Fetichism in West Africa : $b forty years' observation of native customs and superstitionsNassau, Robert Hamill
Philosophy
Fetichism in West Africa : $b forty years' observation of native customs and superstitions
Nassau, Robert Hamill
Ethnology -- Africa, West; Fetishism -- Africa, West
This man, not suspecting the real state of the case, but in order to know
what was going on with the woman, came softly and hid near her house,
where he might be able to see whether any one went in or came out. Soon he
heard the door of her house open. He saw her come out of the house without
any clothing, and she quietly pulled the door to after her and closed it,
and then walked away from the place. All this the man saw, but he said
nothing. He stood outside waiting, waiting until she should return. After
a long while, as he was tired standing, he thought he would go into the
house and hide himself somewhere. It was not long after this that he heard
a little noise outside, and looking through the apertures of the bamboo
wall saw her and others with her, men and women. Some of them were
carrying the form of a man on their shoulders. Others spread out on the
ground green plantain leaves, and stretched the form on the leaves. Each
of the party had a knife, and they began their work of cutting the form
into pieces. While thus occupied, they saw that their knives would not
penetrate. Some of them began to step around, peeping into recesses as if
they were looking for something. Still trying to cut, their knives seemed
dulled; no one of them could succeed in cutting out a single piece. So
they stopped, and began to sharpen their knives, and again tried to cut,
using more force in their efforts. They worked rapidly, for they had to
hasten, as there were signs of approaching day.
As they still were unable to make any incisions after the sharpening of
the knives, they thought it very strange, and began to suspect that some
one was near witnessing what they were doing. So some of them began to
search in different directions; they sniffed to detect the odor of a
person. This they did over and over again, and came back, and again
sharpened their knives, and again they failed. And then they would again
go around, sniffing for a human being.
At last, as it was near morning, they had to give up their intention of
cutting into this form. So they had to take it up again on their shoulders
and carry it back to where they had brought it from, and lost their feast.
Then the woman came back to her house, very much disappointed and excited.
Though it was still dark, it was so near daybreak that she did not go to
bed, but took a light, and began to hunt all through her house, having at
last begun to suspect that perhaps her lover was there. Finally she found
him where he was hiding. She was very angry, saying, "Who told you to come
here? What brought you? And when did you come? Did I not tell you not to
come to-night?" But he turned on her, saying, "But where have you yourself
been? And what have you yourself been doing? I came here expecting to find
another man here. But that is not what I saw!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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