admin@ the Bookstore With Elliot Ziwira
LITERATURE, like orature, as coined by the Ugandan scholar Pio Zirimu, is influenced by culture, which is the pivot upon which societies are perched. Pre-literate societies, which by definition are devoid of any written literature are enriched by their varied oral traditions; folk epics, folklore, proverbs and folksong.
It is the combination of these which is regarded as oral literature or orature. Literate societies, though heavily relying on the written word, tap into folkloric traits through bedtime stories or other informal social gatherings, urban legends, jokes, oral and performance poetry.
Literature — both oral and written — as an art form should be as entertaining as it is didactic.
The aesthetics of African literature conform to cultural truths and aspirations cherished by the community.
Morality, honesty, hard work, chastity and unity as ingredients of societal cohesion should be central to the stories that are passed on from one generation to another; the reverse vices are the truths that inform society to be on guard as individuals are tempted to use their thrift, cunning, sadistic and selfish inclinations to hold the entire community at ransom.
The use of animal characters, song and the journey motif, which the modern story teller feeds into, using the satirist trope, has always been used to lambast the nature of Man as he seeks to consolidate his selfish hold on others. It is this influence that orature has on the written word in its exposure and castigation of vice, which has prompted At the Bookstore to revisit yester-year.
My late grandmother VaVhariyeta (Violet) was a great story teller.
She could tell us old and new tales with the same finesse of detail accompanied by hilarious songs, and we could never tire of listening. She could delve into folkloric drama with its journey motifs and songs to highlight the nature of man and his ways.
Though she could exploit human characters with the same ease and effect, it was her use of animal characters that appealed to us more; my brother Shepherd, cousins and I, as we snuggled closer to the greatest story teller of our world.
The Hare was prominent in her stories and it never ceased to amaze us how the animal kingdom could be so easily hoodwinked and outwitted by little Hare, got wiser at some point, but still remained at his mercy.
All the animals, Lion, the king of the jungle, included, could not untangle themselves from their naughty nephew’s snare. We wondered how an entire kingdom could be that gullible as to be played tomfoolery once too often by such a sickling like Hare.
They could do much better without him, yet they felt poorer without him. Our young minds could just not decipher it, even after granny’s exposition of the moral lessons in the stories. I for one remained as befuddled as I was sizzled, and as inquisitive as I was captivated, until the world of politics illuminated itself on the horizon of my innocence.
There is one story that I especially enjoyed, not so much for its content but for its didactic appeal.
A great famine hit the world and threatened to decimate all animals, which made them to bring heads together. Lion, the revered king of the jungle, convened a meeting with the Council of Elders, which he chaired so that a solution could be found.
Before taking the issue to a congress with the other animals, it was resolved that a well be dug on the banks of the mighty Nyakambiri River.
Deliberations at the congress established that all the animals should take turns in digging the well, and that whoever decided to put spanners in the project, either by design or default, should not be allowed to draw water from the pond. Thus, in good faith all the animals agreed to partake in the task as there were no dissentients.
However, lazy Hare, who was full of excuses, decided not to be part of the laborious task. Without him, the animals succeeded in their quest, and another congress was called for, wherein it was agreed that the animals should compile a roaster to guard the resource against one of their own; Hare.
After weighing his options, the cunning Magen’a came up with a super plan. He was aware that no one in the animal kingdom could say no to honey, and he knew where to find it and how. With his two gourds, an empty one for the water that he knew he would definitely get, and another one full of honey, Hare went to the guarded well.
The first on duty was Jackal, so he became the cunning little swine’s unfortunate barometer. Convincing Jackal to listen to him was a stroll in the park because he had honey, and he did not need to give him all of it either; only a lick of the fingers.
“Now uncle if you want me to give you all of it, I have to tie your hands and legs for that is what the ancestors command,” Hare quips.
Using this trick, Hare managed to manacle Jackal, fill his gourd with water, take a bath in the well and casually walk away, leaving his first victim to face the wrath of the other animals, which somehow knew that Hare could outsmart them one way or the other.
And mind gentle citizen, Jackal did not disclose how he was tricked; no one opens up to corrupt tendencies. Even though the animals, including some in the Council of Elders, continued to take turns to guard the well, they succumbed to the same modus operandi; and still the issue of honey was not mentioned.
Honey for all, manacles for all, and Hare continued to draw water from the well; until, much to the surprise of all and sundry, Tortoise volunteered to halt the little master schemer.
Tortoise’s plan was simple; he knew that Hare had a gift of the garb, so the best bet was to avoid listening to him. Unlike the other animals, Tortoise hid in the well, so when Hare called out he did not respond. Believing that there was no one about, Hare laughed out loud before filling his gourd and jumping into the well for a swim. Unfortunately, he found himself in the slow one’s grip until all the other animals came.
The Council of Elders convened an urgent meeting to decide Hare’s fate, and Tortoise, the hero, was not part of it. It was resolved that the cunning culprit be reduced to prey. At the congress that followed the elders’ decision, the animals were divided into two camps, as Hare came up with a proposition.
He was too small, he reasoned, for all of them to share him, and since they all wanted to have a piece of him, the solution was to follow a weakness privy to those close to the secrets of hares.
Hare convinced them that if they locked him in the hut used for storing meat, overnight he would be transformed to the size of an adult hyena, since hares had a phobia for meat.
There were shouts, threats, swearing and name calling, before the Council of Elders decided to follow Hare’s idea.
Hare’s gamble was on Hyena, whom he knew had a weakness for easy meat and was also not gifted with the sense of discernment. Since there would be no one to guard the hut because Hare would be inside, Hyena might be tempted to come for the spoils; as his nephew winked at him at the congress.
It so happened then that Hare was bundled into the storeroom and the door bolted from the outside. True to Magen’a’s foresight, Hyena came in the middle of the night and unbolted the door. When he was enjoying his feast, Hare asked to be excused since he wanted to relieve himself. Once outside, he bolted the door and disappeared into the serene night.
Came the morrow, the animals converged at the hut, and true to his word, Hare had transformed into a fully grown hyena. Inasmuch as Hyena tried to reason with them, “It’s me Mpisi, Hare locked me here and disappeared,” his fellow comrades could not take heed; after all what had brought him there?
All their bottled ire was spewed out onto Hyena’s lap; and they tore him into pieces. To them Hare had for once kept his word.
Unlike the Hare of my granny’s stories who responded to only one moniker; Magen’a, today’s Hare wears many faces and responds to many monikers which makes him fool everybody, even those closest to him. His strength, mind you, lies in the modern honey, which he commands; MONEY. With it he buys silence and immunity.
It is this same Hare that litters folkloric drama which pervades African Literature today, as Man struggles to release himself from his own grip in a mire of his own creation, which he so much wants to blame on others.
Online Reporter