Sundiata, the Lion King

This is the story of Sundiata Keita, the Lion King, and founder of the Mali Empire, written in radio theater form, as it will be recorded and broadcast on local radio. Normally his story is told by a griot, a local storyteller, however I decided to tell this version through the eyes of Sundiata’s younger sister, the princess. This is a beloved and heroic story, often told and retold for the enjoyment of all. Somehow, here, the narrator speaks with definite southernisms. Perhaps I, myself, always wanted to be a princess.

ACT I

Princess:         Listen up, y’all! Listen to my story. It’s the story of a hero. Some know him as Manding Diara. Others call him Sundiata Keita. I know him as older brother. We’re same mother, same father. To tell you this story, though, I’ve got to go back in time a bit, before I was born, before even my brother was born. We go to a village called Niani.

                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~

Soothsayer:   (casting cowry shells) Great King Maghan Kon Fatta, these shells have something to tell you.

King:               Tell me, marabout. What do you see?

Soothsayer:   Two hunters will come to your house, bearing the name Traoré. They are brothers. Welcome them into your home. But they won’t be alone. They will be accompanied by a woman – a very ugly woman with big eyes and a hunchback.

King:               (gasps)

Soothsayer:   You are to marry this woman. She is going to give birth to the next king.

                                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~

Princess:         It’s true. Good night, my mother was an ugly woman! Anyway, it all came to pass as the marabout predicted. My father married my mother. The wedding was a real hootenanny. People came from all over to celebrate. And then, the wedding night arrived. My father wanted my mother to have a baby right away. He knew the baby would be king. But my mother disagreed somethin’ fierce. She was scared, see. This went on for a few nights. Then one night, my mother woke up to a strange sound.

                                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~

Mother:         My husband, what are you doing? You’re not sleepy?

King:              No, I’m not sleepy. I’m making an altar. I had a dream. A djinno came to me in my dream and told me I must sacrifice a virgin. You are a virgin. Therefore, I’m going to build an altar to sacrifice you.

Mother:        What?! You can’t kill me! Don’t you love me? If I eat beans (i.e. get pregnant) then you can’t sacrifice me, right?

King:             You’re right.

Mother:        Okay. I want to eat beans. I don’t want to die!

                                                                               ~~~~~~~~~~

                                          

Princess:        Of course, the king lied. He didn’t dream of a djinno. He only said that to scare his wife into sleeping with him. So she gets herself pregnant. On the day she gives birth, there’s a huge storm!

                                                                (thunder noise)

                                                                (baby crying)

Villagers:     I heard you gave birth? May God make your baby strong.

Mother:       Amiina.

King:          I present to you Sundiata Keita!

                                                                (applause)

                                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~

ACT II

Princess:        My brother was destined for greatness. You recall, it was read in his cowry shells. Strange, then, that he was such a weak kid. He crawled like a baby until the age of 7. He was also ugly and ate too much.

Little Sundiata: I’m hungry!

Princess:        This made my father’s first wife happy. She was jealous as a side dish of collards and did not like my mom, or Sundiata. When my father, the king, died, his wife was mean as a snake to my mother. One day, when Sundiata was 7 years old and still couldn’t walk, my mother asked my father’s first wife for some baobab leaves to prepare dinner.

                                                                            ~~~~~~~~~~

Mother:        Sassouma, give me some baobab leaves to make dinner.

First Wife:  How dare you ask me for baobab leaves. I’ll beat you!

                                                                (slapping sounds)

Mother:       Stop! Stop! My son, help me!

Sundiata:      Mother, do you want some baobab leaves, or do you want the whole baobab tree?

Mother:      There’s no way you can carry a tree. You can’t even walk!

Sundiata:     Bring me an iron rod.

Mother:       Eh?

Sundiata:   Go to the blacksmith in the village and bring me an iron rod.

Mother:     Okay. I’ll be right back.

                                                                   ~~~~~~~~~~

Princess:    So my mother brought Sundiata an iron rod. He used it to try and stand up. But he was so strong that he bent the rod! After that, Sundiata could walk. He picked up a baobab tree and carried it to his mom.

Mother:     My savior!

Princess:   But this made my father’s first wife madder ‘n a chicken without feathers, and she decided to kill Sundiata. She invited the nine witches of Niani to her house.

                                                                   ~~~~~~~~~~

Witch:         What can we do for you, queen mother?

