Beyond the Veil

By Julius Nji Zhie

Mesmerised by some events in his community Kuma Vachi Wo, a young boy, yearns to have them unravelled. The opportunity comes when he is called to tangkumm, the community’s boyhood initiation process, which takes him to exciting and enriching discoveries and skills. But what is intriguing is how this initiation enables him to reach beyond the veil that is over the phenomena.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Les Éditions du Net
• Release date: Feb 17, 2021
• ISBN: 9782312079707

Book preview

PART ONE :

The Riddle

Chapter I

Kuma Vachi Wo was attending the cultural festival of his Seymbong community for the first time. He was ten years old. Before then, he had learnt about the event only in adult conversations. The festival took place annually, mainly during the dry season, in the compounds of the heads of families. It lasted three days during which the members of a family met to celebrate life as a tribute to their ancestors. The families offered it in turn. A seven-day closing festival, called Sangniy{1}, was held at the Seymbong palace where all the families gathered in thanksgiving for peace, health and fertility. Kuma Vachi Wo had observed that only men spoke freely about some markedly unusual creatures that entertained people at the festival. The Seymbong people call these extraordinary creatures mkum{2}. Whenever Kuma’s parents or grown-up brothers and sisters were going to this celebration, they would leave him at home with his siblings of similar ages.

"Mkum will catch you! They catch little children!" the adults would tell them. When the children persisted in following them, the adults would intensify the warning:

"Mkum will take you to their forest home! Ngongong{3} will eat you up…!"

Usually, when Kuma heard these threats, he would run into the house and hide. But lately, he had heard them so often that they no longer meant much to him.

That bright dry season afternoon, he sneaked away from home, accompanied by their dog, and following the direction of music, attended the cultural festival. He wore sandals, khaki shorts, a multicoloured loose sleeveless open-armpit garment that reached just below his knees, and a skullcap. As he hurried away through a path, his brothers and sisters who had noticed his absence called:

Kuma!

Kuma Vachi Wo!

Kuma-a-a-a!

Kuma Vachi Wo-o-o-o…!

He sped up, his garment swelling with the wind, the dog in full pursuit, until the calls died away. Before long, he was at his desired destination. Here was his opportunity to feast his eyes on mkum! The ceremonial ground was teeming with people most of whom were dressed in tala{4}, the regalia of the Seymbong people–an elaborately embroidered gown that looks like multicoloured wings of a butterfly. It was a large red-earth courtyard in the enclosure of seven mud-brick, thatched houses, surrounded by a big farm of mainly Arabica coffee and banana trees. In the middle of the courtyard was a flourishing round bed of lilies, kying{5}, aloes, aubergines, cacti and several other plants, at the centre of which was a stone bearing the three upright black and white strokes of the Seymbong divine trinity: Fiazhia iy Vaing iy Nyam-a-mbving. This was a shrine. It was found only in the compounds of heads of families. The bed was encircled with stones. Nearby, the xylophone was neatly arranged on two long banana stems lying parallel on the ground. Several men were around there. Some of them were tuning the xylophone; while others were carrying away the chickens, goats and cows that had been slaughtered there. Kuma saw his father leading six men to a house in front of which were scattered maize grains, beans and chicken feathers. They walked with dignity, now and then flinging back the trailing sleeves of their tala with lordly elegance.

At a corner of the courtyard some men and women, in a circle, were singing and dancing njang. It consisted of rhythmic songs, gongs, horns, drumbeats and rattles. The men and women, in couples, leaning forward, and facing the middle of the circle, chorused and danced rightward round the music players. Arms bent, clenched right hand raised a little above the left one, they rhythmically moved the right foot in front and behind, and now and then sprang forward, turned twice round to the left, once to the right and back to the initial position.

There were several makeshift shelters around, built with sticks, plant fibres, banana leaves and palm fronds where people sat on wooden and bamboo chairs. Some were eating kahti-kahti{6}, achu{7}, shemsi{8}, beans-carrots-potatoes porridge, rice and chicken in groundnut soup; while others were drinking palm wine and kang{9}. The food was dished up in flame-softened banana leaves, straw bowls, enamel and earthenware bowls and plates; and they drank from calabash cups and cups fashioned from animal horns. Kuma Vachi Wo climbed an avocado tree in order to have a grandstand view. The dog watched him go up the tree. Later, it went for a sniff-pick-and-eat stroll, now and then returning to look after him. He had learnt that mkum lived in the forest and went straight back there after their performance. And that if anyone of them danced out of step, kam{10} would send him back to the forest immediately.

He watched several dances with great delight. Mkum were really weird and wonderful species. In their thrilling performance, they were, at once, scary and charming. They were upright on their hind limbs just like humans, had human hands, legs and feet, and were barefoot. Some had human heads while others had animals’. Yet, others had ruffle-feathered heads. All of the heads were abnormally big. And their proportionately big necks, veiled with some white netlike fabric, tapered towards the shoulders. They wore baggy gowns that reached down their legs. The gowns were either feathered, hairy, raffia, or blue and white patterned. A bunch of dry, dark brown, hollow, rattling pods were tied on their legs, just above the ankles. Two among the ruffle-feathered heads looked like the crest of the cock. The crests were dark and adorned with cowries. These two were kam and his assistant. One of the mkum, without rattles on the legs was very tall, towering above the buildings. He wore white trousers that reached and covered his feet, a white top and a ruffle-feathered head. His legs were very long, thus disproportionate to the rest of his body. He danced round while some people chanted. Kuma feared for him and the spectators, should he fall. He was so tall that Kuma imagined the fall would be a disaster. The scariest part of it was that, sometimes, some of these extraordinary dancers ran amok, felling banana trees and flogging people.

"Mkum have gone bananas!" cried the spectators, running for safety.

On that occasion, an elderly man resplendent in tala, came forward with a squawking meaty chicken, held by its legs in his right hand, and offered it to them for appeasement. So, when mkum were performing, the spectators were on the alert for the possibility of violent behaviour. Most people ran away at their approach, while some stooped or squatted. At times, kam stepped on a stooping or squatting man, while other men around chanted praises. In such a situation, it was hard to tell whether the praises were for the person who had received the foot on his back or kam or both. Strangely enough, the man who had been stepped on beamed with joy. Kuma later discovered that it was prestigious for a man to be stepped on by mkum, and that few men received the honour.

Women, children and most men ran away at the approach of these creatures. Only a few men dared to squat or stoop. But, surprisingly enough, in some of the dances, women accompanied the creatures. A young woman, bowed, danced gracefully ahead of each of them as they danced round the musicians.