DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0304
288
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
of the hut, chenjelele, and the red part of the flower of the banana, doubtless on account
of its shape, are used as medicine for this disease.
Kwimbangana or Ndaka: If a man dies and his relations eat of the food-stuffs left by
him, such as com from his grain-store, before they have been cleansed by medicine, they
will sicken with ndaka, the symptoms being anaemia and wasting. The word Awirnba ndaka
is also used for sickness due to partaking of food cooked by an unfaithful wife.
Chipata is a word used by both Yao and Anyanja to denote a disease which a man
contracts from adulterous intercourse. Scott1 derives the word from ku-pata, to stick
to; the woman is so influenced by medicine made by her husband that should any man have
adulterous intercourse with her, the disease will “stick” to him, while it will not affect
the woman herself nor her own husband. Both the disease and the medicine made to
cause the disease are known as Chipata. Secondarily, the word has come to be used for any
disease which may be gained by sexual intercourse and is sometimes used as a general term
for venereal disease.
Chipata cha chipula {chipula, a knife): A man who is going away from home obtains
medicine and doctors his knife with it. As he leaves his house to go on his journey, he
pretends just to remember his knife and calls for it. His wife brings it to him and it is put
into its sheath; he then goes out and sticks it in the grass of the roof of the house. The
medicine is made from the tail of a dog, an animal in which coitus is prolonged and the
two animals cannot separate. Should the wife commit adultery, it is supposed that just
as the knife was unsheathed and doctored with dog medicine, so the adulterous pair will
remain fixed in coitu and be found out. This may be called cAipata cha kutega (kutega -
to set a trap).
The Anyanja make medicine with the same idea, chipata cha kuchera (ku-chera, to
set a trap, Chin.); medicine is put round the house and any man crossing the medi-
cine and committing adultery with the wife will be trapped. In all cases, the man will
become ill.
Chipata cha miasi, miasi, blood (mwazi, Chin.); disease caused by intercourse with a
menstruating woman. Blood is passed in the urine.
Chipata cha uwou, uwou, pus (mafinya, Chin.): practically means gonorrhoea.
Chipata cha litonji, litonji, cotton (tonje, Chin.): the discharge from the urethra resem-
bles a thread of cotton; it is supposed that this thread can be pulled out endlessly.
Chipata cha ucheche, ucheche, the white-ants (chiswe, Chin.): so called when a man passes
whitish-yellow debris in the urine. It is supposed that when he has finished passing water,
white ants rush up the penis and enter the bladder, thus causing the pain which character-
izes this affection. The origin of the idea lies in the fact that if one sprinkles water or uri-
nates on the ground near white-ant burrows, the ants will come to the surface of the ground
in numbers and make a rustling sound.
1 D. C. Scott, A cyclopedia dictionary of the Mang’anja language, op. cit.
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
of the hut, chenjelele, and the red part of the flower of the banana, doubtless on account
of its shape, are used as medicine for this disease.
Kwimbangana or Ndaka: If a man dies and his relations eat of the food-stuffs left by
him, such as com from his grain-store, before they have been cleansed by medicine, they
will sicken with ndaka, the symptoms being anaemia and wasting. The word Awirnba ndaka
is also used for sickness due to partaking of food cooked by an unfaithful wife.
Chipata is a word used by both Yao and Anyanja to denote a disease which a man
contracts from adulterous intercourse. Scott1 derives the word from ku-pata, to stick
to; the woman is so influenced by medicine made by her husband that should any man have
adulterous intercourse with her, the disease will “stick” to him, while it will not affect
the woman herself nor her own husband. Both the disease and the medicine made to
cause the disease are known as Chipata. Secondarily, the word has come to be used for any
disease which may be gained by sexual intercourse and is sometimes used as a general term
for venereal disease.
Chipata cha chipula {chipula, a knife): A man who is going away from home obtains
medicine and doctors his knife with it. As he leaves his house to go on his journey, he
pretends just to remember his knife and calls for it. His wife brings it to him and it is put
into its sheath; he then goes out and sticks it in the grass of the roof of the house. The
medicine is made from the tail of a dog, an animal in which coitus is prolonged and the
two animals cannot separate. Should the wife commit adultery, it is supposed that just
as the knife was unsheathed and doctored with dog medicine, so the adulterous pair will
remain fixed in coitu and be found out. This may be called cAipata cha kutega (kutega -
to set a trap).
The Anyanja make medicine with the same idea, chipata cha kuchera (ku-chera, to
set a trap, Chin.); medicine is put round the house and any man crossing the medi-
cine and committing adultery with the wife will be trapped. In all cases, the man will
become ill.
Chipata cha miasi, miasi, blood (mwazi, Chin.); disease caused by intercourse with a
menstruating woman. Blood is passed in the urine.
Chipata cha uwou, uwou, pus (mafinya, Chin.): practically means gonorrhoea.
Chipata cha litonji, litonji, cotton (tonje, Chin.): the discharge from the urethra resem-
bles a thread of cotton; it is supposed that this thread can be pulled out endlessly.
Chipata cha ucheche, ucheche, the white-ants (chiswe, Chin.): so called when a man passes
whitish-yellow debris in the urine. It is supposed that when he has finished passing water,
white ants rush up the penis and enter the bladder, thus causing the pain which character-
izes this affection. The origin of the idea lies in the fact that if one sprinkles water or uri-
nates on the ground near white-ant burrows, the ants will come to the surface of the ground
in numbers and make a rustling sound.
1 D. C. Scott, A cyclopedia dictionary of the Mang’anja language, op. cit.