And Ra-Nyambia and all the people said that the judgment was just. So Ogondaga became Ogula’s slave.
And that’s the end of the story.
The African woman is not cynical enough to mean that the difference between a man and a goat is chiefly a matter of the skin. But the wild goat of the story reminds one inevitably of the ancient satyr, which was half man and half goat; which men also imitated in pagan festivals, covering themselves with goatskins, and singing and dancing. Hence the origin of the word tragedy, which means a goatsong, and which came to us by way of the Greek drama, which was developed from those early religious festivals.
The Fang have a variety of amusements to which they are devoted. They have many games. A few of these are always associated with gambling. But their chief and constant amusements are music, dancing and story-telling. Of music I have already said enough.
The tom-tom supplies the rhythm for dancing, but the melodies are vocal. The songs are solos with responsive chants sung in chorus. They dance with the whole body, setting in motion the limbs, head, shoulders, thighs and stomach. In many of their dances they simulate love-making or hunting, and the various animals they pursue. Sometimes the movements of the dance are very obscene. Among the women there are professional dancers; and these are nearly always women of low reputation. Men and women sometimes—not often—dance simultaneously, but never in couples, nor is there any physical contact between them. There are solitary dancers, men and women, who dance themselves into a frenzy, leaping into the air or whirling round and round until they fall in a swoon, or a trance, during which, or immediately upon recovering, they name persons who are guilty of witchcraft.
But no person is more popular among the Africans than a good story-teller. There are professional story-tellers whose performances correspond to those of the theatre among civilized people. One of these takes his place in the middle of the street with the whole population of the town sitting on the ground before him.
“Shall we tell a story?” he says.
“A story!” they respond in chorus.
“Then let us away!”
“Away!”