Uncertain Tastes by Jon Holtzman

Author:Jon Holtzman
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780520944824
Publisher: University of California Press

THE CALABASH(ES) OF MBARAN

Mbaran, the milk a wife reserves for her husband while he is away on travel, is an archetypal example that simultaneously encompasses the visible aspects of nkanyit, the fear of malice that lies just below the surface of selfless generosity, and the strategies employed to avoid ill will and supernatural harm. On the surface, mbaran appears to epitomize duty, selflessness, commensality, and good will. Elders are entitled to their daily share of milk, even if they are not able to drink it because they are not home. Consequently, a wife should dutifully ensure that his share of milk remains intact, putting it aside in a special calabash to await his return. His wife ensures that he is not denied his due share simply because he is absent, while he ends up with a large quantity of curdled milk, which he may generously share with his friends and neighbors when they come to hear the news he has collected on his journey.

Yet—although the sharing of this milk is generous, and is construed as generosity—the fact that men share this milk with others cannot be understood merely in reference to the value of altruism and sharing. Most men genuinely fear this milk. They are very reticent to drink it, such that only rare loners drink mbaran alone, and many do not drink it at all. If no friends or neighbors come to see him shortly after his arrival, he may give some or all of the milk to his children, and if neighbors do come, he may simply give it to them to drink without partaking of it himself.

Men’s concerns center on the fear that the milk is not safe for them to drink. It may become harmful in several ways. Rarely, a man may fear that his wife has somehow poisoned it in his absence. More commonly, however, the fear centers on the possibility that a hungry person has been denied food while mbaran was sitting in the house. An age mate might have, for instance, slept in the house while they were away and, touching the calabash, found that there was milk that he was denied. By touching the calabash under these circumstances, the milk could become cursed to its owner. As Leyopoko, a Kimaniki senior elder, notes, “You know, an elder cannot put that milk in his mouth . . . because there is one problem. Maybe there are men who came, and they saw that calabash with milk. Then they whispered to themselves, ‘This elder’s calabash is ours, and she has not given it to us.’ So the elder won’t drink it when he comes. He just waits for the cows to return in the evening and drinks fresh milk.” Similarly, Lekupano, a junior elder, explains:

It might be that while you were away a visitor came and slept here. Maybe he was given just a little food, that wasn’t enough for him. He is hungry, and he touches that mbaran, and just leaves it the way it was.

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