XXIV.--HOW ’NYAMBI PUNISHED CHIEF OGA FOR TRYING TO COMMIT ADULTERY
WITH HIS WIFE OBIM.
There was once a fine strong man living at Okuni, whose name was
’Nyambi. He was a good dancer, drum-beater and singer, and these
qualities, combined with his good looks and fine manly beauty, won him
the admiration of many of the young Okuni girls. He knew many of them,
but never asked them to marry him.
At last, when ’Nyambi was about twenty-five years of age, he met a
girl at a big dance, to whom he took a great fancy, and whom he wished
to marry. So he went to her parents, and, having given them the usual
presents, told them that he wished to marry their daughter Obim. The
parents, however, were unwilling, and told ’Nyambi that they had
already promised Obim as a wife to Chief Oga.
When Obim heard this, she told her parents that she would never marry
Chief Oga, as he was too old, and she intended to marry ’Nyambi, who
was such a fine young man, and she was very fond of him. The parents
did their best to persuade Obim to marry Chief Oga, as they would
receive far more presents and a bigger dowry from him than if they
allowed her to marry ’Nyambi, who was not a rich man. Obim, however,
was obstinate, and absolutely declined to have anything to do with the
chief, so at last her parents consented to her marriage with ’Nyambi.
Then Obim and ’Nyambi took an oath that, when they were married, they
would never part from one another, and they would both try to help each
other and upset any ju-ju that Chief Oga might make against them, as
they knew him to be a most revengeful man.
’Nyambi then bought the usual presents for the parents and collected
the dowry, which he handed to Obim’s father and mother, and rubbed the
girl with camwood. She was then circumcised and kept in one room until
the wound had healed.
When the gun was fired off and Obim was declared to be ’Nyambi’s wife,
Chief Oga was very vexed, and, although he wanted to speak to Obim, he
dared not do so openly, as he thought the people might laugh at him if
they saw him going after a woman who had only just been married, seeing
that he had so many wives already himself. So, when it was dark, he
went to Obim and told her that if she came to him he would make her
very happy, as he had plenty of slaves who would do all the hard work
and she would not have to toil in the sun. Obim, however, would not
listen to him, so in the end the chief went away more vexed than before
and more determined than ever to get hold of Obim, somehow or other.
That night Obim told her husband of the advances made to her by the
chief, and they agreed not to take any notice, but to be very careful
for the future.
The next day Chief Oga consulted a ju-ju man as to the best way to turn
Obim’s heart, so that she would hate ’Nyambi and come to him. The ju-ju
man, after casting lots, told the chief that it would be quite easy to
make Obim leave ’Nyambi and go to him, and that all the chief would
have to do would be to give Obim some tombo to drink, which he would
prepare with a strong medicine in it. The ju-ju man then made the tombo
and put a ju-ju into it, and the chief, having given him a big present,
took the tombo to his house, and sent word to Obim that he wished to
speak to her.
When Obim arrived, the chief offered her some of the tombo to drink,
but she refused to touch it. Chief Oga tried his best to make her
drink, but Obim would not do so, and said she had merely come to hear
what he might have to say. Oga then tried again to persuade Obim to
leave her husband and go to him, but Obim refused as before.
Finding this plot had failed, the chief went again to the ju-ju man and
told him that Obim had refused to drink the tombo. He then asked the
ju-ju man to poison ’Nyambi so that he might get hold of his wife, and
when he had given him another big present, he went home.
The next day, the ju-ju man joined the society to which ’Nyambi
belonged, and went to all the dances, looking for an opportunity to put
the poison he had prepared into ’Nyambi’s drink, but he could never
succeed in making ’Nyambi drink anything, as, whenever he went to a
dance or a play, Obim made him promise not to drink anything at the
dancing place and she would have drink ready for him when he returned
home. This probably saved his life, as the ju-ju man was unable to
poison him, so after a time he went to Chief Oga, and told him that the
year of ’Nyambi’s death had not yet arrived, and he could do nothing
with the young man.
Chief Oga then for twelve months did not try to do anything more to
kill ’Nyambi, but sat down and waited until the proper time should
arrive when he would be able to revenge himself upon ’Nyambi and take
Obim away.
However, he frequently sent messengers to Obim, asking her to sleep
with him, but she always refused. At last Obim became so annoyed at
these repeated messages, that she told her husband what was going on
between herself and Chief Oga, and advised him to revenge himself in
his turn. She advised ’Nyambi to pretend to go down river to sell some
camwood and she would then allow the chief to come to her at night
when ’Nyambi should come in and surprise them together. Obim also told
her husband that she hoped he would cut a certain part off the chief’s
body, which would punish him properly and prevent his troubling her for
the future.
’Nyambi thought the plan a good one, so he put some camwood into his
canoe and told the people that he was going down river to trade, and
did not expect to return for some few days. He then started off but did
not go very far.
Directly the chief heard that ’Nyambi had gone, he sent a messenger
to Obim, asking her to sleep with him that night. But Obim told the
messenger to tell his master that she could not come to him, but that
he might come to her alone at night, and he was to be careful not to
let anyone know what was going on between them.
Chief Oga was so glad when he got Obim’s message that he at once went
down to the river and washed himself. He then went home and put on a
fine cloth and had food before it was dark. After that he sat down and
waited as patiently as he could until all the people in the town had
gone to sleep.
When he thought it was quite safe and no one would see him, he went
very quietly to Obim’s house and knocked softly on the door. Obim let
the chief in, and then fastened the door, telling him to lie down and
that she would join him later on. Oga asked Obim to come to him at
once, but she told him to wait a little, as all the people had not then
gone to bed.
Very soon Chief Oga dropped off to sleep, so Obim went to the door very
quietly and undid the fastening.
