the rules of good manners,
leadership examples for the children of the age-group below and
responsibilities to the age-group above. At the end of this second
level age group, one went through the initiation rites for the
exalted level of manhood.
Young women received the same intellectual training as the
young men: history, geography, rapid calculation, poetry, music
and danre-to which were added: cbildcare, housekeeping,
gardening, cooking, marketing and social relations with particular
stress on good manners. Laws and customs, especially those
governing the moral code and general rules of etiquette in the
community, were often taught to both boys and girls in the form of
folklore and national legends. The Epic of Kambili is in this
tradition, where many of the proverbs used by the griot, Seydou
Camara, are didactic and intended to instruct, particularly members
of the second age-group, the age-group from which the hunters
come, concerning the acceptable rules of social behavior among
 125

the Mandinka, so we find: "A coward doesn't become a hunter,"

and "A woman-chaser doesn't become a hunter," or "Evil jealousy
is not good."
The next stage, ages nineteen to twenty-eight, was the
manhood and marriage stage. In tenns of rights and duties, there
was not much difference between the third and fourth ages of
twenty-nine to forty-these periods, of course, varied in different
societies. Seniority, however, was the significant difference. If
otherwise qualified, members in this class upon reaching the age
of thirty-six were eligible for election to the most highly honored
body in the society, the Council of Elders.
The Mandinka epic, Kambili, moves deliberately and
methodically through ''the events both natural and supernatural
leading to the birth of the hero, his youth, his attaining manhood
and his marriage and the exploits that gained him his name" (Bird
xi). As such, Kambili follows the so-called rites of passage
(ceremonials of birth, naming, puberty, marriage, burial, etc.),
which occupied such a prominent place in the life of traditional,
pre-colonial African societies. The adventures of the hero,
Kambili, are a magnification ofthe formula represented in the rites
of passage.
Kambili, like other epics, is a lengthy oral narrative, composed
(and simultaneously performed) in a grand style, celebrating the
heroic deeds of a man endowed with something more than human
might and operating in a world larger than the normal human
context. Kambili, the man, like other epic heroes, is a national
hero: he represents a country and a cause which triumphs with his
triumph and whose honor would suffer from his defeat.
Universally, epics are recognized as a symbol of the origin,
growth and development of the state. Kambili is the epic hero of
126

this particular song of Seydou Camara, a Gambian griot, and, in

the context of this story, is the man called upon to exhibit his
ability to restore, ifonly mythically or symbolically, the social and
moral harmony of his society to its proper balance.
In his effort to classify mankjnd into different types, the
Mandinkanarrator, or griot, gives a special place to these men who
live for action, and for the honor that comes from it He seems to
believe that the life of action is superior to the pursuit of profit or
the gratification of the senses, and the man who seeks honor is
himself and honorable figure. In several instances, in Kambitli,
Seydou Camara substantiates this view, for example:

The jealous one doesn't become a hunter.

A woman-chaser doesn't become a hunter. (102 and 104)

As members of the second age group, young men are expected to

behave in a more mature way. The young man, now, must begin to
exhibit the qualities of independence, self-assurance, self-control
and moral integrity. And when these qualities, and the related ones
of courage, resourcefulness and precocity, are heightened to their
most superlative degree, we can begin to form an image, a
conception of heroism, heroic prowess, if not the picture of a
particular hero from a particular culture.
On the other hand, there are certain negative qualities of
heroism that serve as balancing elements within the society. For
instance, the hero is frequently a self-centered, disruptive character
who boasts, makes threats and brings violence into the society;
Kambili brags that he will kill the lion-man, Cekura, with a single
shot from his rifle and he does. Therefore, when the poet, Seydou
Camara sings, "the hero is welcome only on troubled days," he
 127

captures the contradictory relationship between the hero and the

society. Charles Bird, who has written extensively on this
particular epic, and is responsible for the translation and
transcription of the only English language copy of this Songs of
Seydou Camara, writes the following:

The hero is asocial, capable of unrestricted cruelty and

destructiveness, whose presence is always a threat to the
stability of the collectivity. He is, however, perhaps the
only member associated with the group who is capable of
swift and conclusive action. (Bird xi.)

The society is thus damned with the hero and damned without him.
His relationship to society is concomitantly gregarious and
antagonistic.
Bird further points out that, in Mandinka society, the ability
to perform deeds is linked to an energy called nyama, the energy
of action. This energy can both protect and destroy the performer
of deeds, heroic or otherwise. Therefore, much of the occult
science in this area is focused on the control and manipulation of
this energy. Talismans, medications, incantations and fetishes are
designed for the augmentation and appeasement of the energy of
action. The hunter, being a man of action, must become a
specialist in occult science. In Kambili, there are many references
to the supernatural and the occult. Kambili recognizes and accepts
the supremacy of the divine powers and actively solicits their aid:
before his fight with Cekura, Kambili asks for the help ofBari the
''reason seeker'' who reads an omen assming Kambili's victory.
At another time, this aid is requested of Islam: "Almighty
Allah may refuse to do something. Allah is not powerless before
anything" (85-86). And, it is said ofKumba, Kambili's betrothed,
128

that she could change herself into a horned viper, a buffalo or an

owl; and Cekura, the arch-villain, changed himself into a lion; and
the young boy used as bait to trap Cekura was struck dumb when
a fly came and sat on his head and spoke, "Young boy, don't be
afraid. Nothing will happen to you" (2498-2500).
It is important for young men entering the second age grade,
when they are becoming hunters and considering marriage, to
overcome their fear. Is there really such a thing as a "lion man"?
Where or what is this monster-really? Is it not just the
imagination of the poet, Seydou Camara? Is this "lion man" not
just in the head and psyche of the young boy or the hero, Kambili?
Isn'tthis "monster'' really ineachofus? Clyde Ford in Hero With
an African Face, deepens our queey:

What is the monster consuming my humanity? The

impersonal demands of an unrewarding career? The
emotional drain of an un:fulfilling relationship? The
psychic pain of an unresolved trauma? The emptiness of
an unrealized dream? An unacceptable social illness like
racism, violence, poverty, or homelessness? And we may
ponder our own virgin birth: To what hero part of myself
must I give birth to meet this monster in battle? Courage?
Fearlessness? Faith? Hope? An end to denial? A belief
in my own worthiness? ....What parts of Myself am I
willing to sacrifice in this life-cballenging effort? Am I
ready to face possible ridicule and scorn from those who
would not understand my hero quest? In these questions
lie the personal challenges and rewards of the African
hero's death and resurrection. (39)

This then, is the moment in the stoey when the hero, the young boy
and the audience must look inside their own hearts and minds to
 129

clarify the difficulties (the lion men, the monsters) and eradicate
them. This is a dangerous and difficult age grade, a time of self-
analysis, self-discovery and self-development; times of
overcoming fear, accepting death as an inevitable consequence of
life. It can be said, therefore, that the incidents that are fantastic,
supernatural and "unreal" represent psychological, not literal
events.
Seydou Camara endeavors to represent certain balancing
elements without which the society in which the hero lives will
cease to exist. The balancing factor may consist in loyalty,
courage, responsibility, friendship or love. Through the medium of
his narrative he must create the values by which his society is to
live and die. Kambili, the fictional, enigmatic, formidable,
invincible hero represents the "hope ofthe society," and even more
importantly he represents superlative human qualities and the
masculine qualities of his age group, and the salvation of the
community is ensured by his demonstration ofthese qualities from
his inception and precocious youth to his marriage to Kumba.
Approaching the hero from the standpoint of his origins,
Isidore Okpewho reminds us in The Epic in Africa, that the hero of
epic poetry, invariably, has the advantages of birth that set him
above the rank and file. Sundiata, a historical epic figure, and
legendary founder of the great Mali Empire of 13th century West
Africa, was the son of a Mansa (emperor). Okpewho adds:

His mother, Sogolon (Sukulung), is the "buffalo woman"

and thus brings to the hero all the mystic force of her
totemic personality ... Swnanguru, was born of a human
mother but of a spirit father ... Silamaka of the Silamaka
epic is the son of the chief of Macina. Ozidi Is of the
130

ruling house of Orua ••• The hero of the Kambili epic is

the son Kanji, a general of the emperor Samori Toure ...
Mwindo of The Mwindo Epic is the son of the king of
Tubondo.
Similarly, Achilles is a Myrmidon prince, son of
King Peleus. And the goddess Thetis, a sea nymph ...
Gilgamesh is King ofUruk, two-thirds god and one-third
man. And Beowulfmakes his origins known to the Danish
coast guard in no mistaken terms: (85)
My father was fiunous in many a folk-land,
A leader noble, Ecgtheow his name. (Beowulf262-63)

The emergence ofthe hero into the world is usually marked by

some awe or mystery; there is often something portentous,
something foreordained, about his entry into the world, or into this
sphere of action. In The Epic of Kambili, there is this sense of
foreboding. Kambili is the subject of a painful trial of skill in
which several "reason seekers" are found wanting and are executed
on orders of the emperor Samori Toure. This is because, even
though their magic symbols describe the coming of a male child,
they are unable to name which of Kanji's nine wives will be the
mother of the hero child. Instead, they can only answer humbly,
''The bag is only for signs. It does not know people's names" (376-
377).
All the reason seekers are agreed that the awaited child will be
"a vicious hunter," the "hope of the group," and "invincible."
Also, Kambili's "career" in the womb of his mother, Dugo, is
characteristically portentous:
 131

And after nightfall around about midnight,

Dugo's Kambili would get up and walk about.
As the dawn was lightening,
He would come back.
And throw himselfback down on his mother's mat as if
nothing happened.
Mother! She cried. Mother!
During the day, here I am Dugo pregnant.
During the night, here I am Dugo with empty stomach.
I can do no more with this thing inside me, Mother.
(1520-1528).

In The Mwindo Epic, a similar career is followed by the hero

Mwindo while he is in his mother's womb: "Where the child
(Mwindo) was dwelling in the womb, it climbed up in the belly, it
descended the limb, and it went (and) came out through the
medius" (Biebuyckand Mateene). In the Homeric poems, fantastic
births are set amid meteorological turmoil similar to that also seen
to be core cliches in the thematic content of epic narratives. The
Epic of Kombili is well seasoned with references like: ''Look to
him hom for a purpose, for him coming for a purpose." By his
ancestry, his birth and his early development, the hero gives us an
awesome promise of things to come.
Dugo, despised by the other eight wives, is Kanji's favorite,
and the "chosen" mother of the hero (in the same manner that
Macy is the "chosen" mother of Jesus), and she is secretly brought
back to the palace ofSamori by Bari (an omen reader) and bedded
with Kanji Dugo' s selection is the work ofthe occult, represented
by Bari, who in competition with the Islamic holy man is first to
proclaim the name of the mother of the awaited hero.
132

He cried out, "Tome ni Manjun!

Ah! Here's the problem!
I have found out the mother's name.
I have found out the mother's family name.
Let us go over in the comer,
So I can tell you the mother's name,
And then tell you the father's name.
Should that be said before the other women,
They will prepare a poison,
And give it to the husband,
The child affair will never be resolved"
Ah! Namu-sayers!
Toure called-out to Morifinjan,
And called-out to Fadama the Bard.
He said, "Morifinjan."
And you, Fadama the Bard,
Come, let's go.
Let's go over into the comer.
The thing is not easy for all!"
And Bari said, "Tome ni Manjun,
The child's name is Kambill.
The mother's name is Sananfila Dugo,
Dugo who bas been put out as a goatherd
Because of vicious bitterness.
She will bear a vicious hunter for the world"
(788-815).

Thus, Bari, the Truth-Seer, is first to discover the correct answer

to the riddle of the child's mother. To protect Dugo, Bari prepares
an enigmatic sacrifice for her and a trick for the jealous senior
wife. Then the Imam, through jealousy, tries to trick Bari, but
Bari's magical ability is too great and the Imam withdraws. The
praise lines related to this, and the events that follow, point directly
 133

to a theme the poet wishes to convey, i.e. the qualities expected of

those young men entering the second age group and, in their
superlative manifestations, the qualities of heroism:

Ah! Falsity is not good!

Many brides may take a husband,
They all don't give birth to hunters.
Mother Dugo the Owl will give birth.

A name is bought: a name is not to be forced.

A fish may escape a net,
He won't get out of one stretched out all over. (1113-1119).

Ah! Treachecy is not good!

Treachery always ends up on its author. (1141-1142).

Ah! Since the very beginning of the world,

The holyman and treachery have never been far apart.
(1158-1159).

Praising a man is not pleasing to his enemy.

Everyday talk improves a man more than everyday argument
(1189-1190).

Having transformed himself into a black cat, the Imam, sur-

reptitiously, enters the hut where Bari's omens lie in the dust and
tries to disrupt their arrangement. Bari returns to the hut, and a
small bird tells him what the omens said before the Imam molested
them. Asked what should be done to the Imam after the failure of
his treacherous plot Bari answers:

Let him go ...

134

If you should kill an unreasonable man,

You have not killed a good man (1307-1312).

Such exchanges do not necessarily denigrate Islam, but they show

thematically that for Mandinka youth the knowledge to be gained
from Islam is, in some instances, inferior to Mandinka traditional
sources. Surely, such "instances" of"knowledge" does not include
that which is gleaned from hair from the armpits and crotch of
enemies.
After Dugo is secretly brought back to the palace by Bari and
bedded with Kanji, she becomes pregnant and dming her
pregnancy the extraordinary "Dugo's Kambili would get up and
walk abouf' (1521) and then return to his mother's womb before
daybreak; a motif that suggests the superlative power ofDugo and
the hero-child, Kambili.
Soon Kambili is hom. The first part of the epic reaches its
climax, and one of the wise braves states, proverbially,

Every flower on a tree doesn't give fruit;

Were it so, the branch would bleak,
Man, should one man not succeed, then another will
(1571-1573).

These are the words that praise Dugo, metaphorically, as the

"flower" that gives fruit. They are words that also speak of the
important value given to those women who have children. When
a woman reaches the second age group she is expected to marry,
and the marriage is not a personal matter, but one that binds not
only the bride and bridegroom but also their kinsfolk. The virginity
of the bride is also a matter of public significance. In the past,
 135

"Her condition is announced by the groom, who parades through

the village with a bloody cloth on the end of a spear. Griots follow
the husband, chanting the praises of the bride so that all will know
that she has met one of the highest social standards required of
women (Hale 87). In more traditional circumstances, it was the
duty of the wife to have children, and those women who did were
highly respected by the community. In fact, the procreation of
children was considered their first and most sacred duty. In
childless marriage, in the traditional milieu, was practically a
failure, for children were the hope not only of the parents but also
of the community as a whole. It was an even greater reward if the
young woman or man became the leader of his or her age group.
In the events immediately following the birth of Kambili,
Kanji's first wife, who was to blame for all of Dugo's original
hardships, tries to kill Kambili, but Kanji, in a brilliant imagistic
seene, dismounts from his marvelous white stallion and kills the
evil first wife:

Kanji, mounted on a white stallion ...

The favored wife went to find the despised Dugo.
She said, "Despised Dugo!" "Yes," the reply.
"It was the King who told me
That I should mash up Kambili,
And give him to the horses.
Kambili is a child of evil sign."
Despised Dugo left herself in the hands of Allah,
And took Kambili and gave him to the favored wife.
She put him down inside a mortar
And raised the pestle high overhead,
Saying she would pound K.ambili up.
It was then that Kanji arrived.
Nothing happens without Allah's will.
136

Ah! Jealousy is evil!

The woman's evil jealousy can't succeed.

Kanji came, pulling up the reins behind the favored wife.

"What kind of thing is that in the mortar,
Making a noise like that?"
She replied. "I was just playing a game with the little man.
I wasn't doing anything to him."

"With the pestle raised up like that,

You call it a game?"
And he struck with both barrels.
Yes, fired both barrels at the favored wife,
Putting one ball right in her ear
Putting the other ball in her chest
Laying the butt to her head, smash! (1720-1752)

Such fabulous, awkwardly violent exploits, obviously symbolic,

are factors defining Kambili' s heroism and charisma. Therefore,
praises are sung for the physical qualities he displays and for the
naivety, but courage shown in bringing home a leopard and then
a buffalo on a leash, prompting the poet to sing:

He said, "Kambili the Hunter! Kambili Sananfila!

Man, you're not old enough yet" (1851-1852)

In some praises, Kambili appears in his own person, and in others

he is transformed by metaphor into an animal or natural
phenomenon that exemplifies qualities that can be compared to
those of the hero, for example:

Great-Eyed Nightbird of the Hunters!

lll-Wind of the animals! (1770-1771)
 137

"Great-Eyed Nightbird" is a metaphor for the owl, a bird

considered by the Mandinka people to have great magical powers;
and "ill-Wmd of the animals" is a metaphor for the bunter whose
every scent strikes terror in the bunted animals.
It will reward us at this time to consider the specific praise
names associated with the hero, Kambili, for it is during the period
of the second age group that the young man is most likely to
perform those acts that will win praise. It is during the second age
grade that the young man is most physically tit and can
demonstrate his endurance, skill at hunting and striking his prey,
fleetness of foot and nerves of steel, all qualities that will win him
distinction and praise. The praises of Kambili in the poem are as
follows:

1 I)ugo'sKambili
2 Skinning-Knife of the Game
3 Kambili Sanantila
4 The Elephant's Skinning Knife
5 The Fresh Heart-Cutter
6 The Fresh Liver-Cutter
7 The Stream-Drying Sun
8 The River-Drying Sun
9 Green Head Smasher
10 Green Eye Gouger
11 TheCat
12 Naked Buttock Battler
13 Naked Chest Battler
14 Hot Pepper
15 Killer of the Ruthless
16 Killer of the Hardy
17 Eater of Cold Meals
138

18 Drinker of Cool Water

19 The Man-Seizing Man
20 Great-Eyed Nightbird
21 mWind
22 K.ambili the Hunter
23 Dugo's Warrior Bird
24 The Game's True Hunter
15 Dugo's child's Kumba
26 Homed Viper

In the ''Introduction" to The Songs of Seydou Camara, Charles

Bird notes that the great kings of the Mandinka past are praised as
hunters first and foremost. The hunter's prowess is well known
since it is the poet's function, in traditional society, to guarantee
that his deeds will be preserved and acclaimed. This is no simple
task, since to gain a name sung for posterity means not only
overcoming one's age-mates, but also surpassing the deeds of
one's predecessor (Bird vi.).
Even though the hunter's bard is not usually a hunter, he
serves as the seer of recorder of omens, and, in a modem literary
context, he serves as a fictional biographer in the oral epic
tradition. In the hunting tradition of old West Africa, the hunter's
bard functions as a sort of intermediary between the hunter and the
supernatural forces of the bush. Thus considered, he might be
favorably compared to a priest or rabbi. It is therefore not
surprising that the first praises for K.ambili are in the context of his
exploits as a hunter: "Skinning-Knife of the Game, we salute
K.ambili Sananfila! (23) This praise name identifies the hero by his
deeds and family name in one and the same breath. The
metaphorical image in the praise-name identifies the hero with the
act of killing and preparing the game at one fell swoop. There is
 139

also, in this image, recognition of characteristics shared by knife

and hero: brightness, swiftness, accuracy and thoroughness. The
analogy between object and hero is complete.
Gordon Innes, in his monumental work Kaabu and Fuladu:
Historical Narratives ofthe Gambian Mandinka, informs us that
the surname "Sananfila" is a praise-name. Further, noting that
griots have said that Mandinka surnames were originally praise-
names given by Sundiata to various clan heads and reflecting
certain incidents in the clan heads' careers (Innes 22). Innes
elaborates:

Though we may have doubts about the etymology given

by the griots, For some ofthe surnames, it is likely that the
griots are right in their assertion that surnames were
originally praise-names. Support ofthis view comes from
the fact that in certain varieties of Manding the same
morpheme means both "surname" and ''to praise," as for
exampleinBambara wherejamu has both these meanings.
(22)

The prais~name "Kambili Sanantila" uniquely identifies the hero

in tenns of descent because "Sanantila" is one of the names for
Kambili'sfamily. Online 131, we :find thatthenameofKambili's
father is "Sananfila Kanji." In other words, to ask "What is your
surname?" Is the same as asking, "What is your praise?"
Praise-names, like praise and admiration, must be earned, "A
name is not to be forced," the poet tells his audience, "A name is
paid for" and the price is high. And in the well-known ag~grading
system prevalent throughout Africa, the poet holds up Kambili as
Ford notes "not [given] solely for us to emulate but to use as a
140

meditation on our own" (31) and one who bas entered the second
and most important age-grade, the age-grade upon which the
young man's or young woman's entire future depends, and
challenges those of similar circumstances to match his example. In
those days, when bunting was of great economic importance to the
entire society, to earn a name sung for posterity the price was the
willingness to give up everything, including, at times, sacrificing
one's life for the success of the hunt It is quite likely that in
periods of famine the hunters were the sole support of the society.
Young men in this age-group must come to realize that before they
can be initiated into Dl8Ilhood, before they can impress and be
respected by a woman, they must be men both by appearance and
by deed. It is with this understanding that he poet Camara sings:

A coward doesn't become a hunter,

And become a man of renown.
A woman-chaser doesn't become a hunter,
And become a man of renown.
A jealous husband doesn't become a hunter,
The mourner never leaves the house. (26-31)

In addition to their clearly didactic content, such lines are

praises by inversion. That is, by placing the hero in opposition to
cowardice, promiscuity,jealousy, weeping and moaning, the poet
pays the hero-hunter the highest compliment by implication. This
triplet represents three of the most common expressions in the
epic: they underline the fundamental importance that the hunters
give to their reputation, a reputation built on their outstanding
moral integrity and also on the performance of heroic deeds. John
W. Johnson tells us:
 141

As the bard is the preserver of social customs and values,

so the epic becomes the catalogue of those customs and
values. The latter function may even be described as
didactic or acculturating in nature, and the deeds of the
heroes and the customs and values surrounding them
become role models for members of society. As a
catalogue of social values and customs, the epic exhibits
characteristics of cultural, traditional transmission. (51).

