How to ask a riddle in Bukusu. Details of an oral art form that’s akin to a mental dance between the person who asks the brainteaser (the caller) and their audience (the respondent).
How to ask a riddle in Bukusu – steps and cues
Time needed: 2 minutes
A description of how to execute the sequential steps and cues that are the delight of calling and answering riddles as it happens in Bukusu culture. It’s an art form that’s a tradition largely practiced as is it were in days gone.
- Asking a riddle in Bukusu – The caller’s role
Alert your audience by calling, “Namunayii_”
- Asking a riddle in Bukusu – The respondent’s role
Respond to the call of ‘Riddle_’ by urging the caller to bring it on; “Kwichee!” In the next three tries, you have to answer the riddle. Upon exhaustion of your three strikes and have failed getting the right answer to the riddle, cue the caller.
If the respondent is a group, the three tries are spread across the group. In this scenario, through negotiation with the caller, the respondents can ask for more tries. Moreover, even the opportunity to consult among themselves and give answers as a group. - Caller levies a fine on the respondent
The caller levies a fine on the respondent and calling out: “Mbe ndie!’ Meaning, “Give me I eat!”
This is because the respondent has got the Bukusu riddle (kiminayi) wrong. Even after being granted three chances. As a result, the respondent becomes indebted to the caller. - Respondent pays fine
The respondent gives the name of a city or a wealthy person with a lot of cows. The caller needs to be imaginative and offer a deal too good to refuse. For example, in my teenage years this ‘fine’ often included names of crushes and objects of desire. If the caller is satisfied with the choice of what he has been given to eat, the transaction is complete. The respondent now provides the answer.
- Answering the riddle
The proper style of answering your own riddle in Bukusu is to acknowledge receipt of the fine by describing your plunder of the loot in the most glorious terms. Then you give the answer.
Practice with this example
Caller: Namunayii_ (Riddle_) Respondent: Kwichee! (Riddle come!) Caller: Tondo wafwa, Tondo wakobola_ (Tondo died tondo came back_) Respondent: Emaito!(Groundnuts!) Caller: Ta! (No!) Respondent: Busuma!(Ugali!) Caller: Ta!(No!) Respondent: Ekhafu!(Cow!) *Caller: Ta;.... Mbe ndie.(No;....Give me I eat.) Respondent: Cho lie wa Kibaki.(Go eat at Kibaki's) Caller: Nacha wa Kibaki napa chabuyabuya. Nga ndomile ndi namunayii oli kwiche, ndi tondo wafwa tondo wakobola lichibu liase lili enombela ye lipwondi. (I went to Kibaki's, I beat them, I conquered them, as I asked 'Tondo died, Tondo came back' my answer is 'potato sprout')
