Yesterday, I went to BAPI to visit fellow PCVolunteer Cloud. She took me on a tour around her village, which was so different from mine (it was quiet and little, a very nice change). I got to meet her friends, her mamas, her little neighbor children, and her counterpart Emmanuel. He came later in the evening with his wife Clementine to visit us, and after a long conversation about how youth today are delinquent and impolite and don't respect their elders (sound familiar?) I got him to tell me a story : l'histoire du peuple Bapi.
The Bapi come from a place called Tika, near the Adamawa region of Cameroon. After a time, they traveled to Ndop, next to Bamenda in the Northwest region. Unfortunately, tribal wars drove them out of that area as well. So, with the Baleng, a tribe as close as a brother, they migrated across Noun to live next to the Bamoun people in Foumban. They settled around what is now called Mount Bapi, and the chef of the Bapi became good friends with the Bamoun Sultan.
Another unfortunate event : the Baleng did not become equally good friends with the Bamoun as they had with the Bapi. One day, the Bamoun Sultan sent one of his many, many daughters to the Baleng chef as a gift for marriage. (Chefs, after all, must marry many many wives, in order to be respected; many wives make many children; and girl children are not good for much other than making advantageous marriages.) The Baleng sent the messengers home after many thanks and feasting. Soon afterwards, the Baleng sent their own wrapped-up parcel to the Bamoun Sultan. He, in turn, sent the messengers home after much thanks and feasting. And when he opened up the gift, he found neither wealth nor beauty - but the decapitated head of his daughter.
The Bamoun people were furious and the Sultan debated what to do. Finally, he decided to wreak vengeance upon the Baleng people. He would gather up his best warriors, creep through the darkness of the night, and kill them all without warning.
On the day of the appointed night, he went to his friend and neighbor the Bapi chef. To him, the Sultan said : "Gather your best warriors and join me. After this night, no Baleng will awake."
The Bapi chef was very anxious. He and his people could not join the Bamoun Sultan in attacking the Baleng, who had traveled all this way together, who were like brothers! Instead, he snuck over to the chefferie of the Baleng people and whispered to his brother chef : "If you sleep here tonight, you will never again see the daylight." The Baleng chef understood. He and his people gathered their belongings and fled across the grasslands, away from their Bamoun enemies.
The Bapi chef was no fool. He knew that when the Bamoun arrived that night and found Baleng empty, they would know that it was the Bapi people who had betrayed them, and would instead take vengeance upon them. So he returned to his people, and the Bapi too gathered the belongings they could carry and fled in the night.
That is how the Bapi people came to live in the village that is today called Bapi.
But there was a time when none would dare attack the Bapi. It is said that seven Bapi men descended from the sky by cords; and even when they came to stay upon the earth, they remained connected to the heavens. If you stole wealth or women from the Bapi, they had only to name you, and THUNDER and LIGHTNING would rain down upon you no matter where you hid! This power could only be used for true justice, however, because if the Bapi namer lied, the thunder would strike him instead. The ferocious, mystical strength of the Bapi meant they defeated all their enemies, and all feared them.
That is the story of the Bapi people.
The Bapi come from a place called Tika, near the Adamawa region of Cameroon. After a time, they traveled to Ndop, next to Bamenda in the Northwest region. Unfortunately, tribal wars drove them out of that area as well. So, with the Baleng, a tribe as close as a brother, they migrated across Noun to live next to the Bamoun people in Foumban. They settled around what is now called Mount Bapi, and the chef of the Bapi became good friends with the Bamoun Sultan.
Another unfortunate event : the Baleng did not become equally good friends with the Bamoun as they had with the Bapi. One day, the Bamoun Sultan sent one of his many, many daughters to the Baleng chef as a gift for marriage. (Chefs, after all, must marry many many wives, in order to be respected; many wives make many children; and girl children are not good for much other than making advantageous marriages.) The Baleng sent the messengers home after many thanks and feasting. Soon afterwards, the Baleng sent their own wrapped-up parcel to the Bamoun Sultan. He, in turn, sent the messengers home after much thanks and feasting. And when he opened up the gift, he found neither wealth nor beauty - but the decapitated head of his daughter.
The Bamoun people were furious and the Sultan debated what to do. Finally, he decided to wreak vengeance upon the Baleng people. He would gather up his best warriors, creep through the darkness of the night, and kill them all without warning.
On the day of the appointed night, he went to his friend and neighbor the Bapi chef. To him, the Sultan said : "Gather your best warriors and join me. After this night, no Baleng will awake."
The Bapi chef was very anxious. He and his people could not join the Bamoun Sultan in attacking the Baleng, who had traveled all this way together, who were like brothers! Instead, he snuck over to the chefferie of the Baleng people and whispered to his brother chef : "If you sleep here tonight, you will never again see the daylight." The Baleng chef understood. He and his people gathered their belongings and fled across the grasslands, away from their Bamoun enemies.
The Bapi chef was no fool. He knew that when the Bamoun arrived that night and found Baleng empty, they would know that it was the Bapi people who had betrayed them, and would instead take vengeance upon them. So he returned to his people, and the Bapi too gathered the belongings they could carry and fled in the night.
That is how the Bapi people came to live in the village that is today called Bapi.
But there was a time when none would dare attack the Bapi. It is said that seven Bapi men descended from the sky by cords; and even when they came to stay upon the earth, they remained connected to the heavens. If you stole wealth or women from the Bapi, they had only to name you, and THUNDER and LIGHTNING would rain down upon you no matter where you hid! This power could only be used for true justice, however, because if the Bapi namer lied, the thunder would strike him instead. The ferocious, mystical strength of the Bapi meant they defeated all their enemies, and all feared them.
That is the story of the Bapi people.
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