Sundu!

By Chishimba M. Lumbwe

Told in the style of a folk tale, this is a story about a fictional African country
called Sundu!, which for thousands of years had existed in an idyllic way.
The coming of some foreigners from another civilization changed
their way of life forever.

After being allowed into Sundu! because of seemingly good intentions, the
foreigners eventually took over the land and exploited it for its natural resources
and turned the owners of the land into second class citizens. After a long
struggle, the owners of the land, the Sundians, managed to get together and got
rid of the invaders. The new Sundian rulers initially ruled very well but later got
entangled in greed and lust for power. Eventually, these too were ejected by the
citizens, but only for the new rulers to start off well, then later also get ensnared
in the same greed and lust for power.

The Sundians once again overcame these rulers, with the help of their long held
traditional beliefs and customs.

The moral of the story is that a society under subjugation can overcome their
subjugators. A group of tyrants or one man, no matter how much he huffs
and puffs, is not stronger than the whole society he lives in, and that working
together, people can always overcome their difficulties.

This is a warning to dictators and would be dictators the world over.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Chishimba M. Lumbwe
• Release date: Jun 11, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463979778

Book preview

Table of Contents

Map of SUNDU!

1. In The Beginning

2. The Hidden Cavern and the Greenstone Fields

3. A Kilimanjaro Sized Blunder

4. The Moon of Deception

5. What’s in a Name?

6. Coming of Age Festivals

7. Success of the Commons

8. Sundu’s Wealth Purloined

9. Kali Buba and the 4-Legged Royal Stool

10. The Whipping

11. Kali Buba’s Edicts

12. The Decline

13. Queen Sacha From Bretton and Her One-Eyed Son

14. Things Fall Apart

15. To Infinity and Beyond

16. From a Frog to a King

17. King Kasimu’s Edicts

18. The Sundian Commandments

19. The Real Power on

the Royal Stool

20. Those Whom the Gods

Wish to Destroy

21. What Is Not Sauce

for the Goose

Also Coming in 2018

Other Books by

the Author

Acknowledgments

"If you want freedom, cut your chains.

If you want to die, cut your roots"

- African proverb

Chapter One

In The Beginning

No one is born wise; we all learn wisdom from others

Somewhere in Central Africa, near the epicenter of the origin of all humankind, there existed a large, rich, and beautiful country called Sundu!. This country had enormous resources. Enormous wealth of all descriptions was found in its man-made borders. God had put in the ground massive amounts of base metals like copper, cobalt, lead, graphite, nickel, manganese, zinc, and uranium. There were also precious minerals like gold, diamonds, and emeralds in staggering quantities. On the surface, God had provided large expanses of water, and had sculptured beautiful waterfalls, valleys, and mountains. In the rivers and lakes, the waters had in abundance creatures that hath life, for God had put a staggering array of fish and endowed the waters with majestically big-toothed hippos that were pure beauty in God’s eye and eye-of-the-beholder beautifully armoured crocodiles and sleek water monitors.

On land, God planted all sorts of useful softwoods and hardwoods like mopani, mukwa, mukula, bamboo and many more. And talk about plants that were pleasing to the eye, the flowering plants and the wild flowers! The periodic cacophonous explosion of colour in the forests, savannahs, and plains was enough to drive a nature lover dizzy with delight! And because in Sundian life everyone was one with nature, everyone would be dizzy with delight when taking a walk through God’s own park, Sundu!.

God then put in the ground all manner of food crops, like maize, cassava, millet, wild rice, sorghum, sweet potatoes, groundnuts, pumpkins, peas and more. All these grew in abundance together with all manner of fruit trees like the pawpaw, mango, avocado, banana, and more.

God then populated the country with animals: big, small, fast, slow, majestic, colourful, you name it. In the jungles of the Realm were serpents that seemed to float on land like hovercraft and had the most intricate and colourful of designs. On the savannahs, there were big beautifully crafted cats that accelerated at a dizzying pace, graceful gazelles that could jump incredible heights then bound off into the horizon in the blink of an eye. Then there were rhinos that walked as though they were on the cat-walk of fashion parades, and elephants that sauntered majestically through the bush like the kings they were. Then there were the wily wild dogs, the trenchant hyenas, the cavorting monkeys, the hypnotically coloured zebras, the oscillating giraffes and other cast members who all claimed starring or cameo roles in the never ending celluloid of nature that played out day and night.

Then domestic animals, God there put, included cattle, donkeys, goats, sheep, pigs, chickens, ducks, and many others.

In the air, in the open firmament of the heavens, God put birds and insects of all descriptions that criss-crossed the air all year round, ignoring the land borders that were later drawn up by man. Some birds had plumages that shamed the rainbow, while others were so made that they could fly backwards from a perching position, then float forwards at Mach speed! They were pure magic to behold. And the sonatas that the birds sang! Melodious does not even begin to do justice!

