Red Ants by Pergentino José

Author:Pergentino José
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Deep Vellum Publishing
Published: 2020-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Dry Branch

A PAIR OF BODIES DANCED naked across the dais. It was the dance for the autumn full moon, always held in the village to invoke the spirit of the mbxü tü bird. For hours they danced for this bird-god, weathering the cold of evening, punishing the soles of their feet until they could no longer stand. The dais, situated in the moonlit heart of the forest, was made of stone, and the priests took turns listening out for the song of the mbxü tü.

The dance began when the sun had set completely, and the moon became visible. The pair of dancers would mimic the movements of hunters and contort themselves to resemble trees.

And the mbxü tü bird did sing that night. The dance was immediately called to a halt. According to the high priest there had been whistling followed by some birdsong that he said sounded like a snapping branch. The dancers were placed inside a bamboo cage, which was then wheeled to one of the palace’s inner courtyards, and a priest said the pair would be kept there until the following day when they were to be taken to the river and thrown into the rapids. Now the dancers were afraid. Both succeeded in getting out of the cage but only the man escaped: by jumping from a window, he was able to climb away through the treetops.

The bird did not sing again. The high priest, who wore a robe of woven feathers, gave an order for the bronze gong on the watchtower to be sounded. He went over to the small stone altar, in which the clay urn of sacred swamp water was kept. Splashing his brow, he said a short prayer to the mbxü tü bird:

“With your song tonight, you show that you remember us. You have not forsaken us. We pray that you put an end to the sickness that has taken so many of our men from us.”

As the gong rang out across the mountain, notifying the locals, the head priest entered a trance state. He boarded up the door to the altar, opened one of the temple windows, and began intoning prayers to the forest and water spirits.

But the priest allowed curiosity to get the better of him: he decided to look at the bird. Dousing the altar fire, he put his eye up to a crack in the cane door: in the moonlight the bird was pecking at the ground around the stone dais. The rest of the priests waited in a temple passageway for the high priest to complete his interpretation of the song. It occurred to none of them that he might break with ceremonial protocol and try to look directly upon the bird.

It began beating its enormous wings. In the bright moonlight the priest saw that it had two heads, signaling the union of the gods of light and darkness. Then the bird sensed that it was being watched. With a harsh, high-pitched call it beat its wings and flew at its beholder, knocking down the door and pecking and tearing at the priest’s skin.

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