Not long afterwards, ’Nyambi opened the door and found Chief Oga asleep
in his wife’s bed; so he fastened the door securely, and, having got
his knife ready, made the fire blaze and woke the chief up.
When Oga awoke he saw ’Nyambi standing over him with his knife pointing
at his breast. ’Nyambi told him to be quiet and not to make a noise or
he would kill him at once.
He then said, “I find you as a thief and one who would commit adultery
with my wife. I will not receive any present from you; I do not
want to kill you, but I intend to take one of two things from your
body, and, if you refuse, I shall kill you at once.” On hearing this,
Chief Oga was very much frightened, as he was no match for ’Nyambi in
strength; so he lay there for some time, thinking of his life, his
wealth, and his wives, until at last he asked ’Nyambi what it was he
wished to take from his body so that he might go.
’Nyambi said, “I intend either to take your eyes out, which will
prevent your looking at pretty girls any more, or else I will cut a
certain part of your body off, which will stop your doing them any harm
in the future.”
Oga said he could not part with his eyes, so at last he consented to
’Nyambi’s cutting the part off his body, provided he promised not to
kill him and to let him go.
’Nyambi promised, and having told Oga not to make a noise, he cut the
thing off, and turned the chief out of his house. Chief Oga then went
home, but did not tell anyone what had happened to him. He was in such
pain all the night that he was unable to sleep, and when the morning
came, he asked one of his wives to boil some water and bring it to him.
She did as she was told, and the chief went into the back-yard and
bathed and dressed the wound.
He then sent one of his boys to call ’Nyambi to him. When ’Nyambi
arrived he did not go inside the house, but stood a few paces from the
door, as he thought that Oga might try to do him some injury; but the
chief said he did not intend to hurt him and that he might safely come
inside. Chief Oga then implored ’Nyambi not to tell any of the young
men of the town what he had done to him, and begged him to keep it
secret until the day of his death. ’Nyambi promised, and went home and
told his wife.
The chief’s wound took many days to heal, and at night, when his wives
came to him, he had to send them away, saying he was not well. This
went on for some time, until at last his wives got tired of being alone
and began to desert him and go to other men, and very soon he was left
with only boys in the house.
The chief then sent for all his wives to hear his last words. When they
arrived, he said, “My dear wives, I am not angry with you for leaving
me, for love of women has caused me to lose the dearest part of my
body. But I will ask one favour of you, and that is, when I die you
will all come and cry and mourn for me, as is usual. Then you will know
why I did not sleep with you.”
The women then asked the chief what was the matter with him, so he
pointed to his waist, and said he had great pain there, and was unable
to move that part of his body. He then told them all to go away.
Chief Oga lived for a few more years and then died. His wives, who had
by that time all married other men, got permission from their husbands
to go and mourn for Chief Oga.
When the people took the chief’s body into the back-yard to wash it,
they found that a certain part of his body had been cut off. His wives
were very much surprised when they saw what had been done to their late
husband, as, during his lifetime, he had been quite all right. They
therefore went and told the chiefs of the town. The chiefs then came
and inspected the body, and afterwards met in the palaver house to try
and find out who had mutilated Chief Oga. The drum was beaten and the
young men of the town were told to attend the meeting.
Directly ’Nyambi heard the drum, he called all his company to his
house, and told them what he had done to Chief Oga. He also told them
that what he had done was for the good of all people, and asked them to
support him at the meeting, and if it came to a fight, that they should
all be on the same side.
When they had heard the whole story, the members of ’Nyambi’s company
agreed to back him up, and as they were the principal fighting-men of
the town they went to the palaver house without much fear.
When all the people had arrived, the oldest chief of the town stood up,
and said, “I have seen to-day what I have never seen before since I
was born. Chief Oga, whom you all know, died this morning, and I went
to look at his body. I then saw that a certain part of his body was
missing. Now I want to know who did this thing, and what became of the
missing part of the late chief. I shall be glad if any young man of the
town who knows anything about this palaver will inform me.”
Then ’Nyambi stood up and questioned the chief, as follows: “What
will be done to the man who did this? Will he be killed or will he be
allowed to go free?” The chief replied that the man would certainly
be killed, if he had mutilated Chief Oga by force without a very good
reason, but that if they considered he was justified in his action, he
would be allowed to go free.
Then ’Nyambi told the people that he had done this thing, and addressed
them as follows: “When I married my wife Obim, while she was still in
the circumcision house, Chief Oga went to her and tried to persuade her
to go to him. After that he frequently sent messages to her, asking her
to sleep with him, but she always refused. Again, when I was absent,
Chief Oga went to my house to sleep with my wife, but I returned and
caught him lying asleep on her bed.” ’Nyambi then asked the question,
“What do you do when you catch a thief in your stack of yams?” And the
head chief replied, “He is tied up to a tree, and left there to die.”
’Nyambi then said that he treated Chief Oga as a thief, but he took
pity on him, and instead of killing him, he gave him his choice whether
he would have his eyes put out or have a certain part of his body cut
off. The late chief chose the latter alternative, so he performed the
operation. He then called his wife Obim, who brought on a calabash the
part of the dead chief’s body, which had been cut off and dried in the
sun, as proof of what he had said.
’Nyambi then asked the chiefs whether he was justified in the course he
had taken or not; and the chiefs, after consultation, agreed that he
had done right.
A law was then passed that, if a husband caught another man in his
house having connection with his wife, he could do whatever he liked
with him in the house, but once the man was outside the house, he
should not be molested, and the case should be decided before the
chiefs.
But the chiefs also added, that the man who was caught committing
adultery might defend himself as well as he could, and would not be
punished for so doing.