Word: laibon
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Dates: during 1987-1987
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...laibon drained his Tusker and asked for another. From outside, in the failing light: "Ecce agnus Dei. Ecce qui tollit peccata mundi " ("Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world.") Of course, it all works, said the laibon, irritated that the doubting question was asked. If there are sick cattle, sacrifice a sheep, and take the undigested grass found in its stomach, and stretch the skin over the & entrance to the boma. The cattle will pass beneath the skin and grass, which will draw the illness out of the cows...
...animals, said the laibon, cows have the greatest power, the greatest importance. "The cow and the Masai came from the same place in the creation, and they have always been together." The visitor thought of the cattle-raiding warriors, and asked the laibon if it is all right to kill a man. The laibon thought, drank, blew his nose onto the dirt floor and replied, "It is not so bad to kill a man. If you do it and are successful, it is not so bad, because God allowed the man to die. God agreed, and so it happened...
Asked if he liked the wild animals, the laibon answered, "I like the animals, but they do not like human beings. That is the problem. But the eland is a friend. You can eat an eland, and use his skin for many things." Not long ago, the laibon dreamed that a spitting cobra bit him. He cried in his sleep and leaped out of his bed, shaking, and awoke...
...laibon has been chased by lions many times. The worst attack came one evening when he was walking to another enk'ang to see his girlfriend. (The visitor savored the idea of a witch doctor going to pick up his girlfriend for a date.) The lion stalked and menaced him for a long distance, the laibon jabbing with his spear, the lion never quite attacking...
...animal noises proclaiming war beneath the almost soprano narration. Moses is performing both the falsetto and the deep, sinister chorus. The deep tones of the chorus are like the lowest register of a fierce harmonica. The song is about the Masai clans, about old drought and famine. An old laibon says, don't worry, because the warriors will go and raid and get cows from other tribes...