CHAPTER 14
The Meaning of Dreams
A year passed without a telling dream, and she no longer fretted at having another one. Two years passed, and her life was all about her family. Three years passed, she weaved baskets to sell in the markets and taught Ramona all about cultivation. Four years. Five. She all but forgot about the dreams until the first day of the year 371.
A Narite year was exactly three hundred and sixty days, making three seasons: Sun, Water and Wind, of four months each. A month had three weeks of ten days each. This meant that every last day of a year, the thirtieth day of the month of Tengo, would be a Burial Day. The Last Burial Day. People around the city held vigil, mourned out loud or in silence, for those that were buried on that day, for those that were buried throughout the year, and for the ending of the year.
The following sunrise, the first day of the month Ra, the beginning of the Sun Season and of the year, was imbued with song, laughter, indulgence. The women ululated over drumbeats, the girls danced in the markets. The young men colored their bodies in yellow streaks, stomping about the city, some of them in masks to scare and delight the children; and the older men gathered at corners to toast and chug thick mugs of wheatbeer or cornbeer or anything that could intoxicate them.
Nasomi had a lot of fun on that day. Eight-year-old Ramona came rushing to her as she dressed three chickens. “Mother, teach me how to dance like the people outside.” She took her mother’s hand and stubbornly tugged her outside the yard. A group of people, of all ages, were performing the Unification dance. It involved much stomping, the shaking of the shoulders and buttocks, moving about in loops.
Nasomi indulged Ramona, showing her the steps, encouraging her to express freely. She didn’t know at what moment they became the center of attention. The circle of people cheered them on, and a drummer came forward to beat an accompaniment to the dance. She and Ramona were sweating by the time they were done, and laughing so hard.
Back home, Ramona helped her smoke the chickens. Naena came with spices and potatoes. Naena and Nasomi took turns telling Ramona their childhood memories. Teeyana showed up, too, bringing with her small sacks of beef and pork. The yard was soon filled with the smells of roasted meats, wheatbeer and sweet juices for the young ones.
The feasting went well into the evening. Tambo bawled out a few songs and demanded each person do the same. They danced in alternating couples around a fire, let loose some live chickens to see who would catch one the quickest, and built towers of twigs to see who would build the tallest standing one.
When the children went to bed, the grownups watched the stars as they imbibed more wheatbeer. Each said their New Year wishes, what they wanted to see happen in the year.
“I think I will marry this year,” Naena said. “Ngabe has been throwing hints.” The others clapped their palms to supplicate to the Mara the fulfillment of the person’s wish.
“I wish to build a hundred houses for people,” Teeyana said. Clap clap clap.
“I wish to receive a moonstone ring from the king,” Tambo said. Clap clap clap.
Nasomi took a breath. What did she want? “I wish all the people in my life to be happy.” Like an unwanted visitor, the familiar tugging sensation crept up within her, intensifying with each subsequent clap.
When she and Tambo went to bed, she had a telling dream: a young girl, with her back to Nasomi, standing still in a moving throng, sang Going the Long Way. Nasomi walked toward the girl, whose voice grew to drown out the rest of the crowd noises. The girl turned, stopped singing when she looked at Nasomi, but the song rang in the air. No, she wasn’t looking at Nasomi. At someone who just walked by her. Nasomi awoke still hearing the words.
Her head spun, her body became heavy. But she didn’t want to go back to sleep. She sat up, placing her feet on the floor. She took big breaths to calm herself, kept her gaze to the floor to avoid seeing the walls crushing towards her.
“Nasomi?” Tambo woke up, touched her back. “Is anything the matter?”
“Nothing is the matter. I couldn’t sleep, that’s all.” She lay back in bed, facing him. She stroked his face until he closed his eyes and began to snore. She closed her eyes, too, promising herself that if she began to sleep, she would yank them open and stare at the ceiling.
But it was Meron who woke her up from a dreamless sleep in the morning. “We go! We go!” the boy yelled as he jumped up and down.
