The Strange Bride PDF
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Strange Bride Grace Ogot -^ %^ ^^it^iii^ \ BOSTON PUBLICUBRARY Copley Square THE STRANGE BRIDE GRACE OGOT Translated from Dholuo by Okoth Okombo East African Educational Publishers Ltd. Nairobi Published by East African Educational Publishers Ltd. Brick Court Woodvale Grove/Mpaka Road Westlands P.O. Box 45314 Nairobi ©Grace Ogot 1989 First published in 1983 as Miaha Reprinted 1993 ISBN 9966-46-865 -X r-i OGOT I Printed by General Printers Ltd., Homa Bay Road, P.O. Box 18001, Nairobi, Kenya. G9701 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 http://www.archive.org/details/strangebrideOOgrac Chapter One Inthedistantancestraldays,ourgod.WereNyakalaga,livedonthe earthwithhisownpeople.Butnoonecouldseehimbecausehewas amysteriousbeingwhoseessencespreadalloverthesurfaceofthe earth. However,even thoughpeoplecould notseeWereNyakalaga, they were aware of his closeness to them. They saw his hand in lightning and heard hisvoice in thunderand the winds thatblew around them. PeoplebelievedthatWereNyakalagalikedtoliveinthemoun- — tains.Theythereforebuilthimasmallshrine witharoofthatched — withthebuoywegrass atthepeakofGotOwaga.Fromthere,they believed.WereNyakalagawasabletolookafterallhispeoplewho lived inthebigvillage that surrounded the mountain. In those days there were no cows. People fed on crops like sorghum,millet,sesameandvariouskindsofbeans.Thecropswere grownonlargepiecesoflandthatWereNyakalagahadgiventohis people. Since-thebigvillage wasbuiltaround themountain,large farmsextendedfromthefootofthemountaindowntothebanksof theriversthatsurroundedthemountainalittlefartherdown.There — were fantasticharvestsofsorghum especiallytheredochutiand the white andiwo. There were also very good harvests of finger millet, nyim (sesame), peasand beans. ButthegreatestwonderofthosedayswasthatthepeopleofGot Owaga did notworktocultivatetheirfields.WereNyakalagahad giventhemanautomaticmetalhoethatwoulddoallthecultivation theyneededaslongastheykeptgod'scommandmentsgoverning theuseofthathoe.Sincetheydidnotdoanyexhaustingwork,these peoplestayedyoungforalongtimeandlivedmuchlongerthanthe people of today. For this great favour, the people of Got Owaga remained veryclose to theirgod, obeyingall hiscommandments, and alwaysactingaccording to hiswill. OneoftheeldersofthepeopleofGotOwagawasannancalled Olum Ochak. This man was very healthy, and he was extremely handsome.Hehadashiny,blackskinthatlookedwonderfulwhen 1 decorated with chalk and ochre. He was tall, with a proportional frame,andverywhiteteeth,whichmadehissnulereallycharming. Thiswas theman that thepeopleofGotOwaga made theirchief. Olum Ochak wasa strong chief who had a lot of love for his people.Moreover,hewasagreatbelieverinjustice;andhepassed allhisjudgementswithoutfavourorprejudice.Forthatreason,his peopleliked himvery much, and theyhada lotoffaith inhim. Hisfirst,and therefore seniorwifewascalled Lwak,meaning 'motherofthenation'. Herfatherwascalled Kwang'a. Lwak was of dark-brown complexion. She was of medium heightandhadshortcurlyhair.Therewasnotasinglegreyhairon herhead. OlumOchaklovedLwaksomuchthatheneveraddressedher — byhername. He alwayscalled herRagwel thebow-legged one (traditionally,bow-leggedwomenareconsideredverybeautifulby Luo men)orNyargiThuondi(daughterof the heroes). OlumOchak'sdutiesasa chiefwerebothadministrativeand religious. Every morning,at day-break, he climbed to thepeakof Mt.Owagatopayhon\agetoWereNyakalagawhentheeyeofthe sun first shone over the mountain to wake up the mortals, who believed that the power ofWereNyakalaga wasexpressed inthe heatandthedazzlingraysofthesun.Thustheyreferredtothesun as"theeyeofWereNyakalaga".So,whenthesunmadeitsmagnifi- cent appearance over the horizon, Olum Ochak would spit in its direction, saying: "Thu! May you bring good to us, and may your eye shine blessingsonusforthewholeofthisday." After that he came back home and waited until the evening whenhewentbacktothepeakofthemountain.Atsunset,whenthe sunturned red,hebid itfarewellbyspitingand saying: "Thu! Maypeacebewithusuntil weseeyoureyeagainwhen you wake uptomorrow." ThepeopleofGotOwagabelievedthatOlumOchakhadsome charisn\a which made their loyalty to him spontaneous.When