Praise-names, it should be noted, are not exclusively

masculine, and the storyteller endeavors to show the debt the hero
owes to the women in his life. In The Epic ofKambili, it is through
the mother's supernatural powers that the hero becomes a great
hunter, and through his wife Kumba's magical powers that he is
able to kill the "lion man" of Jimini.
In the seventh line of the poem, Kambili's mother is referred
to as "Mother Dugo the Owl". Her praise-name is "The Owl" or,
as she is later called metaphorically, "The big-eyed nightbird". By
praising those with whom the hero is related or associated by deed,
historically or contemporaneously, the poet links the hero to
praiseworthy attributes and gains for the hero greater identification
and universal acclaim. So the poet exclaims, "Salute Jinina as the
rifleman," a reference to a great hunter from the Mandinka past;
and "Long Bow, or Ancestor," a praise-name for Sumanguru
Kante, the blacksmith king who was the enemy of Sundiata, the
founder of the Mali empire; and "Parisian's man of the hour, I say
Bravo!" a reference of Charles de Gaulle.
To the question: Whom does the poet praise? And for what?
Daniel Kunene answers:
142

Let us say, for argument sake, that he praises a fictitious

hero for equally fictitious deeds ofbravery: well, we have
a heroic poem. Or let us say that he praises a man who is
outstanding in the field of education or in politics, one to
whom the community or nation looks for leadership and
who, for this reason, is a metaphorical warrior in a
metaphorical battle: once again we have a heroic poem.
(xiv)

Kambili is, from all appearances or until proven otherwise, a

fictitious, metaphorical hero, yet he is praised by references to
relatives, e.g. "Dugo's Kambili" or Kambili Sananfila," son of
Sananfila Kanji; and by association with peers, e.g. "Parisian's
man of the hour" and "Jinina," the rifleman; as well as association
by historical reference, e.g. "Long Bow, our Ancestor" or
"Jantumani" or "Kulumba," names of other great hunters from the
Mandinka past.
In addition to individual praises, there are also group praises
that can be applied to an entire group: a family, a regiment, a guild
or an age group. For example, the Camara family or any of its
members can be addressed by the griot with the praise-line, "Look
to Camara's sacred tree for the sacred tree of Mecca." This line
and the three that follow it in the poem are a formulaic set of
praise-lines for the Camara family:

Look to Camara's sacred tree for the sacred tree ofMecca.

The wing descends, the wing and its captives.
The wing ascends, the wing and its captives.
Long Bow, our Ancestors, your enemy-striking arrow!
(40-43).
 143

This is an excellent example of praise associated with peers by

historical reference. It is known through oral and written sources
that at least one battalion of Sundiata's army was composed
entirely of members of the Camara :fiunily under the direction ·of
Fran Camara (Bird 106). The system of age grading in connection
with the living and the dead plays an important role in African,
and certainly Mandinka, society. As the young man matures, his
prestige increases according to the number of age grades he has
passed. Thus, when the poet evokes the name of a famous
ancestor, the young men of the society are again made to realize
that their position is due to the care and guidance rendered by their
departed ancestors.
During this most virile period of a young man's life, a
Mandinka youth may acquire several praise-names in the course
of his career, and most often the more outstanding his
accomplishments, the greater the number of praises he will have
bestowed upon him. Because praises in The Epic ofKambili are
often formulaic, they are always at the fingertips of the poet,
latent-until animated by theme or meter during the poet's
composition/performance.
To elaborate this particular aspect of the poet's composition,
it is noted that praises occur in what Bird refers to as the "praise-
proverb" mode. For the vocal component of his performance/
composition, the Mandinka bard has at his disposal three types of
vocalization. The first of these is the song mode, which refers to
those elements of song within the composition, for example:

Fakoli was a smith, Samori!

If an insult is made to a smith, pleasure will sour.
The world's first child was a smith,
An insult to a smith, pleasure is ruined. (534-537)
144

We not only get historical personage but also ontological insight

intoaMandjnJcaviewof"Adam"-''Theworld'sfirstcbild." This
is the first song in the epic and is a praise song for the blacksmith.
Bird elaborates:

The head ofthe K.omo society is always a blacksmith and

thus the song serves to introduce this character into the
epic. The blacksmith is considered to be the center of all
activity. Without • there would be no tools for the
farmers, no utensils for cooking, and no weapons for
hunters. According to at least one mythology, the
blacksmith was the first human to descend from the
heavens. (113)

The rather formulaic, thereby useful repetitive nature of the song-

mode is both structurally and thematically intertwined. The speech
or narrative mode is the second type of vocalization and its
function is the unwinding of plot or story-telling, as in the
following:

Kanji was the chief of the soldiers,

The imam's cbiefofthe soldiers.
Kanji was chief of the soldiers,
The imam's cbiefofthe soldiers. (136-139)

This, the narrative mode, makes evident that one if not the basis
ofstructure ofthe poet's composition is the rhythmic background
Lines in this mode of delivery, Charles Bird tells us "are defined
strictly by the number and placement of accented syllables ...
There must be at least one accented beat, but it may be as many as
the bard can squeeze in" (xi) as a single breath group. Although
enjambments, continuations into the next line, are the rule, as lines
 145

are presented at an extremely fast rate, and a single breath group

may incorporate five to ten lines, I have chosen to highlight and
clarify the narrative forms more distinctly in the version of the
epic presented here: to sacrifice authenticity for readability or
visual accessibility.
The third mode of composition is the recitation or praise-
proverb mode, in which the singer demonstrates his eloquence and
his claim to truth by reciting numerous praise-lines and proverbs
which focus attention on the hero, either by association or by
comparison, for instance:
A man dies, he never ends his problems.
Eating the traditional dish is not an evil deed.
A man's learning and his ability are not the same. (35-37)

The first line suggests that one never dies with a clean slate; there
is always something left undone. The second line refers to the fact
that the hunters are the most traditional, conservative group of
Mandinka society. Bird assures us:

The hunters are not Muslim. They are often adamantly

anti-Islam, because to them, Islam is a new importation
associated entirely with the problems of town life. In the
eyes of the hunter, nothing can be wrong with traditional
behavior since that is the behavior that their ancestors
passed down to them. To reject that behavior is to reject
one's heritage. (1 05)

The praise-proverb mode, as well, is very important in the

structural and thematic composition of The Epic of Kambili.
Gordon Innes states that:
146

Texts in this mode are concerned with either praise of

general comment, but praise in the form of recitation of
ancestry and clan relationships.... Vocalization in this
mode occurs as a variety of song. . . . Recitations of
ancestry are often marked by long descending melodic
phrases ofbalanced length in which the text is delivered
in rapid tempo but with a generally even syllabic rate
which is in turn derived from the meter of the accompani-
ment (Sunjata 18)

The content of the ''praise-proverb" or ''recitation" mode is,

therefore, much as its name suggests. It is a type of declamatory
or dramatic, impassioned singing, whereby proverbs are drawn
upon to verify facts. It is recited in musical tones in much the
same fashion as an operatic aria, i.e. an accompanied elaborate
melody sung by the bard. The griot/griotte or singer, composes
extemporaneously, usually at a high rate of speed, numerous
praise-names and phrases. It is, therefore, not uncommon to find
a praise-name or phrase wherever the singer shifts modes or
begins a new phase of the plot. He relies on the formulaic praise-
phrases to give, in this case, himself pause; perhaps, to determine,
instantly, the course of action in the narrative mode which will be
utilized to move the story along. The construction of lines in the
formulaic "praise-proverb" or ''recitation" mode consists (in the
English version of the epic) of a verb or verb-phrase and a
conjunction "as" or "for." In this pattern, some twenty-seven
praise-proverb lines are built. This pattern may be diagrammed as
follow:

Look to
XasaY
Salute
 147

The number of times this particular formula is used in the epic is

noted below:

1 Look to the tracking dog for the hunting dog.

2 Look to the sitting-stool for seizing all the smells.
3 Look to the doorsill for the sight of all things.
4 Salute the co-wife's knife for leaving nothing out.
S Look to the salt for the success of the sauce.
6 Salute Jimina as the rifleman.
7 Look to Camara's sacred tree for the sacred tree of
Mecca.
8 Look to the running dog for the hunting dog.
9 Look to the cat for the thing not easy for all.
10 Look to the loincloth for all-smells-catching cloth.
11 Look to him bom for a purpose.
12 Look to the Fresh Heart-Cutter for the Fresh Liver-
Cutter.
13 Look to the duck for the heron.
14 Look to Mother Dugo the Owl for the big-eyed
nightbird.
1S Look to the Green Head-Smasher for the Green Eye-
Gouger.
16 Look to the cat for the hunting wildcat.
17 Look to the Hot Pepper Man for the thing not easy
for all.
18 Look to Yarasuru for the soul-seizing angel.
19 Look to Sacko for the thing not easy for all!
20 Look to the chair for seizing all the smells.
21 Look to the drying sun for the sun of the midday
meal.
22 Greet the loincloth as breeze-catching cloth.
23 Look to the undryable for the unbumable.
148

24 Look to Mother Dugo's ogre for that which scares

the children.
25 Look to the talisman's Angel of Death for that not
easy for all.
26 Look to the rolling stone for the pebble crusher.
27 Look to the deathless for the sightless.

The inventive and clearly didactic purpose ofthese expressions in

educating young apprentice hunters of the critical second age
group is evident when we consider the meaning of some of these
praise-proverbs. "The 1racking dog," for example, is the dog that
has the means of finding minute evidence that will lead him to
What he is looking for; therefore, he is the best hunting dog. "The
sitting-stool" is a small stool left in the courtyard upon which
women sit while cooking. It has the meaning that no matter how
people try to hide reality or truth, there will be a means of
discovering it Women, for instance, hide their sex with clothing,
but its existence is known to the sitting-stool. "Look to the doorsill
for the sight of all things" refers to the fact that the doorsill marks
the entry into and out of a compound; therefore, it is privy to
information on both what is happening inside the compound and
what is happening in the street It looks inside and outside. It also
conveys the meaning tbat, supposedly, there is always some
witness to whatever a person is trying to hide. "Salute the co-
wife's knife for leaving nothing behind" refers to the knife used in
the antiquated, cruel practice ofFemale Genital Mutilation (FGM)
euphemistically referred to as the excision ceremony for young
women in the second age group, who are also going through the
most important custom of rite de passage from childhood to
adulthood, i.e., circumcision, or trimming or completely removing
the initiate's genital organs, or clitoridectomy.
 149

The initiation and circumcision of boys as well as girls, in

traditional Mandinka society, is looked upon as a deciding factor
to giving a girl or boy the status of womanhood or manhood. ''The
co-wife's knife" refers specifically to the notion that if a co-wife
were to "circumcise" or excise another co-wife, it is sure that she
would leave very little for sexual stimulation after the operation,
so that her co-wife competitor would not have a great deal to offer
her husband. Abstractly, the expression has the meaning that, if
you want to get a job done, find someone with a vested interest in
seeing that it gets done (Bird 102-103). Bird further notes that
"Much of the hunters' philosophy is expressed in these formulae.
Primarily, they refer to the importance of knowledge, the
importance ofknowing the nature of the universe and how to find
crucial evidence for the delicate art of survival in the bush" (1 02).
They are advice to young men and women to examine the
minutest detail in search ofthe evidence that may prove crucial to
their survival.
Formulaic phrases are also especially useful to the singer in
the rapid composition/performance of his tale. This basic
repetitive pattern reflects the meter and syntactic structure that are
the possession of the poet. It is quite possible that the very sound
ofone word or phrase may suggest another on the basis ofacoustic
value as with the mnemonic formulae just discussed. Restatement
might be a better term in this discussion, than repetition, since
references to the hero and ideas are repeated without, at the same
time repeating the exact words or phrases that conveyed them
when they were first stated. Repetition suggests the repeating of
the same words. Among the ideas most often restated is the
identification of the hero by the use of his praise-names. Here,
Daniel Kunene's method of descriptive analysis, in his Heroic
Poetry of the Basotho can be quite useful outside the specific
150

cultural context for which it was designed. Kunene treats

repetition in the composition/performance ofBasotho poetry in his
chapter, "Parallelism and Structure" (25). Helping to clarify the
function of these elements, his discussion assumes the following
order:

Parallelism ofthought through the repetition ofwords and

phrases;
Parallelism ofthought through the restatement ofideas by
synonyms and indirect references;
Parallelism of grammatical structure through the
repetition of Syntactical slots. (25)

We can observe in The Epic ofKambili a plethora ofwhat Kunene

refers to as repetition through words and phrases, through
restatement of ideas by synonyms and indirect references, and
through the repetition of syntactic slots.
This kind ofrepetition is aesthetic. It does not repeat what has just
been said in exactly the same words without alleviation by
incremental elements, namely, words and phrases that keep the
narrative moving by stating something new in the same syntactic
slot; or, as seen earlier, by reversing the syntactic order to attain
emphasis. Repetition of this sort can serve both the thematic and
structural purposes of the poet.
The composition/performance of The Epic of Kambili offers
numerous examples of parallelism; from parallel single lines to
parallel couplets and triplets, and finally to parallel praise-stanzas
or paragraphs. Parallelism is used here in its commonly accepted
meaning of arrangement of parts of a paragraph or stanza so that
the elements of equal importance are balanced in similar
construction. Such structural order applies to words, phrases, lines
 151

and, ultimately, paragraphs. In addition, such structuring

inevitably involves onaphora, that is the repetition of a word or
words at the beginning or two or more successive lines of verse;
as in the following example:

I've seen a hunter, I've seen by friend.

I've seen a hunter, I've seen my brother.
I've seen a hunter, I've seen by sharer of pleasures. (16-
18)

Lines, like paragraphs, are units of meaning and may be stated

individually or in groups depending on the metrical and thematic
need at the moment of composition/performance. This kind of
paragraphing is common, though not rigid, throughout Kambili. I
have merely tried to indicate something of the nature of the
structure, and draw attention to some at least of the many
~ations which may occur.

Many praise-names for the hero are inculcated in this pattern;

some are based on verbs predicating the actions performed by the
hero himself, or actions performed by persons other than the hero,
while still other praises use adjectives-for example:

Killer of the Ruthless and Killer of the Hardy! (1 00)

Fresh Hear-Cutter ... Fresh Liver-Cutter. (99)
Green Head-Smasher ... Green Eye-Gouger. (1 01)
Hot Pepper of the Game. (340)

These are, respectively, verb to noun and adjective to noun

epithets (praises) familiar to the oral epic tradition. It would be
easy to add "Look to" or "Salute" to the beginning of each line
and re-establish the basic pattern, e.g.
152

(Look to) Killer of the Ruthless ....

(Salute) Hot Pepper of the Game ••..

"Killer of the Ruthless and Killer of the Hardy, are praise-

names identifying the hero as one who vanquishes enemies: those
who are without compassion and those who are unworthily proud.
"Hot Pepper'' is a praise-name that associates the hunter with heat
and ihe ability to act. With the utterance of this praise-name, the
game is imagined, hunted, killed, skinned and seasoned, by the
ex1raordinary fleet and accurate hero-hunter.
K.am.bili is such a hero, and the young initiates in the poet's
audience are challenged by his mythical but compelling example.
The final years of the second age grade (ages eighteen and
nineteen) are the period when young men want to impress young
women, by their acts of bravery and resourcefulness as well as
their mental, emotional and spiritual strength: and the superlative
manifestations ofthese traits is matched by appropriate praises and
praise-names. These were the times when, as Daniel Kunene
rem;nds us, "the brave walked with pride and the cowardly longed
for the oblivion of the grave •.• women were not attracted by a
man, however handsome he might be, if he was a coward. A
woman's aim was to find a man who could prove himselfin battle.
. . . Such a one, however ugly he might be, was loved, and songs
were composed for him, praising him and deriding others"
(Heroic Poetry 10}. So it is that the poet, Seydou Camara, can
exclaim:

Skinning-Knife of the Game, we Salute Kambili SananfilaJ

Great buffalo fighting is not easy for the coward
Great buffalo fighting is not easy for the unsure. (23-25)
 153

Praising Kambili Sananfila, who has earned the praise-name

"Skinning-Knife" due to his speed in hunting, killing and skinning
his prey before his competitors, which gained for him the respect
and admiration ofhis peer-group, as well as the envy and jealousy
of those who cower in fear and trembling. Hunting buffalo, in a
more traditional and surely rural milieu, is an age-group
responsibility-it is not a responsibility for children or for the
elderly-and, for Kambili and his age-mates in the Mandinka
world ofhis day, it must have been an act of tremendous skill and
courage to the be first among one's age-group to track, kill and
skin a buffalo.
Of equal symbolic importance to the Mandinka people of the
Savannah region of the Western Sudan, is the ''homed viper," a
symbol of kingship. After a litany of praises for Bari, the omen
reader, for determining the mother of the hero-to-be, the Imam
speaks the praise of the awaited child, Kambili:

The Fresh Heart-Cutter and the Fresh Liver-Cutter!

Killer of the Ruthless and Killer of the Hardy!
Cracker of Green Heads and Gouger of Green Eyes!
Eater of Cold Meals and Drinker of Cool Water!
(1180-1183)

And then concludes with this line that seems to express the acme
of praise for the hunter: "Man, your mother gave birth to a vicious
homed viper, Allah (1184). ''The Fresh Heart -Cutter and the
Fresh Liver-Cutter'' are praise titles for the hero-hunter since he is
the first to reach the game and therefore the first to reach the best
parts. "Eater of Cold Meals and Drinker of Cool Water'' is another
way of praising the hunter by reference to his quotidian routine;
i.e. the hunter always returns late at night, so late that his food has
154

gone cold and his water is cool since it will have been longer in
the cooling jar. The homed viper is said to be the most inactive
snake of all. It is the acme of cool; the snake least likely to react.
Supposedly, the homed viper has two taboos; one, if its tail is
stepped on it will strike and, two, if it smells feces it will attack.
If either of these taboos is violated, the homed viper quickly
transforms into one ofthe most dangerous snakes in West Africa.
This is a striking and compelling metaphor for the qualities
one would like to observe in heroism and in kingship, but also in
everyday hygienic necessity for young initiates. A hero-king
should be impervious to most superficial agitations, cool under
control and immaculate. But, when it is time to act, one must
strike with power and accuracy. To the question: "Why are these
qualities admired?" Kunene states appropriately:

The answer is simple. The men ofthese days had to "look

like the time" their survival depended very much on their
possessing the qualities which they saw in their powerful
adversaries, qualities with a great destructive potential.
Hence, the admiration also of the wild predators.
Observing these, the warrior saw their cunning. He
observed how the lion's roar struck terror into his (the
lion's) enemies, etc. He saw these qualities and desired
them for himself .... He not only teared these animals,
but at the same time he admired them, and therefore he
composed praises for them. (Heroic Poetry 132-3)

The poet, therefore, evokes the name and characteristics of a

respected animal or reptile in the environment, and metaphorically
goes on to bestow upon the hero attributes associated with the
animal in question, e.g. courage, surety, assertiveness, retributive-
ness, resourcefulness and resoluteness.
 155

Such praises can praise both the hero and the animal with
which he is identified-a true metaphor in that the qualities and
characteristics of the animal or reptile are bestowed upon the
person. For example, the antelope is praised by Seydou Camara
not for aggressive, vicious or political reasons, but rather for just
being:

Great Stallion of the plain without saddle.