The sunlight was bright through the window, and dust motes danced in it. “Not until afternoon,” she told him. “You have to bath first. Today you must keep clean all the time or else we will leave you.”
“I’ll be clean!” He ran out, and she heard him wake Ramona up. “We’ll go see the kowasa, Mona! Wake up!”
In the afternoon, as the family neared the amphitheater, Meron got lost in the crowds. As Nasomi searched for him, she saw the girl from the dream. She drew closer, and the girl was singing Going the Long Way. Nasomi came even closer. The girl turned and ran into the arms of a woman coming from the side.
“Nasomi?” It was Tambo. He’d found Meron. He held Ramona’s arm as well. “Here he is.”
After all this time, Nasomi thought. The dreams have returned. Why?
Tambo flashed his rings to push through the mass of people. He paid two copper coins at the entrance, led his family through a turning corridor, up a zigzagging stairway and onto the fourth row of spectators. It had a good view of the arena and the royal balcony, where they could make out the forms of the king, the queen, and the young prince. The few times Nasomi had been to this ceremony, she never had such a good view.
Ramona and Meron were here for their first time. They were anxious to see the actual kowasa creatures. On the arena, a group of mummers in kowasa costumes danced to a continuous beating of drums and sang shrilly choruses. Some of them were dressed as warriors, chasing after the kowasa costumes with fire torches and spears.
“I want to be a warrior,” Meron said.
“You?” Ramona replied. “You can’t even kill a beetle. What makes you think you can fight a kowasa?”
“I can!”
“Can’t.”
“I can! I can! I can! Ahhggh!” He scowled at her.
“I would rather you had a trade,” Tambo said, picking Meron up putting him on his lap. “You’re a son of nobles, you must aim for a noble pursuit. Like architecture, gemstone trading, or accounting for the city’s treasury.”
“I want to learn how to write and become a scribe,” Ramona said. At eight, she was tall, dark and smooth, had Nasomi’s hairline and body form, and Tambo’s face and comportment. And her own sharp wit.
“That’s good, Mona,” Tambo said. “And you, Meron?”
“Treasure.”
“You mean treasury?”
“Treasury.”
“Good boy. Now, let me explain what is happening here. You see that one over there?” Tambo pointed to a tall dancer in the center of the arena. “That is Kanguya, the bravest of the warriors who had risen against the kowasa... Let me tell it from the beginning so you can understand:
“A long, long way south of here stretches a great desert that divides the continent. It is so vast we can place twenty thousand Naris there. It goes from east to west. Not all the way, mind you. In the west is a dense forest, and they say the great beasts, the inkanyamba, live there. The desert narrows somewhere in the middle, and people cross from here to Ao’Pan, and the Ao’Pan people come north. They call it the Gold Road. At the east end of the desert is a kingdom of mountains called God’s Teeth. I have so much to tell you about these other places, but let start with God’s Teeth…”
“I can tell him some,” Ramona said.
“Oh, that’s well. Go ahead, Ramona my princess. You’re a good storyteller.”
“Prepare to have bad dreams,” the girl said to Meron, grinning impishly.
“Father, she’s trying to scare me.”
“Mona, don’t scare your brother,” Nasomi said.
Ramona said, “I had bad dreams. It’s just the nature of these stories.” She grinned again. “God’s Teeth. It’s from there that the kowasa came. Over three hundred years ago, for reasons we don’t know. They emerged from the shadows of the mountains, flowing out in their thousands. They were headed here. They killed and destroyed whatever they could find in their way. Men, women.” She brought her face toward Meron when she said, “Children.” Meron flinched.
“Have you heard of the Kingdom of Bones?” Tambo cut in. “Even to this day, it lies desolate. The land is white with the crumbling bones of the people annihilated by the kowasa all those years ago. Micha, a neighbor to the Kingdom of Bones, has walls so high they reach the clouds, to shield its people from desert storms and from a possible kowasa return. The kowasa continued northwest, here. Many of our people died in the kowasa invasion. By then, we were scattered tribes feuding over little tufts of land, and we could hardly defend ourselves.
