Koote first then Wolinyama next
Maito, maito kaii ! (Fables of the Animal World).
Koote = the name of a bird.
Woli-nyama = the animal community; all animals.
Yasi nanu: Concerned with repeating out-breaks of diarrhea at the beginning of harvest seasons, the Supreme Council of Wolinyama asked their eminent Traditional Doctors - (Mosongi Inoni, Yongoole, Lisonjo, Yota Ngule) - to work in concert and tell Wolinyama action to be taken to prevent recurrence of diarrhea.
After consulting their respective oracles the Doctors informed the Council that diarrhea occurs when premature fruits and tubers are consumed.
The Doctors then recommended that Wolinyama should not commence to eat fruits and tubers from any tree or plant until after a Sanitary Inspector who had been duly mystically fortified against fruit and tuber poison had inspected and tasted the fruits/tubers of the tree/plant and made a declaration that it was safe to eat the fruits/tubers from the tree/plant.
The Council then selected seven birds for training as Fruits and Tuber Sanitary Inspectors. Six student inspectors abandoned the course of training after complaining that tasting of fruits and tubers had poisoned them.
Kooti Inoni the only student who graduated from the training school was accordingly appointed the sole Sanitary Inspector of Fruits and Tubers.
A day before Koote’s inauguration into office Koote received an all night mystical fortification against poison from all fruits and tubers.
The fortification enables Koote's bowels and urinary system to expel without pain all fruits and tuber poison that Koote consumes.
The poison that Koote expels causes a parasite tree called “Lisuwa la Koote” to germinate and grow on every spot on any branch of any tree on which Koote drops his faeces.
“Lisuwa la Koote” spreads on branches of trees like a cancer. If a branch on which “Lisua la Koote “ is growing is not cut off the “Lisuwa la Koote” will spread to other branches and probably kill the tree.
(Note: “Lisuwa la Koote” bear yellow flowers that are about the size of a match stick).
The slogan on Koote’s inauguration as the sole Sanitary Inspector of Fruits and Tubers was:
“Koote asi-leli te Wolinyama vasi-le”.
(If Koote has not yet eaten, Wolinyama will not commence to eat;
Koote, first then Wolinyma next !)
“Koote asi-leli te, Wolinyama vasi-le”.
This idiom is used to emphasize that rules of precedence and protocol should be observed, for instance, Bakweri tradition requires that the first parent to receive the first installment of dowry in respect of a daughter about to be married should be the mother of the daughter.
The installment is a smooth looking young female goat that has not yet started to deliver.
If the mother of the daughter has not yet received the goat, the father of the daughter is not expected to receive any dowry. The slogan is: the mother first, the father after the mother.
“e-Nyango e-yai e-Ngondo yende o-liiva,
esi wo te e-mboli e-timba we ewoongo e-Mwaana vasa liva ama nanga,
e-Sango
e-yai e-Ngondo,
esa-kane liwona litumba la e-munyana asa liva e-ngondo, wooli”.
"Koote asi-leli te, Wolinyama vasi-le" !
Lexicon:
mboli = a goat.
ewoongo = a sofa.
e-Mboli e-timba we ewoongo = the goat that will now sleep on the sofa on which the bride used to sleep.
The idea is that the sofa on which the bride used to sleep should not remain unused because the bride has moved into her marital home.
The bride therefore has to be replaced on the sofa by a female goat that has not yet started to deliver.
Note:
The goat does not in practice sleep on the bed of the bride who has moved into her matrimonial home. e-Mbole e-timba we ewoongo is a diplomatic name.
nda = cocoyams.
nda ja saa or velonge-longe = coco yams that are not yet mature for human consumption. It is said that “nda ja saa” may cause diarrhea.
Oma Nanu
Imba Thomas Mbua Ndoko
Chicago ILL, USA
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