Echoes From a Distant Land Read Online Free Page B

before, when his ears had been pierced, he was promoted from child to boy. The ceremony allowed him to be in the company of men, and he could be a witness to his father’s business dealings, and therefore be the next generation’s repository of the family’s dealings with the community. At that time he felt reborn, but although it seemed an important step, his recent initiation to adulthood had eclipsed it.
    At fourteen, Wangira was almost as tall as his father, who was himself tall for a Kikuyu. His body had broadened, his shoulders widened with musculature, and his voice had deepened. But that was not what made him feel different. He felt different because, following his initiation, he had become a man.
    As had every other family of a boy being initiated on that same day, Wangira’s family had prepared him well for his graduation. He had learned the dances, the songs, the heroic stories of his ancestors, the laws and customs of the Kikuyu tribe. He had learned how to hunt with his bow. He could find food and care for himself and would no longer need to rely on his parents for basic necessities.
    He was ready to assume the responsibilities that came with his majority. He was not only a man, but a warrior and the defender of his people. If ever the family, the village or the tribe were threatened, it was his duty to take up arms and fight to the death to protect them. The thought of noble battle sent a surge of exhilaration through his tense young body.
    He was confident of his ability to fight because he had become proficient with his weapons — his spear, dagger and shield — and itched for the chance to prove his abilities. Johnstone Kamau remained his main rival — the incident with the hyenas now long forgotten — but by means of an unspoken agreement, he and Wangira seldom competed directly. In the meantime, Wangira and his age-mates had perfected the military manoeuvres they would use to engage with the enemy. And if he were required to survive alone in the bush, or on bivouac, he could do so effectively.
    The elders declared that since the newly initiated age-set were now completely recovered from their circumcisions, it was time for them to move on to the next phase of their graduation.
    All thoughts of war, weapons and enemies were now gone. In their place was the all-consuming excitement of the other entitlements of manhood: the love games that he and his age-mates were now permitted, even encouraged, to play with the young women of the tribe.
    The convalescence period for the inductees had been a testing one, made worse because they were required to know the rules and regulations governing sexual relations. The images that these lessons brought to mind were a source of many painful and embarrassing erections.
    Wangira had moved into the bachelor, or thingira , hut with a group of some ten other initiates who had graduated to warriorhood with him. It was larger than the hut he had until recently shared with his mother, and it was the only place where he and his age-mates could engage in the limited sex play allowed with any girl who wished to join them.
    Now these rules would be put to the test. The young warriors would mix freely with the young women, they would talk, theywould dance, they would choose one or more girlfriends and, in the thingira hut, they would learn the joys of sex within the loose constraints of their tribal taboos.
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    The young warriors marched from the darkness into the firelight, their skin glistening with oil and ochre and their muscles chiselled into sharp relief by the light of the fire. Drums pounded a rhythm as old as the culture itself. When they were all assembled around the fire, a musician blew on a choro horn to announce the beginning of festivities, and the young men began to chant and dance.
    Seated outside the circle of male dancers were the young women, wearing short rear skirts of softest leather and strings of beads hanging from their waists