First Wife: Kill Sundiata! And if you do, I will give you each one cow.

Witch:        How shall we kill him?

First Wife:  Put poison in his soup.

Witch:        Is he at home?

First Wife: He is out hunting elephants. Go now and do the deed.

                                                                        ~~~~~~~~~~

Princess:     So the 9 witches went to my brother’s house. But while they were there, Sundiata returned home.

                                                                         ~~~~~~~~~~

Sundiata:         (stomping and sounding cheery) Good work today, men! We caught 10 elephants and we’re going to have some good eatin’ tonight! Hey, what’s this?! (spies witches in kitchen)

Witch:           Uh-oh. Caught red-handed.

Sundiata:      What are you doing?

Witch:          Sundiata, please forgive us! The queen mother wanted us to kill you. She told us to put poison in your soup. She is giving us each a cow in payment for killing you.

Sundiata:     Well, heck, I can do better than that. If I give you each an elephant, will you go away?

Witch:        Like my grandma always said, an elephant’s bigger ‘n a cow. Sure, I’ll take you up on that offer.

                                                                       ~~~~~~~~~~

ACT III

Princess:         Even though Sundiata got himself out of that situation, he knew he wasn’t always going to be so lucky. He and my mother decided they needed to leave Niani if they wanted to live. They set out one night, with tears and trepidation, and ended up in the village of Djedeba, where they live for 7 years. But after 7 years passed, my mother said to Sundiata…

Mother:       Sundiata, your time has arrived. Your destiny is in Niani.

Princess:    And so they decided to go home. Before they leave, though, the king – Mansa Konkon – challenged Sundiata to a game.

                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~

King:             Well, my lad, do you know the game of wori?

Sundiata:      Wori? Sure. You drop the pebbles in the holes, right, and try to end up with the most pebbles.

King:             That’s the one. You know it well. Let’s play a round. If you win, you can ask for whatever you want. If I win, I get to kill you.

Sundiata:       Deal.

King:        (aside) Heh-heh. Little does he know I’ve never lost this game. (to Sundiata) Okay, let’s play!

                                                                (sound of stones clicking)

Sundiata:      I win!

King:             I can’t believe I lost! Oh no! Very well. What do you want for winning?

Sundiata:     I want a caravan to accompany me. My mom and I are going home!

                                                                 ~~~~~~~~~~

Princess:        And so Sundiata and my mother set off for Niani. What they didn’t know is that while they were gone, their land fell into the hands of the Sosso sorcerer king, Soumaoro Kanté. And, ooh, was he scary. He lived in a house surrounded by 7 walls, up on the 7^th floor. In his room, there were snakes and owls and the decapitated heads of his enemies. It is this scary king that Sundiata returned to. But my brother – he had the majesty of a lion and the force of a buffalo. He battled the Sosso king Kanté.

                                                                (sound of swords clinking)

Princess:       And can you guess the outcome of the battle? At 18 years old, after having been lame, after having attempts on his life, and after exile, Sundiata Keita defeated the great Sosso king and began forming what would become the Empire of Mali. But first, as his birth was predicted by a soothsayer, it was to a soothsayer he now turned to for advice.

                                                           ~~~~~~~~~~                

                                          

Soothsayer:   Sundiata, you are now a great king, as I predicted. But before you proceed, you must make a sacrifice. You must immolate 100 bulls, 100 rams, and 100 roosters.

                                                                (cow noise, sheep noise, rooster noise)

Sundiata :       Listen up, my warriors! You, you, and you will go with Fakoli Koroma. All the blacksmiths will follow Fran Kamara to the mountains of the Fouta. Everyone else, come with me to Kita. We’re going to form an empire, y’all!

                                                              ~~~~~~~~~~

Princess:         And thus they proceeded until Sundiata made his way back to his birthplace, Niani. They found it in ruins, like Sherman had gotten ahold of it. Little by little, Sundiata worked to build it back up.

Kingly Voice:  If you want salt, go to Niani. If you want gold, go to Niani. If you want beautiful fabric, go to Niani. If you want fish, go to Niani. If you want meat, go to Niani. If you want to see an army, go to Niani. If you want to see a great king, go to Niani…

Princess:        …because it’s in Niani where you’ll see my brother, Sundiata, the lion king. This is his story, the story of a hero.