This poem is an allegory in which trees play the roles of Women from Lamu who have some misunderstandings. It is an oral tradition translated by Joseph Mbele from swahili.
Jana niwene kisa adhimu
Yesterday I witnessed a notable episode
tena tafusirini walimu
And will you, the experts, explain it;
Miti ya li kipijana mtende tina mdimu
Trees were fighting, the date-palm and the lime tree
Hima ukaya mbiyo mpwera
Promptly the guava tree came running,
Nyuma muembe una hasira
And close behind it the furious mango tree,
Mzabibu ukisema kunyamaa ni ujura
While the grapevine declared: 'Passivity is stupidity.'
Mara ukadhihiri mtesi
Suddenly the mtesi* appeared
sura zina ushi una kasi
Its face full of impatience and intensity
Ukiwambiya mpwera kwetu hakuna rakhisi
And it told the guava tree, 'With us there is no easy way.'
Papo ukaya mpili pili
There and then came the pepper plant
Hapo ukinena kwa ukali
And it was speaking angrily
Ukiapa kwa ziyapo miti pia siijali
And swearing with oaths: 'I don't give a damn for trees!'
Punde wasiyesa kani zao
Before their fury was spent,
Nde wawene mti uyao
They saw, outside, a tree coming,
Nao ni mberemende una panga na ngao
And it was the mberemende**, armed with sword and shield:
Zita hatuchi twapo uwawa
'War we fear not, though we get killed,
Uta na zembe tume tukuwa
For with bow and arrows we are armed.'
Mbuyu ulipopita uka simama kwa muwa
When the baobab tree passed by, it stopped to mediate
Hela watani yenu mayowe
'Come, now, cease your noisy squabbling;
tela bure asiwazuzuwe
Let not Tela confound you
Kuna mti unahila humshinda kitunguwe
There is a tree more cunning than Hare
Shina la mambo haya nayuwa
The stem of these things I know;
Sawa nimezi ye kutambuwa
Very well have I realized it.
Muyungu ndio fitina waloalisha mauwa
The pumpkin plant is the agitator that has called forth these blossoms.'
* The swahili believe mtesi is a branch/leaf which should never be brought to the house or conflicts will arise.
** No idea what that means
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