Folktales from the Kom Kingdom

By Ernest Timnge

African oral tradition, particularly in the Kom culture, constitutes the main backbone on which African literature is developed and built. African oral tradition is rich in performance. The most important thing about this tradition is that it does not only provide entertainment but also teaches important moral lessons.

The stories in African Folktales from Kom Kingdom are original and purely works of fiction. Some of the stories may be inspired by true-life experiences from the past, while others grew from the author’s colorful imagination. These are stories of forbidden love, royalty, forest gods, and more.

For this genre of literature to survive the pressure of the current modern age and progress to the next generation, stories must be recorded. Massive and aggressive efforts have been made by experts in African oral tradition to collect, transcribe, translate, and analyze this genre before it completely disappears from the world scene.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 9, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524694722

Ernest Timnge

Ernest Timnge was born and raised at Ikuijua-Ngwah, a typical rural African polygamous society in Kom, Boyo Division in the British Southern Cameroons. His elementary education was at the Presbyterian School Ngwah where he obtained the First School Leaving Certificate. His parents were not financially viable to sponsor him to go to a secondary school. Caregiving, especially baby-sitting, became his most cherished chore.

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African Folk Tales from

KOM KINGDOM

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Ernest Timnge

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© 2017 Ernest Timnge. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/06/2017

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9473-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9471-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-9472-2 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017908649

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Foreword

Preface

1 – The Controversial Throne

2 – There’s a leopard in my Farmhouse

3 – The Drama at the Funeral

4 – The King of the Jungle

5 – The Ghost in the Village

6 – The Prince Shot the Leopard

7 – The Mysterious Masquerades

8 – Across the Kom Country

9 – The Mysterious Stone

About the author

DEDICATION

T his book is dedicated first to the Almighty Father for the inspiration he has given me to be engaged in creative work. I also dedicate this book to the blessed memories of my father, my Mother and the other love ones who have left this world to the world beyond imagination. May their gentle souls rest in perfect peace.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to express my deepest gratitude to the following people: My Uncle, Professor Nelson Ngoh D.N of the University of Bridgeport, Connecticut USA, Dr. Gilda Fombang of the University of Bamenda, Cameroon, (Bo Muloin) Professor David Kini Chiabi of New Jersey City University, USA, Dr. Ngam Confidence Chia of the University of Bamenda, Cameroon, Professor Debra Harley of the University of Kentucky, USA, Mr. Abraham Huffman, Mr. Nicodemus Tosah, Gilbert Bangha and the Writing Center of the University of Kentucky for their valuable comments and constructive suggestions for any adjustments that have been made to the stories.

I would also like to acknowledge the following people; Dr. Ngoh Malvern, Dr. Ignatius Womei Song, Mr. Mike Ngong Tubuo, Jerry Ngoh, Ngoh Martha Masangle, Sister Petra Jua, Amos Mubang and family, Rachel Tah, the Nyambi family, The Kafain Mbeng family, Ndzi Kenneth Nkwain, Geraldine Mambo, Mumbe Linus Nges, Bertrand Fuango, Robert Fang, Marbel Kugoin Ilaih, Mayor Bernard Nenghabi Tosam, Suh Fru Felix and Tosam Carlson. Alembom Elvuchuo and Ngoh Philemon.

FOREWORD

E rnest Timnge is a product of the Department of African Literature, University of Yaounde1, Cameroon. His area of specialization is Oral African Literature/Tradition and coincidentally he carries a library of Kom Folklore in his brain. His early active participation in activities of its related fields (song and dance), propelled his interest to research into this area.This is a fascinating piece of work artfully woven on talking animals, human characters, royalty and mythical characters as it explains away the rationale behind the paranormal patterns of human/animal thinking and behavior. The stories and the tales, like all folktales, tell tales of supernatural activity that reveal both man and animal mind in an era when both were still getting into terms with the environment in which they found themselves.

The stories are all set in the Kom kingdom and in the Kom mindset of the age, yet the underlying messages are universal. African Folk Tales from Kom Kingdom contains much more to interest anyone with fascinations in the worlds of Folklore and even Mythology as it explores the mystical interrelations between humans and animals. Each story educates and entertains at the same time as each, in its own unique way, weaves itself around its buried moral lesson.African Folk Tales from Kom Kingdom is a successful transformation of the fast fading Folktale and the Short Story genres of Kom Literature from their hitherto oral phases into the written word for both present and succeeding generations.

***

2010: The Kom USA Annual Convention in Atlanta

The Convention MC had just announced that Mobuh, a juju masquerade was on its way to the performance arena. A distinguished voice, ushered in the juju. This voice combined with the music from the Mobuh gong and resonated through the hallway and into the airwaves above the audience….the ripe climate needed for a theatrical Mobuh performance was not only felt but seen. It takes an expert with a well-tuned voice to vocally embellish the age-old and heavily coded poetic verses of the Mobuh songs in a way that will infect and motivate Mobuh. It turned out that the expert behind that voice was nobody else but Ernest Timnge. I knew for sure, from the role he played in the cultural/traditional presentations that featured in the Convention and from the discussions I had with him that sooner or later something in the likes of African Folk Tales from Kom Kingdom will one day emerge.

Nicodemus Tosah

Columbus, Ohio, USA

PREFACE

A frican cultures, particularly the Kom oral tradition, culture and customs constitute the main backbone on which African oral literature is developed and built. African oral tradition/culture is rich in performance. The most important thing about oral literature/tradition is that it does not only provide entertainment but it brings out important moral lessons through its performances.

For this genre of literature to survive the pressure that has been imposed upon it by the current global age and then, progress to see the next generation, there has been massive and aggressive efforts made by different researchers and experts in African oral tradition to collect, transcribe, translate, analyze and document this genre before it completely disappears from the world scene.

As a student who went through a department of African literature, it is my responsibility and I am obliged to join the crusade of African writers engaged in documenting this genre of literature for the next generation to see. This is a major contribution to research and stories like the ones I have written will remain a working document for future students hoping to enroll in the department of African studies and literature anywhere.

The stories are very original and are purely works of fiction. Some of the stories are based on true life experiences about things that happened in the past. The characters in the stories are also fictional. I have fashioned the various characters with certain specific missions to accomplish. The names the characters in each story bear are fictional. Some names might coincide with real names, but bear in mind that it is just a coincidence. There are many moral lessons to be learned from the stories and that is why I have posed some pertinent questions at the end of each story to be answered by you my readers.

Before you start reading the stories, I would like you to bear in mind that literature does not exist in the vacuum. Literature is the result of real life situations and experiences. Coming from a region that respects traditional norms and values, it is the Kom culture with which I identify. The Kom culture is my identity card and I carry it everywhere I go. It is the culture in which I grew up in and have lived all my life. Narrating folk stories is my passion and I learned these stories when I was growing up in the countryside. Back in those days,