His belly, great; it's not ftom begging.
His mouth, white; but his mouth hasn't dipped
in the worthless one's mother's flour.
His tail is close to the ground; the worthless one's
band won't get it
His ear, great; it will never be the worthless one's
mother's scoop. (2154-2158)

Here, the resourcefulness, speed and cunning of the antelope can

be compared to the resourcefulness, speed and cunning of the
hero. There is also an element here of the sheer gracefulness and
dogged independence ofthe animal being praised for its own sake,
for its antelopehood. This kind of comparative, metaphorical
praising is used frequently in the composition/performance of The
Epic ofKmnbili; e.g. Great-Eyed Nightbird, The Cat, Hot Pepper,
Dl-Wind ofthe animals, and so forth. In each instance, the hero is
being identified with phenomena of nature which are noted for
possessing to the highest degree the qualities observed and praised
in the hero (Kunene 37).
For those in the second age group, ages nineteen to twenty-
eight, represent the next stage in their rites ofpassage-marriage.
The social position of a married man and woman (especially after
156

they have had children) is of greater importance and dignity than

that of a bachelor or spinster; which is why the poet proclaims:

A woman chaser doesn't become a hunter. (28)

The great lover does not become a hunter. (1 05)
Death is not bard but for "Who come after me?" (87)

The idea inherent in the last proverb is that death is difficult, if a

man has no progeny. "Proverbs" Hale reminds us, "are the most
ubiquitous example ofverbal art, spoken by every mature member
of society. Their use reflects a full grasp of the cultural values of
a people and reveals a readiness for adulthood (130). The unity
and perpetuation of the society is assured by Kambili's marriage
to Kumba, the "lion-woman," a woman with supernatural powers.
It is during the celebration of the wedding between K.ambili and
Kumba that the hero is told of the bloody rampage of the "lion-
man," Cekura-and, inter alia to impress Kumba, he merely
responds that the "lion-man" is a pushover:

They had thus finished the wedding procession.

The wedding speeches had been given, Allah!
When the message had been given to Kambili,
It was none but the hunter K.ambili's voice:
"This man-eating lion is going to die .•..
Ah! If the man-eating lion is going to die in Jimini,
The lion is going to die with one shot in Jimini!" (2092-2098)

The final proofofKambili's heroic promise comes at the moment

of his triumph over the communal crisis. Kambili does what he
says he is going to do, he heroically vanquishes the lion-man,
Cekura, with a single blast ofhis rifle; in gratitude the hunters (the
 157

culture group which the epic celebrates) raise Kambili up, above
their shoulders, and salute his prowess:

You have taken us from under the execution sword, Kambili

You have rescued the hunters,
And saved the fanners,
And saved the whole army.
May Allah not keep you behind.
May Allah not take the breath from you, Kambili. (2615-2620)

Kambili represents a character in whom the virtue and, perhaps,

the failure ofliving is superhumanly concentrated. By vanquishing
the lion-man, Cekura, Kambili restores the collective security of
the community, and wins praise and a wife for himself. In a sense,
we can say that Kambili does what he does because he is who he
is: a character who represents the highest ideals (physically,
mentally and morally) to which a society can aspire in its search
for excellence and security. It is, therefore, significant that the epic
ends with a song of praise for one of the women essential to the
hero's final victory over the communal threat:

A woman to surpass all women

Kumba has no match among women.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
She lies beside a hunter brave.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah! (2697-2683)
The lion was made to cry in despair.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba.
Ah! The Jimini man-eating lion has been killed.
The reason was Kumba
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah! (2703-2707)
158

So it is that the birth, the youth, the attending manhood, the

marriage and the exploits of an invincible hero provide The Epic
of Kambili with a thematic and structural pattern useful in the
organization and design of the work as a whole.
 Chapter Ten

The Story: A Synopsis

The story of Kam.bili, a mythical hero, is composed of three

major sections: the events leading up to his birth, his youth up to
his marriage to Kumba, and the events leading up to the death of
the Iimini lion-man, Cekura.
The first part opens with Kanji, Samori's field general, going
to Samori and asking for his help. Kanji's problem is that he has
nine wives, but no children. Samori calls all the omen readers and
magicians from Kayirawane to find the answer to Kanji's sterility.
If they cannot fully solve the problem, Samori threatens to take
their heads.
A number of magicians consult their varied arts for the truth
and each discovers that a great son will be bom to Kanji. When
asked which wife will have'the child, the magicians cannot supply
the information and they are summarily executed.
Finally, only two seers are left, the Marabout and Bari the
Truth-Seer. Both men find out, through their art, that Kanji can
only have a son by his rejected wife, Dugo, who has been sent out
by the other wives to herd goats. Bari, the Truth-Seer, first
discovers the correct answer. TheMarabout, throughjealousy, tries

159
160

to trick Bari, but Bari's magical ability is too great and the
Marabout withdraws.
This is an extremely interesting aspect of Seydou Camara's
Kambiliz. He does not, necessarily, denigrate Islam but he goes to
great pains to show that the knowledge to be gained from Islam is
inferior to traditional religion.
Through a series of intrigues, Dugo is brought back to the
palace and bedded with Kanji. Soon Kambili is hom.
In the second section ofthe story, Kanji's first wife, who is to
blame for all ofDugo's original hardships, tries to kill Kambili, but
Kanji rescues him and kills the evil first wife. Kambili grows up to
be a great hunter. Numerous episodes are told of his exploits with
the animals of the bush. He brings home a leopard, then a buffalo
on a leash, thinking them to be his father's stray pets. He becomes
a leader of the hunters. This section ends with his marriage to
Kumba, a beautiful girl with considerable magical talents of her
own.
When it is announced that there is a lion-man in Jimini,
Kambili is engaged to destroy him before the lion-man devours the
entire village. Kumba learns the identity ofthe lion-man, and Bari
the king of Omens is called to discover the source of the lion-
man's secret power.
Bari tells Kumbaand Kambili they need some hair from under
his ann, and from his crotch; a sandal from his foot; and a pair of
his old trousers. Kumba tricks the lion-man, obtains the necessary
items, and returns with them.
Bari then tells Kambili to bury the items by the old tree near
the market and to consult the idol called Nya-ji. The idol tells
Kambili where he is to encounter and kill the lion-man.
 161

Kambili sets the trap, using a young boy as bait. Kum.ba brings
the lion-man into the trap. The lion-man's magic causes Kambili
to fall asleep. Just as he is about to devour the boy, the boy's pleas
awaken Kambili and he shoots and kills the lion-man. The poem
ends with a festive celebration in Jimini, and the Imam grants
generous gifts to Kambili and Kum.ba.
 The Epie ofKa mbiH
By the Wasul u Hunte r's Musie ian
Seydou Cama ra

163
 165

.A.hl Master, Kanji and his goodjourney/

The dancers ofthe hero's dance have diminished
The blessed child, Dugo 's Kambili has gone.
The omen for staying here is not easy on things with souls.
S .A slave passes a late evening•
.A slave doesn't stay long among you.
There was no reason for Mother Dugo the Owl's going to
rest,
The lion has no reason to seize the child ofman, Kambili.
Then look to the traclcing dog for the hunting dog.
10 Look to the sitting-stoolfor seizing all the smells.
Look to the doorsill for the sight ofall things.
Salute the co-wife's knife for leaving nothing behind
Look to the saltfor the success ofthe sauce.
Salute the sitting-stool for seizing all the smells.
1S Don 'tyou blow it's the stool that also hears many things?
I've seen a hunter, I've seen 111J1 friend
I've seen a hunter. I've seen 1f1J1 brother.
I've seen a hunter. I've seen my sharer ofpleasures.
Should the hunter be a Komo,
20 I wiH be his bard
The Komo doesn 't.ftght a man,
If he hasn't a good bard
166

Skinning-knife ofthe Game, we salute Kombili Sananfila!

Great buffalo fighting is not easy for the coward
25 Great br!/falo fighting is not easyfor the unsure.
A coward doesn't become a hunter,
And become a man ofrenown.
A woman chaser doesn't become a hunter,
And become a man ofrenown.
30 A jealous husband doesn't become a hunter,
The mourner never leaves the house.
Salute Jinina as the rifleman.
Heros, let's be ojj!
The hidden brave is up to no good
35 A man dies, he never ends his problems.
Eating the traditional dish is not an evil deed
A man's learning and his ability are not the same.
Harp-playing Sedoufrom Kabaya has come.
Falsity is not good, Master.
40 Look to Camara's sacred tree for the sacred tree of
Mecca.
The wing descends, the wing and its captives.
The wing ascends, the wing and its captives.
Long Bow, our Ancestor, your enemy-striking an-owl
You hit a balenbon
 167

45 From that day to this,

One side ofthe balenbon has yet to recover.
Should the wing move offto the east,
You will hear its sound
Should the wing move offto the west,
SO You will hear its sound
A.hl It's the voice ofSeydou!
The thing is not easyfor all.
It's the sound ofharp-playing Sedoufrom Kabaya.
Dugo 's Kmnbili! The lion is evil.
55 Look to SaclaJ for the thing not easy for all.
Gaoussou SaclaJ, I salute you!
I say, my apprentices, I greet you.
Guests, I greet you.
Respected guests, I greet you, Allah!
60 Then look to the running dog for the hunting dog.
The edge ofthe bush is never without the bushcow.
Pve spoken to a hunter,· I've seen myfriend
/"ve seen a hunter,· I've seen my brother.
I've seen a hunter; I've seen my sharer ofpleasures.
65 Look to the catfor the thing not easy for all.
Look to the sitting-stool for seizing all the smells.
Look to the loincloth for all-smells-catching cloth.
168

A man's totem is not the woman's loincloth.

Neither is the woman's totem the woman's loincloth.
70 It's the loincloth that is the smell-catching cloth.
Ah/ The dancer ofthe danger dance is lost.
Jantumani ofSoloba has gone with Allah.
The powder-master has gone back.
The world has cooled off.
75 The invincible one has fallen/ Kulumba the Elder has
gone to rest.
The Elephant's Sldnning Knife has gone to rest, Kulumba
the Elder.
It was Allah who created the Elephant's Sldnning Knife.
Didn't you mow the invincible one has gone with Allah?
Ah! The omen for staying her is not easy on things with
souls.
80 A slave passes a late evening,·
A slave doesn't stay long among you.
He has become the jujube, one long mound ofdirt.
Jujubes have become the hero's portal.
The tree oflife has become the coveringfor his nakedness.
85 Almighty Allah may refuse to do something.
Allah is not powerless before anything.
Death is not hard but for "Who comes after me?"
 169

The slave knows nothing. Ah! It's the work ofAllah!

Almighty Allah may refuse to do something.
90 Allah is not powerless before anything.
Ah! Look to him born for a purpose for him comingfor a
purpose.
Greet the sitting-stool for seizing all the smells.
The stream-drying sun and the river-drying sun.
The woman's loincloth and the breeze-catching cloth.
95 A name Is paidfor; a name is not to be forced
A small deadly thing in hiding is up to no good
I've seen a hunter; I've seen my friend.
I've seen a hunter; I've seen my brother.
Look to the fresh Heart-Cutter for the Fresh Liver-Cutter.
100 Killer ofthe Ruthless and Killer ofthe Hardy!
Green Head Smasher and the Green Eye Gouger!
The jealous one doesn't become a hunter.
The jealous one is blind and never leaves the house.
A woman-chaser doesn't become a hunter either.
105 The great lover does not become a hunter,
Nor does he become a man ofrenown.
A name is a thing to be paid for; a name is not to be
forced
A small deadly thing in hiding is up to no good
170

The horned viper never leaves the dangerous grass.

110 Look to the duck for the heron.
Toddle, toddle, dung is always in the elbow of the dirty
mother.
A man disltlres praise ofhis enemy.
A man's profits do not satisfy his enemy, KambUi
Sananflla.
The Jimini conflict was not easy.
115 Ah! Lies are evil, Kambili.
The birth ofKambili was not easy in Jimini.
Eating the traditional dish is not an evil deed.
The Imam's warrior chiefis laid to rest.
The Imam's powder-master is laid to rest.
120 The Imam's army chiefis laid to rest.
Ah! Falsity is evil!
Ah! Falsity is evil!
Falsity does not pray.
Falsity does not fast.
125 The totem ofthe Man-Killer-King is not violated
Toure ni Manjun has laid down.
Last judgement's darkness is never without visitors.
Ah! Manjun has gone back.
When I've seen a hunter; I've seen my friend
 171

130 I call out to the cat, Kambili Sanan:fila.

The name ofKambili's father was Sananfila Kanji.
Kanji had nine wives.
None of them had given birth to a child.
He became anxious for a child, Allah!
135 Kanji was a soldier.
Kanji was the chief of the soldiers.
The Imam's chief of the soldiers.
Kanji was chief of the soldiers.
The Imam's chief of the soldiers.
140 Kanji went off,
Taking ten red kolas,
And presented himself to the Imam.
I have failed. I can do no more.
I have nine wives.
145 They have not yet given birth."
Ah! Failure to have children is bad
Bitterness between the co-wives is bad!"
Ah! Bitterness is bad, Kambili.
So too is bitterness between men, Kambili.
150 Ah! Toure ni Manjun rose up.
He said, "Sananfila Kanji"
''Yes!" he replied.
172

"I am going to call the reason-seekers in Jimini."

"The Jimini reason-seekers are evil, Imam!
155 The reason-seekers have gone through my cow herd.
They have gone through the sheep herd
They have gone through my goat herd,
And gone through my chicken flock.
They have gone through my good gowns.
160 They have gone through my good hats.
They have gone through my good caps,
And gone through my good pants."
"Ah! What's that you say, Kanji?
Don't you want to have a child?"
165 "Ah! Manjun, please help me.
If not, I can do no more,
But the world is full of liars, cheats and troublemakers.
The reason-seekers live by telling evil lies in Jimini."
.Ah! The hero is welcome only on troubled days.
170 The place where men are seized is not void ofnoise either.
It is no other than Toure ni Majun speaking.
He said: "Kanji!" "Yes!" the reply.
''Call Morifinjan.
Call Fadam.a the Bard.
175 Go take the enemy-killer sword there.
 173

I'm going after the reason-seekers, Allah!"

He took the execution sword to Jimini.
Yes, he took the man-killer sword to Jimini.
Taking also ten red kolas with him,
180 And went up to the reason-seekers.
"Ah! King of omens, come here!
And help me in this child affair.
I can do no more, Bari."
Bari was placed in the great meeting house in Kayirawane.
185 ''Kanji, call Konk.e before me!"
Toure ni Manjun has gone to last judgement.
One man's death does not put an end to last judgement.
Were it so, Samori's death would have put an end to it,
But all things that stand eventually lie down.
190 Death does not pass a man by because he's been to Mecca.
Since many good Mecca travelers have gone to rest.
Death does not pass a man by because of his family.
Death does not pass a man by because of his charm.
There is no thing that stands that does not lie down.
195 Ah! Toure ni Manjun has fallen, Kambili t
Words are beautiful from the father's mouth more so than
the uncle's.
Before the child who circumsizes his father,
174

His uncle has no reason to hide his sex.

Defecating suits the old hound.
200 He doesn't have to lower his pants.
Having many children agrees with the old cock.
He doesn't have to feed them.
Having many wives agrees with the old cock.
He doesn't have to feed them.
205 Look to Mother Dugo the Owl for the big-eyed night bird.
The hero is welcome only on troubled days.
Eating the traditional dish is not an evil deed.
Habit has made pepper a thing to eat
Without that, pepper is not a thing to eat.
210 Ah! Safo has fallen!
The thing is not easy for all.
Imam! I call out to you, Allah!
Misfortune is going to fall on Jimini.
Ah! Manjun!
215 He spoke to the omen reader,
And spoke to the cowrie thrower.
He spoke to the great holy man.
He spoke to the man of the Koran.
"Come help me in this child affair,
220 Those of you who speak with Allah."
 175

He spoke to the spirit master.

"Come help me in this child affair,
Those of you who know the cowries,
So that Kanji can have a child."
225 Ah! Master! The thing is not easy for all.
The man of the house and the man of the bush are not one.
Some men like the house,
They don't like the bush,
They don't like the house.
230 The brave of the house and the brave of the bush are not
one.
Having used pants to put on is better than being a useless
child.
Having used caps to put on is better than being a useless
child.
Having used gowns to put on is better than being a useless
child.
235 Man, the hero is welcome only on troubled days.
The brave may die, he never puts an end to his problems.
Naked Buttock Battler and Naked Chest Battler.
Look to the Green Head Smasher for the Green Eye
Gouger.
You who have offered me a skull
240 As a face-washing bowl,
176

And offered me a skin

As a covering cloth.
You have given me a great tongue
So that I may speak to the world.
245 The brave offered me fresh blood
As face-washing water,
And gave me a tail
As a hut-sweeping broom,
And offered me a thighbone
250 To use as a toothpick.
It is the hunter who has done this for me.
There was no reason for Kambili's return.
Ah! Death does not pass a man by if he be charming.
Death does not pass a man by if he has a great family.
255 Death does not pass a man by if his life be easy.
The Jim.ini conflict was not easy, Kambili Sanafila!
The child cries for the breast, Kambili!
Death is not hard but for "Who comes after me?''
It's the sound of the call for the traditional dish.
260 The birth ofKambili was not easy for Jimini.
"Has the Omen King been called?
And have you called the cowire thrower?
And called the water reader?
 177

And called the blackbag man?

265 And called to the learned holy man?
So that they come to the palace in Kayirawane."
"They are all in the palace in Kayirawane."
"Ah! Moritinjan! Where has Fadama the Bard gone?
Go then and get the execution sword
270 And place it beside the reason-seekers!"
It's blade was of gold, it's handle of silver.
All totems may be violated,
But the Man-Killer-King's totem is not violated.
Man, the hero is only welcome on troubled days.
275 A name is a thing to be bought; a name is not to be forced.
It's the voice ofK.abaya's harp-playing Seydou!
The slave does not know his destiny; it is Allah alone.
Ah! Allah has been good to harp-playing Seydou.
Playing before the European is not easy for all.
280 The strings have been good to the Kabaya smith.
Thus, to each slave, the sound ofhis awakening.
It is the work of Allah,
It is the voice of Daman's harp-playing bard, no lie!
Look to Camara's sacred tree for the scared tree ofMecca.
285 The wing descending makes its noise.
Should Camara's arrow miss you,
178

Lighting will have missed you.

Seydou, make your harp-strings sing for me!
It's not easy for all.
290 The battle atJatola wasn't easy.
The hunt at Felen Mountain wasn't easy.
The battle at laban Mountain wasn't easy.
Dagadalakolen wasn't easy.
Mother ~o the Owl has gone to rest, Allah!
295 The debt of death is never passed by for the living.
There was no reason for Tenenkun Moussa's return.
The world has cooled off.
Ah! The battle has begun!
Jimini will not be pleasant!
300 Kanji gave the ten kolas to Samori.
He spoke to the blackbag man.
Telling them to assemble in one meeting hut in
Kayirawane,
And called the executioner to sit beside them.
He spoke to the blackbag man.
305 ''Man, come help me in this child affair."
He came with his black bag.
He came shaking his black bag.
Eight women were there, each staring at the others.
 179

The ninth had become the outcast wife.

