Date: Tue, 24 Apr 2012 17:02:04 +0100 (BST) From: Hasan Khan Subject: Black Mukanda Pt 3 The days passed quickly in the mukanda camp. Illunga and Malunda were occupied from dawn until dusk in one activity or another. They made further forays into the bush testing their skills in the hunt for animals. They learned from Kasongo and Katula the skills of catching fish in the river, using their home made traps. The youths spent many hours at the feet of their elder cousins listening to recitals of the history of the Sanga people and the exploits of the great chiefs who had governed the tribe. Complicated lineages of clans and families were committed to memory. The powers of the fetishes were explained and the intricate system of taboos concerning relationships and marriage were explained to Illunga and Malunda. When the moon was almost full, three or four days away at the most, Illunga and Malunda stood naked once more in front of their seated cousins and the learned at last the secrets of the ritual which would transform them from boys into men. "When the moon is full your uncle, Katunga will come and complete the ceremonies of mukanda." Kasongo declared, "Our father is a skilled circumciser. He will cut away the skin of your manhoods. You will feel great pain when the knife cuts your organs of pleasure but you must withstand the heat of the knife and show yourselves to be brave and courageous. It would be shameful for you to cry out at the moment that your hoods are severed. You will be given many days to rest and recover after your circumcision. When you are healed there will be a triumphal feast in your village but no younger boy will ever know what has been done to you. From that day you shall hide your manhood from all but your future wives and those who have been through mukanda before you." Kasongo announced, "Now we shall test your strength to face the knife of adulthood. Illunga step forward towards me." Seeing no knife in the vicinity, Illunga was relieved that whatever the test was it would not be like the day they had been scarified with the tribal marks. Kasongo reached forward and pushed back Illunga's tube of foreskin way behind the plum shaped helmet and dragged a sharp finger nail around the portion where the foreskin appeared to change colour. He held up the penis to see the underside and scratched his nail in a line down from the string along the sensitive skin. Illunga winced as the finger nail bit into him but the discomfort was but a prelude to what followed. Picking up a small pot, Kasongo dipped a flattened stick into a bright red paste. Then, holding Illunga's foreskin tightly back with his left hand he began to smear the sensitive skin with the hot concoction. For a few seconds, Illunga felt a pleasant warming sensation as his penis began to heat up and swell with a slight tumescence. However, warmth turned to burning as Kasongo continued to apply the paste. Pleasure began to turn to pain, especially when the paste began to burn into the very sensitive flesh on the underside of his penis in the places where the string joined the helmet and the shaft. Tears were beginning to form in the corners of his eyes as he willed himself to keep silence. The muscles of his thighs and buttocks clenched as he tried to remain motionless. However, the burning pain of the ordeal was as nothing compared to the moment when Kasongo pulled up the foreskin to its normal position and trapped the paste inside bringing it into contact with Illunga's throbbing helmet. The moment the heat of the paste made contact with the sensitive lips of his piss slit, Illunga screamed out. Without warning, the agony in his penis was matched by a sharp stab of pain as a bamboo stick came down ferociously on his buttocks. Katula berated him, "You must keep silence and bear the heat. In a few days it will be the heat of the knife. You will not disgrace your clan by your childish cries." And with that he struck the trembling buttocks once more as if to reinforce the lesson. Kasongo ordered Illunga to stand aside. "Go into the shade of the banana tree. Stand with your legs apart and your hands clasped behind your back. Under no circumstances must your touch your manhood. Learn to accept the pain of the heat and think of the day when you will be a man." Illuinga stumbled away hardly able to believe that this was really happening. With tears running from his eyes he made his way, a few yards over to the grove of banana trees and positioned himself as ordered. Despite the pain, the burning and the shame, his penis was half erect and the tightness of his foreskin against the helmet only intensified the agony which he felt as the pepper paste burned into him. Standing in the shade, away from the glare of the sun he was conscious of the cool air on his torso compared to the heat in his groin. From where