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Metse-Tsate-Nfo, aka Sense-Pass-King A long time ago, Nfo1 Atabe ruled over a large kingdom. He was an arrogant and authoritative man. A man who wanted every festival, every monument, every funeral, every marriage or birth celebration, every ceremonial activity performed in his kingdom to bear his name or the mark of his authority. Ancestors forfend! He went as far as dispossessing families of one of their most sacred duties: the naming of their children. Tegheh kwu! Atabe decreed he would name all the children born under his reign. Men gnashed their teeth and cursed the king between gulps of palm wine. Naming children was the most sacred of male traditions; so it had been with their fathers, their grandfathers , and their forefathers. Men were born to uphold the father’s lineage, a duty they carefully sustained by bestowing family names on their children. It was a sad time for these men. Like dogs, they tucked their tails between their legs, gnashed their teeth, and held their heads in shame. It so happened that a woman had a baby boy and in accordance with Nfo Atabe’s edict, she strapped her child on her back and made for the palace. She had not descended two hills and crossed two streams when she heard her son speak. “Mother, let’s go home,” he said. “Why should the fon name me? Don’t I have fathers, mothers, uncles, grandparents? Tegheh kwu! Dead-Father-of-Mine! The fon will not name me. My name is Metse-Tsate-Nfo.” 53 1 Among the Beba: the fon or king; a traditional ruler. You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. The woman was dumbfounded. “How is this possible? How is it that my child can speak?” she kept asking herself. “My son is merely a baby,” she mumbled. “Why does he say his name is Metse-Tsate-Nfo? Why does he claim to be more intelligent than the king? This is unheard of. A child smarter than the king?” She gathered her anxiety, as the Beba say, in her palms, turned around, and walked back home. But she feared for her son. She feared the king’s wrath. She had to, for it is said that the prince who is always looking at the throne is the first to be banished from the palace. She kept the truth about her son from the king. Years passed and the news finally got to the Nfo Atabe that a woman named Manele did have a child. A son. The king learned that Manele’s child, oh abomination, had named himself. What’s more, he called himself Metse-Tsate-Nfo, meaning IntelligenceGreater -Than-the-King’s, or Sense-Pass-King, as he was affectionately called in Pidgin English. Sense-Pass-King. How brazen! How fearless! How impertinent! Nfo Atabe would have none of it. He was so enraged by the news that he decided to teach this unrepentant, pretentious sapling a lesson. This socalled Metse-Tsate-Nfo had to learn that he wasn’t above the law of the land—his law. The punishment for this upstart was death, he declared. He had to make an example of him. One day, Nfo Atabe summoned Metse-Tsate-Nfo to the palace . The ntsendia2 notified the boy that the fon’s order was to bring him to the palace. “Why?” the boy asked. “The sovereign wants you to give him a haircut,” the ntsendia confided. MetseTsate -Nfo was taken aback by this request. Nfo had special barbers, why send for him? Why bestow such an honor on a mere commoner? A mere boy for that matter. The ntsendia had no answers for the young man. “I am only a message bearer,” the ntsendia replied. “When the king asks me to take a message to one of his subjects, I do not question his motives.” 54 / Makuchi 2 Nfo’s messenger(s) or retainer(s). You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. Metse-Tsate-Nfo boiled some fresh corn and put a couple of ears in his bag, and the two men left for the palace. He arrived at the palace...

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