how the eldest son of the blacksmith becomes a shepherd 156
and how the shepherd becomes a blacksmith,
you who know the origin
of what are called cousinship jokes 157
that unite two men
and form a bond with their descendants.”
The old beggar did not answer
and began searching in his rags,
trying to crush an elusive flea
which had drunk its fill of his blood.
Seeing this, Hammadi forgot
his kingly role.
He grasped the old man's pants,
examined them, found a bloated flea
and was about to squeeze and crush it.
The little man took his hand, kept him from doing so,
and said:
“I ate a chicken before this flea went after me.
Throw down my ‘eater.’
Another day, the earth will eat it.
Life is like that.
The termite gnaws at roots 158, eats them.
The hen, in turn, swallows the termite.
Man takes nourishment from the hen
and the wild beast eats man.
Patient earth waits.
Eyeless, she contemplates and sees.
She observes the dung-beetle.
She laughs mouthlessly.
The dung-beetle says wordlessly:
‘Oh Earth! I imitate Geno, your Creator
that turns you all day long,
turns you back at night, turns you in all directions

Notes (Lilyan Kesteloot)
156. Blacksmith and shepherd: cf. the myth of the origin of the Fulani and the legend of Buytorin, ancestor of the Fulɓe of western Africa according to the tales of the Fulɓe of the Senegal Ferlo, Moolo Gawlo and Arɗo Dembo.
157. This has to do with the denɗiraaku or joking relation that exists between blacksmiths and the Fulɓe.
158. The law of universal mutual devouring which is akin to the law of annihilation of the 11 forces, one by the other: stone is crushed by iron, which is melted by fire, which is put out by water, which is dried by the wind; man triumphs over the wind, drunkenness annihilates man; sleep kills.