|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
already done for us at home. The man called Namatango [little spirit], he is saying that they have not worked upon him, and the man called Nalulima [little spirit] has not been worked upon either. . . . Unless we are arguing for nothinghe should say so and send us away from here. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
C: For me, why I argue with them, they bring lies for nothing. This is the firstborn. [The client does not believe that such little spirits attack a woman who has given birth for the first time and is still cooking together with her mother-in-law.] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D: You are dismissing these gentlemen, but they are refusing to go away from the divination. They are saying that we are with you. . . . [After a long discussion about the proper rituals demanded by these spirits, the client asks whether there are other reasons, that is other agents, as well. The spirits say no, and the client goes back to the matter of the bridewealth debt.] |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
C: I return to the man who came in the coat. Now I am just an in-law and you have come to kick in my divination. Now what do you want from your wife [granddaughterNyole observe the equivalence of alternate generations]? What can I do? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D (gourd rattles): This person says that you first argued a lot, and up to now you have not agreed that it's true. [The agent tells the client to go to his in-law, the father of his son's wife, and ask him if he owes his brother an animal.] Maybe he will say that I am deceiving and maybe he will immediately know that, ah, that's true. They will walk and reach where I am myself. I have the tongue which will answer. I know what I shall tell them. Let him first go and divine properly [together with his in-law]. If I have told untruths here, if I gave my brother nothing, neither a goat nor a cow, that will be the end of the matter. And so he may go and work upon the spirits alone. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
C: You're a person who has just said he's tied someone with a rope. You came here and you say that you have a prisoner. I am the sick person. You want me to walk for nothing without telling me the final word? |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D (gourd rattles): . . .the final word is, where there are three is where words are said. It is where they remove words [i.e., curses]as for me, I shall pour water on the child [remove my curse]. . . . Where there is a child is where you can go and beg. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
C: I want to leave here when I am all right. Your wife [granddaughter]. . . you have come to catch [her] but not to kill, so I like you . . . If you have a kind heart. I'll go and bring your wife to your home. If you will touch your wife, and if she gets well, then we shall know the difference. . . . Now if there are no other cases, let us take leave. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
D (gourd rattles): Even if there are, go and finish these and leave the remaining cases for others. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
These selections from a longer consultation reveal fundamental characteristics of Nyole divination. The convention was that neither the diviner as an ordinary person nor the client knew the reasons behind the case being examined. Nyole said that to get the truth, one should not consult a diviner near home. A nearby |
|
|
|
|
|