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21 At the Back of the Black Man's Mind By R. E. Dennett
Of Mambuku they say:
Mambuku nandu, nkaka bakamba,
Xikata kata xianlo tenda Maluango yeza'ntu.
"Mambuku the guardian of the gateway leading from the Mayombe country into Luango,
is hard-headed and obstinate, and like Maluango's little box with its closed lid will only
open his mouth at his bidding."
Of Mafuka they say:
Mafuka xikangu kangula bana mampanga.
Mafuka as the royal messenger keeps on tying up people by word of mouth, or with a
wordy yoke."
Of Maxienji they say:
Maxienji, magundu lubenda
Sanga mbuila zika, monho
Bungu maci, Xindundu,
Ku zikula ntandu.
"Just as Mafuka is the bearer of messages, so Maxienji is the bearer of the news of the
death of Maluango; he prays Mamboma to bury him; and just as the wife with her waterbottle
leaves her husband's corpse on its way to burial to fetch water, so he leaves
Maluango's body with the people of Mamboma, and looks after the Badungu or
Xindundu (Maluango's police), who are now scattered about in the grass ready to rob all
passers-by while Mamboma's people keep 6n burying Maluango in the open on the hill
(at Lubu)."
Of Mankaka of Loango they say:
Mankaka zi Loango
Benze, moanga
Ke ku benzanga mitu bantu.
Mankaka the executioner of Luango cuts and twists about (Ke=not?) to keep on cutting
off the heads of people."
I think it will be found that these ancient sayings refer to a time when the official
language of Luango was more in accordance with that of the ancient Kongo, so many of
the words used in them are not of the Luango dialect. This perhaps points to Luango as
having been a conquered province. The religion and social system may then have been
superposed?
THE SUBJECT COURT OF MAMBOMA.
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