Ngano Storytelling – Shona folklore
By Fortunate Hove
Conversation on Queens between Baboon and Hare
Early morning, Baboon and Hare are having a
conversation. Baboon’s voice is deep, and Hare’s is younger and high-pitched.
Baboon wakes up Hare, and they engage in a history conversation.
Baboon: Kid, wake up. Your history is calling you. Do you know who you are?
Kings do not sleep until the break of day. You will lose your kingdom. Wake up, man! In the past, we used to pour coldwater on kids like you who took their time to rise from bed. There was always the danger of being captured during raids or dying in a fire if you were sluggish. Being alert can save you from many dangers in life. Now get out of that bed.
Hare: That was an abuse of children,
uncle. I would report you in a heartbeat.
I am not a king, uncle. I do not live in opulence like the
royal family.
Baboon: Child, that luxury did not
exist. It was a rough existence where only the fit survived. You had to be
strong. Our history required you to be a strong child. Otherwise, the enemy
would capture you and force march you to an unknown destiny. Then who would you
report, and to whom? We have come a mighty long way as a people. Now wake up! I
want you to know that kingship is as much a heart matter as it is an issue of
territorial control and wealth. You may lose territory but keep your identity.
Always keep this in mind that nations rise, and nations fall. Why do you have
mention of African kings and queens? It is because there was a time when their
glory shone, but another usurped it. Power does not remain in the hands of one
person forever. Only God has that kind of power. It neither fades nor ends.
Hare: What long way, uncle? Where
have we come from? This is just the start of a new day?
Baboon: Child, it is about your
history
Hare: Uncle, I love my history, but
where do I find it?
Baboon: Ho! Ho! Ho! You are so right, kid. Come
closer. So I can feel your breath.
Hare: Why, uncle, do you want me
that close? I do not want to invade your space, nor do I want you to invade
mine.
Baboon: Yes, kid, come closer to uncle
(as baboon strokes the head of Hare). In our culture, as a people, we
understand that life is in the breadth. So, when I feel your breath, I know you
are healthy and alive this morning. Why do you want to keep a distance between
me and your child? Is not closeness the rule of relationships?
Hare: (stroking his chin as he sits
on his bed) Uncle, people have varying hygiene levels. I do not want to endure
bad breath. To avoid that, I was told to keep my safe space.
Baboon: Where did you learn that from?
Who told you that I smell?
Hare: I learned that in a hygiene
class at school, uncle. Did you ever have any such lessons while growing up?
Baboon: (Staring blankly) Our
fathers never had such luxury. Either they were picking cotton in the southern
states or part of forced labor gangs in the bushes of Africa. You talk of the
freshness of breath! What a luxury child. We only needed to feel the breath of
a loved one to know that they are alive. This was passed on to us—the
importance of life expressed through breath.
Hare: Why is our history not written?
(Shaking his head)
Baboon: Black folk is relational. They
pass on what they know orally. Not a good plan in our times, but I credit us
for empowering each generation and keeping the elders’ teaching alive.
Hopefully, someone will write something down accurately. But kid, today I am
taking you into the journey of our mothers, the queens of Africa. They are too
many to mention, however. Where can I start? Uum?
Hare: Are there any African queens?
Uncle, you mean Africa has royalty? For real?
Baboon: Sit on that stone? (The baboon
was sitting on the other stone by a rocky outcrop used as dare -family court just
when the morning sun gradually released its warmth. The fire at the dare-
court, where Baboon and Hare had moved to, gradually lost relevance as the
sun steadily took over, shining its beams on the pair. Baboon had been sprucing
up a yoke for oxen but took a break to wake up his nephew Hare. At the dare,
the two enjoyed their morning talk with ease.)
Have you ever heard of Candace, the Queen of the Ethiopians?
Hare: No, uncle; who is she?
Baboon: The correct title is Kandake,
not Candace. There is so much to say about those warrior queens of the
Motherland. They are not the only ones, Queens from way back then were part and
parcel of powerful kingdoms in Africa. They fought battles and took on
diplomatic roles; they strengthened the office of kings who were their
husbands.
At some point in our history, the velds of Zimbabwe were home
to a Kingdom of the Ndebeles, in which a famous woman Queen Lozikeyi Khumalo
was Kind Lobengula’s senior wife. A lot can be said about that warrior woman
who beat men in battle or, better put; she gave them a run for their money.
Hare: There seemed to be many queens
who were African. Why is history primarily silent about them?
Baboon: Child, those women were too
strong to be models of womanhood for our time, so history overlooked their
exploits or painted them negatively.
Hare: For real, uncle?
Baboon: How else can you explain it,
child?
Hare: Tell me more
Baboon: You know that the Queen of
Sheba and Solomon was real and that she was a sister, right?
Hare: What is a sister
Baboon: An endearing term to describe
a black woman. Don’t tell me that you do not know that child! The Queen of
Sheba was great in her time, but that greatness is enhanced in the Bible
because Jesus Christ referred to her behavior as a standard that will be used
to judge those nonresponsive to the call of Jesus Christ.
Hare: What book has that
information, uncle?
