Read Online Allah is Not Obliged by Ahmadou Kourouma - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Ahmadou Kourouma
Ads: Link
terrible crime from his own lips.)
So as to look more serious and more approachable, Colonel Papa le Bon took off his kalash. He put the kalash close at hand, put it within easy reach on account of there was war and people were dying like flies from tribal wars in Liberia.
The tom-toms started up again, more furious, more hectic. And there were songs that were better than any nightingale’s.From time to time, palm wine was served, from time to time Colonel Papa le Bon drank palm wine, from time to time Colonel Papa le Bon got fucked-up on palm wine. But palm wine was not good for Colonel Papa le Bon. Not a bit. He drank the stuff all night, drank so much he was completely drunk and completely blacked out (‘blacked out’ means he became unconscious).
At about four in the morning, completely drunk, Colonel Papa le Bon staggered towards the circle of women and grabbed some old woman who was half-asleep. She had devoured the soul of Captain Kid! No one else! It was she.
Walahé!
She and nobody else who had been the leader of this debauchery. (According to my
Larousse
, ‘debauchery’ means ‘an orgy’.)
The old woman shrieked like a bird in a trap, ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!’
‘It was you, it was you,’ shouted Colonel Papa le Bon. ‘The soul of Captain Kid has come back in the night to denounce you.’
‘
Walahé!
It wasn’t me. I loved Kid. He came to my hut to eat.’
‘That’s why you gobbled him up. I saw you transform yourself into an owl in the night. I was sleeping like a caiman, one eye half-open. I saw you. You took his soul in your claws. You flew up into the high branches of the kapok tree. Others transformed into owls flew up to join you. There you had your orgy. You gorged on his skull. You ate his brain yourself and left the remains to your disciples. It was you! It was you! It was you!’
‘No, it wasn’t me!’
‘The soul of the dead came to me in the night to tell me it was you. If you don’t confess, I will submit you to trial with a white-hot iron (‘white-hot’ means ‘an object which has been subjected to heat until it glows’). I will pass the iron over your tongue. Yes, Yes.’
Faced with all the mounting evidence, the old woman was
makou
, open-mouthed. And then she told the truth, she made a clean breast, she confessed. (‘Confess’ is in my
Larousse
. It means to say in your own words that the incriminating facts are true.)
The old woman who confessed was called Jeanne. She and three of her disciples were taken to prison under escort. There, Colonel Papa le Bon was going to exorcise them (‘exorcise’ means ‘to free from evil spirits or malign influences’).
Walahé! Faforo!
Captain Kid’s funeral took place then the next day at 4 p.m. It was raining. There was lots of crying. People were thrashing about and sobbing ‘Kid! Kid! Kid!’ like it was the first time they had ever seen a tragedy. And then the child-soldiers lined up and fired their kalashes. That’s all they’re good at. Firing guns.
Faforo!
Colonel Papa le Bon was the representative of the NPFL in Zorzor. That was the highest up you could get in northern Liberia. It meant you looked after the important trafficking coming in from Guinea. You collected the taxes and customs duties and kept an eye on comings and goings in Liberia.
Walahé!
Colonel Papa le Bon was a big-shot in the NPFL. An important member of Taylor’s brigade.
Who was this big-shot warlord Taylor?
The first time anyone in Liberia heard of Taylor was when he pulled off a big gangster scam that bankrupted the Liberian treasury. He took all their money and used forged papers that he wrote himself to convince the government that he’d turned the money into loads of dollars in the USA. When they smelled a rat (‘smelled a rat’ means they realised there was something wrong) and discovered it was all a rip-off, they hunted him down. Taylor went into hiding in the USA using a false name. After a huge manhunt they tracked
So as to look more serious and more approachable, Colonel Papa le Bon took off his kalash. He put the kalash close at hand, put it within easy reach on account of there was war and people were dying like flies from tribal wars in Liberia.
The tom-toms started up again, more furious, more hectic. And there were songs that were better than any nightingale’s.From time to time, palm wine was served, from time to time Colonel Papa le Bon drank palm wine, from time to time Colonel Papa le Bon got fucked-up on palm wine. But palm wine was not good for Colonel Papa le Bon. Not a bit. He drank the stuff all night, drank so much he was completely drunk and completely blacked out (‘blacked out’ means he became unconscious).
At about four in the morning, completely drunk, Colonel Papa le Bon staggered towards the circle of women and grabbed some old woman who was half-asleep. She had devoured the soul of Captain Kid! No one else! It was she.
Walahé!
She and nobody else who had been the leader of this debauchery. (According to my
Larousse
, ‘debauchery’ means ‘an orgy’.)
The old woman shrieked like a bird in a trap, ‘It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me!’
‘It was you, it was you,’ shouted Colonel Papa le Bon. ‘The soul of Captain Kid has come back in the night to denounce you.’
‘
Walahé!
It wasn’t me. I loved Kid. He came to my hut to eat.’
‘That’s why you gobbled him up. I saw you transform yourself into an owl in the night. I was sleeping like a caiman, one eye half-open. I saw you. You took his soul in your claws. You flew up into the high branches of the kapok tree. Others transformed into owls flew up to join you. There you had your orgy. You gorged on his skull. You ate his brain yourself and left the remains to your disciples. It was you! It was you! It was you!’
‘No, it wasn’t me!’
‘The soul of the dead came to me in the night to tell me it was you. If you don’t confess, I will submit you to trial with a white-hot iron (‘white-hot’ means ‘an object which has been subjected to heat until it glows’). I will pass the iron over your tongue. Yes, Yes.’
Faced with all the mounting evidence, the old woman was
makou
, open-mouthed. And then she told the truth, she made a clean breast, she confessed. (‘Confess’ is in my
Larousse
. It means to say in your own words that the incriminating facts are true.)
The old woman who confessed was called Jeanne. She and three of her disciples were taken to prison under escort. There, Colonel Papa le Bon was going to exorcise them (‘exorcise’ means ‘to free from evil spirits or malign influences’).
Walahé! Faforo!
Captain Kid’s funeral took place then the next day at 4 p.m. It was raining. There was lots of crying. People were thrashing about and sobbing ‘Kid! Kid! Kid!’ like it was the first time they had ever seen a tragedy. And then the child-soldiers lined up and fired their kalashes. That’s all they’re good at. Firing guns.
Faforo!
Colonel Papa le Bon was the representative of the NPFL in Zorzor. That was the highest up you could get in northern Liberia. It meant you looked after the important trafficking coming in from Guinea. You collected the taxes and customs duties and kept an eye on comings and goings in Liberia.
Walahé!
Colonel Papa le Bon was a big-shot in the NPFL. An important member of Taylor’s brigade.
Who was this big-shot warlord Taylor?
The first time anyone in Liberia heard of Taylor was when he pulled off a big gangster scam that bankrupted the Liberian treasury. He took all their money and used forged papers that he wrote himself to convince the government that he’d turned the money into loads of dollars in the USA. When they smelled a rat (‘smelled a rat’ means they realised there was something wrong) and discovered it was all a rip-off, they hunted him down. Taylor went into hiding in the USA using a false name. After a huge manhunt they tracked
Similar Books
