DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0271
THE WAYAO OF NYASALAND
255
He collects from the boys’ necks the beads they are wearing, lifting them off with his
medicine horn; these are all his perquisites, to be sent off to his house. He then starts
singing:
“ Nachilongola Lupanda nyama ngulungwa yelele jakusomaga, mchila! ”
“ The leader (of) Lupanda (is) an animal big worth killing with a spear, tail!”
This means to the leader’s relatives that the boy is worth a spear; one is promptly
brought and leaned against the leader; the m’michila steps up and taking it, bends the
spearhead and sends it towards his house. He then sings:
“ Njejeka nati kalungu kwejeka nati
“ Things which are put to lean up against even little sugar cane to lean things up against even
kapamba kwejeka! ”
little arrow ! ”
The relatives then bring all kinds of presents and lean them against the boys; these are the
perquisites of the dancing men. The wall go away to eat now with their akamusi behind
the shelters. The akamusi tie up any food that is left in leaves, for later use. They then
return to the roughly-made ching’undang’unda where the m’michila meets them. The wali
stand in a circle round him and outside them in a ring, the parents, while the leader is set
on the ching’undang’unda mound.
The m’michila sings:
“Ananjati ndenga pa mtw’po tagani utandi, ankunga, ambiranja!”
“ You of the buffalo hair (lit. feathers) on the head you put flour ankunga call me.”
as he then goes around and touches each mwali with his “ tail.” The idea here is that the
wali with flour on their foreheads resemble buffaloes which have white patches on their
horns, and they will therefore be as strong as these beasts in the bush whither they are
about to go.
The m’michila then runs away to his hut and breaking a hole through the back, makes
for the bush. The assistants know this disappearance is the signal of his departure for
Ndagala. This happens about four o’clock. All exclaim “ Aaaah! ”; (to exclaim thus is
kwamira, “to exclaim with apprehension.”) The assistants head off in the same direction,
followed by the akamusi and their wali, while the mothers of the boys who may never see
them again, throw sticks on the path as they run away as the sign of forgetting their
sons for the time being.
All the men will also accompany the wali until they find the m’michila. He having left
the chief’s basket at Lupanda has brought some of the mbepesi with him in his own basket.
One of the men brings a gourd full of water; the m’michila pours some of the water into
his basket of flour and gives a drink of this first to the leader and then to each mwali
255
He collects from the boys’ necks the beads they are wearing, lifting them off with his
medicine horn; these are all his perquisites, to be sent off to his house. He then starts
singing:
“ Nachilongola Lupanda nyama ngulungwa yelele jakusomaga, mchila! ”
“ The leader (of) Lupanda (is) an animal big worth killing with a spear, tail!”
This means to the leader’s relatives that the boy is worth a spear; one is promptly
brought and leaned against the leader; the m’michila steps up and taking it, bends the
spearhead and sends it towards his house. He then sings:
“ Njejeka nati kalungu kwejeka nati
“ Things which are put to lean up against even little sugar cane to lean things up against even
kapamba kwejeka! ”
little arrow ! ”
The relatives then bring all kinds of presents and lean them against the boys; these are the
perquisites of the dancing men. The wall go away to eat now with their akamusi behind
the shelters. The akamusi tie up any food that is left in leaves, for later use. They then
return to the roughly-made ching’undang’unda where the m’michila meets them. The wali
stand in a circle round him and outside them in a ring, the parents, while the leader is set
on the ching’undang’unda mound.
The m’michila sings:
“Ananjati ndenga pa mtw’po tagani utandi, ankunga, ambiranja!”
“ You of the buffalo hair (lit. feathers) on the head you put flour ankunga call me.”
as he then goes around and touches each mwali with his “ tail.” The idea here is that the
wali with flour on their foreheads resemble buffaloes which have white patches on their
horns, and they will therefore be as strong as these beasts in the bush whither they are
about to go.
The m’michila then runs away to his hut and breaking a hole through the back, makes
for the bush. The assistants know this disappearance is the signal of his departure for
Ndagala. This happens about four o’clock. All exclaim “ Aaaah! ”; (to exclaim thus is
kwamira, “to exclaim with apprehension.”) The assistants head off in the same direction,
followed by the akamusi and their wali, while the mothers of the boys who may never see
them again, throw sticks on the path as they run away as the sign of forgetting their
sons for the time being.
All the men will also accompany the wali until they find the m’michila. He having left
the chief’s basket at Lupanda has brought some of the mbepesi with him in his own basket.
One of the men brings a gourd full of water; the m’michila pours some of the water into
his basket of flour and gives a drink of this first to the leader and then to each mwali