A Leopard Lives in a Muu Tree
Encyclopedia
"A Leopard Lives in a Muu Tree" is a poem by the Kenya
n poet
Jonathan Kariara
. It concerns a native farmer
besieged by a tree-bound leopard
that has apparently broken his fences, torn his medicine bags and stifled his wives' sensuality. Featured in such poesy anthologies as An Introduction to East Africa
n Poetry, The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry
and Over This Soil, it has been subjected to a wide range of interpretations, most of them erotic
.
"tie their skirts tight / And turn away" (4-5), fearing that (presumably through the leopard's voracious attentions) they might spawn similarly stippled offspring. Nonetheless, while bathing late at night, "when the moon is high" (7), they make an exhibition of themselves, splashing the "cold mountain stream water on their nipples" (9), removing their skirts and imprecating loudly. Realizing that he is besieged and resolving to fell the Muu tree, the speaker walks about "stiff / Stroking my loins." (14-15)
From its residence outside his homestead, the leopard is seen eyeing the women. The speaker recalls addressing it as "elder" (18) and "one-from-the-same-womb" (18), but it holds its head high and merely peers at him "with slit eyes" (19). The speaker's sword has corroded in its sheath, and his wives, whenever the owls emit their mating call, do nothing but purse their lips. Again the speaker deplores his besieging.
Although the wives "fetch cold mountain water" (25) and "crush the sugar cane" (26), they decline to touch their husband's "beer horn" (27). With his fences broken, his medicine bags torn and the post at his gate fallen, speaker's pubic hair is swinged. Presently, the leopard arches over the homestead, and the wives become frisky. The final two lines detail the former's lamb feast, which resuscitates it.
The speaker uses the imagery of a leopard to mean stealthy and dangerous, he goes further to suggest that they are of the same womb where we can infer here he speaks of a brother older and with more status than he. The personas lambs are born with speckles suggesting that he, the elder, has already spawn children with the personas wives and he the persona has not had relations with them as he, the elder, visits upon his home frequently, this suggested by the line "the leopard arches over the homestead, and the wives become frisky".
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
n poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
Jonathan Kariara
Jonathan Kariara
Jonathan Kariara was a Kenyan poet who wrote works including "A Leopard Lives in a Muu Tree". He was also for several years the manager of Oxford University Press's branch office in Nairobi. Over the same period he ran regular workshops for writers in order to encourage and stimulate local...
. It concerns a native farmer
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, who raises living organisms for food or raw materials, generally including livestock husbandry and growing crops, such as produce and grain...
besieged by a tree-bound leopard
Leopard
The leopard , Panthera pardus, is a member of the Felidae family and the smallest of the four "big cats" in the genus Panthera, the other three being the tiger, lion, and jaguar. The leopard was once distributed across eastern and southern Asia and Africa, from Siberia to South Africa, but its...
that has apparently broken his fences, torn his medicine bags and stifled his wives' sensuality. Featured in such poesy anthologies as An Introduction to East Africa
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...
n Poetry, The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry
Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry
The Penguin Book of Modern African Poetry , is a 1984 poetry anthology edited by Gerald Moore and Ulli Beier. It consists mainly of poems written in English and English translations of French or Portuguese poetry; poems written in African languages were included only in the authors' translations...
and Over This Soil, it has been subjected to a wide range of interpretations, most of them erotic
Eroticism
Eroticism is generally understood to refer to a state of sexual arousal or anticipation of such – an insistent sexual impulse, desire, or pattern of thoughts, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality and romantic love...
.
Summary
The poem begins with the line that also constitutes its title, adding that the leopard's gaze is fixed on the home of the speaker, whose lambs(read children) are born with speckles and whose wivesWife
A wife is a female partner in a marriage. The rights and obligations of the wife regarding her spouse and others, and her status in the community and in law, varies between cultures and has varied over time.-Origin and etymology:...
"tie their skirts tight / And turn away" (4-5), fearing that (presumably through the leopard's voracious attentions) they might spawn similarly stippled offspring. Nonetheless, while bathing late at night, "when the moon is high" (7), they make an exhibition of themselves, splashing the "cold mountain stream water on their nipples" (9), removing their skirts and imprecating loudly. Realizing that he is besieged and resolving to fell the Muu tree, the speaker walks about "stiff / Stroking my loins." (14-15)
From its residence outside his homestead, the leopard is seen eyeing the women. The speaker recalls addressing it as "elder" (18) and "one-from-the-same-womb" (18), but it holds its head high and merely peers at him "with slit eyes" (19). The speaker's sword has corroded in its sheath, and his wives, whenever the owls emit their mating call, do nothing but purse their lips. Again the speaker deplores his besieging.
Although the wives "fetch cold mountain water" (25) and "crush the sugar cane" (26), they decline to touch their husband's "beer horn" (27). With his fences broken, his medicine bags torn and the post at his gate fallen, speaker's pubic hair is swinged. Presently, the leopard arches over the homestead, and the wives become frisky. The final two lines detail the former's lamb feast, which resuscitates it.
The speaker uses the imagery of a leopard to mean stealthy and dangerous, he goes further to suggest that they are of the same womb where we can infer here he speaks of a brother older and with more status than he. The personas lambs are born with speckles suggesting that he, the elder, has already spawn children with the personas wives and he the persona has not had relations with them as he, the elder, visits upon his home frequently, this suggested by the line "the leopard arches over the homestead, and the wives become frisky".