The Person  Extract from Chapter 8 Mtondo is a word used in The Valley for a penis, so when you hear of a tree that is known as the mtondo tree, then you know there is a good story attached to it. Also known as the Sausage Tree, it is an ordinary broad-leafed tree of medium stature that bears a fruit resembling a giant sausage or – as the Zambians so accurately observed – a giant mtondo. Although what is giant in western society is normal in African society, so you can imagine the size of the fruit. Valley tradition has it that a man who desires a giant mtondo should visit a person with powers and ability to connect with the spirit realm and make his request. The spirit-person – after consulting the spirits of the ancestors and receiving guidance – then finds the right tree, with the correct young and small mtondo, which he marks before extracting some juice from it. |
|
