XIX. A Similitude: The Greek and the Fanti

By this time the precocious youth was well on in his teens, and was already grappling with the intricacies of Greek roots and Latin suffixes. But often would his father warn him to be mindful more of the things which matter, as he quaintly put it. Now and again he would induce the youth to draw comparisons between the mode of thought and the practice of the ancients; and he would insist that there was no better intellectual, moral, and national training for a young Fanti than such exercise involved. By way of encouragement, when the youth had done particularly well, he would take him upon new ground and delight him with stories from Homer’s great masterpiece, which, in a curious way, reflected the every-day life of their own people.

On this particular occasion, you may well imagine the excitement of Ekra Kwow, as he drew a low stool beside the paterfamilias, all eagerness for the latter to begin. The youth looked disappointed, as, instead of beginning a story, his father continued smoking, and simply thrust into liis hand an old, well-thumbed popular edition of the story of the Odyssey, done into beautiful English by the Rev. Alfred J. Church.

“What is the matter, father; are you not well to-night ? 5 ’

“ That’s not it, my boy. I am as well as ever, thank you. But to-night I want you to read to me instead. I want to see how you handle Mr. Church’s beautiful setting of the great thoughts of the master. You know to some this feast of the gods is like throwing pearls before swine. But go on. Begin with the visit of Athene to Nausicaa, the daughter of King Alcinoiis.”

Thus the youth began : “ Athene spake, saying, why hath thy mother so careless a child, Nausicaa ? Lo ! thy raiment lieth unwashed, and yet the day of thy marriage is at hand, when thou must have fine clothing for thyself, and to give to them that shall lead thee to thy bridegroom’s house; for thus doth a bride win good repute. Do thou, therefore, arise with the day, and go to wash the raiment, and I will go with thee . . .

“ And when the morning was come, Nausicaa awoke, marvelling at the dream, and went seeking her parents. Her mother she found busy with her maidens at the loom, spinning yarn dyed with purple of the sea, and her father she met as he was going to the Council with the Chiefs of the land. Then she said : ‘ Give me, Father, the A SIMILITUDE : THE GREEK AXD T1IE FANTI. 201

wagon with the mules that I may take the garments to the river to wash them . . . .

“ Then he called to the men, and they made ready the wagon, and harnessed the mules; and the maiden brought the raiment out of her chamber and put it in the wagon. Also her mother filled a basket with all manner of food, and poured wine in a goat-skin bottle. Olive oil also she gave her, that Nausicaa and her maidens might anoint themselves after the bath. And Nausicaa took the reins and touched the mules with the whip. Then was there a clatter of hoofs, and the mules went on with their load, nor did they grow weary.’’

As the youth stopped for a second to take breath, Kwamankra exclaimed, “ That’s good. Does that remind you of anything you see daily around you ? ’ ’

The youth paused for a moment, and then said : “ It looks very much like how the Fanti women prepare to do their washing in the brook, and it is curious the mention of the use of oil to anoint the body after a bath. Why, that’s just what our people do.”

“ Good; powers of observation fair, my boy,” remarked Kwamankra proudly. “You see in these extra-civilised days the laundress and the charwoman do the cleansing of our soiled linen, and who would dream of seeing a king’s daughter doing her own washing, let alone her father’s, or o her brother’s. Yet, in ancient Greece it was not so. The highest in birth preserved native simplicity, much as the unspoilt among our own people do unto this day. Then there are just one or two points you have missed in the narrative. Alcinoiis is described as a king. His daughter meets him as he is going to the Council with the chiefs of the land. There is something strikingly in accord with our own custom here — just what an Omanliin would do.”

“ Lo ! thy raiment lieth unwashed, and yet the day of thy marriage is at hand, when thou must have fair clothing for thyself, and to give to them that shall lead thee to thy bridegroom1 s house,” he quoted, and then added, ‘ ‘ thus do we in marriage and in death provide for the kinsmen and the kinswomen who lead us.”

