::::::::: No Plan B :::: by Tim & Michèle :::::::::

A little Story

The Great Chief Tuloko [09 December 2003 - tim]
'Many years ago, when the Great Chief Tuloko was still a young man, a great trouble came to his village. It started one night in the rainy season when the wind howled like a spirit, rivers fell from the sky and Cousin Moon offered no comforting light. The villagers huddled together in their houses, fearfull that they must have offended the ancestors.
'In the morning when Father Sun rose and made the mud smoke like a fire, a terrible discovery was made. One of the girls' houses was completely destroyed and all the children were gone. At first the villagers thought that the spirit of the wind had carried them away. But, in the rubble where the house once stood, the Great Chief Tuluko found a Shumba's claw the length of a hunting knife. "There is a rogue shumba on the prowl," Tuloko said.
'Great Chief Tuloko addressed the men in the village. "My brothers!" he said. "We must hunt this shumba down before he kills any more of our families. We do not know who will be next. But every shumba returns to the scene of its last kill. Who will come with me?"
'But the men of the village were afraid. "Tuloko," they said, "Father Sun appointed you chief of our people and he protects you. So you must protect us" And they refused to join the hunt.
'That night the air wass still and silent and Cousin Moon shone down and the villagers huddled together in the dark corners of their houses. The fearfull villagers stayed awake all night and nothing could be heard but the echoing snores of the Great Chief Tuloko. And yet, when Father Sun rose in the morning, another villager had been seized by the terrible rogue shumba, a widow called N'tendu.
'Again the Great Chief Tuloko appealed to the men of the village to join him on the hunt. Again they refused. "Tuloko", they said, "you are protected by Father Sun, but who will protect us?" But as the men hid their cowardice behind their words, a small boy came forward. His name was N'kimwi. He was the widow's son.
'"Great Chief Tuloko," N'kimwi said, "five winters ago my father was taken by disease. Now my mother is gone too. There is nothing left for me in this village. Allow me to accompany you on this hunt, for I am entitled to vengeance."
'The Great Chief Tuloko looked at the small boy and admired the courage that fired his eyes and the pride that straightened his spine.
'"Your heart beats well, N'kimwi," Tuloko said. "Stronger than that of any man in this village. But I cannot take you on this hunt, for you are just a small boy and the last of the line. Think how angry your ancestors would be if you too were killed! No! I must hunt alone."
'When Father Sun drew himself up to his height, the Great Chief Tuloko took up his spear and his hunting knife and packed himself a small knapsack of mealy biscuits and fruit. "I will kill the shumba," Tuloko said," "or I will die in the attempt!" And he marched into the bush in search of the rogue shumba. The sun was unbearably hot but Tuloko, the Great Chief, the Traveller, was accustomed to such hardship.
'All day Tuloko marched, following the shumba's trail. He hoped to catch the shumba sleeping off the widow in the heat of the afternoon sun. But the trail wound on untill even Tuloko, even the Traveller, found himself in unfamiliar country. Indeed, the Great Chief Tuloko was about to return home, for the shadows were biting his ankles, when he heard the shumba's roar. Ahead of him on the path he saw the rogue shumba, as tall as a house, as wide as a Queenstown bus, with a mane that was as silver as a waterfall at dawn. The air was heavy with the smell of death.
'The Great Chief Tuloko stopped still and drew his hunting knife. But allready the terrible beast was charging towards him. "Father Sun!" Tuloko cried. "Grant me the strength of the light!" But Father Sun had reached the doorstep of the West and could not hear him. "Cousin Moon!" Tuloko cried. "Grant me the cunning of the night!" But Cousin Moon was not yet risen in the sky.
'Before he knew it, the shumba was upon him. The Great Chief Tuloko threw his spear, but it bounced from the shumba's muscular flank. He thrust his hunting knife towards the shumba's face, but the beast struck him down with a paw, like a grown man swatting a mosquito. In seconds the rogue shumba had pinned the Great Chief Tuloko to the ground and its claws cut five long gashes across his chest. Tuloko could smell the scent of the chinjuku girls on its breath and he could taste the blood of the widow on the saliva that dripped on to his face from the shumba's mouth. "Oh, my people," the Great chief Tuloko cried, "have you deserted me?" And he prepared himself for death.
'Suddenly another voice cut through the murky light like the striking of a match. "Stop!" There, at no further distance than a small boy could piss, stood the widow's child, N'kimwi. "Stop!" he said again.
'For a second the shumba paused and turned his attention to this intruder to his kill. The shumba showed N'kimwi its teeth. It showed N'kimwi the confident wag of its tail and the evil terror of its eyes. But N'kimwi did not run away.
'"You do not scare me, shumba!" N'kimwi said. "For you are nothing but a foolish animal. You have taken my mother, but you do not scare me. You have captured the Great Chief Tuloko, but you do not scare me. For you have no honour. Your ancestors do not protect you, for you cannot pray to them. Your family do not respect you, for you can tell them nothing of your fighting and conquests. Your descendants will never sing praise-songs to the glory of your courage. Your blood is as thin as the water of a shamva river, your life as joyless as a stagnant pond, your existence as meaningless as a shallow puddle that vanishes in the morning sun. You do not scare me, shumba, for one day you will die and nobody will mourn. Your corpse will be eaten by the jackals, but they will leave your heart because it is blackened stone. Your eyes will be pecked out by vultures, but they will leave your heart because it is blackened stone. The maggots will strip your bones, but they will leave your heart because it is blackened stone. Even the smallest of the creatures of Father Sun will find no sustenance in your heart and it will be the only monument to your life until summer winds blow and cover it to dust. Then you will be nothing."
'When the shumba heard this, it let out a roar so terrifying that it could be heard by the cowardly villagers a full day's walk away. The villagers looked at one another and said, "What can this mean?" But N'kimwi wasn't scared. And as the shumba roared, the Great Chief Tuloko saw his chance. Taking up his hunting knife, he plunged it deep into the shumba's neck and, before the shumba fell dead in the dust, the roar was strangled in its throat. And, for just one instant, it sounded like a screaming child.'

(From the Patrick Neate's novel, 'Musungu Jim and the Great Chief Tuloko')

Glossary of select names

Chinjuku
Zamba. Age grade for pubescent Zamba girls.

Shamva
Zamba. 1 River. 2 Corrupt chiefs of the Zamba tradition, eventually overthrown by Tuloko.

Shumba
Zamba. Lion.

Tuloko
Also known as 'the Great Chief Tuloko', 'the Traveller' and 'the Child of the Horizon'. Mythical first chief of the Zamba who secured the people's release from the tyrannical reign of the shamva (see above).

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