As Arm said, too much Praise was bad for you, but a little was like a vitamin. It was necessary for healthy, happy spirits. And besides, he said as Sekai clambered over his skinny knees and looked up adoringly at her father's face, it was fun.
GLOSSARY
antigrav pod
An antigravity unit used to dock a flying bus, taxi or limo.
baboon spider
A large hunting spider with businesslike fangs.
Batonka
A group culturally akin to the Shona; also called the Tonga.
blue monkey
A genetically engineered monkey composed of the worst aspects of monkey, human and pit bull.
bonding
An emotional tie formed between a parent and an infant in the first few days after birth.
bush baby
A small, nocturnal primate that resembles a squirrel with long toes.
caldo verde
(Portuguese) Portuguese soup made of cabbage, potatoes and lots of garlic.
chidao (Shona)
A totem from the mother's side of the family.
chidoma (Shona); zvidoma (plural)
Monsters created by witches from dead children; akin to zombies.
chili-bites
A delicious fried bread, somewhat like a dumpling, made of lentil and rice flour with shreds of chili peppers.
dare (Shona)
A men's meeting and dining area.
dashiki (Yoruba)
A loose, often brightly colored tunic worn by men.
Dead Man's Vlei
A large area in the middle of Harare used to store toxic waste in the early twenty-first century.
doek (Afrikaans)
A head scarf.
dwaal (Afrikaans)
To go into a trance state; to daydream.
force screen
A semipermeable force field that allows air in but keeps mosquitoes out.
frangipani tree
A tropical American shrub with showy, fragrant flowers.
garden gnome
A fetish used by the English tribe to make plants grow.
Gondwanna
A large country carved out of northern Africa by bloody wars in the late twenty-first century.
holophone
A telephone with a three-dimensional viewing screen.
holoscreen
A three-dimensional viewing screen in which the image appears to be physically present.
holovision
A television with a large three-dimensional screen.
hoopoe
A medium-sized bird with a crested head and a mellow
hoop-hoop
call.
jacaranda
A Brazilian tree with abundant lavender flowers.
kachasu (Shona)
Moonshine brandy made from almost anything.
kraal (Hottentot)
An enclosure for cattle commonly made from thornbushes.
kudu (Xhosa)
A large antelope with a brownish coat, narrow white vertical stripes and long spirally curved horns in the male.
Lake Kariba
A large artificial lake between Zimbabwe and Zambia caused by damming the Zambezi River.
loofah pod
(Egyptian Arabic) A fibrous sponge-like fruit of the loofah vine used for bathing.
magnetic rail
An early form of antigravity travel in which a train is floated over a magnetic ceramic pipe that is cooled to near absolute zero.
maheu (Shona)
A sweetish, slightly alcoholic drink made of crumbled porridge, millet and water left out overnight to ferment.
mai (Shona)
Mother; a polite form of address.
Maître d' (French)
Short for
maître d'hotel;
chief steward in charge of a hotel or restaurant.
maiwee (Shona)
Literally, Oh mother!; Good grief!
mamba (Zulu)
A venomous snake found in tropical Africa.
mangwanani (Shona)
Good morning.
Matabele
The second most populous tribe of Zimbabwe; an offshoot of the Zulus; also galled Ndebele.
Matabele ant
A large and aggressive driver ant; akin to the army ant.
mbira (Shona)
A hand piano made of a sounding board or gourd and flat metal keys that are twanged with the thumb.
mealie (English)
Corn or maize.
Mellower
A combination of a traditional Praise Singer and a psychiatric therapist.
mhondoro (Shona)
The lion spirit, or the spirit of the land.
Mile-High Macllwaine Hotel
Built over Lake Macllwaine in 2150, this mile-high structure, the showpiece of Africa, contains the essentials of an entire city.
Monomatapa
The legendary fifteenth-century founder of the Shona Empire.
mopani flies
Stingless bees that like to drink moisture from the eyes, nose and mouth; very irritating.
msasa (Shona)
A handsome shade tree whose leaves turn red in the spring.
mudzimu (Shona); vadzimu (plural)
Family or clan spirit.
mununguna (Shona)
Younger sister; used by a senior wife for a junior wife.
muramwiwa (Shona)
An abandoned child.
mutara (Shona)
A small tree with beautiful waxy white flowers and a delicious scent.
muteyo (Shona)
A poison made from the bark of the
Erythrophleum suaveolens
herb that is used in a trial by ordeal.
mutupo (Shona)
A totem from the father's side of the family.
Mwari (Shona)
The supreme god.
mynah (Hindi)
A blue-black bird with a yellow bill that can be trained to speak.
ndaba (Matabele)
Discussion; debate.
