transcription and translation of the injuries.

A woman belonging to the group of the first wives opens the hostilities; marked as group "A" in the table below. This is explained by the fact that she represents the injured woman and that she occupies a higher rank in the family hierarchy because of her age and of her anteriority in the household. For that matter, one calls respectively the first married wives (and second in a household with four women) “wande beeri” (literally: big wife) and last married wives (and third in the households with four women) “wande kayna” (little wife). This image is included in the insults themselves, these last call the first “wives with the large heads” and those the seconds “wives to the small heads”. As from that moment, the insults follow one another. In total, in this first “song”, one counts ten, more or less alternated: A-B-A-B-B-B-A-B-A-B. The “song” is brought to a close by a woman belonging to the group of the second wives; marked as group "B" in the table below with transcriptions.

Details on the ritual itself and on the injuries can be found in the article of Sandra Bornand, of which an English translation is available here.

 Click here to listen to the recording (copyrights Sandra Bornand, Switzerland)
 

Group	Line	Zarma	Translation
A	1	Kakara karanze si ay foy sara.	« Kakara karanze » does not spoil my sauce.
	2	Ay ko baaba walla kande ay se hinje ba ya haaru kala ay boη ma fun.	The father of my son really brought me the part of the tooth, I laugh [ of it ] until satiety.
	3	Saamo si doori bay a si kaani bay galfu day ! Hiye ! hiye ! hinje ba hiye ! hiye ! galfu day.	The idiot does not know the evil, she does not know the good, hiye! Hiye! The share of the tooth, hiye! Hiye! The layabout.
B	4	Karma wande beeri boη gaηey follo no?	The women of Karma with the large heads, are they insane?
	5	I kande nin i kand’a mo to watay.	One has brought you, one also brought her, [that] is not worth the effort to praise [oneself].
	6	Hay fo gaasu no a ga mo nyum nda kambu boη.	Hey there! It is with a calabash that she washes her face on a chamber pot.
	7	Gullayze no a ga mo nyum nda kambu boη.	It is with a goblet that she washes her face on the chamber pot.
	8	Hari-gaasu no a ga mo nyum nda kambu boη.	It is with the drinking calabash that she washes her face on the chamber pot.
	9	Tonton kayna mo a ma daη kurnyo gaasiya a kulu kwaasay ceeci yaη.	Soon she will use the small calabash of her husband, all that to have his heart
A	10	Wande kayna boη kayna kalan fuday.	The little wife with the small head is boastful.
	11	Wande kayna boη kayna follo no?	The small wife with the small head, is she insane?
	12	Za boro kayna no ni ba kayna ni di bone.	To be small and to have a small share means that one is unlucky person.
B	13	Wande kayna hiijay ma suusapu.	The marriage of the small wife is ephemeral.
	14	Ba kaη suusapu no,	Although it is ephemeral,
	15	Ce yaη ma harandaη cindo te gunde-kuubi cindo mo mongu kaniyaη.	Feet felt the dew, some had the colic, others could not sleep.
B	16	Wande kayna boη bindi ga daari banda.	The little wife has the middle of the head behind the bed.
	17	Hay! wande kayna hiijay ma suusapu.	The marriage of the little wife is transitory.
	18	Ba kaη suusapu no ce yaη ma harandaη.	Although it is ephemeral, feet felt the dew.
B	19	Wande beeri ya haw hangeri no.	The big wife is cow dung.
	20	Kanandi beeri go kaani si.	It is a large heap which is not good.
A	21	Si ne ni boηo no kande hayo ni ga tangari no a mana kande hayo.	Do not say that it is your head which brought that, you lie, she did not bring that.
B	22	Wande kayna ya fulle no.	The little wife is the last.
	23	Wande beeri mo haw hangeri.	The big wife is also cow dung.
	24	Zama [kanandi] beeri go kaani si.	Because it is a large heap which is not good.
A	25	Ni ne ni boηo no kande Nafi.	You say that it is your head which brought Nafi.
	26	Nafi ya kay boro boη si a ga.	[But] Nafi does not have a human head.
	27	A kande Gayka a kande Nafi.	She brought Gayka and Nafi.
	28	Nafi ya boro boη si a ga.	Nafi does not have a human head.
	29	Ifo no kande hayo? ni kurnye no. kande i se furku ni kurnye no kande i se wo ne.	Who brought that? It is your husband who brought you a layabout, it is your husband who brought you [this one].
B	30	Wande kayney kaayanta wande kayney manti zaka i kande Gayka i kande Nafi bombu fa te garu hinka barma fa te i taaci.	The arrival of the little wives, the little wives are not incompetents, they brought Gayka, they brought Nafi, the hut became two cob houses, the storehouse multiplied by four.

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