by Ondjaki
“elder, i’m waiting for a child’s voice inside me”
Seashell Seller got up, opened the ark, which was still working, and found so many objects piled inside that it was difficult for him to decide what to grab, he seized two bottles of water from a corner, passed one to Blind Man
“water?” the old man tasted it, spitting a second later, “go see if this ark doesn’t have a goddam beer, good and cold, or even some whisky”
Seashell Seller dipped his hands into the ark again without letting the lunging flames out of his sight, the bloodied city was shackled and about to keel over and die
“just tell me the colour of that fire”
he repeated in a very low voice
so that Seashell Seller, caressing Blind Man’s hand, was able to tell him
“it’s a lazy red, elder... that’s what it is: a lazy red.”
Odonato’s letter was drawn from the following verses:
[...]
nothing remains from that time
the peace of placid days
and long nights
poisoned arrows
dwell in the hearts of the living
the time of remembering is finished
tomorrow i’ll weep
the things i should have wept today
Ana Paula Tavares
GLOSSARY
alea jacta, petroleum est—Latin: “there’s no going back, petroleum it is.” The first clause is attributed to Julius Caesar while crossing the Rubicon River.
azulejo—Glazed blue ceramic Portuguese tile.
Bastos, Waldemar—Angolan singer (b. 1954). His music mixes African, Brazilian, and Portuguese influences.
bassula—Ancient Angolan martial art, or a blow from this martial art designed to knock down an opponent.
batucada—The sound of a festival, including that made by both music and people.
Burity, Carlos—Popular Angolan singer (b. 1952), known for his traditionally inflected semba.
cachupa—Traditional dish from the Cape Verde Islands, made of ground corn or refried black beans stuffed with meat or fish, cassava, banana, and baked vegetables.
Camões, Luís Vaz de—(1524–1580). Classical Portuguese poet.
Chokwe—Bantu language spoken in eastern Angola.
candonga, candongueiro—Minivan running on a regular route to provide cheap urban transport, or the driver or owner of such a van.
Cuando Cubango—Province in Southern Angola. It contains the hamlet of Cuito Cuanavale where, between September 1987 and March 1988, MPLA and Cuban troops on one side and South African and UNITA troops on the other fought the largest battle in Africa since the Second World War. The South African Defence Force’s failure to capture Cuito Cuanavale is seen as an historic turning point whose consequences included international recognition of independent Angola’s borders, the independence of Namibia, Cuba’s withdrawal from Africa, and the fall of the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Dido, Adolfo—Narrator of Ondjaki’s novel Quantas madrugadas tem a noite “How Many Dawns Has the Night” (2004), not yet available in English. His name is an obscene pun.
Dos Santos, José Eduardo—President of Angola from 1979 to 2017.
FAPLA—People’s Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola. The name given to the army of Angola’s MPLA government from 1975 to 1991.
Flores, Paulo—One of Angola’s best-known contemporary singers (b. 1972). His songs address the difficulties of life in Angola.
fogope—An instruction to grab your partner when dancing.
Globo—Full name “Rede Globo” (Globo Network). Private television network, based in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and widely viewed in Portuguese-speaking countries.
japie—Derogatory term for a (usually white) South African.
Kassav’—French West Indian band formed in Paris in 1979; musically influential in Africa.
Kianda—Goddess of the sea in the mythology of the Kimbundu people who originally inhabited the area around Luanda.
Kifangondo—Decisive battle, fought on November 10, 1975, which secured Angolan independence. MPLA forces, with Cuban support, severely defeated Holden Roberto’s Western-backed FNLA (Angolan National Liberation Front), which was aided by South African, Zairean, and Portuguese troops.
Kikongo—Bantu language spoken in the Republic of Congo and in northern Angola.
Kimbundu—Bantu language traditionally spoken in the area around Luanda. Though many urban young people of Kimbundu heritage speak only Portuguese, Kimbundu words are prominent in Luandan slang.
kitaba—A paste made from roasted peanuts.
kizaca—A dish, which often includes seafood, made from soaked, cooked, and seasoned cassava leaves.
kizomba—A popular Angolan dance.
komba—Traditional religious ritual, performed seven days after an individual’s death, in which the deceased’s favourite drinks and foods are consumed.