All these and more, God had provided out of Her own magnanimity.

You see, dear reader, in Sundian culture the Supreme Being, God or Leza-Nyambe, as She was known to the locals, was One. But this One, was a composition of many divinities or Ngulu. Through the divinity of Mulenga – The Creator – Leza-Nyambe had made Sundu! what it was, and through other divinities She continued to be a living God. So, to Sundians, Leza-Nyambe was one God in whom existed many other gods, making Her the Whole.

Vitally, Leza-Nyambe was a not a jealous God; vitally.

Mulenga was the divinity directly responsible for creation, but in addition other divinities that were Single but at the same time were part of the Whole included Makumba, Chishimba, Changa, Musonda, Kapembwa, and many others. These Ngulu were responsible for different aspects of Sundian life.

As a result of their concept of God, there were no atheists in Sundu!; none.

Then in their daily lives, Sundians believed in using the spirits of their ancestors, called imipashi - umupashi singular - for intercession with their gods.

* * *

It was a common belief in Sundu! that after the Almighty, Leza-Nyambe, finished working on their land, She must have rested for at least 2 days and 2 nights; things were that bountiful. So, the people of Sundu! in respect of Leza-Nyambe, would work tirelessly, very tirelessly, for 5 days, then on day 6, make merry and on day 7 rest.

For the men, the working week was a busy time for hunting, farming, fishing, collecting honey and many other chores. The women farmed, harvested wild fruits, edible roots, and mushrooms. They also cooked, looked after children, and did many other chores.

Day 6, the day of merry-making, would start very early, before the sun came up. The Sundian villagers would head to the forest or river, or any other designated near-by site where they would do their libations and sing praises to all their gods. The libations were made to all their departed relatives, as well as to the people who had died in the great migration of many centuries ago from a land called Nzadi, to the west of Sundu!.

Once the sun came up, the Sundians would head back to the villages. The women and young girls would start preparing foods in season as well as preserved foods and some hooch, for those who were so inclined. The boys would be playing with their friends various children’s games and wrestling each other. The men would hang around the house sharpening their spears, doing repairs to their fishing nets and their muzzle loaders. The men would also be doing repairs to their houses, especially the roofs and re-enforcing the doors and windows in case an old lion, failing to catch its usual prey, decided that humans are fair game and put them on its menu.

Then in the early afternoon the households would have a feast. Before the start of the meal, the de jure head of the household would offer words of thanks for the food to a divinity and their clan Mupashi. In Sundu!, males were the de jure heads of households whilst the females were the de facto heads. More about that later. The words of thanks would always end with the words in Kisundu of: ‘Good health?’ - Umutende? And everyone gathered would answer: ‘Comes from eating good food!’ - Ni mukape! The thanks were offered to the divinity Kapembwa, from kape, which in one dialect meant a small basket for carrying food. Because of past tribulations from famines and starvation, the Sundians had great respect for food. Anyone being wasteful or gluttonous would receive a severe rebuke.

At the end of each meal, one member would say in Kisundu: ‘Long life?’ - Umweo? And the rest would reply: ‘Comes from observing the teachings of the tribe’ - Ni mukutwi. Then, because of their deep knowledge about nutrition and the fact that they had long realised that during cooking many nutrients tended to leach into the gravy, any leftover gravy and accompanying mishmash would be given to the youngest member on the table - or a convalescing member of the family - to finish-off with the wise words of ‘He who drinks the gravy does not suffer from malnutrition’ - impwila muto tayonda.

Then the young ones, both male and female, would clear up the dishes and wash up.

After partaking in the victuals, the men would repair at speed to the village insaka to imbibe, exchange ideas, and pretend to be busy until evening time. The women would also go to their equivalent meeting places called ifibwanse. These insaka and fibwanse meeting places were real fountains of wisdom in Sundu!.

Apart from imbibing both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, exchanging ideas, and pretending to be busy until evening time, the insaka was also the place where the men used to congregate to gossip, play some games, and teach the younger adults about personal hygiene and manly pursuits. The men also exchanged all sorts of concoctions for all sorts of activities. Least said. There was no free-loading allowed at the insaka, as everyone had to contribute something to the activities there, or most preferable bring some food or booze for all to partake.

There was a special greeting when the men met at the insaka. The normal greeting of Sundian men meeting for the first time that day was quite peculiar and rather spectacular, to say the least, but had a purpose. On meeting, the men would size each other up, smile, drop any weapons they would have been carrying to the ground, and lift up both their hands in the air at the level of the head, palms facing forward, to show that they were now unarmed. This was a salute, and not a surrender, as the people who invaded Sundu! later misinterpreted the greeting. Then the older Sundian, always the older one, would start and say in Kisundu:

‘My man, are you alright?’