310 Theoutcastwife'snamewasDugo.
Dugo, the goatherd,
Because of vicious bitterness,
Because of the wives' evil jealousy.
If you are not afraid of evil jealousy,
315 You are not afraid of anything,
Ah! Vicious jealousy is bad!
The thing is not easy for all.
The wives' vicious jealousy will not succeed.
Ah! Dugo the Scorned!
320 The favorite wife's child won't succeed.
The lazy man's wife's child won't succeed.
The big-bottomed wife's child won't succeed.
He will die from his exploits.
He'll never master the hunter's powder.
325 Ah! Do not make fun of the outcast woman-child!
The omen for staying here is not easy on things with souls.
A slave passes a late evening; a slave doesn't stay long
among you.
Should you come and find a slave gone, he may be hell's
slave.
Allah, may you lighten Last judgment for my friend.
180

330 Born for a reason and learning are not one.

(If you speed up the strings,
I am not able to speak.)
Parisian's man ofthe hour, I say "Bravo!"
Look to the cat for the hunting wildcat.
335 Great buffalo fighting does not please the coward.
A coward doesn't become a hunter,
And become a man of renown.
A name is a thing to be bought; a name is not to be forced.
A small deadly thing in hiding is up to no good.
340 Hot Pepper of the Game, good evening!
Ahl The bagman had come!
And come shaking his bag.
What words did he say?
He spent a long time shaking.
345 He said, "My father Imam, my mother Imam!
"Yes," the reply. He said, "Toure ni Manjunl"
"Yes," the reply.
"Kanji is going to have a child.
He is going to be a vicious hunter.
350 He will become a hunter of great name.
The whole world will know ofhim.
He will kill a man-eating lion, Allah!"
 181

"Man," he replied, "there's nothing wrong with •

But nine women cannot be pregnant with one child,
355 So get yourself together and look for the mother's name
quickly.
Will it be my dark wife?
Will it be my favorite wife?
Or will it be my outcast wife?"
So he put the black bag up to his ear.
360 "Ahl Manjun! There are no lies in this child affair."
He will be a child offortune. He will not be an unfortunate
child.
He will be the man of the hom and the man of destiny.
Then look to the cat for the hunting master.
Look to the sitting-stool for seizing all the smells.
365 "A woman will give birth to a vicious hunter in Jimini."
"Ahl" he replied, "Kanji!
Hear the bagman's words!
A noble woman will bear a son."
"Will it be the pretty light woman?"
370 Kanji continued, "Blackbag man, hurry yom footl
Hurry your mouth! And tell us the name of the child's
mother.
So that we can make sacrifices
182

In order to solve this child affair."

The blackbag man shook and shook,
375 And finally said he had no way of knowing the name of
the mother.
"The bag is only for signs.
It does not know people's name."
"Aha!" he said, "Where has the executioner gone?"
The Imam Samori's likeness was Konke the Sword.
380 When he went off to Last Judgment,
He had displeased Samori,
Who said to bring him to Konke's place.
That was not easy for the living.
They took away the bagman,
385 And trimmed a bit off his height.
If he had kept telling evil lies,
He would have made the army flee,
Since he was there telling lies in Jimini.
And his head was cut off at his neck,
390 Making his two shoulders inseparable friends,
Saying, that vagabond will not put an end to the world.
"You will not make my regiment rebel!
You didn't know the mother's name, cheat!
Disdain is on you!"
 183

395 Ah! The bagman,s head was cut off at his neck.
His two shoulders became inseparable friends.
And thus he died, quite dead.
He became but an object of disdain for the hunters,
Kambili.
He called to the cowrie thrower.
400 "Come help me with this child affair,
You have no equal in reading omens."
Well, the cowrie thrower came.
He came with his winnowing basket,
And came with his ten and two,
405 The scattering of cowries began.
He said, "Toure ni Manjun!
Ah! Master, I would not trick you.
A woman is going to bear a child.
He will not only be a hunter,
410 He will be a lion-killing hunter.
He will save your regiments,
He will rescue the champion fanners,
And rescue all the wood gatherers.,,
"Ah!" he answered, "Cowrie thrower!
415 I didn,t ask you for a big pile of words,
Huny up quickly and tell me the mother's name.
184

Nine woman cannot be pregnant with one child.

No slave knows Allah! Look well to it!"
The cowrie thrower scattered the cowries
420 And scattered them again, Master.
He spoke to the man-Killer King.
"Toure Di Manjun," he said.
"May it please Allah the King,
And please his prophet, Mohamed,
425 I have no means ofknowing the mother's name.
The cowries are only for signs, Toure."
"Ah!" your own mouth has sung your funeral song, Man.
Your own mouth has sung your funeral song!
Seize the cowrie thrower.
430 And take him to the place ofKonke the Sword.
So that he will not scatter my army."
The cowrie thrower's head was cut off at his neck.
His two shoulders became inseparable :friends.
He became a cotpse, quite dead!
435 Kambili's birth was not easy for JimiDi.
The Man-Killer King's totem is not broken between
heaven and earth.
The dust ofdeath is heavy.
Ah! Look to the tracking dog for the hunting dog.
 J8j

Greet the sitting stool for seizing all the smells.

440 He called out to the old sandal man.
"Come help me in this child affair,
You who speak the bitter truth.
Hurry the old sandal man along, Allah!"
The old sandal man came.
445 He bought a piece of balenbon bark
And the rib of a ram,
With a cowrie on the top of his head.
He fell in to scrapping.
He took the balenbon bark
450 And placed the ram's rib on top of it,
And scrapped and scrapped and scrapped.
He rose up, saying "Toure ni Manjun!" "Yes!"
"Man-Killer King!" "Yes."
''KalVi will have a young son.
455 He will become a great brave.
He will kill the man-eating lion.
He will kill the great python.
He will become a vicious hunter, no lie.
Kambili will finish the man-killing lion,
460 And save all your warriors,
And save all your bird hunters.
186

He will save the little calves."

Ah! It was none but Manjun's voice.
He said, "Old sandal man!" "Yes?"
465 ''Nine women cannot be pregnant with one child.
Quick like a flash,
Tell me the mother's name.
If you do, you can go."
He rubbed the old sandal back and forth.
470 He spoke out to the Imam.
He said, "Toure ni Manjunt" "Yest" the reply.
"Man-Killer King!" "Yes!" the reply.
"I have no way ofknowing the mother's name.
Their task is but to give signs,
475 Therefore the old sandals do not speak."
"Ah!" he replied, "Where has the execution sword gone?
Call out to the executioner
That he come with his head-cutting sword.
That he bring my enemy-killer sword.
480 Take this old sandal man,
And leave him at the place of Konk.e the Sword,
So that he not destroy my anny.
He has been telling evil lies in Jimini."
For a man going to cast off his soul,
 187

485 Walk.ing is not a pleasure for him.

The old man waddled from side to side, Allah!
He went following Morifinjan.
They walked and walked and walked,
Until they arrived at the execution place.
490 He would never tell lies like that ever!
Their work was telling vicious lies.
They went through Kanji's pants,
And went through his good gowns,
And went through the livestock,
495 And went through all the calves.
They have gone through the goat herd.
They have gone through the chicken flock.
Their job is but filth, Master.
Cut some off of his height,
500 And leave him at Konke the Sword's place,
So that he will not destroy the army.
The old sandal man's head was cut off at his neck.
Big trouble bas begun in Jimini!
The little man fell floppong about like a tramp in the cold.
505 Look to the Hot Pepper Man for the thing not easy for all.
The mixed-up man's life was shortened.
Ifl insult the king, I have insulted Allah!
188

Kamara, King of the drum, give praise to Allah!

There is no man more fierce than the king fighter.
510 Ah! The reason-seekers! Pressure was put on the reason-
seekers!
Then a birth-giving woman with bitterness in her belly,
She will not give birth to one with hairy calves.
A brave in hiding is up to no good.
The homed viper in hiding never leaves the dangerous
grass.
515 Ah! The spirits will love him!
They called out to the bard
That he call the Komo man,
The Komo-hyena man.
It was Nerikoro.
520 Nerikoro's master was called Numari the Elder.
They called out to the Komo.
"Come help me in this child matter.
Come with your Komo mask.
Come with your Komo bell.
525 Ah! It was Nerikoro.
"Come with all your Komo bells,
Come with all your good bards.
Come with all your good drums, Allah!
 189

Help me in this child affair."

530 Kanji can do no more in the child affair at Jimini.
The reason-seekers have emptied his band.
A name is bought; a name is not to be forced.
Nerikoro, the Komo man has come!
Fakoli was a smith, Samori!
535 If an insult is made to a smith, pleasure will sour.
The world's first child was a smith,
An insult to a smith, pleasure is ruined.
Ahl Smith! Samori!
If you insult a smith ...
540 The world's first child is the smith.
An insult to a smith, pleasure is ruined.
The forgers of hoes are smiths.
Nunkulumba
The pen is from the smith.
545 Nunkulumba
The axe handle is from the smith.
Nunkulumba
The origin of the forge is from the smith.
Nunkulumba
550 The source of the execution sword is the smith.
Nunkulumba
190

The source of the bullet is the smith.

Nunkulumba
The pestle is from the smith.
555 Nunkulumba
The pounding mortar is from the smith.
Nunkulumba
Ah! If you insult the smith, Man-Killer King!
If an insult is made to a smith ...
560 The world's first child was a smith, my people.
An insult to a smith, pleasure will sour.
(Hurry your hand on the string, string-player!)
If an insult is made to a smith,
(Hurry your hand on the strings, harpists!)
565 An insult to a smith, pleasure will sour.
Ah! Smiths, people of the smiths!
If an insult is made to a smith,
The world's first child was a smith, Samori.
An insult to a smith, pleasure will sour.
570 (Hurry up on the strings, harpists!)
If an insult is made to a smith,
Pleasure will be spoiled.
The skinning-knife is from the smith.
Nunkulumba
 191

575 The plow is from the smith.

Nunkulumba
The beginning of killing the lion is from the smith.
Nunkulumba
The hoe is from the smith.
580 Nunkulumba
Don't be cruel to the smith!
Pleasure will sour.
You'd better not bother the smith, Fula!
If you insult the smith, pleasure will sour.
585 Fa Jigi was a smith, my people.
An insult to a smith, pleasure will sour.
And he said, "Kulumba, the Komo bard! Ah! Kulumba!
Bring this message to Samori
No slave should offend another slave.
590 I'm really bothered by this child affair."
Ah! Namu-sayers!
Thus Nerikoro addressed himself to Kulumba:
He said, "Kulumba of the smiths!
Kulumba! Ah!
595 I have been called for the child affair, Jogosan Kulumba,
For Kanji's child affair, Jogosan Kulumba.
No lie has been told in this child affair, Ah!
192

To each slave the reason for his awakening !

I'm going to speak to the women."
600 He said, ''Birth-giving women!
Your talent is in piles of lies!
The slave knows nothing, Kulumba of the forge.
Kulumba, won't you stop trading for slaves, Ah!
You have made your work the slave trade, Kulumba
605 You will be battered by the stick,
And be both a corpse on land,
And a corpse in the water."
He then spoke to the Imam.
"~my Man-Killer King!

610 If you're not afraid of the Man-Killer King,

You're not afraid of anything!"
Ah! Toure ni Manjun!
The Komo-hyene danced and danced.
And changed himself into an eagle,
615 And rose, wings flapping,
Saying his powers were not for earthly battles, Kambili.
Ah! E! My time has come.
Yes, the time for rising off the ground has come!
Now's the time.
620 Rising off the ground time has come!
 193

No slave should offend another slave.

Nerikoro's time has come.
Now's the time.
The Komo Nerikoro's time has come.
625 Imam, my time has come!
Man-Killer King, my time has come!
Ah! My time has come!
The Komo Nerikoro's time has come.
Ah! My time has come!
630 The good Komo's time has come!
Ah! The time has come!
The Komo Nerikoro's time has come.
Ah! The time has come!
The time to leave the earth has come!
635 Ah! The time has come!
The Komo Nerlkoro's time has come.
No slave should offend another slave.
My time has come!
Ah! The time has come!
640 The Komo Nerikoro 's time has come.
Ah! The time has come!
The time has come for those of the smiths!
Ah! The time has come!
194

The rising off the ground time bas come.

645 Well, Jogsan Kulumba!
Bard of the Komo, man of the moment, a good speech!
The Komo thus changed himself into an eagle,
And rose up into the clouds, flapping.
And went to light on a mountain at Kona.
650 Since that time, Nerikoro bas not been seen.
They spoke then to Kulumba the Bard.
"Jogosan Kulumba, stop dealing in slaves;
You will be mastered yourself by it, no matter what."
They gathered around Kulumba.
655 The slaves gathered around Kulumba on the clearing on
the hill,
And beat Kulumba with a stick,
And killed Kulumba,
And burned Kulumba,
And gathered Kulumba's ashes,
660 And tossed them in the water,
Throwing them into the deepest part.
Ahl Comrades! I don't tell lies.
Ah! Everything has been explained,
But the Komo-Hyena's thing can't be explained,
665 Today's people have explained everything.
 195

But Neri's thing cannot be explained.

Today's people have finished explaining everything,
But the Komo-Hyena's thing cannot be explained.
They've succeeded in explaining everything,
670 But Neri's thing cannot be explained.
Those who study have finished explaining everything,
Well, the Komo' s thing cannot be explained.
Today's people have explained everything,
But the Komo Neri's thing cannot be explained.
675 Today's people have finished 1racing everything,
Well, Neri' s thing cannot be explained.
Today' s people have explained everything.
But the Komo Neri's thing cannot be explained.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
680 Ah! E! Namu-sayers!
It was Nerikoro who thus was lost.
As for Kulumba the Komo's bard,
He packed up his bags
And went off somewhere between here and Last
Judgement.
685 The slaves beat him with sticks,
And opened wounds on Kulumba, Jogosan Kulumba,
And made him a corpse on land, Kulumba.
196

The smith went back where he came from.

Ah! E! The slave does not know his end!
690 Ah! Namu-sayers!
The learned holyman thus moved onto the scene.
They called out to the learned holyman.
The one holyman, come bless me with your staff.
A dead man has no worries.
695 Ah! Master, come with your staff, Master holyman!
A dead man bas no worries.
Ah! Master, come with your staff for a salute to death.
A dead man has no worries.
Ah! Come offer me your staff: Master holyman!
700 A dead man does not move.
Learned Master! Come with your staff, Master holyman!
A dead man feels no pain.
Ah! Come with your staff, learned master!
A dead man has no worries.
705 Ah! Come with your staff, learned holyman!
It's the salute to the dead man.
Ah! Learned holyman, come with your staff.
A dead man has no problems.
Well, Master, come with your staff, learned holyman.
710 dead man has no pain.
 197

I say, learned holyman, come with your staff, king of

holyman.
A dead man has no problems.
Ahl Holymanl And master, come with your staft1
A dead man has no pain.
715 Ahl The holyman has come.
The man of the Koran has come.
Ah! The man of the Koran has come, Kambili Sananfilal
The man of the Koran has come, Kambili!
Man, the hero is only welcome on troubled days.
720 It is not good to put aside tradition for one day's pain.
Death may put an end to a man, it does not end his name.
There is no other source of pity beyond Allah.
Hearing the wretched out is better than mine-is-at-home.
Ahl The holyman has come!
725 The holyman of the Koran has come!
The man spoke to the Imam, "I've been called for the child
affair.
I have come to solve the child affair."
Ah! And then the holyman splie saying he would enter the
pmyer
The holyman entered the prayer house,
730 And the door was closed on the man of the Koran.
198

Ah! I will be a question ofdisdain!

Ah! Lies are evil, Namu-sayers!
The holyman spent seven days in the prayer house.
He said, "Jalo and Jakite,
735 Sidibe and Sangare!"
The call for the tent raisers and the tent movers.
Four families ofFula, four families of Jatara!
The Fula and the bullet were bom on the same day.
Death may reach a man,
740 It does not reach his renown, Bari Sinasi!
While he was there, they called Bari the Omen Reader.
They said, "Bari the Omen Reader!
Put your hand in the dust
So that you can help us resolve this child affair today."
745 The brave put his hand in the long bow dust.
He drew sisteen arcs.
The sections of the long bow, twenty-four.
Namusa
Naburume
750 Bala without death
Bala without awakening
Nonkon Forokoro
Titumu Mansa
 199

Kenken Mamuru
155 Filanin Fabu
Twenty-four sections of the long bow.
E! Jimini has called me for the child affair!
Nanusa
Naburuma
760 Bala without death
Bala without awakening
A bell was in Bari the Omen Reader's hand
And he sang the praises of the dust.
The bird of omens was the speaker of omens.
765 The spirits took Bala away.
From that day to this, Bala hasn't died, but Bala hasn't
awakened.
No one knows where Bala has gone.
There is no King of Omens who knows where Bala has
gone.
For a person who has gone off with the spirits,
770 It is not known whether he is living or dead.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
The brave put his hand into the dust.
Kumadise has appeared!
Maromaro has appeared!
200

775 Karalan has appeared!

Jibidise has appeared!
Teremise bas appeared!
Nsorosigi ni kate bas appeared!
Ahl Namu-sayersl
780 This one bas become jibidisel
This one has become k:aralanl
The omen has come out!
The omen has become yeremine.
It's the omen for the birth of the child.
785 The old brave was sitting like a grasshopper,
Keeping as still as a fisherman with his hook,
Listening with both ears like a cat waiting for a mouse.
He cried out, "Toure ni Manjun!
Ahl Here's the problem!
790 I have found out the mother's name.
I have found out the mother's family name.
Let us go over in the corner,
So I can tell you the mother's name,
And then tell you the father's name.
795 Should that be said before the other women,
They will prepare a poison,
And give it to the husband.
 201

If it's given to the husband,

The child affair will never be resolved."
800 Aht Namu-sayers!
Toure called out to Morifinjan,
And called out to Fadama the Bard.
He said, "Morifinjanl
And you, Fadama the Bard,
805 Come, let's go.
Let's go over into the comer after Bari.
He is going to tell the child's name,
As soon as we get in the comer.
The thing is not east for alii"
810 And Bari said, "Toure ni Matgun,
The child's name is Kambili.
The mother's name is SananfiJa Dugo,
Dugo who bas been put out as a goatherd,
Because of vicious bitterness.
815 She will bear a vicious hunter for the world."
Ah! It's not good. The co-wives' collective calumny will
not succeed
Family calumny will never succeed.
Mother Dugo, did you hear? He said Dugo the Owl will
give birth.
202

Ahl The mother's name is Dugo.

820 The child's father's name is Sananfila Kanji.
They will bear an invincible child.
The little one, hope of the group.
And bear a protector of orphans,
And bear a friend to the smiths.
825 Ahl Allah may refuse to do something,
But Allah is not powerless before anything.
Death is not hard but for "Who-comes-qfter?"
The birth of one child is maJdng trouble in Jiminil
Ahl Lies are not good, Kambili the Hunter, Kambili
Sananfiall
830 Don't you see that the holyman bas come back onto the
scene?
It was none but Bari the Omen Reader's voice,
"Go get a horsehead kola, Allah,
And make it a sacrifice for the child affair."
The Imam would put himself against people for nothing
835 And destroy those people's souls.
He said, &&Ah! Ahl Sananfila Kanji!
Go get a horsehead kola for me,
So that I can put it in the dust.
Bring the hom of a ram,
 203

840 So that I can place it in the dust.

And bring me the foreleg of the ram,
I

So that I can put it in the omen dust.

Bring me a little bag,
Bring me a small bow,
845 And bring me a rifle,
And put it all in the dust, Kambili.
Ah! Come then,
Let us make the sacrifice!"
No matter how long the day, it is never without end.
850 Old age does not let you sit down, if you don't have
someone to do your part.
They took out a small bow,
And brought out a young boy's bag, Allah,
And brought out a rifle.
The rifle's name was Kume.
855 Kume was laid on the omen ground.
They made the sacrifice for Dugo's Kambili.
On Thursday morning,
Bari took the horsehead kola
And went to find Dugo.
860 Dugo was found in the goatherding place.
Dugo was alone, ccying by herself:
204

It was none but Bari the Omen Reader's voice.

