South Sudan: The jealous people always have a rough end
By Majok Arol Dhieu, Juba, South Sudan
Tuesday, 28 August 2018 (PW) — There was once a man who had two wives and they lived happily together with other members of the clan in a cattle-camp. His name was Loch. His first wife was Nyiker and another was Amukpiu, the second wife. Please, if the names coincided with your name in the social media or in the hard copies, make sure that, there’s nothing that have been intended for you.
Loch’s first wife, Nyiker had mothered only one child, a baby boy while Amukpiu, his second wife had mothered six children, four boys and two girls. Nyiker’s boy grew up, became head of bailiffs and quickly rose to fame because his father had bought him a colourful bull, a hornless bell’s carrier bull and other beautiful cows.
Amukpiu’s sons were having their kraal nearby their step-brother byre but because they are four boys in number and according to their custom, the elder would first become the owner till he married so that the follower takes over and vice versa, no one among them had run into fame as much as Nyiker’s son.
Notwithstanding, they’re living happily though life in cattle-camp some days become hard especially when lactating cows are no longer producing milk.
One fateful day after people in the cattle-camp spent three days without food, a herd of elephants was passing-by in which Loch and his men landed on their feet together. They made an all-out effort and finally killed one elephant.
Again in their custom, a dead elephant shouldn’t be distributed. One group has to nominated their hero and give him a sharp spear to cut big slices of meat out from bones. His group would then make a line as if they are offloading goods from a truck. The nominated man would then cuts off slices of meat and throw to the nearer person whereas the nearer person would throw it back till it’s given to the last person who will finally put it in the same place.
Loch was nominated. He was a muscled man. So, he cut off more slices of meat but unfortunately, he unknowingly uprooted his next neighbour scrotum (containing testicles). This was then realized by his first wife, Nyiker and intelligently wrapped them with reddish meat and boycotted the next throwing in order for the other members not to notice it.
When the person was noticed to have not been moving his hands and legs, a horn was blown by the overall leader for all people to move away from the carcass. He was dead already when his body was pulled down from the carcass.
By the code of their deism, a deity’s peacekeeper was called to alert the people on the severity of denying the tragedy and to keep a backfiring tragedy away, the one who has made it must come out of crowd so that a solution must be reached while in peace. Loch was caught by the fear of endangered his children, and therefore took a decision not to raise his hand.
After an unsuccessful announcement was made, a bull was slaughtered by elders and a traditional remixing of food and share it once again was made. All youths were instructed to live in peace until the deity search and revealed the culprit (s).
After two years, the issue began unfolding. Women, sometime acts by the seat of their pants when their back-and-forth attempt to win their men’s affections failed because of their husband giving much attention to co-wives or when they are disappointed in the long run.
So, Nyiker had been caught up by jealousy several times and her miscalculated tactics of destroying her co-wife children. Every hour she looks at her husband, she would cast aspersion upon him and say, “I’ll destroy this cattle-camp in which people buttocks are protruding as pumpkins”.
As the game progresses, Loch’s father learned of Nyiker’s conspiratorial factions which is drastically changing the cattle-camp inhabitants’ mood on daily basis, and asked him why his wife’s talks are very strange this time.
Loch replied, “it’s well known in our custom, that no man should be compelled to incriminate himself’ though insecurity infiltrated his whole being, I would request you to stay away from her until she excavated out her golds. If she’s ready to cause anything unendurable, it’ll first strike her clitoris before everyone else. Just let her straddling till her legs are in one camp. Had it not been because of the sense of her rootlessness as her parents have been dragged into hell by the venereal disease, I would have taken her back to be advice.”
One late evening, a bad intention infiltrated Nyiker’s heart towards her husband and her co-wife. She blurted out to the tragically bereaved family that if they gave her a beef, she’ll tell who chopped off their son’s testicles on the two years ago elephant’s carcass. On hearing this, the sub clan of the deceased were awakens by the poignant memories of that day.
Some therefore rushed into decision to cut her into pieces, some said, she had to be chained up and pressganged into talks, some said, she had to be given her demand after they’ve skinned an antelope which they’ve killed. She was given her demand lastly after an argument.
She firstly exchanged conspiratorial glances with the deceased family and unashamedly uncovered the issue that it was her own husband who did it. Nyiker in her thought was thinking that the revenge will take away two or three sons of Amukpiu but according to the custom of this clan, the revenge has to be carrying out, on an eminent people or the only-child so that a life-threatening disputes is laid in its grave.
In an unassisted action, the brother to the departed killed Nyiker only-child in the following evening.
Nyiker realized that her relationship had run its course and she rolled herself on the ground, her husband appeared and said to her, “ghost, you’ve just been ill-conceiving this project which you meant to destroyed your own family mistakenly. Shut up your mouth or I’ll come down on you like a ton of bricks. Remember that your being a rumours monger had made you a social leper. The term “disgrace” is something which we all understand, but not everyone understands exactly what ignominy means, or the force of it. Now you’ll understand what disgrace means”.
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