As the youth began to understand what the paterfamilias had meant by “ the things which matter,” he read with far greater expression the inimitable passages which describe the meeting of Ulysses with Nausicaa, her kindly address and hospitality, and his introduction to the Court of King Alcinoiis. And such a Court! “ A wondrous place it was, with walls of brass and doors of gold, hanging on posts of silver; and on either side of the door were dogs of gold and silver, the work of Hephiestus and against the wall all along from the threshold to the inner chamber, were set seats, on which sat the chiefs of the Phseacians feasting; and youths wrought in gold stood holding torches in their hands, to give light in the darkness. Fifty women were in the house grinding corn and weaving robes, for the women of the land are no less skilled to weave than are the men to sail the sea. And round about the house were gardens beautiful exceedingly, with orchards of fig, and apple, and pear, and pomegranate, and olive. Drought hurts them not, nor frost, and harvest comes after harvest without ceasing. Also there was a vineyard ; and some of the grapes were parching in the sun, and some were being gathered, and some again were but just turning red. And there were beds of all manner of flowers; and in the midst of all were two fountains which never failed.”

“And yet,” observed Kwamankra, “the daughter of King Alcinolis was not above cleansing soiled linen; and there is something sweetly simple and familiar, as you see Ulysses bidden unto the feast, and an attendant pours water on his hands, and he is given meat and drink thereafter, and in all this the Fanti-born feels himself particularly at home with these Grecians.”

“ Indeed,” pursued Kwamankra, “ as one turns over the wonderful pages of the story of the Odyssey, he stumbles across such similitudes of

o 2 thought and action, as between the Greek and the Fanti, that are simply amazing.”

“ Tell me all about that,” snapped up the youth eagerly.

“ Well,” continued Kwamankra, “ in no phase of Grecian thought is this more striking than in the conception of the Deity. The great Niakrapon, or Nyami, of the Fanti corresponds with the Zeus of the Greek, as Abusum correspond with the lesser gods ; and when the Greek speaks of the ‘ oracle of the god in the midst of an oak tree,’ he conveys the same idea as the Fanti does when he speaks of the busum in an odoom tree, popularly described as fetish. Again, similarly, when the Fanti makes an invocation, it is upon Nyiakrapon he calls, ‘ Mika Nyiakrapon ,’ as distinguished from any of the Abusum, or lesser gods, just in the same way as the Greek would say, ‘ Would to God,’ as distinguished from any of the lesser gods. Moreover, the spiritual sense of the Greek was as keen as that of the Fanti. The gods of the Fanti mix to-day as freely with mortals as did Proteus, Poseidon, or Athene, the daughter of Zeus; and their offices are the same, for, if men paid heed, they would still gather inspiration for action as in the days when Athene came down from Olympus, and said unto doubting Ulysses, ‘ Verily, thou art weak in faith. Some put their trust in men, yet men are weaker than the gods; why trustest not thou in me? Verily, I am with thee, and will keep thee to the end. But now sleep, for to watch all the night is vexation of spirit.’ ”

“ Why,” quoth the youth, “ that reads like a passage in the Bible.”

ee Yes,” the thinker went on musingly; “ God hath not spoken to man only in the Hebrew Scriptures. But I was going to say, and so one might go on almost ad infinitum, gathering pearls of thought at every turn. Take, for instance, the incident when Penelope says to Eumseus, ' Call now this stranger; didst thou not mark how my son sneezed a blessing when I spake ? ’ I do not know whether the idea of sneezing a blessing occurs in any other language; but a Fanti says : c Akam yey ’ when you sneeze in his presence, exactly expressing the same idea. Again, the customs of offering sacrifice to the gods, and making libation to gods and deceased ancestors, are common alike to the two peoples. And when you recall the familiar way in which the poet speaks of Eurybates, the herald of Ulysses, ‘ Older than he, dark-skinned, round in the shoulders, with curly hair,’ it dawns upon the Ethiopian that he gains vastly more in self-respect by intimate acquaintance with the ancient Greek than with the modern Saxon. Let nothing he done through strife or vain-glory ; hut in lowliness of mind let each esteem, others better than themselves.

Look not every man on his own things , hut every man also on the things of others.

Let this mind he in you, which was also in Christ Jesus :

Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to he equal with God :

But made himself of no reputation,

And took upon him the form of a servant,

And ivas made in the likeness of men.

And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross.

WHEREFORE God also hath highly exalted him,

And given him a name Which is above every name,

That at the name of Jesus Every knee should bow;

Of things in heaven,

And things in earth,

And things under the earth;

And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. — Paul.

# # *

The tumult and the shouting dies;

The Captains and the Kings depart :

Still stands thine ancient sacrifice,

A humble and a contrite heart.

Lord God of Hosts, be with us yet,

Lest we forget — lest we forget ! — Kipling.