Labun Lokicho, the most famous storyteller in the area:Bume Tribe
Omo region, Ethiopia
“Listen! When a person dies, it is the will of god. After the dead person is buried, he becomes a trickster in the ground.”
(Translation can be difficult. Originally Lale, my translator, used the word “satan” instead of “trickster”. It took a 30-minute discussion between Labun the storyteller, Lale, my translator and another translator, for me to understand the meaning of the word “satan”. I also knew that Lale had learned his English in a missionary school. In the end, I steered towards the less culturally-inflamed word: trickster.)
“This trickster talks a lot, cheats people out of their belongings and tries to make people fight.
“His body is rough like a rock.” Labun emphasis, “Rough! The face is similar to a man but he has one horn. Each trickster can change size when he wants.
“Few people can actually see the trickster. Sometimes these people go near the river to talk with the trickster.”
No comments:
Post a Comment