He said, ''Beloved Dugo!" "Yes," the reply.
"Dugo of the palace!" "Yes," the reply.
865 "What are you crying about, Beloved Dugo?
Ah! Favored Dugo, why do you cry so?"
"I'm crying for this child affair."
''Favored wife Dugo, why are you crying up on the bill?"
"I'm crying for this child affair."
870 "Ah! Dugo of the Palace, why do you cry?''
"I'm crying for this child affair."
''Man-pleasing Dugo, why do you cry so?"
"I suffer for this child affair."
"Ahl Goatherd Dugo, why are you crying?"
875 "I'm in misery over this child affair."
"Ah! Dugo the Despised, why do you cry?"
"I'm crying over my fate."
"Favored Dugo, why are you crying?"
''I suffer for this child affair."
880 Ah! And what song did Bari sing then?
Ah! Favored Dugo, hush now, Dugo.
Each day's dawning is not the same.
Dugo, hush now, Dugo of the palace.
Each day's dawning is not the same.
 205

885 Ah! Queen of the orphans, hush now, favored one.

Each day's dawning is not the same.
Sometimes the day is against us. It's not forever.
Each day's dawning is not the same.
Ah! Man-pleasing woman, hush now, beloved Dugo.
890 Each day's dawning is not the same.
Ah! Tall and beautiful Dugo, hush now, beloved.
Each day's dawning is not the same.
Sometimes the day is against us, it's not forever.
Each day's dawning is not the same.
895 And what song did Dugo respond with?
Ah! Falsity is not good, Bari.
I have become the despised one.
Ah! It's the work of Allah.
There's no way to say it
900 It's Allah's work.
Here I am married, Bari.
I have never had my man, Bari.
I've yet to sleep with my man, Bari,
Because ofthe wives' vicious jealousy, Bari.
905 Ah! It's the work of Allah.
There's no way to say it.
It's Allah's work.
206

If you don't help me, Bari of the Omens,

If you don't help me,
910 I'll never see the pleasures of this world.
Ah! It's the work of Allah.
There's no way to say it.
It's Allah's work.
Death is not hard,
915 Death is not hard, Bari.
Death is not hard unless one leaves nothing behind. 125
Ah! It's the work of Allah.
There's no way to say it.
It's Allah's work.
920 Ah! We salute you, Kambili Sanafilal
Last Judgment does not pass a man by if he comes from
Mecca.
Man, don't you know many good men ofMeccahave gone
to rest?
Death does not pass a man by if he has raised a great
family.
Death does not pass a man by ifhe has mastered the world.
925 No matter how tall the man, he'll end up one long mound.
Look to Y arasuru for the soul-seizing angel.
And Bari of the Omens said, "Dugo!" "Yes," the reply.
 207

"Take this horsehead kola,

And climb up in the tree,
930 And eat the kola in the shea tree, beloved Dugo."
Ahl Dugo took the borsebead kola from Bari of the
Omens.
She climbed up in the tree,
And ate the kola in the shea tree.
"I'm powerless," she said,
935 "I will give my hand to Allah.
I'm going to go with Allah the King."
At that time Dugo could do nothing,
Because of the co-wives' evil calumny.
Although Dugo had been four years there,
940 Dugo and Kanji had never entered the same hut;
The reason for this was simply bate.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
The preferred wife's child won't succeed.
The whore wife's child won't succeed.
945 The big bottom-swaying wife's child won't succeed.
The thieving wife's child won't succeed.
The slut wife's child won't succeed.
He'll never master the hunter's powder, Kambili
Sananfila.
208

So Dugo ate the horsehead kola,

950 And Bari of the Omens returned to his home.
He called out, ''Favored wife!
Go look for a little pot, Allah.
I will prepare a sacred pot for the birth of a child for Kanji,
So that Kanji can leave an heir behind."
955 Ah! Namu-sayers!·
The favored wife ran galump, galump,
And went and bought a new pot,
And came and gave it to Bari the Omen Reader,
And went to look for a young boy's bag,
960 And gave it to Bari of the Omens,
And went to buy one white kola,
And came to give it to Bari of the Omens.
"Bari, here's your one white pullet.
Here's what you need for your birth pot, Bari.
965 Here is your bag, Bari.
Help me in this child affair, Bari,
Without that, the pity for my man is too great."
Ah! The hunter and evil treachery are never far apart.
Allah may refuse to do something.
970 Allah is not powerless before anything.
Death is not hard but for "Who are my heirs?"
 209

Pretty words and truth are not the same.

Bari of the Omens walked on and on
And came to the door of the house
975 And pulled off three strips of nere baric
And put them in the bag.
The nere bark was to be the wood for the pot.
Aht Namu-sayerst
He sat down at the base of Kanji's house,
980 And called out to the favored wife.
"Haul up some water,
To pour on the birth pot"
Ah! The big one jumped up
And hauled up some water from the well
985 And came to give it to Bari of the Omens.
She said, "Bari, look well to it, Bari,
So that I am the one to bear Kal\ji's child.''
Ah! The hero is only welcome on troubled days!
The brave is more crafty than the woman.
990 Men are the masters oftreachery.
He said, "You four women, sit down,
And turn your backs.
No women can see a Komo's pot,
If your eye falls on the Komo's pot,
210

995 Your body will swell.

Head lice will land on you.
Body lice will cover you.
They will rustle in your hair,
And get in your underarm hair,
1000 And go attack the hair of your crotch.
Don't you look at my pot!"
The women sat down and turned their backs to Bari.
He put the nere bark in the pot,
And poured the new water on the pot,
1005 And put a cover over it,
And mixed up his ashes,
And put them on the birth-giving pot,
And took out a kola,. Birth-giving pot,
This is your one white kola.
1010 Ah! Kanji will have a child,
Ifthe kola does not face the ground.
The kola is something for the future, don't hurryl
You take one part of the kola."
The kola fell in favor of the birth-giving pot
1015 "You took one part.
You left a part for me.
Let me spit the kola on the pot,
 211

And cut off a chicken's head over the pot."

The chicken jumped and jumped,
1020 And fell over on its back among the pieces of kola.
It's not easy for all.
The favored wife jumped up
And stood over the corpse of the chicken.
She said, "As for this chicken corpse,
1025 No woman can touch the Komo's sacrificial chicken,"
Bari took the chicken corpse and gave it to the young
smiths.
He said, "Woman, I would not lie to you!
I will give an order."
Ahl Kanji intervened.
1030 It was none but Kanji's voice.
He said, ''Bari of the Omens, do your best,
So that I will have an heir."
"My brave, be still,
You will have a child for sure.
1035 Amanmayrefuseto do something,
But the braves are not powerless before anything."
The sacrifice of the pot thus ended.
Ahl Namu-sayers!
A name is bought, it is not to be forced
212

1040 A small deadly thing in hiding is up to no good

Don't you know the holyman has started to act?
The learned holyman has started to act.
He said, ''Imam!
Let me out of the prayer hut.
1045 I have seen the star of the child's mother.
I have found out the mother's name.
I have found out the father's name.
If there is a woman near you
I cannot say the name.
1050 I will write it on holy paper.
The ancestor of the spirits, Samuwurusi,
He sent me one of his assistants,
Telling me to write the name down.
"Toure ni Manjun!
1055 Let's go into the comer.
I myself cannot give you the holy paper.
Samawurusi, Ancestor of the spirits,
He has given me one holy paper,
It will be told on Thursday,
1060 Thursday in the morning,
At the time of the second morning prayer,
At the time of the hot morning sun.
 213

A whirlwind will rip off the roof of the hut.

The holy paper will leave with it, Imam.
1065 It shouldn~t get by the young boys
When they have caught the holy paper
They should bring it to the village Imam.
You should come into the mosque.
That which you will see on the holy paper,
1070 Is the child's name
And the mother's name.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
When Thursday had already dawned,
The door of the house was flung open.
1075 A tornado ripped off the roof of the hut
Ah! The holy paper was blown out by the wind,
Making it spin around,
Making it spin round and round.
They assembled all the young boys of the village.
1080 The Imam said, "Young boys of the village,!" "Yes," the
reply.
If the holy paper gets by you,
The vulture is going to lean on the young boys.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
There was one young boy among the boys of the village,
214

1085 What was his name? His name was Sanson.

When Sanson put human meat on the fire by the Niger,
He would reach out his sorcerer's arm and take water from
theSankara
And put it on the human meat
Don't you know that young man's intuitions served him
well?
1090 He grabbed the holy message,
Grabbed the holy message from the tornado
In order to give it to the Imam.
He called out to Fadama the Bard,
And called out to Morifinjan,
1095 "Let's go find the Imam,
So we can find out the mother's name
And find out the father's name,
And if the learned holyman has told the truth."
Ah! Namu-sayers!
1100 They took holy message and bought it to the village Imam.
There they read the message.
It said the child's name was Kambili Sananfila.
His father's name was Sananafila Kanji.
His mother's name was Dugo Jalo.
11 OS Dugo was to give birth to a boy
 215

He was to save all the people,

An rescue all the great farmers,
And save all the learned holymen,
And save all the wandering merchants,
1110 And save all the travelers
Aht The holyman slaver! The holyman buyer ofthe world!
A hunter was going to be hom!
Ah/ Falsity is not good/
Many brides may talce a husband,
111 S They all don't give birth to hunters.
Mother Dugo the Owl will give birth.
A name is bought; a name is not to be forced
A .fish may escape a net,
He won't get out ofone stretched out all over.
1120 The writing was read by the Imam.
It was none but the Imam's voice,
Saying, "Toure ni Manjun!
The child's name is Kambili.
His mother's name is Jalo Dugo.
1125 His father's name is Sananfila Kanji.
Ah! He'll be invincible!"
Didn't you hear the learned holyman's words?
"Call out to Bari the Omen Reader,
216

That he help me in this child affair."

1130 Ah! Namu-sayers!
Bari the Omen Reader came forward.
The Imam's wife, his~ Sanmkeren,
She had just given birth to Sarakeren Mori.
They spoke to Bari the Omen Reader,
1135 "Go look for some game, Bari.
Go looking for some meat for the sauce,
And come give it to the new mother."
"I really need some meat from the bush."
Bari the Omen Reader went off into the bush, Allah.
1140 The learned holyman will prepare a plot in Bari's absence.
Ahl Treachery is not good!
Treachery always ends up on its author.
When the well gets old,
Its frame no longer sees the light ofday.
1145 It has fallen down into the well.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
Haven't you heard what the holyman said?
He said to sacrifice a black cow to the child,
And sacrifice a white kola to the child,
1150 And close the door of the hut on the black cow,
And close it on the white kola.
 217

"When Bari returns from hunting game,

If he can tell about the cow,
And should he tell about the kola,
1155 I will withdraw from the child affair.
Just give me my payment.
I've really done all I can."
Ahl Since the very beginning ofthe world,
The holyman and treachery have never been far apart.
1160 There is no end to the holyman 's wants.
Ahl Namu-sayersl
Almighty Allah may refose to do something,
But Allah is not powerless before anything.
Death is not hard but for "Who-are-my-heirs?"
1165 Won't the birth ofthe child talr8 place?
Namu-sayers!
Intelligence is a thing hard to come by.
Bari the Omen Reader has come!
Bari returned from the hunt.
1170 Bari had killed an antelope buck.
He killed the antelope buck,
And brought the buck antelope back
And gave it to the Imam.
"I really missed on this antelope!"
218

1175 And it was given to the new mother.

Ah! Namu-sayers!
The brave sat down and gave Bari of the Omens his
blessing.
He said, ''Master, I salute you!
I salute you for your hardships!
1180 The Fresh-Heart Cutter and the Fresh-Liver Cutter!
Killer of the Ruthless and Killer of the Hardy!
Cracker of Green Heads and Gouger of Green Eyes!
Eater of Cold Meals and Drinker of Cool Water!
Man, your mother gave birth to a vicious horned viper,
Allah.
1185 Ah! Such is the work ofAllah!
Man, Look to Sac/co for the thing not easy for all!
A name is bought, it is not to be forced
Ah! The harp-playing bird ofKabaya has come.
Praising a man is not pleasing to his enemy.
1190 Every day talk improves a man more than every day
argument.
The hero is only welcome on trouble days.
Since the world was created
Braves have been born only one at a time.
A name is bought; it is not to be forced
 219

1195 The white man in hiding is up to no good

The horned viper in hiding never tires ofstriking.
Ah! Bari the Omen Reader!
The holyman has stacked up an evil plot in Bari's
absence.
He said, ''The thing that the hut door is closed upon,
1200 If you strive and strive,
And tell the name of the thing in the hut,"
He said, ''Let them give you the money for the child affair,
I'll be off for home,"
''Namusa.
1205 Naburuma
The great dust
The hidden kola
Kola and a black thing
Jitumu Balaba
1210 Jitumu Mansa
Nonkoforokoro
Twenty-four kaladen
Kaladen twenty-four!"
He dipped his hand into the dust.
1215 "Don't you see kumad.ise has come out?
Don't you see that maromaro has come?
220

Don't you see nsorosigi has come?

Aha! Kate has now come out!
Jibidise has just come out!"
1220 Namu-sayers!
The omen became yeremine, Allah!
"Ah! It's like a stomach.
It looks like a young boy's stomach."
Ah! And thus the brave spoke out.
1225 He said, ''Toure ni Manjun!" "Yes," the reply.
''The thing that the door is closed on,
It seems to be very black."
1bat was the voice of the first year of the omen.
A person doesn't swear on that
1230 He then gave out the voice ofthe second year ofthe omen.
"The thing that the door is closed on,
Is a four-legged thing.
A very, very pitch black thing,
And one white round thing,
1235 That is underneath its foot"
Once again he dipped his hand into the dust
And stirred it around.
And the omen said, "Bari the Omen Reader!
The thing that is in the house,
 221

1240 Tell it to the Imam,

It's a black cow.
There is a white kola beneath it."
Namu-sayers!
Now the pressure was put on the learned holyman.
1245 He transformed himself into a black cat,
And went to enter the hut through the eaves,
And broke the kola,
Splitting it into two halves.
Ah! Now the affair became offensive to Allah!
1250 Treachecy will always end up on its author.
Allah does not like the plotter.
Ah! Nam.u-sayers!
The holyman was there in a little hut
He was like a small and deadly thing, Kambili Sananfila
1255 Ah! Bari of the Omens, Allah wrote a holy water message,
And gave it to Gabriel.
He came and put it on one kola half.
The holy water was put on one kola half.
One became a white male cowbird.
1260 One became a white female cowbird.
Bari of the Omens called out,
"Open up the door of the hut!"
222

When they opened up the door of the hut,

The black cow sprang out; the two cowbirds sprang out.
1265 From that day to this, black cows and cowbirds are never
apart.
And because of the sacrifice,
Whenever Kambili 's birthday approaches,
You will see the white kola water on the cowbird's back at
the
Seventh month.
1270 Mother Dugo the Owl, it's an eternal thing!
They called the learned holyman.
"Ah! Learned holyman, come to us.
That which you spoke to Bari of the Omens about,
Well Bari has told about the black cow.
1275 Bari has told about the white kola
Bari has told about the things inside."
The Imam continued, "You tried an evil treachery,
And changed yourself into a black cat,
And entered the hut through the eaves.
1280 You split the little white kola.
Bari of the Omens saw all that.
Allah entered into the matter
And had holy water put on the kola halves,
 223

Making one a white male cowbird,

1285 And making the other a white female cowbird.
Such was not the holyman's intention."
Ahf The teamed holyman came forward,
And they addressed Bari the Omen Reader.
"Your plotter has come.
1290 Your toe-stubbing stone has come.
The author of that evil plot has come.
How shall we treat him then?"
And the holyman said:
Bismilai
1295 Arahamani
Arahimi
Tahiyatulai
Jakiyatulai
Salam.uralen
1300 Mumble, mumble, mumble, mumble
MayAllahsavemefromBari!
Ah! Namu-sayers!
Bari of the Omens broke out laughing.
He said, "If you should see something new
1305 In the hands of the village miser,
It's a matter of'All are not the same.'
224

Let him go!

Let the old hound go.
Let the old ass go.
1310 Don't take anything from him.
If you should kill an unreasonable man,
You have not killed a good man,
But you will still have other problems because of it.
He will carry his evil burden to Last Judgement.
1315 Let this old hound loose,"
Ah! The holymanran off full tilt, crying, "Ow, Ow, Ow!"
And threw himself into his hut,
Giving thanks to Allah the King.
Bari was back in the woman affair.
1320 The child affair remained with Bari.
The holyman was out of the child affair.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
Yes, Bari was the king of Omens in the Wasulu.
Now here is a man of very reddish hue.
1325 He was neither a sorcerer or a worthless man.
I speak ofNumisa the Red.
Ah! The wearer of long pants spoke out,
Saying, "Ah! Namu-sayers!
 225

Words are more beautiful from the father's mouth than the
uncle's
1330 Toure ni Manjun, I do not tell lies to you!
Have a long robe sewn
And have sleeves put on it of twelve strips of cloth.
It should be a Fula's treachery robe.
When they have sewn the robe, Toure,
1335 They should dip it in red dye, Toure.
They should darken it with clay.
They should give it to the Fula man.
I'm going to put my talents into action,
So that Kanji will have a child."
1340 Ah! Namu-sayers!
They sewed the robe
And gave it to Bari of the Omens.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
And what instructions did Bari give to the wives?
1345 He said, "You women, here is where you are.
Before the end of this month,
Up to the fifteenth day of the next month,
No one should stick their head into Kanji's sleeping hut.
Should you put your head in there.
1350 The Komo' s pot will get you,
226

And swell up your body.

You will get stuck in the door of the hut.
Head lice will cover you.
Body lice will cover you.
1355 They will rustle in all your hair.
They will make your underarm hair rustle.
And go twist and turn the hairs of your crotch.
Don't dare go near that pot!"
Aht That really bothered the women, no lie.
1360 And the women said, "What sort of a pot is this?"
Bari replied, "No pot of mine can be explained."
Ah! Namu-sayers!
The old brave was using his talents to hide the woman.
When the women had finished eating their afternoon meal,
1365 None ofthem was thinking about entering their man's hut.
Each went back to her hut
And slammed the door, bang!'
"Wait a minute, Mother, let me it.
I'm never ever going to mix in man's secrets
1370 So that the people won't destroy my life."
"Ah! Ignorant brave, don't ever let the dawn catch you,
So that the people won't kill the woman on me."
When the cock would crow, "Kekereke! Who has needs?"
 227

Couldn't you hear Bari of the Omens say, "Me!"

1375 The old brave would run on tiptoe,jen,jen,jen,
And stop by the gate of the goat pen
And stop by the husband's door.
"Won't you bring that child out,
So I can bring her back to her old place,
1380 So that the old hags don't try to wrong this people's
child?"
He went and brought her back to the goat pen each time,
He would then run tiptoeing
And go throw himself into his sleeping hut
As if he had done nothing.
1385 Ahl Namu-sayerst
Kanji thus spent a month,
Together with Bari or the Omens,
Taking the woman in and taking the woman out,
The favored wife sat down
1390 And analysed the situation.
"Ohl The pot business has made me sick!"
She sprang up quickly, buttocks like a bush hut roof,
Her great belly looked like a Moorish drum.
The incorrigible's head was flat like a Mande drum,
1395 Her mouth, like a Mande tobacco box.
228

She sprang up with her great belly rolls,

Galump, galump, galump,
And went and seized the birth pot,
And smashed it in the middle of the compound.
1400 "Ah! This pot business has really made me sick!
Whether the pot bas any value or not,
If Allah is to give Kanji a child,
Kanji will have a child.
I'm sick ofBari's pot business!"
1405 This was not at all pleasing to Bari of the Omens!
Didn't you hear what that bitch said?
She said that there was nothing in the pot,
Besides worthless nere bark.
Therefore it was a treachery pot
1410 "Ah! Namu-sayers!
By that time, the despised wife bad become pregnant
Bari said, "You favored wife, man,
You have done wrong,
You have broken the birth pot.
1415 If you don't bring out a white kola
And sacrifice it to my birth pot ....
Ah! Favored wife, you will swell up,
You will stick in the door of the hut
 229

And there you will become a corpse.

