The Feather of Glory ( a Novella )
By David Aoloch Bion
”True love strictly takes a long time to grow, longer time to ripe , and longest time to taste, harvest and enjoys’’
“ .He has married me with cattle, and I have married him with this feather, The Feather of Glory. And this feather is the only prestigious thing I must honour him on earth … he will always wear it wherever and whenever he goes for occasion – occasions like dancing, wrestling, singing, judging, hunting and fighting”.
“Outside the bed, it had been taken the man whom I love six hundred and seventy five days to kiss me . Inside the bed, the man whom I loved had been giving me a non breathing, non-stop kiss for two thousand four hundred and thirty days ”
Chapter Six
Kuol Madut was the oldest man on Akoi Village. All his age mates had died. Even his follower’s age-mates died also. At night his dead age mates came. The dead men woke Kuol up. The dead men asked him what he was doing among the children. Kuol didn’t answer them. At last the dead said, they had given him four days to prepare. In saying his will to his son therefore, they would come back to take him and the dead left. Kuol was really up set in morning.
“I wish I would not die and be buried like them” Kuol said to his wife.
“Why are you thinking like that?” His wife Akur asked. “There are foolish dead man-Maluk Alier and Mathiang Kuol came to me last night, they said they wanted me to go to them”. “I don’t want to die”
“No one wants to die but death is inescapable fate for all”.
“Why if I don’t want to die?”
“You must die”
His wife advised him that you go to Ringdit if you wish you would not die. Kuol went to Ringdit. “Ringdit my grand father, I don’t want to die.” Ringdit laughed, who ever have not die it is Ringdit who cannot die?”
“I am god, I am spirit”
“You make me god”.
“Don’t talk like that, I will kill you now” Ringdit threatened.
“Okay my father, don’t kill me but save me”.
“I will save once and if death came I will not save you.” And “Go” said Ringdit, “But don’t sleep in one room for more than two days. Kuol went and slept in different rooms. “If he sleep in his homestead one day in one hut and the next day he may sleep in another homestead. Meanwhile the dead were looking for him. One day they found him sleeping at his Uncle’s son’s hut.
“We have found you; you have been doing this to us for a long time. You must die as soon as possible”. The dead demanded.
In the morning, he invited his people and narrated to them what had happened again to him last night.
“You are old man, why do you think over death; don’t think over it, it will come alone. Don’t fear death you have children and grand children”. One of the elders said
“I don’t fear death, all have to die, I love death but I hate the burial. I love to die on earth but I hate burial in earth. When I die and I am buried, I will feel the heaviness of the soil on my corpse which will disturb me in my death.
“You must die and soil must be put on your head” One man commented. Immediately Kuol walked away. “I wish I die and not buried”.
“That is a simple thing; we shall take him to forest and be eaten by birds or animals”. One of the men said
“If he dies, he will not know anything, he will not resist us from burying”. Another man said
“Do people really die so shall I die and be buried like him. No foolish dead man” Kuol walked to his home instead
Kuol thought over it and I came to his homestead. He entered Luak and came out with his spear, shield, smoking pipe and sitting stool. He sat out side. The sun came up and shone very much. His nephew came and told him to leave the sunshine and entered Luak.
“No, I can’t go into Luak. The mad dead men are inside and they have told me that they should not leave me today. His nephew entered Luak and came back and said, “Go in Kuol, nobody is inside, don’t fear”. His nephew said
Go way I can spear you now, leave me alone. The dead will see who I am today”. Kuol said angrily.
The sun was hot, it was Akolthin, the second month of the year, Kuol had been sitting in the hottest sunshine for four hours, and he sweated very much, a very heavy wild wind came, it blew the dust from the dry land, the dust covered Kuol’s homestead for a while. No body was seeing anything in Kuol’s homestead. In a few minutes Kuol was seen being blown up by the whirlwind. All the people in the village of Akoi watched Kuol being taken up by the whirlwind until he could not be seen any more. People gathered at his homestead immediately to witness this mysterious scene. They wondered in great amazement and in great puzzle.
“What is this?” they asked but no one could answer. The sun set in that evening, the moon shone very clearly, Kuol was seen waving from the moon. He told his son Madut that no funeral rite could be held for him, that he was not dead.
Kuol was blown up to the moon on Akolthii – 10-7045 R.C.P. in Boralian calendar the abbreviation R.C.P. is “Run Cak Piny” in Boralian language, in English it means “From the year of creating the earth” in Boralian calendar, there are nine months in one year and there are fifteen days in one month: – there is dark month followed by light month and sequence continue. Akolthii is second month of the year. On Akolthi 10, every year on Boralica soil people gather at the site he was blown up by the whirlwind. They wash him. They see kuol on the moon sitting on his stool and smoking his pipe
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