Baboon: The Bible! Have you never
heard of that story yet? Do not sleep in church. I will talk to your Sunday
school teacher. Here is the story, but please go and reread it. The lack of
knowledge makes you miss a lot about who you are. Your history as a black man
is everywhere in the Bible. In Luke 11:31, Jesus says The Queen of the South will rise at the
judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, for she came from
the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom; and now something greater
than Solomon is here.
Many dispute this legend, but
many things about Africa are scrutinized that way because we did not document
our history, or perhaps many of the documented scripts were burnt down in wars.
It is enough for you to know that Africa had royalty back then. Now read your
Bible, and tell me what you think.
Hare: Uncle, let’s keep the conversation going. You
did not say much about Lozikeyi. I want to know more.
Baboon: It’s time to take a break. Could you get me
some water to drink?
End
In this example of Ngano,
the audience is presented with an ongoing conversation between Baboon and Hare. In a typical structure of Ngano, the preceding conversation constitutes the main body of the story.
The story needs an introduction that would qualify it to be called Ngano. Aspects of the structure that are missing are the storyteller and the audience. In Ngano, the storyteller speaks in the third-person narrative.
Thereby representing characteristics of both the baboon and the hare in the tone
of speech and some behavior characteristics. In Ngano, the storyteller
introduces the story in the typical form of “Once upon a time…”/ Kwaivapo.
There has to be an audience who are not only listeners but have, among them, targeted individuals who should hear the message and change their ways or attitude.
Ngano is a conflict resolution mechanism whose purpose is not achieved without
an audience. Ngano is also for entertainment and information.
After introducing” Kwaivapo,”
the audience responds, “Dzepfunde.” The response of the audience helps the
storyteller to gauge alertness.
The storyteller ends by saying, “Ndipo pakafira Sarungano- This is where the storyteller died. Death is not
necessarily physical death. It is an expression that every storyteller renders
a story differently. When they finish telling their version, another storyteller
may tell the story emphasizing another aspect.
No story is told the same way. Each storyteller’s version dies at the end of the story. Ndipo pakafira sarungano helps the audience to know that the story is over.
Influence of Ngano Folklore on the traditional song Nhemamusasa
( Excerpt from Chapter 6 of The Many Themes of Nhemamusasa.)
In the Shona language, ngano– folklore falls within a specific style of speech known as a register. A register
is a variety of languages used for a particular purpose or communicative situation. Ngano’s specific form and style aim to inform, entertain, and relay didactic elements of Shona folklore, which target the audience. It was and still is a significant contributor to social stability by addressing social deviants openly through story and song without confrontation. Understanding this oral relaying of information from generation to generation makes the listener understand the wealth of customs and traditions encapsulated in a few verses of
Nhemamusasa.
From the renditions of Nhemamusasa, there are aspects of folklore in both Chiwoniso
Maraire and Ambuya Beauler Dyoko versions. Ngano is one poignant
aspect of the Shona language, which explains why the Shona people could have
earned the name VaNyai. It is a communication register employed for conflict
resolution using diplomatic means to address social problems. By coming up with
Ngano as a mature language that promotes social harmony, the VaNyai or Shona
people established conflict resolution, mediation, and peaceful existence
measures well before the United Nations was born. They were skilled diplomats.
While relations between nations and states changed before and during the song’s
time, Ngano and Nhemamusasa are residues of a once robust means of
communication by a group of people with diplomatic skills called VaNyai-
Messengers. Nhemamusasa employs ngano-style structures in both renditions.
An example of a typical structure of Ngano
The story of Pimbirimano (The man with pimples/
acne) in Shona
Sarungano: Kwaivapo
Vateereri: Dzepfunde
Sarungano: Mambo weimwe nyika aiva nemwanasikana
akanaka zvainwisa mvura. Mambo aisada kupa mwanasikana wake kumurume asina huchenjeri.
Saka, Mambo akati “Kana pane agona kududzira dimikira
randichataura, ndiye anogona kuroora mwana wangu.” Naizvozvo kwakauya vakomana
vakawanda, vakapfuma, vakanaka, vachiedza kududzira dimikira iri. Asi vese
vakakoniwa. Varume vakapererwa nokuti vaida kuroora mwana wamambo. Pakazouyawo
kamukomana kainge kaine mapundu kumeso kakati “Regai ndidudzire zvinorehwa nedimikira
ramambo” Varume vainge vakatsvinda vakaseka zvavo kuti “Ikaka kamukomana
kanofunga kuti kangatikunda isu tese takoniwa kududzira dimikira ramambo?”
Pimbirimano akapihwa mukana ndokubva adudzira dimikira ramambo. Vanhu vese
vakashamisika kuti sei kamukomana aka kakagona kuita zvavainge vatadza.
Zvechokwadi, Pimbirimano akapiwa mwanasikana wamambo akava mudzimai wake. Akazogara
samambo munyika umu sezvo aive mukwasha wamambo.
Apa ndipo pakafira sarungano
From the above story, there is a lesson for the
audience that they should not judge a book by its cover. Might may not always
be right; appearance can be deceptive- a man with acne had the wisdom that
enabled him to marry the king’s daughter- a princess.
