DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49270#0258
176
Alice Werner
Line 34.
kunyoa is the general term for 'shaving’, which is always done, in the first instance, from
the nape of the neck upwards and forwards. The reverse operation, going back from the
forehead, is called kupaliza.
sharafa (Ar. , 'to surpass in dignity’, cf. also sherif — 'noble’) used instead of
ndevu, ' beard ’ — no doubt in accordance with the Arab usage of attributing special honor
to the beard.
kukiza = 'pour water over’. Arab (and Swahili) bathrooms contain either (a) a cistern
built into an angle of the walls and roof, with a plug let in below — by removing the plug
the bather can obtain a douche as he stands — or (b) more frequently an oblong, cemented
tank about three feet deep, from which water is dipped with a coconut shell ladle pro-
vided for the purpose. In either case the water runs away through an opening left at the
junction of the outer wall and the floor.
fukiza: fumigation with ubani (frankincense), udi, and other perfumes is a favorite
remedy for colds and other disorders and is often resorted to as a precautionary measure
when 'there is sickness about’ (e.g. at the beginning of the rains), as well as merely in
order to scent the person and clothes.
bukurata wa ashiya = j instead of the more usual assubuhi na jioni — no
doubt for the sake of the verse.
Line 37
mkoo, defined by Krapf as 'a dirty fellow, who neither cleans his body nor clothes, nor
sweeps the room,’ etc. Cf. ukoo = 'filth,’ 'sweepings’, etc.
tenda kama uonas, seems to mean ' I do not go into detail as regards points of household
management: you must settle those for yourself. But no decent person ever neglects’
etc.
choo = the privy, which is usually contiguous to the bathroom.
Lines 38-41
Directions as to personal toilet.
yasimini = Arabic . There are at least two kinds (afu, tundanfu) of
jessamine growing wild in East Africa; one, if not both, is occasionally cultivated. The
blossoms are hawked about for sale at Mombasa, Lamu, etc., either loose on brass trays,
or made up with strips of vnkadi (pandamus leaf) into the little bunches known as vikuba.
Single blossoms are often stuck in the ears, or worn in the hair, by women: and they also
make them into chains (worn round the neck, or hung up in the house), or thread them
on little sticks. They are very fond of scattering them on the coverlet (if any) after the
bed is made for the day.
Alice Werner
Line 34.
kunyoa is the general term for 'shaving’, which is always done, in the first instance, from
the nape of the neck upwards and forwards. The reverse operation, going back from the
forehead, is called kupaliza.
sharafa (Ar. , 'to surpass in dignity’, cf. also sherif — 'noble’) used instead of
ndevu, ' beard ’ — no doubt in accordance with the Arab usage of attributing special honor
to the beard.
kukiza = 'pour water over’. Arab (and Swahili) bathrooms contain either (a) a cistern
built into an angle of the walls and roof, with a plug let in below — by removing the plug
the bather can obtain a douche as he stands — or (b) more frequently an oblong, cemented
tank about three feet deep, from which water is dipped with a coconut shell ladle pro-
vided for the purpose. In either case the water runs away through an opening left at the
junction of the outer wall and the floor.
fukiza: fumigation with ubani (frankincense), udi, and other perfumes is a favorite
remedy for colds and other disorders and is often resorted to as a precautionary measure
when 'there is sickness about’ (e.g. at the beginning of the rains), as well as merely in
order to scent the person and clothes.
bukurata wa ashiya = j instead of the more usual assubuhi na jioni — no
doubt for the sake of the verse.
Line 37
mkoo, defined by Krapf as 'a dirty fellow, who neither cleans his body nor clothes, nor
sweeps the room,’ etc. Cf. ukoo = 'filth,’ 'sweepings’, etc.
tenda kama uonas, seems to mean ' I do not go into detail as regards points of household
management: you must settle those for yourself. But no decent person ever neglects’
etc.
choo = the privy, which is usually contiguous to the bathroom.
Lines 38-41
Directions as to personal toilet.
yasimini = Arabic . There are at least two kinds (afu, tundanfu) of
jessamine growing wild in East Africa; one, if not both, is occasionally cultivated. The
blossoms are hawked about for sale at Mombasa, Lamu, etc., either loose on brass trays,
or made up with strips of vnkadi (pandamus leaf) into the little bunches known as vikuba.
Single blossoms are often stuck in the ears, or worn in the hair, by women: and they also
make them into chains (worn round the neck, or hung up in the house), or thread them
on little sticks. They are very fond of scattering them on the coverlet (if any) after the
bed is made for the day.