Tale (Bossoko, Guinea), February 2023

Fatoumata Camara narrates :

Ntoly kélén né 

Kablan va massakè lémé 

Wélé ni massakègbèrè léna diana 

Wéléna a démousso dina a dougnô kè o ma 

Massakè na adémousso wélé lala djélimousso démbaty tè, kata di adougnèkè massakè oma 

Djélimousso wélé tani kognô koura malôdia 

Ana massakè ako yen mekèla, akafô dini gnè, ko ni akafô, ko alélé kognô koura lé, ko abé kola ton ola, ko alélé kognôkoura 

Aka den di dini mah, alé kissi massakèkoun 

Massèkè den woni dini wokakè kônôgbèn déné 

Ni dini wi kata sènè, dén bé kassila, alé donkri mélah 

Ma ka di massama 

Nva kadi massama 

Nva ka n’kè djélimousso boro laminalé 

Djélimousso ka n’kè kônogbèn dené 

Imakoun, ilé déni kôssoni 

Imakoun, ilé dini djarani 

Imakoun, ilé dini fôssoni 

Moussokôrôba do té lô gnini na sènè wo dafè, wo ka donkri wo lamen 

Aka ta mô gbèrè ikô louma ka nakè assérélé 

Dini ka adonkri la damina 

Ma ka di massama 

Nva kadi massama 

Nva ka n’kè djélimousso boro laminalé 

Djélimousso ka n’kè kônogbèn dené 

Imakoun, ilé déni kôssoni 

Imakoun, ilé dini djarani 

Imakoun, ilé dini fôssoni 

Ayé da so 

Dini men ma féniné 

Ï kata massakèbara, kata afô gnè kôgnôkoura ma farininé 

Ko kognôkoura lé sènèlô ni 

Djéli mousso lé dômén né 

Massakè ka djélimousso bla kassola 

Dini ka a tchèla si damina 

Ntoly kélén né kabla Sidiki tina pa 

English version:

Before telling the tale, the women all gather together in one place and the woman who wants to start says: “I have a tale.

I have a story about two chiefs, all of whom are responsible and close friends. One of these chiefs gave his daughter in marriage to the other. He gave his daughter to a griot so that she’d give her to her husband. The griot who accompanied the girl already had a child. When she arrived at the groom’s house, she changed the girl, saying “when you say that you’re the bride, you’ll say that it won’t work between us”. The fearful girl agreed to submit to the griot for this exchange, and became the nanny who accompanied the bride. So the time of the wedding coincided with farming activities. The husband had a field that was watched over by the women. The woman who had to go and look after the field, the little girl would leave to look after it, and she would take the griot’s child to go to the field.

When the little girl went to the field with the cherry’s child, when the birds came, she began to sing:

“my mama gave me in marriage to the chief,

my father gave me in marriage to the chief

But the chief turned her into a field supervisor

But the griot turned me into a wet nurse, a slave

So shut up, child, shut up, puny child of the griot” x 2

When the girl was singing, there was an old woman in the vicinity of the field, looking for bundles of wood, who was listening. The old woman took her time to find out the real meaning of the song and eventually realised that it wasn’t the griot who was to be the bride. When she returned, she said: “Isn’t there a duplicity in this marriage? The woman told her friends in the village that the song the girl was singing in the fields, I can neither confirm nor deny, I need someone else to accompany me and the interested party too, as a witness, to determine what is really behind this marriage.

So the woman was accompanied by one of her friends, and the two of them went to listen to the girl. She sang and cried. The two women realised that the griot was not meant to be the chief’s wife. They told the girl to go home and clear up the matter.

When they got home, the girl repeated the same song:

“My mum gave me to the chief in marriage,

my father gave me in marriage to the chief

But the chief turned her into a field supervisor

But the griot turned me into a wet nurse, a slave

So shut up, child, shut up, puny child of the griot” x 2

When the women understood the meaning of the girl’s song, they tried to bring together all the women of the village, saying that there was a problem in this marriage affair: the one watching over the field was the bride. The griot, considered to be the man’s wife, should have been accompanying him, but she had usurped her place. The women got together to tell the chief.

What’s happening today didn’t happen before: women were not asked for their consent before being given in marriage. That’s why the groom couldn’t tell who was my wife and who wasn’t when they arrived. Today, men and women used to date before getting married. That wasn’t the case in the old days, we used to say I’ll give you to so-and-so. When the chief found out about all this, he decided to marry the young girl and tell the griot to turn around, that it wasn’t her who was being proposed to.

Where I have taken, I have deposited and I give to such and such (the one who has to tell the story).