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Scene Two
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13 Scene Two (Grove with shrubby grass cover; raffia palm in the background and an aged fig tree dominate scene: Two stools stand across from each other. A fresh banana leaf is laid a little away and between the two stools; a number of cowries, short horn, oil calabash and salt are placed on the leaf. Ngarum is not on seat. Two people sounding very much in disagreement and at the top of their voices can be heard approaching. They are holding their spears and machetes ready for possible danger. As they enter, they start calming down) Gwei: How could he banish Ngarum? Tamfu: No one knows. Ngarum now lives here… In a bush! Gwei: How does he deal with the situation? Tamfu: His Akuman may have the answer. Gwei: But I hear the Akuman is only to tell him Who of us is against him? Tamfu: So his war is not against the beast But against us? Gwei: I wish I could be less worried about the land! But I am tired of these deaths; Tired of the sadness! Tired of the silence! Tired of the fear! Tamfu: Oh, stop singing this tired song! You have been singing since the break of day. Have you become a cricket That sings its own dirge? 14 Gwei: What do you want me to do? Where is the King we once had? What direction is he facing? Tamfu: Stop these questions! For how long have you been asking them? How much has changed? Gwei: How much has changed? Tamfu: Yes! Has the ground underfoot changed? No! Have the leaves on the trees changed? No! Have river Mairin and Mbim6 changed? No! Gwei: But Bamkov has a King! Kings are for when times are hard; When the land is in flames! Tamfu: So what do you want to do now? Kill him? Our rules of kingship are unique; We cannot change our King Until he escapes, or disappears,7 Whether times are hard or not; Whether we are in flames or not! Gwei: (Screaming to the sky in exasperation) Some Mighty hand help Bamkov! A land reeling about Like a snake without a head [3.238.62.119] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:33 GMT) 15 Oh haggard Bamkov! Coiled up like wretched dung! Your succor is absent. Oh, blind night traveler Tossed by the angry storm, Your palace cannot speak; The palace cannot wake up To secure a wretched people! Tamfu: The palace cannot wake up, But we the people have woken up! That is why we came here… Gwei: (In exasperation) …To find out the root of the evil in our land! We came here to hear what is eating us alive. Yet before we left, he summoned his Akuman! Why could he not just bury a spear into this chest! Tamfu: Sssssh! You are shouting to the grass! The grass has ears! Gwei: Oh let those ears multiply like corn tassels! Tamfu: And know that even the wind has ears! Gwei: Let it blow my word into any other ear! Tamfu: Are you drunk? Stop screaming like a mad man! Gwei: What is wrong in this land? Why can I not express my pain the way I feel? Because I fear it will reach the palace? 16 Even the air I breathe has become a threat? How long shall we continue to fear? Anything anybody says is right until it gets to the Fon! It is always correct until it enters the palace; Then they paint you hater of Kingdom. It becomes criminal to raise a question! They call it insulting the Fon! It is criminal to wonder; They call it hurting the throne! It is criminal to fear; They call it spreading evil. It is criminal to dance; They call it mocking the land! It is criminal to sing, If the song is not a dirge! Tamfu: You may be right But let us be very careful Gwei: (More and more exasperated) It is criminal to be careful, Tamfu! The ground you stand on belongs to the Fon! It is criminal to sleep in your bed; Manjong will be gathering to drink palm wine tomorrow! It is criminal to sleep with your wife; Chong will be dancing in the market place tomorrow! It is criminal this! It is criminal that! Criminals!!! Tamfu: Well, it is criminal to be here! Gwei: Criminal to live! [3.238.62.119] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 21:33 GMT) 17 Tamfu: Well...