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And when the
vices of its people became indomitable, Wagadu became invisible,
like Irama, the mysterious desert city,full of fabulous
treasures, mentioned in the Koran.
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Gassire
carries his son, killed in battle, across his back,
and the dead boy's blood drips onto his father's lute.
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The
following is a condensed summary of a collection of epic
songs that has never been published in the original languages
of West Africa, nor in an English translation.
The content and direction of the narrative, the meter,
and the final lines or refrains, are fixed. The bard may, however, embroider verses or
extend the number of lines, depending on his talent and
the interest of his audience.
In this way cultural heritage is renewed in every
generation and the deeds of new leaders as well as the exploits
of the great kings and heroes of old are recorded in song.
By virtue of their knowledge of tradition, the bards have
a great influence on the political affairs of the chiefdoms
in which they live and may warn against wrong decisions
by narrating the history of the kings of the past who caused
disaster by their own foolhardiness or greed. Knowledge
of the koro-kuma (the old words, songs of the past, proverbs and fables) could therefore
help avert calamities.
The following tales are models of just such cautionary
histories, in which the princes of the past risked and lost
their lives and their kingdoms.
Gassire
hears the Epic of Dausi,
and Wagadu is lost for the first time
The history of Wagadu begins
when it was still called Jerra (Gara) and was built facing
north. Its king, Nganamba of the Fasa dynasty, was
old and his son Gassire was desirous of power.
Gassire was a great hero who had repulsed the Burdama
and subdued the faithless Boroma.
One night Gassire could not sleep, for a jackal was
gnawing his heart, so he rose and went to consult Kiekorro,
the old diviner. “When
will my father, Nganamba, leave me his shield and his mighty
sword?” he asked.
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