Newspaper Page Text
Page 6
TH E MAROON T I G E R
Varieties
A DREAM
By L. Raymond Bailey, ’34
The Story So Far: 1’he Morehouse faculty on a tour
of Africa to dispell the fog of ignorance has invaded
Cannibal territory. Their delegation has just been re
ceived by the natives.
* * -»
At length, night came on and the guests were escorted
with much ceremony to their sleeping quarters. But
there was evil in the air, for only a short distance away
three sinister characters were squatted around a stump
engaged in a discussion of considerable gravity—one
that held no good for our exponents of education. Sit
ting with his face towards his two companions was the
Chief of the tribe, a savage of giant size, his long, sin
ewy arms folded across his gorilla-like chest, his pow r -
erful legs folded under him, his head-gear erect, and an
expression on his blunt face that could not have been
more hideous had it been made to order. For the mo
ment, he remained perfectly motionless, bis penetrating
eyes staring into the darkness. One would have thought
him to be the agent of Lucifer. Presently, his thick
lips parted and out flowed gutteral sounds that would
have frozen the Professors in horor had they been within
hearing distance.
“Yes, I think we re going to have a swell feast, even
though the prospects do strike us as being pretty tough.”
he remarked.
The second member of the group spoke next. This
one was tall, skinny, evil-eyed, witchdoctor. “Well, what
about some good ole Harvey hash, or some roast Na-
brit for a starter?”
“Kinda think some delicious Tillman-on-toast would
beat that”, suggested the third member of the group, who
was exceedingly short and greasy individual of highly
exaggerated proportions. He Avas easily as broad East
and West as he was North and South, and judging from
his accompanying odor one would conclude that he was
none other than the royal chef.
“A nice fried Eagleson would go swell, too”, added
the doctor.
“Then we could have Whiting-a-ala-king for tea and
Rambeau soup for supper, and by using a couple of gal
lons of concentrated nitric acid we could boil Lewis
down near the neighborhood of tender,” ventured the
chef.
“Say! we’ve missed the best of all suggestions” the
witchdoctor interrupted, “I plum forgot that good old
Archer Stew would go over with a bang.”
This time the royal chef reached for his testing fork
and looking regretfully at the badly bent and blunted
prongs, shook his head and sighed disdainfully. “No
use, doc, that bird is just too tough for words. Why
I gave that guy a little preliminary testing on what 1
thought was his tenderest spot—now take a look at my
best testing fork—s’no use. All the acid in Africa
wouldn’t scratch him.”
Scarcely had the chef finished speaking when the
group was interrupted by the appearance of a guard,
(See Next Page)
WHAT'S WHAT IN THE AFRICAN
JUNGLES
Bv B. J. Mukasa, '35
One day a student asked me if it took nine months
for a child to be born in Africa. Another tried to prove
to me that he could get to Africa without crossing the
water anywhere. His plan was to go to Cuba first.
Since his Cuba was on the mainland of the United
States and bis Africa only a few miles from there, he
felt certain that a few strides on the intervening islands
would land him on the Congo. Still onother student
carried on an interesting conversation with me on the
location of Africa. He asked me where my home is.
Wishing to play a little trick on him, 1 told him that
my home is a large island bounded by the Indian Ocean
on the East, the Atlantic on the West, the Mediterranean
on tin? North, and the Red Sea on the northeast, and by
both the Indian and Atlantic Oceans on the South. We
spent about ten minutes trying to find out tile where
abouts of such an island, hie suggested Canada. Hawaii,
Texas, and certain islands in the West Indies.
I did enjoy those experiences because through them
I was brought into ( loser contact with one of the most
fundamental human characteristics—that of sameness.
African children believe that an European or American
will eat them: Europeans and Americans are of the opin
ion that Africans are cannibals. While cross the At
lantic, I met a young American Negro who was afraid
to speak to me because be thought I would eat him up.
With the exception of “Africa is a continent”, I think
it is not an easy task for any one to write any sentence
that would be acceptable in every corner of that con
tinent. Africa as a continent is composed of various
countries, peoples, and languages. When some limes
people ask me if I know their friends in Liberia, or
Morocco, I simply give a negative answer with a smile.
“How far were you from the jungles?” is almost
the first question that an American student asks an Afri
can student. Personally, I do not quite understand what
they mean by the word “jungle.” According to our
meaning, I should not hesitate to observe that when I
came on the train from New York to Atlanta, I came
through the jungle.
Any country in Africa can be roughly divided into
two sections, the cultivated and the uncultivated. It
is usually in the latter, and rarely if ever, in the former
that the nucleus of all missionary-imported stories on
Africa is conferred. Here the lion and the cannibal rule,
the witchdoctor and the rainmaker use a little of their
common sense, and the snakes and insects exercise fear
on human beings.
Biologically speaking, Africa is monopolized by the
animal kingdom. The plant kingdom furnishes the beauty
that probably surpasses that of any other continent. Nor
does man lay claim over all the land; bis jurisdiction
is somewhat limited. The lion, being the recognized
leader of the wild animals, shares the opportunity of
running the country with man. However, one does not
meet the lion whereever he goes. It is said that the
lion will not bother one if he is not hungry. While go-
(See Next Page)