he stood Illunga was able to see Malunda step forward to be tortured by Kasongo. Behind his young cousin stood Katula, bamboo cane in hand, ready to strike at the first show of fear. He did not have to wait long. Malunda screeched as the pepper paste burned into the very sensitive spot under the helmet and the cane beat down on his trembling buttocks. Malunda was obviously not going to suffer in silence and continued to cry out, all the more loudly as the foreskin was pulled up and his helmet was smeared with the deadly paste as it made contact with the burning inner skin of his foreskin. Katula had no mind to show mercy and too many times to count, brought down the bamboo stick with all his force onto the buttocks of the terrified youth. Ordered now to join Illunga by the banana trees, Malumba crawled rather than walked across the dusty ground, weeping bitter tears as he did so. Katula followed him and pulled the youth up by the shoulders, grasping his arms and positioning him legs apart, hands behind his back at the side of Illunga. "Hold up your heads and look forward. Be men and not boys. Stand in stillness until you are called." Katula was severe both in countenance and voice as he addressed the two young cousins. His ferocity on the day they had been cut with the knife of scarification had been a shock to the boys but this was nothing short of cruelty. Katula left the weeping pair and disappeared with Kasongo into the elders' hut. Illunga and Malunda, terrified by the pain the pain they were enduring and fearful of being surprised by a sudden reappearance of their cousins remained motionless and silent in the shade of the trees trying to accustom themselves, at least mentally to the burning in their groins. It was Malunda who broke the silence. "It is true. Do you remember when I said that perhaps the skin of our cousins' manhoods could have been cut off? We are `the uncircumcised' and soon we shall be cut. Illunga, do you think the pain will be worse on that day than it is now?" "I don't know. But it cannot be much worse than this is." replied Illunga. "Why should a man have to suffer so? I don't understand why we have to have this done. Does it make our cocks stronger or better able to father a child?" To that there was no answer. Malunda was just as perplexed as to the reason for the ritual. Perhaps Kasongo or Katula would explain one evening as they sat around the charcoal fire, just as they had explained so many other mysteries of life in the Sanga tribe. As the morning wore on and sun rose higher in the sky, the temperature of the air around them rose with it, the pain and the burning in their groins mercifully began to subside. Illunga and Malunda relaxed a little and reflected silently on the lesson that a man must learn to endure suffering. When Illunga could not longer feel the sting of the paste in his piss slit he reasoned that pain was indeed passing, and that, as Kasongo had insisted, he must learn to bear it like a man. Malunda was not as philosophical. He knew that his cock was a thing of beauty and hoped quite simply that he would not be disfigured for life by the ritual he would be forced to undergo. At long last, after what seemed to be a whole morning of waiting Kasongo and Katula reappeared, as always dressed in their animal skins, in contrast to their ever naked cousins. Now, they seemed to be once more the friendly elders, inviting Illunga and Malunda to come back to the compound to be cleansed. Illunga stood in front of Kasongo who pulled back the still warm foreskin and began to pour a mixture of water and goat's milk over the tender flesh of the shaft and the now super-sensitive crown. Illunga breathed deeply as the cooling liquid bathed his cock. Wiping away the last traces of the pepper paste with a small cloth and having thoroughly rinsed the delicate tissue of the piss slit Kasongo was satisfied that the swelling and inflammation from the ordeal would soon go down. Picking up a small pot of brilliant white kaolin clay, he pulled back Illunga's foreskin to the limit and smeared the white clay around the shaft right up to the groove behind the helmet before tugging the foreskin back into place, or at least as far as it could be pulled now that the inner surfaces were caked with clay. When Malunda had been cleansed from his ordeal the two youths were allowed to go and lay down in the shade of their hut with the promise of food later in the afternoon. That evening as the group sat around the fire, watching the silvery bright moon rise in the star studded sky, Kasongo and Katula began to explain the reasons for the circumcision ritual which their nephews were soon to undergo. "Many generations ago the Sanga were but a small tribe who had lived alone, rarely having contacting with those beyond the great river......when the great chief Kalenga made