Ndau
A tribe related to the Shona, but with its own distinct culture.
ndoro (Shona)
A spiral-shaped, heavy white circle hung around the neck; its significance has been lost to urban Zimbabweans, though once it had great spiritual value for them.
nganga (Shona)
A traditional healer.
ngozi (Shona)
A vengeful spirit.
night-ape
A very small species of bush baby with large ears and eyes.
nightjar
A nocturnal bird with a harsh cry.
Nirvana gun
A weapon that emits vibrations that stimulate the sleep center of the brain; the effects last about fifteen minutes.
nunchucks, originally nunchaku (Japanese, Okinawan dialect)
Weapons of defense consisting of two hardwood sticks joined together by a strap or chain; the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles carry nunchucks.
Nyaokorefu (Shona)
Long-Armed One; a traditional Praise Name.
pamusoro (Shona)
Excuse me; the polite way to begin a meal, to show respect for the cook and the other guests.
quelea bird
A devastating grain pest.
rapoko (Shona)
Millet.
robocycles
Robot motorcycles that are directed by the voice; they can also be sent alone on simple errands.
rooibos (Afrikaans)
A fragrant noncaffeinated tea made from a shrub.
sadza (Shona)
A stiff cornmeal porridge.
sekuru (Shona)
Mother's brother or father.
Shaka Zulu
A famous Zulu king of the early nineteenth century.
shave (Shona)
A wandering spirit of someone who didn't receive proper burial rites.
shebeen (Irish)
An illegal beer hall.
Shona
The dominant tribe of Zimbabwe, made up of a collection of related tribes.
shooper (Shona)
To say the one thing calculated to keep an argument going.
Soul Stealers
Weapons based on the laser that creates a plasma burst similar to the interior of a lightning bolt; illegal in 2194.
synth-food
Food made from bacteria grown in tanks of sewage; the bacteria are creamed off the top and processed into fake hamburgers, hot dogs, etc.
tokoloshes (Xhosa)
Small imps or demons.
totem
An emblem or symbol of a clan.
triple-hardened titanium-molybdenum razor wire
A very thin wire used by housebreakers in 2194 to break through locks; General Matsika had locks made of quadruple-hardened titanium-praseodymium metal, which breaks razor wire like straw.
tsotsis
(Xhosa) Hoodlums.
vababa (Shona)
Honored father.
vakoma (Shona)
Elder sister; the correct title for junior wives to use for the senior wife.
vlei (Afrikaans)
A marshy wasteland.
wall spider
An alarmingly large but harmless spider.
weaverbird
A small yellow bird that builds ingenious basket-shaped nests.
Xhosa
A South African tribe with a language akin to Zulu.
APPENDIX
The Ndoro
The original meaning of the
ndoro
has been lost, but it was certainly an important symbol of rank and authority. Monomatapa wore one on his forehead. One of the ancient kings of Zimbabwe won a battle because he ordered his warriors to wear
ndoros;
the rival king was demoralized by this show of power.
The original
ndoro
consisted of the flattened whorl of a marine mollusk with the scientific name
Conus virgo.
Ceramic versions were mass-produced by the Portuguese in their Indian colony of Goa and traded for gold.
Ndoros
are sometimes demanded by ancestral spirits before they will agree to possess a descendant. Broken
ndoros
are used as a form
hakata,
or divining tablets.
Spirit World of the Shona
This is extremely complicated and often misinterpreted in books on Zimbabwe. It is probably wrong to break the religion down to a simple system, because each tribal group has a variation on the beliefs. I will do so only to make it possible for non-Africans to have some understanding of the religion.
Mwari
is the supreme god, but he (or she) could better be described as Natural Order. A disturbance in the Natural Order brings evil results and must be corrected, but
Mwari
is not concerned with day-to-day problems.
A
mhondoro,
or lion spirit, is concerned with a land and its people as a whole. Because the Shona people are actually made up of several tribes, each one has a
mhondoro
and a lion spirit medium. In Zimbabwe of 2194, I have combined these into one. The
mhondoro
is concerned with general problems, such as rainfall and famine.
A
mudzimu
is a family spirit who can be approached to solve arguments and to cure illness. One contacts a specific male or female ancestor through a spirit medium. Certain family spirits may become interested in their descendants and teach them skills. This is why particular skills run in families.
An
ngozi
is an angry spirit who can cause madness, illness and death. A murder victim, a parent mistreated by his children or anyone else who has a grievance left over from life may turn into an
ngozi.
The wrong must be corrected before the spirit will agree to depart.
A
shave
is someone who died far from home and therefore couldn't receive proper burial rites. A
shave
can possess anyone he or she likes, to impart knowledge. This is what happens when an unusual skill shows up in a family, for example, a computer expert in a family noted for hunting. Race or tribe is unimportant in this possession.
Witchcraft
Witchcraft is said to run in families, but it can be learned. There are cases of people who don't want to be witches, but who are overwhelmed by an ancestral spirit.