A Masai poem from Kenya, describing a raid on the cattle of a Somali clan. The first half boasts of the raiders’ skill in evading detection — by the Europeans playing golf, by the police askaris and by the night watchman who snored ‘like a hippo’. The second half rejoices over the beauty of the cattle they have seized.
The Europeans playing golfu,
Ho! We saw them!
The bwanas and the memsahibs,
Ho! We saw them!
The thin ones and the fat ones,
Ho! We saw them!
Playing golfu,
Ho! We saw them!
The chariots of fire, (1)
Ho! We saw them!
Puffing white smoke,
Ho! We saw them!
When it was dark,
Down we went!
With spears and knives,
Down we went!
The police askaris,
Ho! We saw them!
They did not see us,
Ho! We saw them!
The night watchman,
Ho! We saw him!
He did not see us,
Ho! We saw him!
Like a hippo he snored,
Ho! We heard him!
He did not hear us,
Ho! We heard him!
The cattle of the Somali,
Ho! We saw them!
The breeding cows,
Ho! We saw them!
The fat rich herd,
Ho! We saw them!
A red one for Arap Rotich,
Beautiful heifers!
With curving horns,
Lovely heifers!
Sleek and smooth,
Beautiful heifers!
Shining like salt,
Lovely heifers!
A speckled one for Chebor,
Beautiful heifers!
Grey as the rainclouds,
Lovely heifers!
A black heifer,
Beautiful heifers!
Shining with stars,
Lovely heifers!
Like stars at night,
Beautiful heifers!
Her horns are sharp,
Lovely heifers!
Sharp as spears,
Beautiful heifers!
from Oral Poetry from Africa (1984)
Compiled by Jack Mapanje and Landeg White
Longman
Footnotes
- The chariots of fire refers to the railway they had to cross.