he arrived atapublicgathering, hispeoplesettleddownquitelyand gavehimtheirattention withoutbeingcommanded todo so. They also believed that he had some supernatural ability by whichheinterpretedthemessagesthatWereNyakalagasentthrough thunder,windsand the songsofthebirds. Hecouldalsoread the secrets that were carried by the clouds, the nK)on, and the stars. Aboveall,hewasageniusatinterpretingdreams. As time wentby the peopleofGotOwaga started to call him WereOchak, and, with time, his other nameOlum, disappeared andhewasonlyknownasWereOchak(whichmeantthathewas thefirstrulerofthenation). WereOchakand hiswife, Lwak, hadonlytwomalechildren. TheelderonewascalledOpii.Hewasofmediumsizeandinherited his mother's dark-brown colour. But he was aggressiveand very short-tempered. Opii'swifewascalled Achola. Herfather'snamewasAdede. Achola was a tall girl with a graceful neck. She too was of dark- browncomplexionandhadshortcurlyhair.Shewasaquiet,polite girl,and thisnudeherthemostsuitablewomanforOpii. There was a big difference between Opii and his younger brother, Owiny. The people of Got Owaga reckoned that it was Owiny who had taken after his father. In him, they saw all the qualitiesofhisfather.HewastaUand strong,withmuscularanns. LikehisfatherhehadasnrKX)th,shiny,blackskinandsnow-white, closely-and-unifonnly-spacedteeth.Hewasfriendlyandsociable, andhealwaysplayedtheroleofapeacemakeramonghispeers.For thatreason, hispeersliked him somuchthat theyaddressedhim fondlyasBadeDongo(Theonewithmusculararms). AlthoughOpii andOwinydid nothavemuchinconrunon, in termsoftheirnaturalendownnents,theystilllikedeachothervery much.Theycoo()eratedquitewellinhelpingtheirfatherlookafter hisquail.ThebirdscameingreatnumberstoGotOwagaafterthe harvest.Theywerecaughtanddomesticated.Opiiwasparticularly goodattrappingthebirdsandmakingcagesforthem.AndOwiny wasverygoodattrappingants,whichwereusedtofeedhisfanuly's largeflockofchicken. JustasOwinywasgpodattrappingants, sowasheatrearing chicken,whichhisfatherbartered forsorgum,beansorsesanne. Each morning, while Were Ochak went to the peak of Mt. Owaga to pray and pay homage to the sun as it rose above the horizon, Opii and Owiny, his brother, went to erect the n^st on whichtheirquailwerecaged,afterwhichtheyproceededtosetthe trapssoastocatchmorequail.Thentheyreturnedhometowaitfor their father to comeback from the mountain. Whentheirfathercan\eback,theirmother,Lwakwould pour someporridgeintoa red mbiru and giveittoOpii'swifetotake to theshadeofthebigsialatree,whereWereOchakusedtomeetthose who called on him. That was also where he always had breakfast with his sons. After breakfast, Owiny attended to their chicken. He left his brother, Opii, to help their father make the cages for the quail or make the osemi under which thechicken were kept (especially,at night). Meanwhile, he himself went to collect theants that he had trapped the previous evening at the foot of an anthill. As he was successfulinalmosteverythingthathetriedhishandson,whenhe trappedantshecaughttheminlargenumbers.Sometimes,hecould catch upto threebasketfuls. Lwak was very happy with Owin/s talents. She had noticed right from Owin/schildhood that his talentscould bring wealth and glorynot only to her fanulybut even to all the people ofGot Owaga. She, therefore, created a friendly relationship between OwinyandOpii'stwosonssothattheycouldaccompanyhimwhen hewent to traporcollectants. ButLwak did not fullyunderstand howbeneficial thisrelationship wasgoingtobe to thosechildren. Thetwoboys' nameswereOchieng' and Oyoo. Ochieng' was eight harvests old, and Oyoo was six harvests old. Both of them wereactiveandintelligentchildren.Sincetheyweresofondoftheir uncle,Owiny,hisworkoftrappingandcollectingantsalsobecame theirfavouriteactivities.Theywouldalwaysaccompanyhimtohis ant-traps,andall theirdreamswereabouttrappingandcollecting ants. Soon, Owiny had shown them all the shrubs that ants liked eating,andtheyheljDedhimbyfindingthoseshrubswhilehecutthe grasswhich theyused tocover theshrubsinanant-trap. Aftercollectingtheantsfromthetraps,thethreeofthemwent back home,eachcarryinga heavy load ofants. Theyleft theholes inwhichtheantsweretrappedopentodryupuntilevening,when
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