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December 24, 2004

Christmas by the roadside

Do you remember my letter about Christmas Eve 2002 - I spent it waiting in the semi-desert after the bus I was travelling on broke down. That Christmas night I was sitting by the road with some shepherds who had also been on the bus. The night was bitterly cold, and we wore our turbans wrapped around our necks like scarves. One of my companions lit a fire with an old copy of Voix du Sahel. Behind us goats and sheep huddled together. Somewhere outside the circle of light, a baby was crying.

We looked up at the stars and one of my companions pointed out Ali, the same constellation that we call Orion. Ali was a famous warrior, a friend of Muhammad. Then he pointed out laawol kossam - the way of milk - and Pleides, whose Fulfulde name I forget. 'If you ever see a horse looking at Pleides,' he said, 'it means that somewhere a king is dying.'
'What if you see a goat looking at Pleides?' I asked.
'I don't know,' said the shepherd laughing.
'And what is the sign that a king is being born?'
'Walai Allah, I have not heard of a sign for the birth of a king.'
'I have heard,' I said, 'that there was once a sign for that.'
'Tell me.'

I told him.

Posted by sahelsteve at December 24, 2004 12:35 PM