1420 Body lice will cover you.
Head lice will cover you.
They will rustle all your hair,
And rustle the hair under your anns,
And twist and turn the hair of your crotch
1425 If you refuse the kola.
Ah! The favored wife ran off
And brought one white kola
And came and gave it to Bari of the Omens.
She said: "Bari, make a sacrifice to your worthless pot
1430 I'm going to sleep with my man today, Bari.
Allah in his great majesty, Bari,
He will make me the chosen one."
Ah! Namu-sayers!
Words are more beautifulfrom the father's mouth than the
uncle's.
1435 From the child who has circumcised his father,
It is useless for the uncle to hide his sex.
It is better to hear the despicable out than to say "mine is
home."
''Have you finished nosing around the pot business?"
The favored wife sat down and thought.
230

1440 She said, "Ah! Ah!

I'm going to go out to the goat pen,
So that nothing comes unexpected."
She ran off at a trot
And went to go out to the goat pen,
1445 And stopped at the gate of the goat pen.
She exclaimed, "Ah! So it's Dugo the Red, Allah!
It's the despised one!"
And she pouted out her lips.
She went back and stood before the hunter.
1450 She said, "Bari of the Omens!
Tell the Imam!
Tell Kanji!
Tell them that the despised wife is pregnant
She's been made pregnant by the ram!
1455 If it doesn't come out a goat child, Toure,
I'll sweep your courtyard with my rear end,
And throw out all the garbage."
Ah! Namu-sayers!
She said all there was to be said.
1460 That's better than saying nothing at all.
Ah! To each slave his reason for coming,
To each slave his reason for awakening!
 231

The omen for staying here is not good.

Ah! Namu-sayers!
1465 Ahl The child affair has started to heat up!
The favored wife said, "If he doesn't come out a goat
child,
I'll sweep the courtyard with my buttocks."
A little old lady came forward, gwiligigwologo,
And, like a liar who has missed the market,
1470 Said that she went and saw the despised wife there.
Ah, Toure ni Manjun," she said
I saw it myself.
The ram mounted her before my very eyes.
If he doesn't become a goat child,
1475 You can trim a bit off my height."
The little old woman was setting up an evil plot
Ah! Namu-sayers!
The favored wife went on to the market,
And went and bought some rice,
1480 And bought some choice meat,
And bought some things for the sauce,
And came and cooked Kanji some rice in oil.
She cooked the rice for Kanji,
And cooked the meat till it was done,
232

1485 And put it on the rice in oil,

And then who did she give it to?
She gave it to Kanji.
Ah! The brave ate it all up.
When he had filled himself with the rice,
1490 The favored wife let down the mosquito net,
And sprayed perfume about the room,
And filled the room with incense,
Saying that she would become the chosen one.
Ahl Namu-sayers!
1495 The favored wife has beaten all the other women out!
The favored wife spent the night with Kanji.
When the day had lightened,
She announced, "Ah! People, I have something to tell you.
As for me, I am going to spend the next four nights here."
1500 Kanji said that that would never ever be for the best.
"It is better that you come one after another.
After all, no one knows who will have this child."
She then said, "If I don't spend four nights here, Kanji,
You won't get me out without killing me."
1505 And so the favored wife spent four nights with Kanji.
After the fourth, in the morning,
She took a seeding stone,
 233

And took some charcoal and a little oil

And crushed the charcoal with the stone,
1510 And poured the oil overit,
And rubbed it over her nipples,
And puffed out her belly before Kanji,
There beside the fire.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, ''People, my favored wife is
pregnant!
1515 Many thanks, Bari ofthe Omens!
The pot that Bari prepared has turned out well.
My favored wife has come out ofit pregnant."
To this she replied, "I am somewhat sure."
Ah! Namu-sayers!
1520 And after nightfall around about midnight
Dugo's Kambili would get up and walk about
As the dawn was lightening,
He would come back
And throw himself back down on his mother's mat as if
nothing happened
1525 "Mother!" she cried, "Mother!"
During the day, here I am Dugo pregnant.
During the night, here I am Dugo with empty stomach.
I can do no more with this thing inside me, Mother."
234

Ah! It's the female magician who defeats the sorcerer!

1530 Ah! Namu-sayers!
Man, words are pretty in their father's mouth more than in
their uncle's.
The woman magician came with her little knotted string
Which she tied around Dugo's waist, man.
Kambili did not come out again.
1535 The time for Kambili's birth has arrived!
The birth pains took the tall Dugo out at the goat herding
place.
Dugo ran on foot
And called to her Mother.
She cried, "Mother, Mother, Mother, Ah! Mother!
1540 My stomach is hurting me.
Call the old women,
Call the midwife women.
Tell them to bring some mats
To close off the goat pen from view.
1545 Tell them to lay some on the straw.
It's time for me to give birth."
Ah! Dugo laid down.
She laid down on the mat, to each his destiny.
Dugo gave birth to a young boy.
 235

1550 The boy resembled his father just like two mushrooms.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
She called out to the old women.
"Come and cut the cord,
And arrange all of the other matters for the child."
1555 Whenever a Wasulu child is bo~
The underside of his tongue is treated with an herb.
So, they went out and got three grains of the herb
And brought out some salt
And put it in a mortar.
1560 At this time, the favored wife was wa1king towards the
stream.
She had just left the path leading to the stream,
When she heard the new bom child's cries.
The noise made her whole stomach run.
The big fat one came huffing up (taliba, taliba).
1565 Her ear remained on the new born child's crying.
"Ah! Now the disdain bas fallen on met
I have been stricken by a man's totem,
And that has ruined the child affair for me.
Ah! Kanji, you must pardon me."
1570 It was none but a wise brave's voice:
"Every flower on a tree doesn't give fruit;
236

Were it not so, the branch would break.

Man, should one man not succeed, then another will. "
She went off, her buttocks like the roof of a bush hut,
1575 And went to sit in her sleeping hut, legs crossed.
The old women had arranged the child business.
There was an old woman there of fine speech,
She pounded the herb with one blow of the pestle,
And took out the herbs,
1580 And put them under Kambili's tongue.
That is the Wasulu people's mouth medicine.
Don't you know that a Babbara child's tongue is not so
treated.
Ah! Namu-sayers!
It is the case that the humpback is goodfor hoeing.
1585 To each his reasonfor coming.
Namu-sayers! To each has family name!
It was Allah who created the art ofhunting.
Since the world was begun, man,
Kings have always come from the hunters.
1590 No child would be born without the hunter,
The hunters are the first to prepare for the child
Minkayiru 's job is to give them souls.
We all find grace under the wing ofGabriel.
 237

The dream ofhis grace is in all people.

1595 The world has now reached the back ofits cave.
It's a question ofto each his reason for coming.
Ahl Namu-sayersl
They arranged the child business and continued on,
And went to tell Samori
1600 They said, "Toure ni manjun!
Man-Killer King!
King of the Sword!
King of the Warrior!
Kanji's despised wife has given birth to a son.
1605 He resembles Kanji like two mushrooms."
Ah! Namu-sayerst What was that?
All groups can be broken;
However, a killing group cannot be broken.
Should you leave it, you will befoul yourself.
1610 Man, ifyou were to do that,
A bit would be trimmed offyour height.
Master, that is never done.
Everyone knew very well about the Man-Killer King.
Ah! Toure ni Manjun broke out laughing.
1615 Kanji broke out laughing.
He called to the favored wife,
238

''Favored wife, aren't you going out to the goat pen?"

She went dragging her feet, tunyuku, tanyaka,
And stopped before the goat pen,
1620 Sticking out her lower lip,
You might say like a winnowing tray,
And ran back, galump, galump, galump.
"Toure ni Manju.n, please pardon me.
The child looks like Kanji.
1625 He became a manchild.
Then when a ram mounts a woman,
The child must come out a manchild"
They told the little old woman to go out to the goat pen.
The little old woman hobbled along, gwiliki, gwoloko,
1630 Like a liar who missed the market,
And stopped at the gate of the goat pen.
And she said, "Amazing!"
The ram mounted Dugo
And it turned out a manchild.
1635 Allah is all powerful."
And Samori answered, "There's nothing wrong with that."
"Favored wife, why don't you wrap up your skirts,
So you can sweep the courtyard with your bottom?
 239

I don't want to see a bit of garbage by the time day

dawns."
1640 And so she wrapped up her skirts, man.
Namu-sayers!
Ah! Then jealousy is not good.
Evil jealousy.
I was being evilly jealous.
1645 I must sweep the yard with my bottom.
Evil jealousy.
Then evil jealousy is not good.
Then the wives' evil jealousy can't succeed.
Evil jealousy.
1650 Then evil jealousy is not good.
Ah! Come sweep the house, clean it up.
Evil jealousy.
Then evil jealousy is bad.
Ah! Imam, I'll never say a thing like that!
1655 Eviljealousy.
Evil jealousy is bad.
She swept the yard and skinned her bottom.
Evil jealousy.
Then evil jealousy is bad.
1660 Ah! Tome ni Manjun, my bottom is skinned.
240

EVil jealousy.
Then evil jealousy is bad.
Pick up your tail and leave my father's house.
Evil jealousy.
1665 Then evil jealousy is bad.
Ah! The favored wife got up and left,
Her bottom reddened like the hearth of a forge,
And called out for her comrades,
And leaned down over her bed,
1670 And raised up her great bottom.
"For God's sake, bring a fan,
And come and fan my bottom.
My bottom is blistered and burned!"
Ah! Namu-sayers!
1675 They then called the little old woman.
She came up to them, gWiligi gwologo
''Toure ni Manjun, before you kill me,
Please first full me up right to the top."
"You will cat your last meal's millet.
1680 Cook some rice for the old woman.
Boil some rice porridge for the old woman.
Steam some peanuts for the old woman.
Cook some sweet potatoes for the old woman.
 241

Cook some cassava for the old WOI118D,

1685 And stir up some milk for the old woman,
And saturate the milk with honey.
You're going off to Last Judgement,
So you won't do evil to my child."
The old woman popped in a little of each.
1690 And then she spoke,
"Aht Toure ni Manjunt
Aliham.udu diyalaye
Aribila lamina
rm filled up."
1695 He called the executioner, Ah!
"Fadama the Bardt Morifinjant
Take the little old woman off quickly
And leave her at Konke the Sword's place
So that she won't cause my army to run
1700 The old woman has no equal as a troublemaker.
The old woman has no equal as a master of poison.
She must not be allowed to do evil to the child."
Ahl Namu-sayersl
The old woman's head fell,
1705 Cut off at her throat,
Her two shoulders became inseparable friends.
242

Bits of peoples' remains are not good.

The old woman had reached her destiny.
Allah was not unhappy with Tome.
1710 The grandchild had escaped from her at the right moment.
Old grandmother, you won't be fmmd near him!
Ah! Namu-sayers!
Dugo's Kambili has entered the scene.
When the man-seizing man had just begun to walk
171 S Kambili was already fighting with the chickens,
Dugo's Kambili was already fighting the ducklings.
From one day to the next, there were nothing but warnings.
One day, when the morning had dawned,
Kanji went out to the harvesting place,
1720 Kanji, mounted on a white stallion,
Saying he was going to meet the harvesters.
But he'd forgotten his tobacco bag at home
Arriving at the edge of the village,
He turned and hurried back home.
1725 And as he was hurrying back home
The favored wife went to find the despised Dugo.
She said, ''Despised Dugo t" "Yes," the reply.
"It was the King who told me
That I should mash up Kambili,
 243

1730 And give him to the horses.

Kambili is a child of evil sign."
Despised Dugo left herself in the bands of Allah,
And took Kambili and gave him to the favored wife.
She put him down inside a mortar
1735 And raised the pestle high overhead,
Saying she would pound Kambili up.
It was then that Kanji arrived.
Nothing happens without Allah's will.
Ahl Jealousy is evil!
1740 The women's evil jealousy can't succeed.
Kanji came, pulling up the reins behind the favored wife.
"What kind of thing is that in the mortar,
Making a noise like that?"
She replied, "I was just playing a game with the little man.
1745 I wasn't doing anything to him."
"With the pestle raised up like that,
You call it a game?"
And he struck with both barrels,
Yes, fired both barrels at the favored wife,
1750 Putting on ball right in her ear,
Putting the other ball in her chest,
Laying the butt to her head, smash!
244

"Ahl Favored wife, pick up your tail,

And get out of this child affair.
1755 You have always made me feel dirty!"
Namu-sayers!
Then he dragged off the favored wife,
And threw her off at the edge of town,
And threw her into a ditch,
1760 Then called to the despised wife.
"Get out of the goat pen,
And come take my favored wife's hut."
There's no way to say it, It's Allah's work!
"Should anyone play with the Kam.bili affair,
1765 I will play with him!"
The favored wife thus left the Kambili story, no lie.
If you don't fear evil jealousy, you fear nothing.
Ah! Mother Dugo the Owl has traveled afar!
Ah! Mother Dugo the Owl has traveled afar!
1770 Great-eyed Nightbird ofthe Hunters!
Rl-wind ofthe animals!
Something in thefields; the baboon is never empty-handed
Nothing in the fields; the baboon is never empty-handed
Whether or not a man agrees, the baboon will come.
1775 When the white grain corn has flowered,
 245

He won't leave without something under his arm;

Without something in his mouth.
K.ambili the hunter spoke out,
"My Father, Kanji, he said: "Yes?" the reply.
1780 "Tell the people of the smiths,
To make some young boy's arrows,
And, to strike a young boy's bow.
The rifle will never be for me.
rm going off on a lizard hunt."
1785 He and his comrades went off,
Saying they were off on a lizard hunt.
Whenever Kambili saw a rabbit,
It would end up in his bag.
If he was given one look at a rabbit,
1790 It was sure to become a corpse.
The rabbit on a leash, skittering from side to side behind
Kambili.
The rabbit on a leash will never take a straight path.
Look to Mother Dugo the Owl for the Big-Eyed Nightbird.
Death may reach a man; it doesn't reach his name.
1795 Eating the traditional dish is not an evil deed
Words are beautiful from the father's mouth more so than
the uncle's.
246

Learning something and doing something are not the same,

Kambili.
He went out one morning.
He and the young boys went off,
1800 Saying they were off to look for lizards.
There was a leopard down in the forest.
A leopard had given birth down in the forest.
Her two babies were down in the forest.
He put them both in his bag.
1805 Ah! And then the mother leopard came.
She was coming to save her babies.
He pulled out his young boy's arrows,
And put one into her nose,
And put another into her eye.
1810 The beast cried in pain.
The beast started to run off.
Kambili went on home
And took out the spotted beast's babies,
And gave them to his true father.
1815 "Father, yourmothercatgave birth in the forest
I have taken her two babies."
"Ah! Kam.bili, won't you ever stop?
These aren't kittens, Kambili.
 247

They're the babies of the spotted beast, Kambili.

1820 They're the babies of the leopard."
He called out the hunters.
They went out after the mother beast.
The beast had become a corpse.
And they brought the leopard's body back.
1825 And put the two leopard babies in a cage, Kambili.
When the sun was up the next morning,
He said he was off to the hunting ground,
And he went and found a female buffalo
He had just given birth to a calf.
1830 And, once again he took the buffalo calf,
Tying a rope around it's neck,
And, dragging it along behind him, bumpety, bumpety.
The buffalo on a leash was behind Kambili,
Twisting and turning like that.
1835 He said, "Now that's a scrambling thing!"
So then he tied up its limbs,
And stuck it in his bag.
Its mother ran as if to die,
And went off after Dugo' s little child.
1840 He offered her just one arrow,
And the buffalo became a corpse.
248

He continued on with the buffalo baby.

"Father, your big cow is really furious.
She gave birth to this out in the bush.
1845 I have taken her newborn baby.
Ah! Father, your big cow is furious.
Your big cow is furious. I'm not kidding."
He came with the buffalo baby,
And gave it to his true father.
1850 It was none but the father's voice.
He said, ''Kambili the Hunter! Kambili Sansmfila!
Man, you're not old enough yet"
He called out to Bari of the Omens, "Bari,
You are to watch over my offspring
1855 So that no beast cause him to lose his life.
Watch over my little offspring,
So that no buffalo cause this angel to wither away."
Thus he became Bari's student, Kambili SananfiJa.
Kambili's harp-player was Yala the Smith.
1860 Look to the traclcing dogfor the hunting dog.
Yala the Smith was brought out to sing his praise.
Mother Dugo the Owl, after he was circumsized,
Dugo's Kambili and the game were not exactly like twins.
There was the buffalo on a leash behind Kambili
 249

1865 There was the buffalo calf on a leash behind Kambili.

The buffalo was on a leash behind Kambili every day.
The dwarf antelope was on a leash in Kambili's hand.
He .bad finished killing all the kinds of game in the bush.
The only thing left was to catch them alive.
1870 Ah! Namu-sayersf
There was a lion falling on the people of Jimini.
A lion bad begun to fall on the people of Jimini.
Don't you know that slavery is hard?
Slavery is not good.
1875 When a slave makes the thirty day fast,
He does so for his master.
When the slave sacrifices a three year old bull,
He does so for his master.
Ahl Slavery will never succeed.
1880 No matter how you was the intestines,
They will always smell like excrement.
The Jimini nobles made a plan.
Cekura bad a wife
His wife's name was Kumba.
1885 They changed her mind, taking her from Cekura.
Ahl They took Cekura's wife from him.
And Cekura was a man who could change into a lion!
250

Ah! Namu-sayers!
He sent word to all the lion people.
1890 He said, "Lionmen!" "Yes?" the reply.
"Let us eat all the people of the village.
Let us eat all the cows of the village.
Let us eat all the sheep of the village.
Let us eat all the dogs of the village.
1895 Let us make this fight for my wife."
The slave's wife bad been taken from him.
So the fight for his wife wasn't pleasant around Jimini.
Don't you know Cekura was deeply offended?
And so he sent word to the lionmen.
1900 Whoever went out to defecate,
He was made into a toothpick.
Whoever was going out to the fields,
They turned him into a toothpick.
Whoever went to water the garden,
1905 They turned him into a toothpick.
And made it hot for the village people.
And made it hot for the herds of oows.
And heated it up for the flocks of sheep.
They really made it hot for the people.
 251

1910 Ah! There seemed no end to the bits of people around

Jimini.
When night bad fallen, Master,
As soon as you bad closed the door of your hut,
He would pull out his stick-like tail
And bang on the door with it,
1915 And do the best of greetings, Kambili.
No sooner would you say, "Be welcome,"
And open the door a crack,
Than he would jump in and grab one of you.
He would turn him into a toothpick, Kambili Sananfila.
1920 Ah! The Jimini man-eating lion was really playing in
Jimini.
The lion was going to eat up the whole army.
He bad already finished with the water carriers,
He bad finished the best of the farmers.
he lion had finished with the horsemen.
1925 The lion had finished with the learned holymen.
The lion had finished off the king's children.
Ah! It was an awful situation in Jimini!
The voice of death was in Jimini.
Lots of noise was in Jimini.
1930 It's a story about Dugo the Owl, the soul-seizing angel.
252

There was no joy in the Jimini lion business

That lion's name was Cekura.
His apprentice's name was Faberekoro.
Cekura was seizing the people in Jimini.
1935 Faberekoro would finish up their remains.
This created a serious problem for Samory,
And so he advised the hunters' group.
"If you don't apply yourselves, if you don't apply
yourselves,
I will come to doubt the hunters."
1940 This warning given once,
This warning given twice.
It was given before the harp-player, Yala the Smith.
Yala the Smith took his harp,
And went straight to Kambili
1945 The son ofDugo the Owl Bird.
The son ofDugo the Night Bird.
The doubter doesn't profitfrom his friend, Allah!
That is not easy for the harp-player.
A hunter~ death is not easyfor the harp-player, Allah.
1950 A hunter dies for the harp-player.
A farmer dies for the glutton.
The holyman dies for the troubled
 253

The Icing dies for his people.

To each dead man his funeral song, Kambili.
1955 Ahl And should an old bard die,
Call out the hourglass drummer.
Call out the iron pipe rhythm man.
Call out the jembe drummer.
Have them come sing my fUneral song.
1960 To each dead man his funeral song, call Kambili!
Ah! And should it come to the old smith, man,
And should it come to the old smith,
Don't you know that should a smith die,
Ahl gone ofmy Wasulu smiths should die,
1965 Ifone ofmy smiths by the forge should die,
Ifthe protector ofthe world's stomach were to die,
Ifthis man ofthe peoples' hope should die,
Call out to the Komo man.
Have him bring a brilliant K.omo.
1970 Have him come with a goodjembe drum.
Have him come with a true-ringing bell.
Have him come with a good rhythm rattle.
Have him come sing the fUneral songs, Father.
To each dead man his funeral song, K.ambili 's call.
1975 It's a sorrowfUl thing.
254

I am afraid ofthe hunter's death, Kambili.