an alliance with the Lubala he gave his daughter in marriage to the heir of that kingdom......She learned that her husband was circumcised and as their children attained manhood they too were cut like their father before them.....of these boys, two were given in marriage to nieces of our Sanga chief Kulungu. It was these Lubala men who introduced the tradition of circumcision to our people. Many years ago when their sons grew to manhood, they had their foreskins cut. The Sanga cousins of their generation were cut alongside them and in the years after it became our tradition. You should be proud that you will be cut by our father whose ancestor was one of the first men of Sanga to learn the art of circumcision." Katula continued, "It is said that the cut head of the manhood is more powerful than that of the uncut man. You will discover as the months and years pass, after your circumcision, your crown will become tougher and more solid. The shape may even change as it grows outwards at the base, freed from its constriction. In a little time you will face the knife, as have your ancestors before you. Be brave and show that you are worthy of our name. After you have been cut you will not touch your organs for pleasure until the day that you are released from mukanda. Be warned that after the circumcision, you will at times begin to grow hard but you must be disciplined and refuse to let your man juices flow until the day you are freed of mukanda's obligations." That night Illunga and Malunda slept close to one another, their arms and legs entwined, their cocks and sacs pressed close but soft and interiorly still pasted with the soothing kaolin clay. In the morning at first light they were taken to the river where they bathed and cleaned out their foreskins washing away every last trace of the clay which had by now absorbed all traces of the heat which had burned them the previous day............ Three days later, they hunted in the forest for the last time. That night as they sat around the fire Kasongo announced that the moon was indeed full and that the following day their uncle, Katunga would come to perform the circumcisions. With hearts beating, in both fear and excitement Illunga and Malunda retired to their cabin. After two weeks of pleasures, pains, adventures and mysteries revealed Illunga and Malunda had almost arrived at the moment when they would in the eyes of the tribe become men. The young men talked of how they must be brave, each encouraging the other with words to show solidarity in face of the knife. They had been warned already of the days of pain and the weeks of soreness which would follow the cutting. Kasongo had intimated, without being explicit that tonight they should empty their sacs of man juice in preparation for the ordeal and the weeks during which they would be unable to enjoy the pleasures of their manhoods. Caressing each other's ball sacs and languidly pulling foreskins up and down Illunga and Malunda brought each other to stiffness. Fingers probing for one last time into the foreskins, pulling and stretching them they each mused on the pleasures which they would soon no longer be able to enjoy. Perhaps new possibilities would become evident after their time of healing. Illunga shifted himself, crawling alongside his cousin in order to take Malunda's cock in his mouth whilst simultaneously pulling Malunda's head towards his own stiff organ. With perfect precision the two youths sucked and licked at each other's exposed helmets, tonguing the piss slits which had so recently been fired by pepper, but which were tonight as sensitive and delectable as ever. Each took the other's organ slowly and deeply until the first drops of salty and watery juice began to flow. Needing no prompting Malunda began to edge away from Illunga and presented his buttocks to his cousin, reaching round to guide the rampant cock in between the slender cheeks towards his quivering hole. Illunga steadily pushed his way into Malunda who bucked and arched his body to receive the swollen pole of flesh. Illunga used the tightness of the hole to encourage his foreskin to retract and then recover his gland, knowing that this newfound but exquisite pleasure would very soon be lost to him. The days of pain and fear receded into the distant past as Malunda felt his chute being stretched and the helmet of the welcome intruder rub against his nut of pleasure. His own cock began to leak a stream of fluid while Illunga pushed and pulled in and out of the fleshy hole. In moments it was almost over. Illunga began to gasp and pant like a man possessed as he increased his speed. His eight inches of hard flesh began to throb inside the warm, tight chute. Malunda's muscle started to contract around Illunga's cock and in a moment the organ began to shoot its juice into Malunda's body. Illunga