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And so it was that, after leaving my fellows in Deka Valley, I crossed the Northern Dry Mountains, where the ridge meets the Maragor Sea. I entered the eastern part of Suru, which is the land that lies on the shore of the salty Lake Soddo. It was the land of Daded*, who were our relatives as well, speaking the same language and practicing the same customs.

I was received and accepted as a friendly guest. We had a fine feast, and the youth performed a good ritual dance. They asked me why I was roaming in their lands, and I told them of my encounter with the pale man and the favor that he had asked of me.

Soon southern storms hit the lands – a little earlier than usual – and I had to spend several weeks in their settlement, and in that time I heard many interesting tales. Then, when the storm ended and I was going away, one of the Elders suddenly asked me,

“Where are you going now though?ˮ

“I am heading west,ˮ I said. The Elder patted his beard, as others stood with frowning faces.

“In that case,ˮ the Elder then said, “I shall tell you one last story of caution. Listen well.ˮ

And he told it, and it went like this.

Once a hunter had been striding across the hills. A fraudulent spirit muddied his tracks and led him astray. Lost and confused, he'd wandered plains and hills for many days, unable to find his tribe. He was desperate, when one day, eventually, he met another hunter, whose name was Haamide**; he led the Hunter to his own tribe and offered him hospitality.

Those were westerners, as the Hunter figured it. His own tribe was wary of them, but to him, they were very kind and generous. They accepted him, fed him, and gave him water. The Hunter spent a night in their settlement and was going to go on searching for his people, but the Haamide dissuaded him.

“These are nasty dry winter days,ˮ he said, “you will get into a sandstorm and die, or get caught by a hungry predator. Why would you go there? Stay here, enjoy our hospitality, in the meantime, maybe your people will come into sight. Wallawa-ma, this is for the good!ˮ they would finish.

The Hunter got surprised and a little confused. It wasn't in the customs of his people to show such civility. Still, he agreed to stay and spent four days in the settlement.

On the fifth day, he thanked his hosts and was looking to leave again, but Haamide and his people dissuaded him. “It's not yet clear on the horizon,ˮ they said, “there may come northern deadly winds and catch you on your way. What if you don't find shelter? Wallawa-ma! Stay with us.ˮ The Hunter considered and concluded, that they were right. He stayed in the tribe for eight more days, and those were very good days indeed.

On the ninth day, he thanked his now-allies and was looking to leave, but the people dissuaded him. “It's already spring solstice,ˮ they'd say. “Soon southern storms will come with downpours and sky fires. What will you do, if you get caught in one of those, with nowhere to hide and nobody around to help you? Stay with us, you're our friend now, you're our ally. Wallawa-ma!ˮ The Hunter concluded that that was reasonable and stayed again.

He stayed for 16 days, after which the spring storms did come, and then he stayed for 32 days more. On the thirty-third day the storms ended, and he thanked his now-friends and was looking to leave, but the Elders approached him and proposed that he marry Haamide’s daughter, for she grew fond of him and was looking to marry him. “It is in our customs,ˮ the Elders said, “that a man obliges with the choice of a woman, and the woman chose you! Wallawa-ma!ˮ

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The hunter was astonished at this. He took time to think until the night, and the next morning he accepted the proposition. He took Haamide’s daughter as his wife, and there was a huge celebration followed by a feast, and much meat was eaten, and many dances were performed, and many presents were given to the newlyweds.

Then the tribe moved to their summer camp, and the Hunter moved with them. He spent sixty-four days with his wife in the tribe that was now his family. On the sixty-fifth day, a party of Hunters returned to the settlement carrying a wounded hunter. The man looked at him closely and realized that he was a man from his own tribe. The man was attended to and healed, and when he was fully able, the two fellow men went to Hunter's home tribe. But the Hunter then returned back to the friendly tribe who took them, for his wife was there, and many of his fellows were now there.

He lived happily with his new family, and the family was happy having him – Wallawa-ma! And his wife got pregnant with his child, and that was a great joy for everybody. Wallawa-ma!

Then the winter solstice came. The Hunter was sleeping in peace in his par***. A nightmare occurred to him, in which he saw his new family crawl up to him and tie his feet and his hands, and plug his mouth with a rug. It was a nasty dream, and he woke up quickly, in a cold sweat, and wanted to go to Elders and ask what could be the meaning of this. But he couldn't go and he couldn't move, for his feet were tied, and his hands were tied, and in his mouth, there was a big roll of rags, and he was also utterly naked.

He was astonished. He thought it was still a dream, but the curtain in the doorway moved to the side, and his wife entered the par with a bowl of water. She approached him, and she washed him, and she would say, “Rejoice, my husband, Wallawa-ma!ˮ And she was very happy. When she was finished, his friends entered, and they would say, “Rejoice, our brother, wallawa-ma!ˮ And they were very happy too, and they patted him tenderly, and nodded approvingly when the Hunter tried to release himself.

And then the shaman entered the par and performed a rite that the Hunter had never seen. And all the people sang a song that he had never heard them sing, in a language that he was not familiar with. His friends then lifted him and put a rod through his tied hands and through his tied feet, and carried him outside. There, the whole tribe stood, joyful, happy, and his pregnant wife was there too, as well as Haamide himself – they were all joyful and they were all singing the song.

He was carried to a place he was never shown. It was a sanctuary between two rocks, at the beginning of a ravine. A stack of wood was ready there, and the Hunter lost his heart when he saw it, for he knew immediately what it meant.

The tribe brought him up and mounted the rod onto the pyre, his head down, and his legs up. He saw them sing and dance, and the shaman then performed a Ritual Of Sacrifice. He was chanting, “Wallawa-ma, wallawa-ma, this is for the best! We are safe this season, we are safe! ˮ The Hunter was trying to cry, but the rags in his mouth would not let him; he tried to escape, but the binds held him. He begged the spirits to spare his life, to let him go, but the spirits were not on his side here. After the rite was over, the shaman took a torch from the hand of Haamide and lit the wood.

His was burnt in honor of the Fiery Antelope, and the tribe that fostered him was dancing around the fire until it faded. The ashes then were spread over the land with prayers to the Antelope, that it accept this sacrifice and not do harm to the tribe in winter, and not cause fires in the savanna, and not drive the animals away.

“So,ˮ the Elder then said to me, “if you ever hear a man in the west say, 'Wallawa-ma!', know: these are not your friends, nor your allies! Run from them, run as fast as you can, beat them if they outflank you, bite them if they catch you, kill them if they drag you. Do not spare the lives of those people, and do not allow them to throw you into the fire for a fraudulent spirit. Now go well and be well!ˮ

I heeded the advice of the Elder and went out to the west.

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* - /daˈdɛd/

** - /haːˈmidɛ/

*** - /par/ - Local type of clay house.