webPulaaku
Amadou Hampâté Bâ
Kaïdara
Translated by Daniel Whitman
With “Kings, Sages, Rogues: The Historical Writings of Amadou Hampâté Bâ”
Kaydara — Strophes 750-785
wifa ngal honndinaa.
Ɓii Aada, aan koo haaka wella…» 750
Taton yiɗiraaɓe ɓee anniima njaa.
Jamma e nyalooma ɓe njappa yaade ɓe ɗenƴataa,
paalaaka fay hoto yaadu nduu fay naɓde ɓe,
won tan ko foodta ɓe semmbe biirniiɗo cattuɗo.
Geldol walaa ana siiɓoyoo ɓe ɓe dawrataa. 755
Hono no ndiyam naatirta kondondol jarɗo ɗum
hono noon ɓe ngay eɓe naata ley oo semmbe goro
maa duu no henndu e hinere kala poofoowo ɗum.
Ɓe kerataa e yaade sabaabu mbaawaa ŋoottude.
Taton ɗannoyiiɓe njiyoy to yaltirde feeyo ngoo 760
ndaa gorko gooto na teena leɗɗe na fawondira.
Nde mo eti mo huncan fuu mo ronka no teddiri,
donngal mo waawaa huncu jala sanne herkita,
mo sorkoo e ley guutuure teena mafoo wara,
ko mo teeni ɓeyda e waawre nde mo ronki huncude. 765
Demburu wiyani yiɗiraaɓe mum :
— « Miɗo miila annii oo mo anndaa ko haani waɗ. »
Ɗoon gorko leɗɗe jaloy e soobee wirfi wii :
— « Capan tati e ɗiɗi nyiiƴam na kiɓɓii e hundukam.
Capan tati e ɗiɗi duuɓam yo ɗum nii njaarata. 770
Gitam ɗiɗi e gudde noppam yo ɗiɗi mumɗaali fey.
Mido te'a mi ɓeydoya teddugol ngal ndonku-mi
huncoyde donngal ŋeƴƴinoowal noyka kam.
Mi anndii mi anndaa huunde fuu ko ngaɗan-mi koo.
Aan miilɗo aan aɗa anndi haa ko a anndoyaa 775
min koy wonoy sappo e gooɓerde maale, ndaa
gure leyɗe yaamana-juuju, Kaydara sirru jey,
goɗɗiiɗo sanne ɓadiiɗo oon woni Kaydara.
Ɓinngel Aada, aan koo haaka wella …»
Yiɗiraaɓe men ɓee peƴƴidii feeyo timminii. 780
Eɓe njoondorii funtoyde dow ɓurngo mawnude.
Worraali noon fey kaa ɓe cooynii toowaangol
koko njamndi toowngol naatoyii f duule faa nyotii.
Fade maɓɓe hewtude kille maɓɓe mugaaɗo fey
Ɓe nani sawtu ana eewnoo to dow annii wiya : 785
As for you, son of Adam, go your way…”
And the three friends resumed walking.
They walked all day, walked all night, walked,
not knowing what road would take them where.
They were as though drawn by an invisible, powerful force.
Without will, they were carried on, possessed.
Even as water entering in the throat of the drinker,
so they imbibed that virile force
like air entering into the nostrils of the breather.
They walked unceasingly, without tiring.
The three travelers saw at the edge of the valley
a man alone, picking up wood and stacking it.
Each time he tried to carry his heavy bundle
he was unable to stand, and would break out in side-splitting laughter.
He went into the woods, picked up whole arm-loads
and added sticks to his already heavy bundle.
Demburu said to his friends:
“There's someone who doesn't know how to go about things.”
Then the woodman broke into laughter and said:
“I have thirty-two good teeth 61 in my head.
I've seen thirty-two years run their course.
I have two good eyes, two good ears.
I'm trying to increase an impossible load.
A load that is already dragging me down.
I know that I don't know what I'm doing.
You who claim to know, you must know then
that I am the eleventh symbol and sign of the lands
of the dwarf-spirits and that the secret belongs to Kaydara;
the distant, the nearby, here is Kaydara.
As for you, son of Adam, go your way.”
Our friends got to the other end of the valley.
They thought they would come upon a larger valley.
It was not so; they saw, rising above them,
a high metal fortification that touched the clouds.
Before they could recover from their surprise
they heard a voice crying out:
Notes (Lilyan Kesteloot)
61. Referring to his being a complete adult, in possession of all his faculties; a man's life is represented by a curve divided into units of seven years, reaching its peak at 63, after which the mental faculties decline.