The Silence of the Spirits. Wilfried N'Sondé

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      THE SILENCE OF THE SPIRITS

      GLOBAL AFRICAN VOICES

      Dominic Thomas, editor

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      Foreword by Alain Mabanckou

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      THE SILENCE OF THE SPIRITS

      WILFRIED N’SONDÉ

      Translated by KAREN LINDO

      This book is a publication of

      Indiana University Press

      Office of Scholarly Publishing

      Herman B Wells Library 350

      1320 East 10th Street

      Bloomington, Indiana 47405 USA

       iupress.indiana.edu

      Original publication in French as

       Le Silence des esprits

      © 2010 Actes Sud

      English translation © 2017 by Indiana University Press

      All rights reserved No part of this book may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. The Association of American University Presses’ Resolution on Permissions constitutes the only exception to this prohibition.

      The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1992.

      Manufactured in the United States of America

      Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

      Names: N’Sondé, Wilfried, author. | Lindo, Karen, translator.

      Title: The silence of the spirits / Wilfried N’Sondé ; translated by Karen Lindo.

      Other titles: Silence des esprits. English | Global African voices.

      Description: Bloomington, Ind. : Indiana University Press, 2017. | Series: Global African voices | “Original publication in French as Le Silence des esprits (c) 2010 Actes Sud.” | Includes bibliographical references.

      Identifiers: LCCN 2017008799 (print) | LCCN 2017009714 (ebook) | ISBN 9780253028945 (pbk. : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780253029072 (e-book)

      Subjects: LCSH: Africans—France—Fiction. | Illegal aliens—France—Fiction.

      Classification: LCC PQ 3989.3.N76 S5513 2017 (print) | LCC PQ 3989.3.N76 (ebook) | DDC 843.92—dc23

      LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017008799

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       To Paul N’Sondé . . . and other martyrs

      Because it is not enough to live, you must also be beautiful!

      SERGE MNSA N’SONDÉ

      And then he brought another horse, red. Whoever mounted it received the power to remove peace from earth, so that men could cut each other’s throats.

      APOCALYPSE, VI, 4

      The moon had flowered from my green chrysanthemums

      When the wolves secretly recited anathema.

      In the lowlands, requiems are the rage.

      A weary prayer pronounced like a presage:

      Cain today is armed with an axe,

      In a cowardly gesture, he has again struck,

      He spits out like a vampire his lifeless victim

      Then tramples on the rhymes that yesterday I had gathered!

      My body goes out beneath his sad smile

      To escape mornings that terrify and cause suffering.

      Cain today is armed with an axe,

      In a cowardly gesture, he has again struck.

      My mother had woven my shroud of diamonds

      Because injured too often my heart bled a long time!

      He spits out like a vampire his lifeless victim

      Then tramples on the rhymes that yesterday I had gathered.