Kumuezo, Elias Dia—Angolan semba singer (b. 1936). Singing in both Portuguese and Kimbundu, he was dubbed the “King of Angolan Music” in the 1960s.
kwanza—National currency of Angola.
maka—Problem, dilemma.
Marginal—Scenic waterfront boulevard that separates downtown Luanda from Luanda Bay.
Mingas, Ruy—Popular Angolan singer (b. 1939), who was also a distinguished athlete and government official.
MPLA—People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola. Angola’s ruling party since independence in 1975.
muzonguê—A fish soup prepared with palm oil.
mufete—A dish typical of Luanda Island, consisting of grilled fish, brown beans cooked in palm oil, sweet potatoes, manioc, plantains, manioc flour, and a sauce made of onions, vinegar, red pepper, and salt.
musseque—A poor neighbourhood, generally far from the city centre, distinguished by informally constructed housing and dirt roads.
Neto, Agostinho—First President of Angola, from independence in 1975 until his death in 1979.
Nga—Popular abbreviation for “senhora.”
ngana zambi—Abbreviated Kimbundu form of “god the father.”
Nocal—Popular Angolan beer.
November 11, 1975—Angolan independence day.
Paraguaçu, Odorico—Comic character on Brazilian television. He is the mayor of a remote town called Sucupira.
Rosa, João Guimarães—(1908–1967). Brazilian writer of fiction. His best-known short story is “The Third Bank of the River.”
quitetas—A type of edible shellfish.
RTP—Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. Public Portuguese television station, widely viewed in Lusophone Africa.
Sucupira—See “Odorico Paraguaçu” above.
tuga—Derogatory term for someone from Portugal.
Umbundu—The most widely spoken Bantu language in Angola; traditionally, the language spoken by the Ovimbundu people of the central highlands.
UNITA—National Union for the Total Independence of Angola. Anti-MPLA movement led by Jonas Savimbi until his death in combat in 2002; from the mid-1970s until the early 1990s, UNITA was supported by the United States and South Africa.
AckNOWLEDGEMENTS
thanks to manuel rui who one day passed along the true tale of a child who had invented that colour: “lazy red”;
i thank the patience, revisions, and words of:
r. figueredo, l. apa, z. coelho, i. garcez, a. murano, e. coelho, j. campino;
these pages were written and experienced with the music of wim mertens, paulo flores, cat power, joaquin sabina, keith jarrett, ruy mingas, antony and the johnsons, thomas feiner & anywhen, lavoura arcaica soundtrack, sigur rós, lhasa, bon iver, beethoven, mozart, among others.
michel laban diá kimuezo: from Luuanda we embrace you.
Luanda, Lubango, Lisbon /2001/2009/2012/ Laranjeiras, Luanda
ABOUT THE TRANSLATOR
Stephen Henighan’s previous translations include Ondjaki’s Good Morning Comrades and Granma Nineteen and the Soviet’s Secret. He is the author of five novels, including The Path of the Jaguar (2016) and Mr. Singh Among the Fugitives (2017), as well as four short story collections, most recently Blue River and Red Earth (2018). Henighan has been a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Canada Prize in the Humanities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Ondjaki was born in Luanda, Angola in 1977. He is the author of five novels, four short-story collections, and numerous books of poems and stories for children. He has also made a documentary film, May Cherries Grow, about his native city. His books have been translated into more than a dozen languages.
In 2008 Ondjaki was awarded the Grinzane for Africa Prize in the category of Best Young Writer. In 2012 The Guardian named him one of its “Top Five African Writers.” Transpar-ent City won the 2013 José Saramago Prize in Portugal, and, in France, the 2015 Prix Trans-fuge for Best African Novel and a 2016 Prix Littérature-Monde from the St. Malo World Literature Festival.