DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49272#0356
340
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
11 Lokote lokote kaselo to!”
“ Picking up picking up a little basket full!”
to which the listeners exclaim
“ Lakataa! ”
“ Overflows! ”
At the completion of each sentence in the story, one of his listeners will exclaim, “Go!”
When he has finished his story, he says,
“ Ajokole katolo katakununga pamtwe pakomere, umbo chiponji! ”
“ Take off the fire, the little mouse lest it be singed, by the head it is very hard, the hair (is) in a
lump! ”
During the intervals of a long story, one of the listeners may break in and sing some little
song, such as the song of the mbendu in the story of the greedy man, thus giving the story-
teller a rest.
The house and household utensils. The Yao house does not differ greatly from the
Nyanja habitation which I have already described elsewhere.1 The accompanying figure
(Pl. XIV, fig. 15) gives the circular plan of a hut with a veranda partly open and partly
enclosed to form a room. The central pole of the hut is indicated, the hearth (H), the
position of the sleeping mats (M), and the place where the water pots are kept (P). The
bed may be a bamboo platform supported by forked sticks a foot above the ground (usang-
wali), or a dais of mud, over which is spread the sleeping-mat, ugono. (Pl. XIV, fig. 14.)
Seats, chitengu, are made of logs of wood with conveniently placed branches acting as legs.
I have seen a symmetrically carved log with shaped legs all in one piece, which suggested
by its form and by the presence of a button on the midline of the under surface that it was
made in the imitation of an animal. Plank seats with peg legs are now sometimes seen.
Wooden pegs are driven into the wall and serve to hang odd articles upon.
The hearth is simply a shallow depression in the mud floor, around which are placed
three large stones to support the cooking pots. Sometimes a canopy is built over the
hearth, consisting of four upright poles supporting a platform made of reeds and grass,
upon which millet and other seed grains are often stored. From this platform ligulu (tsanja,
Chin.), the gourd containing the supply of salt is often hung. The seed grain tied up in
little bundles is suspended from the ligulu where it becomes very dry and smoked, without
any ill effect to the next year’s crop. (Pl. XIV, fig. 16.) Four pronged branches of trees
are often stuck in the ground with a string tied around the prongs, and used as holders for
gourds, salt bottles, etc.; this device is called lipanda (phanda, Chin.). (Pl. XIV, fig. 10.)
The smaller utensils include the porridge stirring stick mtiko (Yao and Chin.) (Pl. XIV,
fig. 12), several wooden spoons chikowi (chipanda or namalawa, Chin.), (Pl. XIV, figs. 11,
13), a number of gourds of various shapes and sizes used as ladles and drinking vessels,
1 ‘ Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa,’ op. cit., p. 326-328.
HARVARD AFRICAN STUDIES
11 Lokote lokote kaselo to!”
“ Picking up picking up a little basket full!”
to which the listeners exclaim
“ Lakataa! ”
“ Overflows! ”
At the completion of each sentence in the story, one of his listeners will exclaim, “Go!”
When he has finished his story, he says,
“ Ajokole katolo katakununga pamtwe pakomere, umbo chiponji! ”
“ Take off the fire, the little mouse lest it be singed, by the head it is very hard, the hair (is) in a
lump! ”
During the intervals of a long story, one of the listeners may break in and sing some little
song, such as the song of the mbendu in the story of the greedy man, thus giving the story-
teller a rest.
The house and household utensils. The Yao house does not differ greatly from the
Nyanja habitation which I have already described elsewhere.1 The accompanying figure
(Pl. XIV, fig. 15) gives the circular plan of a hut with a veranda partly open and partly
enclosed to form a room. The central pole of the hut is indicated, the hearth (H), the
position of the sleeping mats (M), and the place where the water pots are kept (P). The
bed may be a bamboo platform supported by forked sticks a foot above the ground (usang-
wali), or a dais of mud, over which is spread the sleeping-mat, ugono. (Pl. XIV, fig. 14.)
Seats, chitengu, are made of logs of wood with conveniently placed branches acting as legs.
I have seen a symmetrically carved log with shaped legs all in one piece, which suggested
by its form and by the presence of a button on the midline of the under surface that it was
made in the imitation of an animal. Plank seats with peg legs are now sometimes seen.
Wooden pegs are driven into the wall and serve to hang odd articles upon.
The hearth is simply a shallow depression in the mud floor, around which are placed
three large stones to support the cooking pots. Sometimes a canopy is built over the
hearth, consisting of four upright poles supporting a platform made of reeds and grass,
upon which millet and other seed grains are often stored. From this platform ligulu (tsanja,
Chin.), the gourd containing the supply of salt is often hung. The seed grain tied up in
little bundles is suspended from the ligulu where it becomes very dry and smoked, without
any ill effect to the next year’s crop. (Pl. XIV, fig. 16.) Four pronged branches of trees
are often stuck in the ground with a string tied around the prongs, and used as holders for
gourds, salt bottles, etc.; this device is called lipanda (phanda, Chin.). (Pl. XIV, fig. 10.)
The smaller utensils include the porridge stirring stick mtiko (Yao and Chin.) (Pl. XIV,
fig. 12), several wooden spoons chikowi (chipanda or namalawa, Chin.), (Pl. XIV, figs. 11,
13), a number of gourds of various shapes and sizes used as ladles and drinking vessels,
1 ‘ Notes on some tribes of British Central Africa,’ op. cit., p. 326-328.