cried out in ecstasy while his cock delivered its load. With the last pulsation of his cock Illunga pulled out and turning around grabbed his cousin's stiff penis guiding it into his now damp and quivering buttocks. If Malunda could experience what he had just known then they would truly be brothers before the knife of circumcision. Malunda did not disappoint his cousin. With firm and regular strokes he ploughed his way into Illunga's chute and finding the nut of pleasure massaged it with his hard swollen helmet. Illunga believed he might be brought to a second ejaculation as the cock inside him pushed at his inner gland. Malunda took his cousin with deep and forceful shafting very soon bringing himself to the moment of no return. His thick cock started to pulsate and when he felt his balls tightening, the sac pulling up to his groin he began to cry with pleasure. Never had he imagined that a climax could be so intense. His helmet swelled yet more and throbbed as his cock released its cream into Illunga's bowels. The two youths pulled each other ever more tightly towards each other, united in pleasure and relief as the tensions of the recent days disappeared in a flood man juice. As the sun rose the following morning Illunga and Malunda were woken from their sleep by Kasongo who led them down to the river to bathe. Katula followed, carrying a large pot of kaolin. Once bathed the youths stood before their cousins who began to smear the white clay over their heads, faces, abdomens, buttocks and thighs. Arriving back at the clearing between the cabins and the edge of the forest Illunga and Malunda saw their uncle Katunga, dressed in an elaborate costume of animal skins and seated on a richly carved ceremonial chair. On the ground around him were a number of pots and calabasses, and next to a pot of water boiling on a charcoal fire, a skin on which was laid two knives, one larger than the other. Malumba, as the youngest of the two candidates for circumcision was ordered into the cabin whilst Illunga was led to his uncle and ordered to stand legs apart and looking forwards in front of the seated circumciser. Kasongo and Katula stood at either side of their cousin and held him not too tightly but all the same firmly by the shoulders as Katunga reached out and took the youthful penis in his hand. Pouring cool water from a calabasse over the organ he fingered the lump that was the gland, hidden by the foreskin, before stretching the skin back to cleanse the inner surfaces. Pulling the foreskin forward he stared at the penis before picking up the larger of the two knives. Steadily, he pricked the skin of the shaft around its circumference at a considerable distance down from the gland causing tiny droplets of blood to surface on the black shaft skin. Letting the penis drop, Katunga put the razor sharp knife into the pot of boiling water, resting its ivory handle against the side. Taking a copper disc, which had a small hole bored into its centre, he pulled the penis towards him and began to thread the redundant foreskin through the hole. Continuing to pull and stretch he at last reached the point where the shaft skin, oozing tiny droplets of blood, was in sight, ahead of the disc. Using his thumb he then began to pull out the foreskin from the inside even further, increasing the amount of flesh that was now trapped ahead of the disc, the copper round pushing against the crown of the penis. Adroitly positioning the foreskin with the thumb and forefinger of his left hand, Katunga reached over, pulled the ivory handled knife from the boiling water and in an instant severed the foreskin from Illunga's penis. For a moment Illunga felt nothing, but as Katunga slipped the disc off the tip of his penis and the remains of his foreskin slipped back down over the helmet and came to rest almost half way down his shaft, Illunga felt a fire spreading through his penis and across his groin. Never, not even the day of the pepper paste, had he felt such a searing wave of pain. With buttocks clenching and his empty stomach pushing bile into his gullet he closed his eyes, praying to every ancestor he could name to keep him steady. Kasongo and Katula, knowing that the ordeal was not yet over increased the tightness of their hold on Illunga's shoulders. By now blood was beginning to flow from the wound and drip on to the dusty ground beneath Illunga's feet. Katunga, satisfied that enough skin had been excised, held up the penis to examine the shape and length of the band of flesh which joined the crown to the shaft of his nephew's organ. Wiping away the blood which had run onto the gland, he was able to grasp it tightly between his left thumb and forefinger lifting it high into the air, stretching the organ upwards. Taking the miniature knife from the pot he began the delicate task of excising the band