“Then a hero arose. Kanguya. A fearless warrior from the Baula tribe. He gave everyone courage when they saw how he fought against the kowasa. And you know, the kowasa in those days were big creatures. Taller than me, five or six times muscular. And a blue light flowed through their veins—”
Ramona cut in. “I can’t imagine how these adorable creatures were that big. That’s the part I fail to believe, because, you know, the telling of history tends to be exaggerated.”
Tambo seemed nonplussed for a moment. “Well, that’s how it is told, and the priests will swear by its truth and tell you that when the kowasa were defeated, they shrunk in size. Isn’t that so, Mother?”
“That’s what they say,” Nasomi said.
“Now, Kanguya gathered the tribes together, the supreme chiefs and clan chieftains. He wanted to create a united kingdom to defeat the kowasa, who had started building a wall of stone right where this amphitheater stands. They killed anyone who came within three miles of it. Some tribes refused and chose to flee north and east and west.” He nodded for Ramona to continue the tale.
“Only eight clans of four tribes chose to fight with him. Of the Somebo tribe were the Kepe, Ke’api, and Kara clans. The Indas were represented by the Madis and Jaad clans. Two Kaalko clans: Nyate and First Naki. First Naki is Mother’s clan, and Father is Kepe. And finally, there was the Ula clan itself, Kanguya’s people, as the rest of the bigger Baula tribe fled.”
Meron squinted at her. “Is she telling the truth, Father?”
Tambo laughed. “She is. Kanguya also convinced the mages, who were hermits living in the caves of Mount Lupili. People marveled at his sweet tongue and courage to make the mages join in his fight. That is why we have the Mage Council now. Many good things turned into our favor, including the courage of the warriors, the mages’ magic, and the abandonment of the former ineffectual gods to worship the Mara. The Mara are unknown in number or form. All we know is that they are many, they watch over us, they created everything, and they proclaim their presence and will through the stars that we see at night. That’s why we have priests: to guide us in reading the stars and to tell us the meaning of things.”
The meaning of things, Nasomi thought. She thought of the girl singing Going the Long Way. What do my dreams mean? she wondered.
“The kowasa were defeated, and the tribes came together as Nari, and we built this city,” Tambo was saying. “The few kowasa that remained were caged, to be used as reminders of our victory. They are bred and kept beneath this amphitheater. Every second day of the year, the newly trained warriors are pitted against the kowasa. To remind us of our history, and to train the warriors into true courage.”
The singing girl — was it a warning of something to come? Nasomi was deep in her thoughts even as the important event began on the arena: a score of young warriors ran onto the sand, cheered by the crowd.
The real kowasa were let loose upon the warriors. They looked less menacing than the actors in costumes. They were midnight-blue dwarf creatures that ambulated on all fours. Their front limbs were longer than their hind ones. Nasomi knew that they could stand on two limbs sometimes, and could swing their long-clawed front limbs dangerously. They possessed two thin tentacles on each side of their thick necks. The tentacles seemed to do nothing but wag in the air. Their heads were rather small, the shape of angry dogs. With large circular eyes the color of water, no visible ears, and thick nostrils.
The warriors speared and cut down the kowasa with little effort. Ramona groaned and placed her hands over her eyes. The kowasa organized themselves into curving rows of defense. In fives or sevens. They defended themselves well, even brought down two of the warriors. But they were all but helpless against the spears.
“Mother,” Ramona said. “I don’t want to see anymore. I want to go home.”
“Me neither,” Nasomi said.
“Why are we cruel to them?”
Tambo answered, “They look small and harmless right now, but they can be dangerous creatures.”
“I don’t think I will ever want to see that again. Can we go?”
“I’m hungry,” Meron said.
They got up and made their way out of the amphitheater. As they rode home in a carriage, Nasomi said, “I will go and see Gres, our marriage priest.”
“Indeed?” Tambo said. “That old man. It’s been some years since we saw him. Why?”
“I must ask him a few questions. About dreams.”
He looked at her. “You’ve had some?”
She shook her head. “A short one. I’m just curious to find out what he has to say.”
