Oral Poetry from Africa
The Nigerian politician, poet and journalist Dennis Chukude Osadebay translated this Ibo poem for the journal African Affairs in 1949. The lighthearted tale of an orphan boy is described by D.C. Osadebay as being several centuries old.
O Lamb give me my salt,
Salt the market folks gave me…
A children’s song from the Nandi of Kenya (see also Who Will Throw Goat’s Dung at Me for another Nandi song for children) celebrating the arrival of the new moon.
When the moon is new
The children, if they are Nandi,
A Gikuyu herdsboy’s song from Kenya. It sets up a chain of language which links together humorously all aspects of life (see also Who Will Throw Goat’s Dung at Me?).
Honey-bird, honey-bird,
Get arrows, get arrows…
A Nandi children’s song from Kenya, a humorous word-chain that links together all aspects of the children’s future life.
Who will throw goat’s dung at me?
What will you do with goat’s dung?..
A Shona children’s song from Zimbabwe. “Zinjanja”, mentioned in the chorus, refers to a hill to the east of Harare where the ruins of an ancient temple are located. This is believed to have been built by the Torwa Rulers who lived there from approximately 1450 to 1693 AD.
There were once some girls,
There were once some girls,
Let’s go to Zinjanja…
This song was recorded by Romanus N. Egudu (n.d.) in the Udi Division of Igboland, Nigeria. The song is a pleasant game with words, but it can be taken in different ways. The boy has lost his pet rat. Everyone knows where the rat is. Is the problem that they daren’t approach the leopard’s house? Or is it implied that the leopard has eaten them all?
The boy was looking for his rat.
Nda
His rat was hiding in leopards’s house…