of flesh. The three cuts which it took to denude the underside of Illunga's penis were quickly executed but caused the youth to cry out in agony. His resistance was over and now he gave into the pain which no man should ever have to suffer. Kasongo rapidly clasped his hand over the mouth of his nephew in a futile attempt to silence him. Katula attempted to console his agonised cousin by wrapping his arm around Illunga's but nothing could ease the agony which the youth was now enduring. Katunga let the bloody penis drop. He reached down and picked up a small clay platter heaped with fine charcoal dust. Taking the penis in his hand he pressed it into the black powder, confident that in moments the flow of blood where the band of flesh had been severed would be staunched, even if the pain of the operation would continue to torment the youth. The primitive surgery over, the two elder cousins carried the tearful youth over to a bed of banana leaves and laid him down, his penis oozing and dripping blood onto the green foliage. Remembering the screams and cries of Malunda when he had been scarified and put to the pepper paste test, Kasongo and Katula went to fetch their younger cousin from the cabin where he had remained hidden during the circumcision of Illunga. They agreed that it would be necessary to hold the boy both by the shoulders and the waist for the first cut, and so it proved necessary. Malunda was impassive during the preliminary procedures but as the knife sliced away his foreskin he began to tremble, gasp and pant. When the disc was removed he cried out, and lowering his head to see what was happening to him, yelled as the bloody skin slipped back down his shaft. Knowing that the worst pain was yet to come, Kasongo and Katula grasped their cousin firmly around the hips and waist as their father cut away the delicate piece of skin on the underside of the penis. By now, the boy was screaming for all his worth. The animals of the forest could not have made a greater howl as he was carried, quite literally, for he could not walk, over to his bed of banana leaves. In the time that it had taken to circumcise Malunda, Illunga had begun to breathe deeply and accustom himself to the throbbing which he felt in his groin. With Malunda now laying beside him and the two of them dripping blood onto their bed of leaves he began to wonder if he would ever feel pleasure in his cock again. The pepper test had been a moment of pain in comparison to this agony which felt as if it would never end. He had cried out at the most extreme moment but now he wished with all his heart that Malunda could cease his weeping and come to terms with the pain which would see their transformation from boy to man accomplished. The bleeding youths were left for a while whilst Kasongo, Katula and their father Katunga prepared the materials for the next stage of the proceedings. It was Katula, who gently lifting his younger cousin from his prostrate position, helped him to walk over towards Katunga and Kasongo. This time, the youth was directed to seat himself on a log stool facing his uncle. Taking the bloodied penis in one hand, Katunga poured rich palm wine over the shaft. Reaching for dried, ground medicinal herbs he covered the wound with the sweet smelling dust and then began to wrap the organ with long strips of eucalyptus leaves, softened in warm water. Kasongo then tied these in place with raffia strings. Almost immediately, Illunga began to feel the soothing qualities of the dressing. He stared down at his penis which was now wrapped in the produce of the forest, leaving just the tip of his gland visible beyond the dark green covering of leaf. Silently, Katula led the boy towards his cabin and with great tenderness laid him down on a new blanket covering his chest and abdomen with the old one, leaving the circumcised penis to cool in the damp air of the enclosure. Very soon Malunda was laying at his side. Their pain and emotion precluded conversation and very soon the two youths were drowsing in a light sleep. They were awoken by Katula sometime after mid-day. Their cousin was now all solicitude and gentleness as he offered them tender chunks of meat, vegetables and maize porridge, encouraging them to eat and regain their strength. As if to add a note of congratulation and celebration Katula shared with them a container of maize beer which very soon had Illunga and Malunda drifting off to sleep once more. Again in the evening, pots of beer along with fish and vegetables, served to help the youths forget the pains of the day and fall asleep with only a dull ache in their groins. When the sun rose the following day, Kasongo came to the door of the cabin carrying pots of powders and leaves. Katula followed with a calabsse. Illunga and Katula took it in turn to sit on a log whilst Katula softened the