“I’m coming along,” Ramona said.
“Me, too,” Meron said, not to be left behind.
“I’ll prepare a great meal,” Tambo said. “You must all come with your best hunger.”
They dropped him at home, and Nasomi directed the carriage driver through the dusty, narrow streets of Kowasa District. Gres still lived at the same house where Nasomi had prepared for her wedding. He looked the same: a cheerful thin old man.
He held out both hands when he came to meet them. “I have conducted many marriages, and I’ve forgotten many faces. But yours I can never forget. Welcome, welcome.” He lifted Meron, who stared at his large nose. “And what lovely children you have!”
“Thank you, Gres-wame. I came to seek your counsel.”
“I am always here for you. I hope all is well in your marriage.” He gestured her to a stool that seemed to have been there for such an occasion. A priest’s home was open.
“Everything is fine. I came to ask about the meaning of dreams.” She sat. Ramona and Meron explored the yard in search of play.
“Ah, dreams,” Gres said. “Dreams are one way the Mara speak with us. It is through dreams they reveal their true nature, as well as our own. Like an astrolabe and a mirror in one. Did you know it was through dreams that priests over the years discovered the Tumina, who are the antithesis of the Mara? Some say they are stars that we cannot see either in day or night. While we think they try to undo the work of the Mara, when you learn deeply, you find they bring balance to everything. Like when something of equal weight would balance a scale. They try to hide what the Mara reveal, they take what the Mara give, they corrupt what the Mara bless. The Tumina—See now, I have digressed. What did you want to know about dreams?”
“I have been thinking about dreams. Some are forgotten upon waking, some linger with you a few moments after waking. Other dreams you cannot forget after many years. It’s made me conclude that some dreams have meaning, some don’t. Some are scary and are only there to wake you up screaming at night, but some — they tell us about what’s coming ahead.”
“I’m astounded. Not many people think about the subject of dreams. They leave the propounding of their mysteriousness to us priests. It is through dreams that we have discovered much truth over the years, for the Mara have given us the ability to dream, and also what to dream. In sleep, you are naked. Not in body, but in the soul. Bereft of all burdens of the mind, stripped of the story you tell yourself of who you are. Dreams will not hide the truth. You see the true colors of everything, hear the voices of the Mara, touch the fabric of the universe. You experience life with senses you tend to shut off when awake. Dreams remind us we are more than we like to believe.”
“If I have a dream that shows what will happen two days or two years from now, does it mean that, no matter what, my life is already decided? That whether I try or not, things will happen exactly as revealed? That I have no self-will to change anything? That I can only wait for things to happen?”
Gres scratched his chin. “I know how many people would give anything for such an ability. To know what would happen tomorrow? It beats this plodding-about-the-mud of a life, not knowing what’s coming.”
“I think it would be scary to have such dreams.”
“Do you have such dreams?”
“Sometimes.”
He waited but she didn’t give him any more details. “Say you had to travel through a jungle to get to the other side. What would you do?”
She thought for a moment. “Eh, I would… I think I would carry a few warm clothes, some food to eat on the journey, go with some friends?”
“Someone tells you there’s a lion at some location on the journey, what would you do?”
“Travel with a warrior. Two warriors carrying spears. And with someone who knows the way.”
“Yes. You see, your knowledge of what’s ahead will help you prepare for it.” He smiled.
“I never thought of it that way.”
Nasomi thanked him, said she would come back for more counsel. On the way home, Ramona and Meron were arguing. Nasomi was deep in thought to bother about it until Ramona jumped over and sat at her right. “Mother likes me best,” she said.
Meron came over to her left side. “No, she likes me best.”
“Children, please. I like you both equally. There is no favorite.”
“What if you have another child?” Ramona asked. “Who will you like better?”
Nasomi chuckled. “There won’t be another child.”
“Why?”
“Because…” Was she going to say because she didn’t see any more children in her dreams? “Because I have only two hands. One for Ramona” — she put her right hand over Ramona and her left one over Meron —“and one for Meron.”