Ama by Manu Herbstein Read Free Book Online Page B

humiliated by being forced to do women’s work was inconceivable. Fortunately for them their captors’ views on what was proper work for men and women were little different from their own.
    Suba was a great help. He was happier in Nandzi’s company than in that of the grown men. It was he who every morning dumped the pots of excrement on the outskirts of the town. It was Suba who brought the calabashes of rationed water from the well near the market. And at night he slept in the open doorway of her room.
    * * *
    Na Saa Ziblim and Koranten Péte walked hand in hand, deep in conversation.
    They communicated with one another, after a fashion, in a mixture of Hausa and Asante which caused them both much amusement. It was Koranten Péte, commander of the central division, who had led the victorious Asante forces in the recent war. The Asante King had rewarded him with title to one third of the tribute which the Dagomba were now obliged to pay each year. He needed little further inducement to spend the months of the trading season watching over Asante interests in Yendi.
    The King and the Consul were followed by a long procession of dignitaries and officials.
    The Galidima, Chief of the Eunuchs, was responsible both for policing the city and for the administration of justice. The fines imposed by the Council of the Eunuchs, in cattle and cowries, formed a substantial portion of the royal revenues. Beardless and effeminate the Galidima was also the guardian of the King's wives.
    The eunuchs, too, had wives. These women, their unions sanctioned by the King himself, were prostitutes in all but name. They bore the added misfortune of seeing their male children castrated in order that they might one day succeed their mothers’ husbands.
    Demonkum, already Chief of Those-who-sit-before-the-Na and shortly to be enstooled in the Asante manner with the new title of Chief of the Guns, followed the King. He was dressed in the style of the Kambonse, wearing a richly embroidered cloth, rather than the customary smock. Kambonse was the Dagbon name for the Asante; and Kambonse was the name that Demonkum had chosen for the musketeers whom he was training. Three years at the Asante court had convinced him of the superiority of their military technology and strategy and he was determined to reform the Dagbon army along similar lines. But there was opposition. He smiled wryly as he recalled the recent humiliation of the leader of the reactionary party, the Chief of the Horses, conspicuously absent from this day's inspection.
    Damba, who had been put in charge of the slaves’ compound, was at the entrance to meet the Na and his party. He had made an attempt to smarten up his prisoners. They had had their first proper bath since their arrival. Discarded old clothes had been found for the man who had arrived dressed only in withered leaves. Damba had persuaded his mother to let him have an old cloth for Nandzi.
    The Na and Koranten Péte walked slowly down the line, stopping to inspect and discuss each slave. Speaking his own language, the Na asked a slave his name. When he received only a blank, uncomprehending look in reply, he tried again in Hausa; then Nana Péte tried Asante.
    â€œBush people,” said the Consul to the King. “It seems that they do not hear any civilised language.”
    â€œIf you please, sir,” said Damba, stepping forward nervously, “this boy, he is called Suba, hears our tongue.”
    â€œSuba, is that your name?” the Na asked.
    Suba was lost in embarrassment. He had become proud of his developing skills as an interpreter and was pleased at the way that Damba depended upon him, but he was just a humble village lad and quite unversed in the customs of a royal court. He was overwhelmed by the rich clothes and arrogant bearing of these nobles. Fortunately for him, he did not have to reply. Nandzi, standing next to Suba at the end of the line, had caught the royal