Amazing Amazing. . Baba you are better than George Orwell. I am not dressing you in borrowed robes
Muhammad Bai Drammeh
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On Fri, 18/11/16, Baba Jallow <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
Subject: [G_L] Smiling Forest Revisited - 6
To: [log in to unmask]
Date: Friday, 18 November, 2016, 19:42
Chapter
Six
Jumbo the
peacock, Chamil the buzzard and the rival factions of
Smiling
Forest
From the day he appointed
Jumbo the peacock Possible Successor To The Throne, the
proverbial clock ticked
faster for Talkmuch Dolittle. The strange event generated an
unprecedented tide
of gossip in the agitated forest, as the animals wondered
just what had become
of the ailing monarch. His appointment of Jumbo was either
an act of madness or
lack of control over his senses and willpower. Some of the
more astute and
observant animals smelt trouble in the air and knew that
somehow, something bad
was bound to happen in the not too distant
future.
For some time, nothing
happened. Jumbo the peacock, who now
walked around with his nose turned up to the skies and his
feathers more oily
and more shiny than ever before, basked in his newfound
power and prestige. He
grew more flamboyant by the hour, regularly oiling and
brushing his ever-bright
feathers and loudly hailing Talkmuch Dolittle’s philosophy
of Sweaty-Sweaty.
Rather than discourage the unhealthy competition between the
wives of the
higher animals as to who visited distant lands more often,
who had the greatest
number of cars and hoards of dazzling jewelry, Jumbo the
peacock gleefully
encouraged the culture of flamboyance and corruption in
Smiling Forest. His
sudden rocketing to the number two position in Smiling
Forest greatly increased
the influence of the notorious Terifo faction within the
government over the
rival Mayifo faction, some of whose leaders had fallen from
grace for cheering
Talkmuch Dolittle’s declaration of intent to step down.
Over the years
Terifo and Mayifo, the two wealthy factions
within the Smiling Forest government had vigorously competed
for the favors of
the ailing monarch and their competition extended to their
wives, friends and
families. One of the biggest arenas of the competition was
the weekly drumming
and dancing sessions at the exclusive Horses Nightclub,
where every Friday
evening, the legendary drummer Chamil the buzzard
entertained the cream of
Smiling high society. The wives and concubines of Smiling
government officials
religiously thronged to the Horses Nightclub, clad in
colorful robes of
expensive fabric, their fingers and necks decked with
dazzling pieces of
jewelry and the smell of expensive exotic perfumes imported
from overseas
filling the air with an intoxicating aura that almost filled
the whole of
Smiling Forest. As soon as Chamil the buzzard started
beating his talking drum
and extolling the virtues of one wealthy wife or the other,
the well-fed women
would frantically dash onto the dancing floor, seductively
wriggle their
waists, shake their butts in the famous yengal
style, and
thrust wads of brand new bank notes at the crafty buzzard,
who
soon grew fat and wealthy. They openly competed as to who
gave more money to
Chamil the buzzard and who had her praises sang more often.
On either side of
the floor, male members of the rival factions stood grinning
with ready
supplies of more bank notes to their wives and concubines
and threw mocking
anecdotes at each other in the guise of sophisticated
pleasantries, as befitted
a civilized and well read community.
Once in a while,
to add sugar to the spice, one of the more
happy men would suddenly rush onto the floor, grab a
partner, and perform a
couple of teyakh moves, before
rushing back to the sidelines amid a great uproar, clapping
and much laughter.
The teyakh
move, which required a
nimble agility of the waist, was considered an unmistakable
sign of virility.
Older members of the rival factions, to prove that they
still had not gone njigirr,
were frequent performers of the
teyakh
move.
And then later, at
their separate vous,
their meeting places, members of the two rival factions
would
slap each other on the back and say, “Boy that was a
really good teyakh!!
Boy, did you see how that ndo did
the yengal!!
Boy that jeg was
really good!!” They never failed to hilariously recall how
poor old Koto Kay
slipped quietly out to take a rest after his lousy
teyakh
moves!! Na
gayi dem
toge! they would
boast. Ye taa sii!
Ala
bi nkoyo mome! Paa bi suhn paa la! Sir
Talkmuch is
our nakebba,
whether
they like it or not! Yeah, golo
amna almet! They all used to have
ratatoi!
Chamil the
buzzard, the crafty mastermind of seductive
lyrics always added more and more sugar and spice to his
string of taasu songs and woi sa maams, which always brought more and more banknotes
falling
to his feet and sticking from his copati hat. The
weekly partying at the Horses Night
Club went far into the early morning hours when the famous
bigwigs and their
partners jumped into their luxury cars and sped off to their
cozy homes.
Meanwhile, the poor and not so lucky majority animals of
Smiling Forest drank
the hot dry air and made do with not so available timber. At
the weekends, they
wore their best outfits and did the famous tobal
tanka dances at
the less prestigious but good enough baal puuserr get togethers. "Ratatoi or no
ratatoi, we will have our kurus ak
jaasi," the lower animals would gaily sing as they
moved back and forth, back and forth in their famous
tobal tanka dances.
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