Ah! Namu-sayers!
At this time, kolas had been sent out for a wife for Kambili.
And what was Kambili's :first wife's name?
1980 Her name was said, Kumba.
They tied up ten kolas,
And went off to marry the beloved Kumba.
And brought her and gave her to Dugo's Kambili.
It was the way of doing a marriage.
1985 (Man, pay attention to the rhythm!
Don't miss the rhythm whatever you do!)
Ah! To each slave his reason for coming.
To each his destiny.
Putting tradition aside for just one day's pain is not good.
1990 Hot Pepper ofthe Game, Kambilt Sananflla!
They have done the wedding dance!
Ah! All the holymen are by the mosque,
But all of them are not holymen!
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
1995 Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
(Man, hurry your hand on the harp-strings.)
The family name is joy!
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
 255

Ah! You filled him with sorcery!

2000 Ah! Some are studying at the mosque,
But they all don't give birth to saints!
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
All the holymen are by the mosque,
2005 But they all don't know how to read!
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
Those without hope in the Koran, Father,
The spirits are calling to you.
2010 Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
Mother Dugo the Owl! Bird!
I play my harp-strings for you.
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
2015 Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
(Man, I can't hear the sound of the harp.
The harp isn't playing!)
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
2020 Ah! Should you see a man with bad habits,
You've seen a man who'll die young.
256

Master, you filled him with knowledge.

Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
The irreproachable of Balendala,
2025 Well, you've seen a terrible thing!
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
Even if you see him naked,
He looks like a dangerous thing.
2030 Master, you filled him with knowledge
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
All the hunters go off in the bush,
But all are not masters of the powder.
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
2035 Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
(Man, tighten that string!
Tighten that string a bit!)
Master, You filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
2040 Don't you all go off to the fields?
But all are not champion fanners.
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
Of all those who make the pilgrimage,
 257

2045 They all don't know what it means.

Master, you fill him with knowledge.
(Ahl Harpist, you'm slowing down my words!)
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
2050 Mother Dugo the Owl Bird,
You've given birth to a powder masted
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
AhJ It's true that all women give birth,
2055 But all don't give birth to huntersl
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Aht You filled him with sorcery!
Some women give birth to sons,
But all don't give birth to kings.
2060 Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
(Hurry your hand on the strings.
You make it bard for me to speak.)
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
2065 Ahl You filled him with sorcery!
Aht Hunter, no matter how you hurry,
Man, the hero will get there before you.
25.8

Master, you filled him with knowledge.

Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
2070 Mother Dugo the Owl, Soul-Seizing Angel.
Ah! Young smiths, I say the beast bas become furious.
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
Dugo has given birth to K.ambili!
2075 The man-eating lion has become furious in Jimini
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
It's the call for Mother Dugo the Owl,
The Big-Eyed Night Bird!
2080 Master, you filled him with knowledge.
Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
Ah! Dugo's K.ambili, can't you stop
The man-eating lion?
Master, you filled him with knowledge.
2085 Ah! You filled him with sorcery!
(Ah! Rhythm man, rhythm man!
Slow down a little!)
Speaking is not easy; not being able to speak is not easy.
I'm doing something I've learned,
2090 I'm not doing something I was born for.
 259

They had thus finished the wedding procession.

The wedding speeches bad been given, Allah!
When the message bad been given to Kambili,
It was none but the hunter Kambili's voice:
2095 "This man-eating lion, Allah!
If the man-eating lion is going to die,
(Pay attention to the rhythm.)
Ahl If the man-eating lion is going to die in Jimini,
The lion is going to die with one shot in J"uninil"
2100 A.h! The dancers ofthe war dance have decreased
The dancer ofthe warrior's dance has gone to rest
Soloba Jantumanin has gone to Last Judgement.
No reason was given for the powderman 's going to rest.
Soloba Jantumanin has gone to Allah.
2105 The bullet master has gone baclcfor sure.
The darlcness of Last Judgement is never empty of
strangers.
It's the call for Dugo the Owl, Kambili Santmjila.
Greet the tracking dog as the hunting dog.
Loolc to the chair for seizing all the smells.
2110 A. sandal that's stepped in dung leaves its bits behind
Loolc to the catfor the wild hunting cat.
They finished with the wedding ceremony.
260

Toure ni Manjun came out.

He came out with ten red kolas,
2115 And went to give them to Kanji.
He said, "Kanji!" "Yes,U he answered.
"Go tell the hunters in Jimini,
If the man-eating lion doesn't die in Jimini,
The vulture will settle on the hunters' children."
2120 Ah! The totem of the Man-Killer King is not broken!
"If the Jimini man-eating lion doesn't die,
The vulture will finish eating the children;
The beast will finish all the good children;
The beast will finish up all the grass cutters;
2125 The beast has finished up the horsemen;
The beast has finished up all the wood gatherers;
The beast has finished up all the great farmers;
The beast has gone through all the good children.
Don't you see there's not even a way to get to the market?
2130 The beast has finished eating all the market people.
Don't you know that this powder business has heated up?
The Jimini battle was no pleasure, Kambili SananfiJa.
Greet the tracking dog as the hunting dog.
Greet the chair for seizing all the smells.
2135 Look to the drying sun for the sun ofthe midday meal.
 261

Greet the loincloth as breeze-catching cloth.

The man's totem 18 not the loincloth.
Neither is the women's totem the loirlcloth.
The loincloth has become nothing but breeze-catching
cloth.
2140 Look to the undryable for the unburnable.
Mother Dugo, it's the call for early death in the Terende
bush.
The brave seated. a dangerous thing.
The brave standing, a dangerous thing.
A smDII deadly thing burned up wouldn't.fill a hom
2145 Although the great snake may like to coil,
He can't be used as a head coil.
Who has ever seen a snake as a head coil?
It's the callfor the Hot Pepper ofthe Game.
It's the call for the Hot Pepper ofthe Beast
2150 Buffalo fighting is not easy for the coward
B&fffalo fighting is not easy for the trembler.
The voice ofthe wild dog ofthe plain, "Arise andfight/"
The wild dog~ voice in the plain, "To the attack!"
Great stallion ofthe plain without saddle.
2155 His belly, great; it's not.from begging.
262

His mouth, white; but his mouth hasn't dipped in the

worthless one's mother's flour.
His tail is close to the ground; the worthless one's hand
won't get it.
His ear, great; it wiU never be the worthless one's mother's
scoop.
J(y hand is now in my traditional thing;
2160 Kabaya Sedou 's hand is now in his traditional thing, no lie.
A man dies for his sharer ofsecrets, Father.
A man dies for his sharer of hopes, Allah.
A man dies for his sharer ofwealth, Man.
.A man dies for his sharer ofsecrets, no lie.
2165 Kanji took his harpstrings there.
Kanji took his harpstrings to Jimini,
And presented himself to Dugo's son.
He said, "Dugo's Kambili!
The king brought out the man-killing kolas,
2170 Saying to give them to my men,
To give them to my hunters group,
Saying, if the Jimini man-eating lion doesn't die,
Come Thursday next,
The vulture will descend on the hunters, Kambili."
2175 Ah! The speech was bad!
 263

Ah! I'm afraid of the widow's headband, Kambili.

I'm aftaid of one blast ofthe whistle, Kambili.
I'm aftaid of one blast of the whistle, Kambili.
I'm afraid of cold tears, Kambili.
2180 "Ah! It'snotaJie!" saidKumba
"' don't ever want to become a widow! Allah!
There is no one to inherit me, father.
I don't want to get mixed up in it.
Ah! Do your best, Kambili, do your best! Do your best!"
2185 Born for a reason and learning are not the same.
Putting tradition aside for one day's pain is not good.
Hot pepper ofthe Gamel
The brave sat down and thought.
He said, "Kumba! Beloved Kumba!" "Yes?" she replied.
2190 She said, "Kambili the Hunter, K.ambili Sammfilal
The man-eating lion is going to die in Jimini.
I will go to the hair-dressing place at my namesake's
house.
With Cekura's mother, Marama.
I was the loving wife of Cekura in Jimini.
2195 I grew up by the side of his robe in Jimini.
The wife of Cekura's host instructed me.
I know Cekura himself.
264
~1,

No other is seizing the people,

If it's not Cekura."
2200 And so dley.called Bari the Omen Reader.
Bari began to read the omens.
"Namusa
Naburuma
Woro dogolen
2205 Woro faransan
Jitumu Mansa
Nonkon Forokoro
FilaniFabu
Kenken Mamuru
2210 Jonyayiriba
Twenty four parts of the bow.
This is sigi.
This is maromaro
This is karalan.
2215 This bas become teremise.
This bas become Regret,
Another Regret.
This nsorosigi.
This yeremine.
2220 This has become karalan.
 265

Ahl The omen bas become maromaro, Man.

The onien has become a longbow omen.
The earth..shaking reason bas come out.
Bring me a headhair,
2225 Yes, bring a hair of the lion's head,
And bring some hair from under his arm,
And bring some hair from his crotch.
And bring the sandal o:ffhis foot,
And bring a pair of his old pants,
2230 And lay them on the omen board.
When we find a means to the man-eating lion,
Should we do that, the man-eating lion will die."
(Sleep bas made your eyes heavy! Pay attention to the
rhythm.)
The debt of Last Judgement is never forgotten for the
living.
2235 A. slave spends a late evening.
The slave doesn't stay long among you.
The o111enjor staying here is not easy on things with souls.
A. name is a thing to be bought; a name is not to be forced
MY hand is dipped in my habitual thing,
2240 The thing is not for all!
Ahl It was none but Kumba's voice.
266

"Kambili the Hunter," she said, "Kambili Sananfila!

I will go have my hair done at Mamma's place.
I will never betray you."
2245 She took ten kolas,
And came with the ten white kolas,
And put them in a little calabash,
And brought out greeting gi~
And put them in the little white calabash.
2250 "I'm doing this for my husband, Kambili.
Please forgive me, Kambili.
I'm going after the hair of his head, Kambili.
I'm going after the underarm hair, Kambili.
I'm going after the sandal, Kambili.
2255 I'm going after the old pants, Kambili.
•
That done, the man-eating lion will die, Kambili."
Ifyou are not afraid offemales, Master,
Ifyou are not afraid offemales,
You're not qfraid ofanything.
2260 The woman's hand bows how to strike a man's desires in
any case.
Beloved Kumba went off to meet Cekura,
And entered Cekura's place at about two o'clock.
She called, "Cekura!" "Yes," the reply.
 267

"I have come to the hair-dressing place."

2265 Don't you know this made Cekura happy.
It was none but the maneating lion's voice.
He said, "The hunters are going to kill you this time,
And I, Cekura, will cry.
Ah! Little hypocrite, didn't I tell you,
2270 Marrying a hunter will never succeed?
A hunter is nothing!
When a hunter enters the bush,
He may spend a whole week.
He has no need for his wife.
2275 When a hunter sees some antelope,
He has seen the game he will kill ...
It's a case ofbeingjealous of the game.
He has no concern for having children, Allah!"
This put Kumba in a difficult situation, beloved Kumba.
2280 Kumba responded, saying, "So it is.
You've just said my reason for coming.
Cekura, that's my reason for coming.
I'm no longer in this hunter's marriage.
I'm fed up with this hunter business.
2285 He and his shoulder talismans ...
The hunter and his side talismans are never apart,
268

Saying you shouldn't touch the hunter's bag;

woman's taboo talisman is inside it
Don't put yom hand on his shirt;
2290 A woman's taboo talisman is on it.
When he has gone off to the bush,
He can come back and spend three nights,
Without touching his wife,
He has then no desire for his woman."
2295 She continued, "Cekura!" "Yes?"
"There's just one thing about what I've said ...
I beg you
That you hurry up this affair between us
So that I can go back soon.
2300 Kambili's :funeral, I don't want to miss it"
And he called out, "Marama, Kumba is here to have her
hair done.
He went and bought some grains of rice,
And went and bought some white chickens,
And went and bought ten white kolas,
2305 And came and gave them to my Kumba.
He has some rice prepared,
And had those chickens' meat cooked up,
And went and pomed out some milk,
 269

ADd saturated the fresh milk with honey,

2310 And gave it to the beloved Kumba.
"K.UIIIba, don't you see this drinking wamr?
As for me, I'm well offthese days, beloved Kumba.
I don't really need any ofthis.
But me, I'm apiust these people, for vengeance."
2315 When night bad &lien,
As soon as they bad finished eating,
They lay down together.
He put his leg ove Kumba,
And she said, "Oet your hind leg off of me!"
2320 He laid his hand on her,
And she said, "Oet your claws off of mel"
Ahl Cekura was in a hurry.
"I have found the way,
The way to destroy Kambili.
2325 Those nights between Kambili and me,
I can count them.
They don't go beyond ten nights.
None ofthem ever accomplished anything beyond hunting
game,
Charging off to game-hunting.
2330 I have no desire to be married to a hunter.
270

If you give me an old pair of pants,

They'll be used as a means to get Kambili.
Bring me some hair off your head,
We'll find a means to get Kambili today.
2335 Bring me some hair from under your arm,
And give some from your crotch,
And take off your old sandals ...
Take the sandals off your feet.
We'll use them as a means to get the rugged one, Master.
2340 When all that's done, he'll become a corpse.
And I will begin marriage to Cekura once more.
Ah! Take up the weapon!
Don't you &it. Do not hesitate!"
Words are like the writing of a holyman;
2345 They don't suit the heart ofevery young man.
Speech is something to be learned in every day of this
world
Intelligence has become a thing hard to get, Master.
Look to Mother Dugo 's ogre for that which scares the
children.
Cekura gave some of the hair offhis head,
2350 And gave the hair from under his ann,
And gave some hair from his crotch,
 271

And gave the old pair of pants,

And gave the sandals off his feet,
And went and took an ol~ used hat,,
2355 And put it all in one calabash,
An old cloth, wrapped around it for good.
"After that, there is only me."
She sai~ "Cekura, oh, Cekura,
My hair has been dre~
2360 I'm going right off with these means,
So that no one does it before me.
As soon as the hunter is killed,
I will come and marry Cekura.
There is no other person I want in this worl~
2365 If it is not to be Cekura."
These words were sweet to the old hyena's ears.
He hunched back his shoulders.
He tried to hold back his joy.
He gave a little laugh.
2370 He sai~ "Don't betray me,
He sai~ "Don't betray me between this world and Last
Judgement."
And she repli~ "I would never betray you in this world."
Kumba brought back the things for her means,
272

And came to give them to Bari of the Omens.

2375 He laid them in the omen dust,
And made an offering to the omen,
An Earth-shaking Reason sacrifice,
And went to bury it in the old market in Jimini,
By the old nere-1ree there.
2380 Ah! Mother Dugo the Owl,
Kambili took the occult black powder ofNyaji.
Kambili had become an adept, old hunter.
Kambili took out a kola of red hue,
And took out a white pullet,
2385 And went to sit at the crossroads.
''If we are to go towards the east, Nyaji,
For me to kill the man-eating lion, Nyaji,
Tmn the kolas face to the ground."
The two halves turned face up.
23.90 ''If we are to go to the south, Ny•i,
For me to kill the man-eating lion, Nyaji,
Tum the two kola halves face to the sky."
The two kola halves turned face to the ground.
"If we are to go to the west, N~i,
2395 For me to kill the man-eating lion, Nyaji,
Tum the two kola halves face to the sky."
 273

The two kola halves turned face to the ground.

"Should we go to the north, Nyaji,
For me to kill the man-eating lion, Nyaji?
2400 Tum the two kolas face to the sky."
The two kola halves turned face to the ground.
"Should I sit in the old market, Nyaji,
To kill the Jimini man-eating lion, Nyaji?
Have to kolas turn face to the ground."
2405 And the two kola halves turned face to the ground.
Look to the talisman's Angel ofDeath for that not easyfor
all.
The praise for Tears ofthe Game.
No man becomes a hunter ifhe has no good talismans.
You don't become a hunter ifyou have no knowledge ofthe
occult.
2410 Nothing is pleasing to a man without a reason.
Nothing is displeasing to a man without a reason.
Ah! It's a question ofreason, Kambili.
He went off also with a hamac.
He went off with the hamac for his blind,
2415 And went to tie it to the nere-tree in Jimini,
At the outskirts of Jimini town,
And lay down in the old market.
274

He was seated on the thing Kumba had brought,

And then made a single trip,
2420 Coming to speak with Toure.
He said, ''Toure ni Mm\jun,
Won't you give me a young boy,
For me to tie to the nere-tree before the lion,
For me to tie before the man-eating lion?"
2425 So they came with a young boy.
The boy was coming from the cattle pasture.
He called out to the young boy,
Who was blowing a flute like so:
Victorious bull, bellow!·
2430 Stop and hold up your head.
Victorious bull, bellow!
Stop and hold up your head
Victorious bull, bellow!
Stop and raise your head on high.
2435 He called, "Hey, young boy, flute-player,
Come over here. I'm calling you.
Put aside singing about victorious bulls,
And come arrange something else first"
And what did the young boy say/
2440 "Ah! Toure ni Manjun, didn't you think about it?"
 275

He said, "Ifl am taken from the pasture, for Allah's sake,

The cows will eat someone's millet because of me.
The cows will destroy someone else's property because of
me.
What has put you against me this time, Toure ni Manjun?
2445 You have killed my father,
And killed my older brother
And killed my very mother,
And you gave me to her co-wives.
I have become a lifeless child.
2450 What are you thinking o( Toure?
What have you got in mind now?"
And his stepmother cried out from the house:
Ah! I have no child.
Oh! I have no child.
2455 Ah! I have no child, Imam.
I have no child.
Ah! Oh! I have no child.
Oh! I have no other child.
You say to tie him before the beast, hnam.
2460 You say to tie him before the man-eating lion.
Ah! Oh! I have no child.
Ohl I have no other child.
276

Ahl Have mercy on me, Toure ni Manjun.

Have mercy on me, Allah!
2465 To tie a person up before the beast today,
Even his real mother is afraid.
Ah! Oh! I have no child.
Oh! I have no other child.
"Get your butt out of here and go sit before the beast!
2470 A little fish is put on the hook,
In order to catch a bigger fish.
Put the rope around the young boy's neck now!"
And he was taken and tied to the nere-tree.
Kumba tied up an amulet,
2475 And put it in her talisman hom
In the black amulet powder.
And went to give it to the young boy.
"Young man, take this amulet"
Fear took hold of the young boy.
2480 A fly came and sat on the young boy's head.
It said, "Young boy, don't be afraid.
Nothing will happen to you."
It was Sansinba,
She was called the Mother of Hunters.
2485 "Should the man-eating lion come,
 277

I will give you four baobab seeds;

He will never ever reach you."
Kumba spoke to her husband,
"Kambili the Hunter, Kambili Sananfila,
2490 Oo and sit in your hamac.
I am going to look for Cekura.
Ah! The beloved Kumba traveled and traveled,
And went to the outskirts of Jimini,
And went to call Cekura.
2495 Cekura was in the bush.
There was a little old careless lady,
Who said she would go pick plants for the sauce.
It was none but her grandchild's voice,
Saying, ''Grandmother, please don't go."
2500 ''The lion man, I am his old guardian."
''The lion bas gone through the old women.
If you go out to pick the leaves,
If you are not capable of a great act,
You will be in a soul-losing act, there's little doubt.
2505 Everyone is afraid ofCekura."
The old woman went to pick the leaves,
And was leaning over, picking the leaves.
Coming back from the meeting with someone,
278

He grabbed her by the jaw,

2510 Surprising the little old woman,
And broke her into two pieces,
Giving one to Faberekoro,
Grabbing the other by the bottom,
Making her his toothpick.
2515 Ah! The little old woman was the last meal he would make
of people.
Dugo's child came.
And sat in the hamac of the blind.
He climbed with his trace-erasing stick,
And so climbed up in the nere-tree.
2520 Born for a reason and learning are not the same.
A man doesn't become a hunter,
Ifhe can't control his fear,
The coward doesn't become a hunter,
Or become a man ofrenown.
2525 Death may end the man; death doesn't end his name.
The omen for staying here is not easy ofthings with souls.
A slave spends but a late evening with you;
A slave doesn't stay long among you.
Look to the rolling stone for the pebble crusher.
2530 Look to the deathless for the sightless.
 279

Kambili the Hunter, Kambili Sananfila.

