Fool-hardiness can be Your Downfall
Most young men are blessed with a sense of adventure and cursed by a belief in their own invincibility. How often do we hear them say - "it won't happen to me; it only ever happens to the other guy!'
Sadly for him, this unfortunate, young man found out - far too late - that it can and it did happen to him.
Throwing caution to the wind and against the prudent advice of family and friends, he went trekking through the remote areas of trans-Saharan Africa.
To cut a long story short, he was captured by a nomadic tribe of locals and enslaved. Now he spends his days working as a naked, shackled beast-of-burden as they move from campsite to campsite and his nights as their pleasure-slave while travelling to a once a year gathering of tribes and salt-merchants in Timbuktu.
There, the tribe will trade him for a year's supply of salt!
Artwork, "Evening Camp" by Theo Blaze: text is mine.
Among the many qualities of your prose, Chris, one of the most admirable is your mastery in condensing in a few expressive line a long sequence of events, like this vignette that would be worthy of a much longer and very exciting dedicated story.
ReplyDeleteThe misadventure of this poor naïve white explorer in Africa, recalls to my mind several other stories –often based or inspired by real historical facts and events- and filled with Sadism, slavery, tortures etc.etc. whose protagonists and victims were, especially during the latest two centuries, “white” (European but also American) soldiers of Colonial Armies, captured white mercenaries, white explorers and the like.
Fascinating subject, worthy of a much more attention.
K.
What a beautiful bucolic pastoral setting for the local sheikhs to sit and casually discuss the value and attributes of the Christian (infidel) slaveboy that one has brought along and is offering to sell. One may admit that he has recently discovered that his older sons have been molesting some of the sheep and goats..and even one of their camels. Since this might be considered a sin, the use of this tender infidel would be much more appropriate.
ReplyDeleteAnother comments that he often has to travel without any of his harem or concubines and the infidel could come in handy as a substitute.
There might also be some discussion of whether the infidel would be more valuable after the removal of its male "equipment" in order to keep it from any temptation to encroach on any of the owner's private harem.
I also notice the rather disgruntled-looking Turkish slave in the red hat sitting at the far left of the group of Masters. Is he bored with the discussion? Does he recall his own sale to his Arab owner?? Is he perhaps worried about the "competition" he might encounter from this light-skinned novelty...for the favors of the other men in camp during this annual gathering.
Perhaps this foolish young infidel will pass between a number of owners before the two-week-long gathering is finished.