Salute to the elephant

Salute to the elephant

1.     O elephant, possessor of a savings-basket full of money

2.     O elephant, huge as a hill, even in a crouching posture.

3.     O elephant, enfolded by honour; demon, flapping fans of war.

4.     Demon who snaps tree branches into many pieces and moves on to the forest farm.

5.     O elephant, who ignores “I have fled to my father for refuge”,

6.     Let alone “to my mother”.

7.     Mountainous Animal, Huge Beast who tears a man like a garment

8.     And hangs him up on a tree.

9.     The sight of whom causes people to stampede towards a hill of safety.

10. My chant is a salute to the elephant.

11. Ajanaku who walks with a heavy tread.

12. Demon who swallows palm-fruit bunches whole, even with the spiky pistil-cells.

13. O elephant, praise named Laaye, massive animal, blackish-grey in complexion.

14. O elephant, who single-handed causes a tremor in a dense tropical forest.

15. O elephant, who stands sturdy and alert, who walks slowly as if reluctandy.

16. O elephant, whom one sees and points towards with all one’s fingers.

17. The hunter’s boast at home is not repeated when he really meets the elephant.

18. The hunter’s boast at home is not repeated before the elephant.

19. Ajanaku looks back with difficulty like a person suffering from a sprained neck.

20. The elephant has a porter’s-knot without having any load on his head.

21. The elephant’s head is his burden which he balances.

22. O elephant, praise named Laaye, “O death, please stop following me”

23. This is part and parcel of the elephant’s appellation.

24. If you wish to know the elephant, the elephant who is a veritable ferry-man.

25. The elephant whom honour matches, the elephant who continually swings his trunk,

26. His upper fly-switch,

27. It’s the elephant whose eyes are veritable water-jars.

28. O elephant, the vagrant par excellence,

29. Whose molar teeth are as wide as palm-oil pits in Ijesaland.

30. O elephant, lord of the forest, respectfully called Oriiribobo

31. O elephant whose teeth are like shafts.

32. One tooth of his is a porter’s load, O elephant fondly called Otiko

33. Who has a beast-of-burden’s proper neck.

34. O elephant, whom the hunter sometimes sees face to face.

35. O elephant, whom the hunter at other times sees from the rear.

36. Beast who carries mortars and yet walks with a swaggering gait.

Primeval leper, animal treading ponderously.

(trans. A. Babalola)

Notes

line 3 demon, flapping fans of war The metaphors here refer to the elephant’s destructive nature and its huge ears that indeed look like fans.

line 11 Ajanaku (which literally means “killer of Ajana”) is an attributive name for the elephant. Legend has it that Ajana captured live animals and kept a sample of each species. One day he was trampled to death by the elephant which he had in his mini-zoo.

line 24 a veritable ferry-man The idea being stressed here is the elephant’s association with death. In ancient legend (and in classical legend also) the ferry-man conveyed bodies to the land of spirits.

line 30 Oriiribobo (also Otiko) Both a play on words and sound (onomatopaeia) referring to the size of the elephant.

line 37 Primeval leper A reference to the phalanges of the elephant which look like stumps, similar to limbs afflicted by leprosy. A mixture of awe and disgust is implied in the image.

Questions

1 One technique which the poet adopts to keep our attention is variety.

Discuss the various forms of variety in this poem.

2 What qualities of a praise-song does this poem possess?

Commentary

Ijala, the hunter’s chant is one of the most popular sequences in Yoruba oral literature. Apart from specific addresses to individual animals, these chants also treat other situations that may not seem to have any direct bearing on the hunter and his occupation. This poem is an Ijala chant addressed to the elephant. It deals in a comprehensive way with aspects of the animal stretching from its economic and physical properties, to its enormous and destructive qualities, to peoples’ reactions to it and the admiration and dread it inspires. Understandably, the emphasis is on the size of the animal and the amount of energy that is locked up in its frame. To bring out all these features the poem uses hyperbole and a series of similes, as well as personification and euphemism.  Chant, is one of the most popular sequences in Yoruba oral literature. Apart from specific addresses to individual animals, these chants also treat other situations that may not seem to have any direct bearing on the hunter and his occupation. This poem is an Ijala chant addressed to the elephant. It deals in a comprehensive way with aspects of the animal stretching from its economic and physical properties, to its enormous and destructive qualities, to peoples’ reactions to it and the admiration and dread it inspires. Understandably, the emphasis is on the size of the animal and the amount of energy that is locked up in its frame. To bring out all these features the poem uses hyperbole and a series of similes, as well as personification and euphemism.