In a small village in the African equatorial forest, KAL and NDOM were born twins. A girl and a boy. For their initiation, they must draw water from a mysterious source located in the very heart of the sacred forest.
To reach this marvelous source, there are two paths. It’s about either taking the beaten path or blazing your own trail.
Arriving at a crossroads, despite their mother’s recommendations, NDOM the brother chooses to take the beaten path.
KAL, her sister, makes the choice to listen to her mother, and to make her own way.
The twins, as if in a sort of challenge, meet at a crossroads. Painfully, slowly, but surely, KAL the sister arrives at the source, draws the necessary water and returns to the meeting place.
Instead of meeting, no brother. KAL has a bad feeling. So she puts down her calabash of water, and sneaks back home. She takes a knife, a packet of salt, and a packet of hot pepper. She hides everything under her clothes and slips into the sacred forest. Arrived at the crossroads, she takes the beaten path but it is a dead end.
KAL finds himself face to face with EMOMORO, a huge monster in human form. A mutated giant, taller than the tallest giants in the forest. A human being between the fingers of his hand would be on the scale of a shrimp between the fingers of a human hand.
And EMOMORO loves human flesh, at least as much as myself who tells you this story, I love shrimp flesh.
KAL the sister begins to tremble with fright.
So EMOMORO asks him: “Where are you from? Where are you going ? »
KAL: “I am looking for my brother. Would you have seen it?
EMOMORO: “What are you saying? I do not hear anything. I’m a little hard of hearing. For me to hear you well, would you agree to come and rest on the palm of my hand? So I could bring you closer to my ear to hear you better.
So KAL climbs onto the huge palm of EMOMORO’s hand.
Suddenly, quickly, the monster raises its hand to the abyss which serves as its mouth, and swallows poor KAL, as it had already swallowed its brother… ANGOROOOMMM!
KAL finds himself in the belly of the monster. KAL finds his brother in the EMOMORO womb amidst a monstrous crowd of other strays.
So, KAL pulls out his knife, and begins to slash the monster’s guts backed by a vindictive chant “I CUT, I CUT, I PUT SALT, I PUT CHILI, I CUT, I CUT, I PUT CHILI… »
EMOMORO screams in pain. The monster crumbles dead.
KAL the sister opens the monster’s belly and frees the humans from the beast’s grasp.
Like what: in life, you often have to be wary of the beaten path.
Author and performer: Binda Ngazolo.
Music : Ange Bouely, Boussou Roland, Souleymane Diabaté, Daniel Opoh and Jean Sempé Ake Olloé.
Africa in story is a series created by the NGO Des Livres Pour Tous – Côte d’Ivoire and the collective Making Waves, in partnership with RFI. This project has received support from the “Access Culture” scheme of the French Institute in Paris and the French Development Agency (AFD), the “ACP-EU Culture for West Africa – Awa” program from the French Institute and the Kôrè Cultural Centre, the “Agir” system of the Department of Seine-Saint-Denis and the Île-de-France Region.
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