A ChiTumbuka song, sung by girls from Malawi who satirise the way that western styles of dressing often conceals as much as it reveals.
A man with a hat on, I say no:
How should I know he is bald,
Bald, bald, nothing but bald,
Yes, indeed, nothing but bald?
A man with trousers on, I say no:
How should I know he is bow-legged,
Bow-legged, bow-legged, nothing but bow-legged,
Yes, indeed, nothing but bow-legged?
A man with glasses on, I say no:
How should I know he has a squint,
A squint, a squint, nothing but a squint,
Yes, indeed, nothing but a squint?
A man with shoes on, I say no:
How should I know his toes have jiggers,
Jiggers, jiggers, nothing but jiggers,
Yes, indeed, nothing but jiggers?
from Oral Poetry from Africa 1984
compiled by Jack Mapanje and Landeg White,
Longman
