God's Bits of Wood by Sembène Ousmane

Author:Sembène Ousmane [Ousmane, Sembène]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781837930470
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

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When the guard knocked on the door of the office, the chief of police and the constabulary officer glanced at each other in relief, and they both called, ‘Come in,’ at the same time.

Followed by El Hadji Mabigué and his two attendants, the Imam came into the room at the same slow and dignified pace he had used to cross the square. ‘Assalamou aleïkoum,’ he said, and then, holding out his hand to the two white men, he added in French, ‘Good morning, gentlemen.’

‘Ismaïla, draw up the chairs,’ the chief of police ordered.

The Imam sat down. ‘Ramatoulaye, sit down, too. I want to speak to you.’ And since Ramatoulaye remained standing, her gaze fixed on the figure of her brother, he went on irritably. ‘Woman, you are pigheaded and stubborn, and it is going to get you into trouble. You have drawn the anger of the toubabs down on you, which causes trouble for all of us, and you have even involved me and my position. You know that I was a friend of your father’s, and that I am a friend of your brother. You come from a noble and honorable family – I have told the mayor that – but your conduct is unworthy of an honorable woman.’ He had been speaking in Ouolof and switched abruptly to French, addressing the chief of police. ‘She is not really wicked, but just a little simple-minded. Her brother has withdrawn his complaint, and I have had a talk with the mayor about it. The people who are really responsible for all this are the Communists who are behind the strike – white men, so I am told. You should do everything you can to hunt them out. For my part, I plan to preach a sermon on the subject to the entire community next Friday.’

The chief of police leaned back in his chair. ‘If the complaint has been withdrawn, she is free to go,’ he said.

‘Not so quickly. I still want to teach her a lesson and make her ask her brother’s pardon; so pretend that you are not satisfied yet. That will frighten her.’

The Imam turned back to Ramatoulaye and said in Ouolof, ‘The chief of police has agreed that you may return home, but not until you have asked forgiveness of your brother, who has been kind enough to withdraw his complaint and promised that you will cause no more trouble.’

Ramatoulaye bit down hard on her tongue, in an effort to hold back the words that came to her lips, and remained motionless and silent. It was a direct affront to the Imam, in front of the white men, but in spite of his anger he tried to keep his voice on an easy level. ‘We are waiting, Ramatoulaye. I am well aware of your pride, and I promise you before God, who sees and hears everything we do, that not a word of what you say will leave this room.’

The chief of police spoke to the interpreter. ‘Tell her that as soon as she asks his pardon she can go.

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