eucalyptus bandages with water in order that Kasongo could remove them. The wounds when revealed were raw and very red. The flesh appeared to be extremely tender at the edge where the knife had cut. But, as far as Kasongo could see, there was no sign of inflammation or infection. Carefully and very gently he applied a new coating of herbal powders to each penis, paying special attention to pack the V behind the crown with the healing plant extracts. Once the organs had been wrapped in fresh eucalyptus leaves the youths were left on their own to rest in the shade of the banana grove, being interrupted only to be fed and given yet more maize beer. Day by day, the healing progressed and on the fourth morning after the circumcision, Kasongo pronounced the wounds to be strong enough to be left open with only a coating of dark orange palm oil to aid the process. Having been cleansed of the remains of kaolin which still adhered to their heads and torsos, Illunga and Malunda were presented with loincloths made of the softest goatskin. The coverings would help to keep dirt and dust away from their genitals and given them a modicum of modesty as their organs continued to heal.................. Four weeks later............... By now restless, healed and anxious to return to village life, Illunga and Malunda were pleasantly surprised to see one morning their uncle Katunga arrive at the mukanda camp. Dressed again in a collection of animal skins he did appear to have a more festive appearance given the feathers and ornaments which had been added to his costume. Having taken his place on the ceremonial chair he called his sons and nephews to stand before him. Illunga and Malunda were ordered to remove their loin cloths and present themselves for examination. Illunga stepped forward and Katunga studied the solid penis. The scar line of the circumcision was evidently already turning from red to dark brown, contrasting with the almost black skin below it and the pinkish flesh above. Taking the penis in his hand Katunga held it up to examine the site where there had once been the band of flesh. Here, the wound where the skin had been carved away, was more red than black, but the flaring edges of the helmet testified to accurate and aesthetic surgery. Stepping back, Illunga made space for his younger cousin to stand before Katunga who in moments pronounced himself well satisfied with the circumcisions. "You are now men of the Sanga tribe. Today you are released from your abstinence and tomorrow you will return to Kitenge, never again to sleep in the huts of your mothers. You will find new huts prepared for you and your elders will give you instructions on your new responsibilities in the village. But I warn you, you must never, ever speak of the secrets of mukanda or reveal what has passed between you in this camp. My sons, Kasongo and Katula you may now proceed with the final rite of manhood." At their father's instruction Kasongo and Katula stripped off their coverings and knelt before their young cousins. Katunga poured onto their palms a quantity of wild aloe cream with which they proceeded to massage the recently healed organs. In seconds Illunga and Malunda grew to erection as hands worked their way up and down the circumcised shafts. The elders knew that after a full month of being forbidden to touch their cocks the youths would be hypersensitive to the touch and ready to shoot their cream. But tradition demanded that they, the sponsors of the mukanda should be the first to receive the initiate's loads. Bending forwards, Kasongo and Katula bared their buttocks to their nephews and reaching around pulled the youths with their stiff cocks, towards their own clefts. Illunga and Malunda had no hesitation in pushing themselves towards the dark black holes opening up before their trobbing helmets. Greased with the aloe cream, their tightly skinned shafts plunged into Kasongo and Katula who responded by bucking their bodies up and down the circumcised cocks. Malunda, always the most sensitive of the two, was first to start gasping and panting as weeks of unspent manjuice flooded into Katula's chute. Like a man possessed he continued to thrust and pull as his still tender manhood released its load. Meanwhile, Illunga managed to find his cousin's walnut of pleasure, deep inside Kasongo's chute, and was plunging his massive helmet against it when he too began to feel tightness in his ball sac and insistent throbbing in his shaft. Howling with relief and delight, he pushed himself with all his might against Kasongo whilst the creamy juice spat itself out into the tight chute. Riding up and down, in and out, Illunga pumped his life-giving fluids into the man who had done so much to help bring him to manhood. Mukanda was now accomplished. Thanks for reading. Comments always gratefully received. Jeremy.