442 Text

ngu bomo di, seeku har a se

3ReflSghead  Def,  Sékou say 3Sg Dat

his own head. Sékou had told him

(This seems to be a report of an earlier dialogue between Sékou and Amadou)

‘kow Citaab di beene ni  bomo di,’ a har a se
‘take-off book Def on-top 2Sg head Def,’ 3SgS say 3Sg Dat

‘take your head from off the top of the book.” He (=Amadou) had said to him

kaa ngu bomo di nga nda Citaab di kul

that LogoSg head  Def 3SgF  and book  Def all

that his (own) head, it (=head) and the Koran were

& a-foo, parceque haya kul kaa goo (Citaab di kuna,

be Absol-one, because thing all Rel be book Def in,

one and the same, because everything which was (written) in the Koran,

a goo ngu bomo di ra, a har a se
35gS  be LogoSg head Def Loc, 3SgS say 3Sg Dat
it was (also) in his head. He (=Sékou?) said to him (=father)

(i.e., Amadou claims that he has memorized the Koranic text and has thus become
mystically consubstantial with the tome)

kaa aywa ban di kaa  ban di kaa i koy

Rel well, horse Def come horse Def come 3PIS go

that, well, the horse had come, the horse had come. They (=Sékou and father) went
i feer ga | fuuney, npga wane dangaa di w00
3PIS open 3SgO 3PIS search, 3SgF Poss saddlebag Def Dem
They untied it (=saddlebag) and they searched. This saddlebag of his (=Amadou’s)
kaa goo Jere di yo beene, i gar a kuna
Rel be side Def Pl on-top, 3PI1S find 3Sg in
which was up on the (horse’s) sides, they found in it

(long ‘saddlebag’ NP including relative clause is a preposed topic NP)

tira di kaa aamadu bun, ngu maabe di bun
amulet Def that Amadou die, LogoSg griot Def die
the amulet (indicating) that Amadou had died; (first) his griot had died,

(*amulet’ is treated as a message from Amadou, hence logophoric possessor in ngu
maabe di coindexed with Amadou; /aamadu bun/ is chronologically out of order and
the narrator will repair this)

woo di banda aamadu kaa ta bun, bari di kaa, ‘
Dem Def behind Amadou come Inf die, horse Def come,

(and) Amadou had died after that. The horse came (as a messenger).

(kaa ta ... ‘come and ..." often used to indicate a brief lapse of time §9.7.7)