The Crabs of Bangui

Chapter Fifteen

107 Chapter Fifteen Y ou’ve struck it rich, Mr. Bolingo, you have struck gold,” Mr. Limen addressed him formally by his second name for the first time. “Your office alone tells it all.” Hans smiled to himself. Unlike most Cameroonians, Hans was a voracious reader and like most widely read people, it showed in his conversation which was usually larded with sayings from great thinkers. “I must be honest with you, sir, I think I have struck a gold mine in Bangui from which many forward-looking Cameroonians will make their fortune, if only they know how to play their cards well.” “I believe you, Prince. I believe you.” “You see, Mr. President, they say there is a divinity that shapes our end, roughhew it how you may,” Hans proceeded philosophically. “Things got so consistently bad with me that I had begun to very nearly convince myself that I had no right to expect from life anything more than what it offered me. But I kept trying things, pressing buttons left and right. Now I know that heaven and hell are two different entities, that there is a point in time and space where hell ends and heaven takes over.” He smiled again. The man could not contain his amazement, just the kind of person Hansel wanted to show around. “You’ve crossed the threshold of hell it seems to me,” he said. “You have removed your name from the list of poor people at a single stroke. What’s the secret, Mr. Hansel? What’s all this Bangui crab thing about?” 108 Linus T. Asong By way of a response Hans pulled one of the drawers under the table and drew out a folder from which he pulled out his appointment letter from China. “It’s no gimmick, sir,” Hansel said, handing over the letter to the man. “You see, life in this modern world is going so fast that you have to run extremely fast even if you want to remain on the same spot.” The man nodded, his mind was on the letter. Hans allowed him time to read it and when he had finished Mr. Limen Isidore heaved a very heavy sigh in which you sensed a feeling of inadequacy, of envy. “This is great,” he admitted, “to say the least.” As he returned the letter to Hans he pressed on, “But what exactly is the activity of the company out there? You know I shall be talking about it to friends, so it is important for me to be able to say something reasonable. You cannot guess how anxious I am to get into this thing.” “Crabs, Mr. President. Crabs,” Hansel began somewhat hesitantly for it was not an area on which he could talk from a position of strength. But he succeeded in convincing Limen Isidore about it. “Scientists found an unusual number of crabs in Lake Bangui which produced a substance called Crustacoci Glitterus. The natives of Bangui do not eat crabs or any form of Crustacea, by their tradition, and did not even know the treasure they are sitting on. And because of the richness of the substance the crabs grow and multiply in a matter of weeks, just like tilapia fish in our ponds, if you know what I mean. The crabs now outnumber the fishes and so the natives are only too glad to find anybody who would rid their lakes of the pests The crabs of Bangui have been found, in addition, to contain these substances in very high proportions. The only place on this earth to have them in such quantities! That explains why Americans and French are dying in the place, supporting one illegal regime after the other, playing off one against the other. 109 The Crabs of Bangui “Scientists and engineers discovered around 1965 that the soil around Lake Bangui contains a rare substance called Maleabutoris Ductilus, a composition of minerals, a strange kind of white clay containing a mild form of Potabromide Carbonate which when exposed to high temperatures produces a substance called Potabromide Cholocarbonate. These, when melted, is used to produce different forms of chinaware, home and church decorations, trinkets, ornaments…” This was Greek to Limen Isidore. “The raw substances are brought by road to our head office in Douala where they are pulverized and then shipped to China where they are then treated. The Chinese have had enough of it...