‘Yes, I am alright. Hoping you are too,’ the other would answer, if he was in fine fettle. If he was not too well he would say something like: ‘I am not so fine my brother. This malaria has grounded me!’

If the other fellow was also suffering from the same malady - which was not uncommon because malaria was as common as the domestic cockroach - he would say something like: ‘What is troubling the hartebeest is the same thing troubling the antelope.’ That conveyed to the other fellow that the malaria had also sorted him out. A child or a non-native speaker would be at pains to understand what the connection was between malaria and wild animals.

Then the two would size each other up, shake their shoulders a little, and then they would body-check each other, right shoulder to right shoulder, kaboom!, a little like bulls fighting. They would then pick up whatever they had been carrying and be on their way. Now, dear reader, this body-check, apart from being an age old tradition, also served the purpose of identifying which members of the clan were sick. This was because the checks were quite firm and a sick person would stagger or even fall. If that happened, the other person would know that that, was not a person to go with when hunting buffalo or fighting raiding people-takers.

There was, however, some etiquette to be followed: ordinary citizens only body-checked their fellow ordinary citizens. The chiefs and headmen would be greeted respectfully at a distance.

But at the insaka the greeting was very different. The man arriving there would shout:

‘Wisdom?’

‘We learn from each other and when in doubt ask someone!,’ those already relaxing there would shout back.

The new-comer would then proceed to join his friends in whatever activities that were going on there. In fact in Sundu! each occasion and event had a particular way of greeting, and greetings between the genders and age-sets were very well structured. For example, the way a single man greeted a married woman was different from the way he greeted a single woman. Children greeted parents in a special way, and grandparents greeted grandchildren in another way and so on. For example midwives who had delivered a child would greet that child as Uli shani mboswa?, meaning how are you who came on this earth with my help?

In later decades there was even a book written by a Sundian luminary about these greeting customs, and many other customs, and how some of these were misinterpreted by foreigners.

At the insaka no Sundian of the female species was allowed within spitting distance, and some of these men could spit a mile, especially if the saliva was fortified and augmented by chewed tobacco. Even the food and drinks to be consumed there were taken by small boys. In fact Sundians had a proverb that they used: A woman of moral rectitude does not bring attention to herself in the presence of men.

The Sundians loved this catchphrase - wisdom is learnt from other people or Amano Mambulwa as they said it in Kisundu - and they would practice that in and around the insaka. The Sundians had another well-loved catchphrase: If you grow up without asking, you shall grow old without knowing.

Wise people, these Sundians.

So, at the insaka young adults would learn from the experts on how to make clothes from bark and cotton, how to weave mats, how to make fishing nets, how to make fish traps from reeds, and how to make the various traps for the different sizes of animals in their different habitats. They would teach and learn from each other how to make the various types of baskets, how to make muzzle loaders, how to make axe and hoe handles as well as forge the actual axes and hoes. They would demonstrate how to make braziers, how to make a house and thatch it properly and numerous other practical skills. There was even a demonstration zone just next to the insaka where these skills would be practiced. Most insaka had a zone with scale models of kilns for extracting iron and for forging iron tools and models for making salt from appropriate leaves and from the soil from salt-pans. Most insaka also had a sort of planting calendar on the walls to show the lunar months and seasons with dried specimen of seeds indicating which crops to plant and when.

* * *

One day in the middle of the week, a whole morning would be dedicated to teaching young men warfare, protection of the citizens from people-takers and survival tactics in case they were overran by their enemies. On the same day in the afternoon, after a communal lunch, the young men and boys would be taught how to sing, play various musical instruments like the kalimba or thumb piano, and the harp, commonly known as the kora, and how to dance.

On the day following, young women and young girls would also spend the morning learning how to sing, for those called ingololi, whose voices were sweeter than honey and in whom music was recognised as a métier. The young women would also be taught how to dance and play some musical instruments. After a communal lunch, which was all part of team building just like for the boys the day before, the girls would be put through their paces on survival tactics against the various daily challenges like those of the people-takers and wild animals.

At the insaka for men, the young adults would also be put through their paces in the use and misuse of catchphrases, proverbs, aphorisms, idioms and colloquialisms. At this stage they would also be taught some frankly rude catchphrases and songs. You see, dear reader, the Sundian dialects had a humongous number of phrases that the people used to convey wisdom and offer solutions to a problem; a humongous number! Often, the catchphrase or idiom would not even be completed, but the adults would know exactly what their colleague was talking about. If the situation demanded it, the friend would complete the phrase. For example, at the insaka a man would look up, scan the horizons then say:

‘An animal grazing in the plain?’

The others would immediately look up, and scan the village as well and nod wisely and say: ‘That type of animal is not seen by one hunter, but is seen by many.’

Then they would go back to whatever they had been doing, be it playing games, carving, weaving a mat, and so on. A youngster or an alien would have no idea what had just taken place. In this conversation the elders would be talking about a beautiful young lady parading about the