Kumba bas gone off with Cekura.
Kumba herself was a lionwoman.
Cekura was a young lionman.
2535 He followed Kumba, tengwe, tengwe!
If a woman is not capable of tricking a man,
She will never pass Last Judgement.
And she came up with Cekura,
And brought him before Kambili.
2540 Kumba, the irreproachable,
Kumba was a lionwoman,
And could change herself into a wicked homed viper,
And she could change herself into a buffalo,
And change herself into an owl.
2545 Kumba had no match as a sorceress.
Kumba had no match as a snakeperson.
Kumba had no match as the spotted beast.
Kumba could become an owl, the big-eyed night bird.
She brought the man-eating lion,
2550 And stood him before her true husband.
It was none but the young boy's voice.
"When you see a man-eating lion,
You should be afraid.
280

But I'm not afraid of you, Master;

2555 I'm tied up quite well.
Aren't you going to seize this young boy?
I'm really bothered by these ropes cutting through me."
The lion was about to kill the young boy,
When he said, "Young boy, you're not alone here.
2560 I'm afraid of this young boy.
Ah! Young man, you spoke too well!"
He said, "Ah! Young man!
You, the well-tied one,
I'm not going after you; I have my doubts."
2565 Kambili's Kum.ba said, "What are you afraid of now?
There's nothing whatsoever here.
So you refuse to take you thing here for nothing."
The lion circled around the young boy,
And circled around the young boy again,
2570 And went to sit on his haunches,
And set his eyes on the young boy.
And there was Kambili sleeping!
Cekura had a talisman,
The name of which was Sleep.
2575 He had fallen asleep, Master.
The hunter was sleeping in the tree.
 281

And what song then did the young boy sing?

Ah! And so he's sleeping!
Won'tyou awake?
2580 It's the sleep of solitude.
Won't you awake?
Ah! It's sleep!
Won't you awake?
It's the sleep of sitting alone.
2585 Won't you awake?
Ah! It's sleep!
Won't you awake?
It's the sleep of solitude.
Won't you awake?
2590 The brave stretched and lay back down again.
He said, "Ahl The man-eating lion has come!"
Nam.u-sayers!
He made his one leg like a fork of the bush,
And mad his elbow like a hanger of the bush,
2595 And separated Danger from Imprudence,
And fired the packed-down powder at the right time.
Ah! The shot went off like an iron dnun, Master.
Dust rose up behind the man-eating lion.
The bullet traveled straight and true.
282

2600 The young boy was overcome with joy.

Jimini heard the sound of the victory shot,
That victory sound like a clap of thunder.
The dust of their feet like the fog,
Coming to lose K.ambili in the dust completely.
2605 Mother Dugo the Owl Bird, we salute you!
Dugo's Warrior Bird, we salute you!
The Game's True Hunter, we salute you!
The lion was dispatched with one shot.
The lion was dispatched with one shot
2610 The man-eating lion was dispatched with one shot.
Ahl The hunters came,
And came and took K.ambili,
And put him in between them,
And raised him up above them.
2615 "You have taken us from under the execution sword,
Kambili.
You have rescued the hunters,
And saved the farmers,
And saved the whole army.
May Allah not keep you behind.
2620 May Allah not take the breath from you, Kambili."
Don't you know the man-eating lion has died?
 283

The lion was dispatched with just one shot.

They tied the lion on a pole,
And set Kambili up on its back,
2625 And took him before the Imam.
He said, 'Vfoure ni Manjun,
The young boy who was tied before the lion,
He should be my apprentice.
The young boy knows how to master his fear."
2630 The young boy's name was Sanson.
Sanson was given to Kambili.
And what else did the Imam do?
He brought out one young girl,
And made her a reward for the lion,
2635 And brought out the young boy,
And made him a reward for the lion.
The Imam spoke out,
And spoke to Bari of the Omens,
And mounted him on a white stallion.
2640 "Call out to Dugo's Kambili,
And mount him on a white stallion,
And bring out a double-barreled shotgun, Master,
And give it to Dugo's Kambili."
It became the master rifle.
284

2645 Whatever was so brought out, Master,

It was all given to the little hunters.
And he brought out firing caps,
One thousand pounds of rice grains,
It was the reward for the lion.
2650 There was a whole week of harp-playing in Jimini.
They made it a whole week long.
Kanji spent the whole week
Playing his fiery dance.
Yala the Smith spent the whole week
2655 Playing the hunter's harp.
Ah! The lion has died.
The Jimini man-eating lion has died.
A! E! Ah! Here! No slave knows Allah.
The lion has died.
2660 Ahl Hey! Ah! Here! No slave knows Allah.
The lion has died.
Ah! If the Jimini man-eating lion didn't die,
The lion would have destroyed all the soldiers.
Ah! Hey! Ah! Here! No slave knows Allah.
2665 The lion has died.
He has killed the man-eating lion.
The lion had gone through the grass-cutters.
 285

Ah! Hey! Aht Here! No slave knows Allah.

The lion has died.
2670 He cried out, "Ah! Harp players!
Can't I say a word to you?
Sing a song for Kumba, why don't you?"
Ah! Kumba has charm, Kumba of Jimini.
Kumba has charm.
2675 The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
You have killed the man-eating lion.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
A woman to surpass all women.
Kumba has no match among the women.
2780 The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
She lies beside a hunter brave.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ahl
Kumba didn't betray the hunter brave.
The lion was left in the dust.
2685 The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
Ah! Kumba the fearless!
Ah! Hey! Jimini loves Kumba.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
She lies beside her hunter brave,
2690 The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
286

Ahl The likes ofKumba have yet to be seen.

The likes of Kumba have yet to be seen.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba.
The fearless one of the hunters' women.
2695 No red sorcerer can equal Kumba.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
Ahl Woman of the spirits!
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba.
Ahl The likes ofKumba have yet to be seen.
2700 Dugo's child's Kumba has no equal.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
Kumba was given to the hunter brave.
The lion was made to cry in despair.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba.
2705 Ah! The Jimini man-eating lion has been killed.
The reason was Kumba.
The gracious, the beautiful Kumba, ah!
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 Index

A 82-83, 85-86, 88, 90-92,.95-96,

Achebe, Chinua, 19
Aftican Americans, 29, 33
Atiican Epics, 6-7
Age-Grading System, 123, 139
Aidoo Ama Ata, 19
Akan,69, 79
Alexander the Great, 13, 78
America, 5, 9, 11, 13-15, 29, 33,
52,55
Anene, Joseph, 49
Angelou, Maya, 19
Aphorisms, 6, 20, 83, 87-88, 93-
97,99-101,114-18,120,122
Arabic, 11, 15, 37
Annab, Ayi Kwei, 19
Armstrong, Karen, 16, 19
Audience, 24, 38, 75, 77, 83, 85,
100, 104, 114, 117, 128, 139,
152
The Avesta, 11
B 92-93, 96-97, 100, 103, 107-
Baraka Amiri, 19
Bard, 19, 29,40-41,43-45,47,51,
53-54, 61-63, 68-70, 74, 79-80,
99-100, 103-04, 109, 112-13,
117, 120, 132, 138, 141, 143-
44, 146, 165, 172, 177, 188,
191, 194-95, 201, 214, 241,
253
Battuta, Ibn, 31
Beowulf, Epic of, 10, 78, 84, 130
Bhagavad Gita, 11
Bible, 11, 13
Bird, Charles, 19, 26, 38, 49, 59,
73, 75, 79-80, 82, 100, 109,
127, 138, 144
Bowra, C. M., 4, 46, 70
Breath groups, 70, 88-89
Brown, Godfrey, 49
Buddha, 10, 23
c
Camara, Seydou, 21-22, 27, 36,
38, 40-41, 43-44, 47, 52-53,
57-58, 68-70, 75, 78, 82, 87,
08,111,114-15,117,122,124,
126-29, 138, 140, 142-43, 147,
152, 155, 160, 163,166, 177

295
296
Campbell, Joseph, 3, 8-9, 57, 66
Charry, Eric, 19, 22, 71, 73, 105,
108
Chiasmus, 91,95
Chinweizu, Onwuchekwa, 6, 19-
20
ChriStian,8, 12-13,15,17-18,49
The Cid, 9, 23
Cope, Trever, 44, 64
Crowder, Michael, 49
D 130
De Gaulle, Charles, 19, 24, 39, 53,
141, 149, 152
Diabate, Sidiki, 73
Diabate, Toumani, 73
Diawara, Mamadou, 29
Diop Cheikh Anta, 19
duBois, Page, 5, 51
Duran, Lucy, 19, 30-31, 34
E 67, 170-71, 173, 176, 183,
Eastman, Charles Alexander, 13
Emecheta, Buchi, 19
Empire, 22, 31, 37, 47, 49, 52, 71,
108, 129, 141
ofGabu, 71
of Ghana, 31, 37, 39, 69, 79
of Mali, 3, 19, 30-32, 34, 37,
39, 41, 58, 68,73-74, 129,
141
ofSegu Tukulor, 47
ofSonghay, 37
Epic(s), 3-7, 9-10, 18-23, 25-27,
34-36, 41-45, 47, 49-53, 57,
59, 61-63, 65, 69-71, 73, 77,
79, 81-84, 91, 93, 96, 99, 103,
105, 108, 111, 113, 116, 120,
122-25, 127,129-31,134, 138,
140-41, 143-47, 150-51, 155,
157-58, 163
Beowulf, 70, 78, 84, 130
Gilgameshi 10, 35-36, 59, 84,
Kambili, The Epic of, 3-4, 6, 9,
15-16, 18-21, 23, 25-27,
34, 36, 39, 41, 43-45, 47-
49, 52-53, 58-69, 73, 75,
77-79, 81-87, 89-90, 92-
94,96, 99- 101, 105, 108-
09, 111-13, 115-17, 122-
32, 134-39, 141-43, 145,
150-53, 155-61, 163, 165-
185, 192, 197, 201-03,
206-07, 214-15, 221, 233-
34, 242-49, 251-54, 258-
60, 262-63, 266, 269-70,
272-73,277' 279-280,282-
83
AIWindo,l8,20,27,53,59,61-
62, 70, 78, 83, 130-31
Sara,35,216
Shalca, 18, 50-51

Silamaka, 129
Sundiata Son Jara Su'fliata,
The Epic of, 22, 34, 119,
146
Epithets, 39, 49, 67, 70, 78, 84,
. 93, 96-97, 151
Essex, Barbara, 12
Europe, 3-6, 15, 49, 51-52, 69,
177
F Hero(es), 3, 8, 10-11, 14-15, 20-
Female Genital Mutilation (FGM),
148
Finnegan, Ruth, 4
Fischer, Ernest, 23, 41, 53
Ford, Clyde, 7, 10-11, 19, 128,
139
Forde, Daryll, 41
Formulaic, 44, 54, 67, 78, 80-81,
84-85, 92, 97, 106-07, 113,
120, 142-44, 146, 149
G Hunters, 39, 65, 74, 86, 89, 98,
Gabu, Empire o~ 71
Gambia, 33, 41, 71, 116, 126, 139
Ghana, Empire of; 31, 37, 39, 69,
79
Gilgamesh. The Epic of, 10, 35-
36, 59, 84, 130
Goddess, 13, 59, 130
Greece,10
Griot and Griottes, 7, 18-19, 23,
29-33, 36-38, 41, 54-55, 68,
297
70-71, 73, 75, 120, 124, 126,
142,146
H
Hlgin, Peter, 21
Hale, Thomas, 19, 29, 31-33, 35,
50,55,71, 73,135,156
Haley, Alex, 19,33
Harris, Sam, 10, 17-18
Hawking, Stephen, 14-16
21, 23, 25-26, 35, 40, 43, 46-
47, 51-53, 57-67, 82, 86, 90,
92-93, 98-101, 105, 108, 112-
14, 123, 125-31, 134, 136-42,
145, 149, 151-56, 158-59, 166,
172, 174-75, 177, 197, 209,
218,257
Heroic Poetry, 4, 20, 24, 36, 44,
47, 70,78,149,152,154
Hitchens, Christopher, 15-16
Homer, 22, 42, 44, 54, 70
107, 109, 112, 124, 128, 133,
136, 138, 140, 142, 144-45,
148, 156-57, 160, 183, 185,
215, 236, 244, 247, 252, 256-
57, 260, 262, 267, 276, 282,
284
I
The Iliad, 42, 78, 84
Innes, Gordon, 81, 116, 139, 145
298
Islam, 10-11, 22, 32, 49, 63, 88-
89, 99, 103, 105, 108, 113,
127, 134, 145, 160
J Kunene, Mazisi, SO, 52
Janke, Waali, 119-21
Jeli, 37
Jesus, 8-10, 16, 21, 131
Johnson, John, 19, 34, 58, 140
Jordan, A.C., 23, 25-26, 38
K
Kabeny, P.M., 41
Kagan, Donald, 51
Kambili, The Epic of, 3-4, 6, 9,
15-16, 18-21, 23, 25-27, 34,
36, 39, 41, 43-45, 47-49, 52-
53, 58-69, 73, 75, 77-79,
81-87, 89-90, 92-94, 96, 99-
101, lOS, 108-09,111-13,115-
17, 122-32, 134-39, 141-43,
145, 150-53, 155-61, 163,
165-67,170-71, 173,176, 183,
185,192,197,201-03,206-07,
214-15, 221, 233-34, 242-49,
25 1-54, 258-60, 262-63, 266,
269-70,272-73, 277,279-280,
.282-83
Kendall, Martha, 59
King, Martin Luther Jr., 8
Knight, Roderic, 71
Koran, 11, 15, 86, 94, 174, 197,
255
Kountche, Seyni, 30
Kouy• Mamadou, 7, 19
Krishna, 23
Kunene, Daniel, 19, 24-25, 39,
141, 149-50, 152, 154-155
L
Latin America, S, 15
Laye, Camara, 241
Lord, A. B., 42,81
The Lotus Sutra, 11
M
The Mahabharata, 11
Mahfouz, Naguib, 19
Mali, Empire of, 3, 19, 30-32, 34,
37, 39, 41, 58, 68, 73-74, 129,
141
Malinke, 3, 7, 35,37-38, so
Mande, 4, 19, 22, 31-32, 34, 37,
41,46,59,71,73,93,104,227
Mandinka, 11, 19, 21, 23, 26-27,
31-32, 39-41, 43, 47, SO,
52-54, 58, 68, 70-71, 73, 79,
81, 85, 88, 103, 105, 108-09,
116, 119, 122-123, 125-27,
134, 137-39, 141-45, 149, 153
Mateene, Kabombo, 131
Miller, Christopher, 55
Mlodinow, Leonard, 15
Mode(s), 8, 19, 54, 77, 80-83, 85-
86, 90, 94-96, lOS, 116-18,
120, 122, 143-46
Mohammed, I 0, 23, 68

Monomyth
Monteil, Vinvent, 41
Muslim, 12, 15,17, 18, 64, 75, 89,
105, 145
The Mwindo Epic, 18, 20, 27, 53,
59,61-62,70,78, 83, 130-31
Myth(s), 8, 10-11, 13-17, 23, 31,
41, 44, 45
N 100, 107, 112-13, 116-18, 126,
Narrative Mode, 81-82,86,94,96,
116-17, 120,144,146
Ndebele, Njabulo, 19
Newton, Huey P., 15
Niane, D.T., 19
Niger, 30, 32, 214
Nigeria, 69, 79
0·
The Odyssey, 21, 42, 52, 54
Okpewho, Isidore, 4, 6, 19, 24,
26-27, 41-42, 44, 49, 62-63,
65, 68-69, 77-79, 82-84, 129
Oral Epic, 3-4, 6, 41-42, 44-45,
62, 70, 73, 77, 138, 151
Oral Literature, 4, 24, 26, 42, 84,
122
Oral Tradition, 5, 37, 51, 70-71,
85, 119
Orature, 23-24
The Ozidi Saga, 18
p 103-04, 113-17, 143-44,
Paradise, 13, 35
299
Pany, Milman, 42, 54, 77, 81, 84
Performer/Performance, 24, 30,
34, 38, 42, 45, 53, 58, 68-69,
75,77,80,83-85,94,124,127,
140, 143, 149-51, 155
Person, Yves, 48
Poet, 22, 25-27,29, 32, 36, 38-42,
45, 47, 53-54, 58, 62, 65,
67-69, 83-84, 92-93, 96, 99-
128, 133, 136, 139-41, 143,
149-50, 152, 154, 156
Poetry, 4, 20-21, 24, 34, 36, 41-
42, 44, 47, 52, 54, 59, 62, 70,
78, 81, 91, 124, 129, 149-50,
152,154
Heroic, 4, 20, 24, 36, 44, 47,
70, 78, 149, 152, 154
Praise, 4, 19,31-32,34-35, 39-40,
51, 58, 63, 67, 78-79, 81-84,
88, 100, 103-04, 109, 113-18,
121-23, 132, 134, 137-39,
141-46,148-53,155,157,170,
188,248,273
Poetry, 4, 34, 78, 81, 149-50,
152
Proverb, 78, 81, 84, 145-46,
148
Mode, 81, 145
Singer, 31-32,39,81, 88, 145-
46, 149
Song,4, 31,34, 81-82,84,100,
146, 157
300
Proverbs, 6, 19-20, 40, 59, 67' 78,
81-84,90,92,94,96,104,106,
116-18, 120-22, 124, 134, 143,
145-46, 148, 156
R 26, 40, 57, 62-63, 65, 108,
Radin, Paul. 23, 25
The Ramayana, 11
Repetition, 67-68,91-92, 96, 113,
149-51
Rites of Passage, 37, 125
s The Torah, 11
Salaam, Nubia Kai Al-Nura, 4, 6,
16-17, 19, 31, 35-36, 50-51,
105
Samori Toure, 3, 21-23,43,47-51,
53, 59, 65, 68, 79-81, 86, 95,
100-01, 103, 111, 113, 115,
130-31, 143, 159, 178, 182,
189-91, 237-38
Sara, The Epic of, 35,216
Scheub, Harold, 23-24, 67
Segu Tukulor Empire, 47
Senegal, 32, 41, 72
Senegambia, 32,71
Senghor, Leopold, 19
Shaka, The Epic of, 18,50-51
Silamaka, The Epic of, 129
Songhay Empire, 37
Song Mode, 81-82, 95-96, 116-17,
143
Soyinka, Wole, 19
Spiritual Hero, 10-11
Stevenson, W. Taylor, 17
Stone, Merlin, 11-13
Sundiata Son Jara Sunjata, The
Epic of, 22, 34, 119, 146
Supernatural, 3, 8, 14-15, 25-
125, 127, 129, 138, 141,
156
T
The Tao Te Ch1ng, 11
Tasks, 111, 113
Toure Ni Manjun, 49, 170-71,
173, 192,225,231,237, 239,
241, 260,274-76
Traditional, 4, 8, 10, 16-17, 23-26,
38-39, 41-43, 48, 54-55, 62,
64, 69, 74, 81, 83, 85, 87, 89,
99,103-05,108,113,125,134-
35, 138, 141, 145, 149, 153,
160, 166, 170, 174, 176, 245,
262
The Tripitaka, 11
u
Uganda,4
United States, 9, 33
Upanishads, 11
v
Vansina, Jan
The Vedas, 11
Virgin Birth, 8, 10-11, 16, 128
 301

w y
West Afiica, 13, 18, 29, 32, 37, Yoruba, 69, 79
48-49,69,80,82,89, 129,138, Yugoslav, 70
154
Western Sudan, 64, 79, 85, 104, z
153 Zulu, 11, 50-51
Fritz B. Pointer

Fritz H. Pointer is Professor Emeritus in the Deparbnent

of English and African American Studies at Contra Costa
College in San Pablo, California. He holds an M.A. in African
Languages and Literature from the UniveiSity of Wisconsin-
Madison and an M.A. in African Studies from the University of
California-Los Angeles.