A tale from the Zaghawa culture
Err Jukko Kiti and the white bull
By Hussien Arko Menawi
Once upon a time, In the heart of the Sahara Desert, not far from the oasis of Atroon, known locally as Baduba, just to the east of it, lived an old vulture at a thick giant old Nurda Geri tree. The vulture was known by Err Jukko Kiti; Grandpa with a torn, shaky and distorted shape”. Nurda Geri tree, where Err lived, was one of the oldest trees in that locality, almost over a thousand years old.
The tree was so dense that even light could not pass through its thick branches. For centuries, the Nurda Geri tree branched out and then strengthened, branched and strengthened year after year until it grew to a stage being given the title, “Geri” . Even the branches that dried up did not fall، instead; they intertwined, increased the density and became more interwoven over time by fixing themselves among the dense foliage.
That large thick tree was the home of Grandpa,Err Jukko Kiti. Grandpa, like the Nurda, was an old gigantic vulture, nearly a hundred years old. It wore trousers with torn edges that hung down like a lady’s braids. It had shins like quivers, talons as sharp as thorns and featherless red coloured skin displayed around the joints of its hip . Most of its feathers had fallen out, leaving only a few thin and sharp ones just like palm fronds. Its head was like the head of a thoroughbred camel descended from the Bishari origin, with eyes of no eyebrows and eyelids. It had a beak like a sickle or scythe. It was said that when it slept, it usually twisted its neck and turned its head backward and placed it between the two shoulders.
Interesting stories about the Grandpa have been passed down from generation to generation. According to tales narrated by bandits, Err
Jukko Kiti was either a symbol of optimism or pessimism. If you saw it resting , that was a sign of optimism; if you saw it standing, it was an omen of evil. If you couldn’t find it in the tree( its nest), it was a sign of two unfavorable things: either you would be defeated in a battle or you would return home empty-handed.
The areas around Mounts Arowa, Mariqra and Hiriha and around the flatland of Kayba are known as natural grazing lands, attracting livestock owners during the rainy season and also during the summer.
In one particular year, God blessed the people of the locality with abundant rains, and the land turned into green meadows that gave a rise to the flora and fauna. The entire extension of the locality was extraordinarily covered with plentiful and diverse grasses; all types of wild rice, terrestris, spiky grass and others, not so famous grasses known by their local name; Amenja, Qarba, and so on. The area also grows in large quantities of watermelon and colocynth, the primary source of water for many animals. It was a year of surplus in which livestock multiplied and marriages increased among people. It was known as the year of prosperity called by the people of the locality “ Ibe Qurbe “.
During that season, the people of the locality from different villages flocked with their herds to the rich pastures; some brought camels, others sheep, goats, and cattle, and so the herds crowded into the pastures as if they were swarms of ants. In that particular geographical area, some grasses are more nutritious than others, but they are also fetal if they are overeaten. The most harmful among the mentioned is the Amenja. One day, west of Hiriha, where the waters of Kayba end, a white and mammoth camel stallion was found dead. The camel consumed Amenja in large quantities and as a result it died of a swollen belly . Upon the camel’s death, one of the shepherds from the Zaghawa tribe, named Salam lost a male camel among his herd. While the tragedy became a big carnival banquet for many scavenger birds, it was an invaluable loss to the camel herders in that particular locality. The sky teemed with birds of prey of miscellaneous families, some were denizens and others were migratory birds. Among them were different kinds of vultures; Egyptian vulture, Hooded vulture and white- backed vulture as well as Marabou Stork. In less than an hour all vultures rushed to the location followed by a flock of eagles, kites and crows. The birds gradually began to descend, forming a constellation like a bee colony. They all landed around the corpse.
While the Marabou Stork stood at a distance, contemplating the corpse, the vultures, led by the Hooded- Vulture, walked slowly towards the corpse with pride. When they reached the corpse, each began to scrutinize a specific part of it. The vultures first focused on skinning the corpse around particular areas of the body. Each began pecking at the animal’s body. They tried at the ribs, chest, and abdomen, but they were not able to succeed despite their tireless efforts. The crow diligently tried to pluck out the eyes, while the hawks focused on piercing the rear part of the animal. After several trials that cost the whole day, all the birds felt tired. They cultivated nothing but fatigue, hunger and despair. The birds exhausted all their weapons in trying to pierce the animal’s skin. They used their beaks and talons, and they were all about to give up if the crow were not for boosting their morale and determination, saying; “We will not give up even if beaks and talons fail, the weapon of reasoning will never give up, reasoning is the strongest and most effective.” The birds responded with exciting hails: “Coo-coo …kak kak…kyik kyik.
One of the crows thought of a way out and suggested sending a messenger to Err Jukko Kiti at its nest at Nurda Geri. The birds liked the idea, so they moved back a little from the corpse and took up spaced positions for further consultations. Some spread their wings in the air to receive the breeze and some knelt on their knees. “Let’s send one of the kites,” an old vulture suggested . An eagle shook its head, saying, ” I suspect the kites know where the Grandpa’s nest is. It may be more practical if we assign the task to Niini to go instead of a kite.” Everyone agreed to the proposal, and one of them called out loudly, “Niini , where are you?” At that moment, Niini was inside of the corpse feeding itself. In a blink of an eye, an enormous fly rushed out through the nostrils of the animal as if it was an arrow released by a catapult.
Niini was not like all flies; it was often green in colour, with wide eyes, and as big as a wasp. What was amazing was that for unknown purposes it changed its color like a chameleon. It was like the twilight of sunset. Sometimes green, sometimes yellow and sometimes red. Yet, the crowd expressed their disapproval against Niini’s selfishness in eating camel meat alone without sharing it with the others, they all agreed to delegate Niini to the Grandpa, so the fly was asked if it knew Err Jukko Kiti’s nest. Niini replied with no hesitation, ” Yes, certainly I know the place, even if I lose the exact location, the Lord will guide me”.
Before heading to the destination where lived, Niini decided to visit the neighboring village to apply milk cream on its face as a ritual for blessings. In the early morning Niini flew to the nearby village, where the villagers had a large pot they used for boiling milk. With the buzzing noise of its wings, Niini descended to the bottom of the pot and began to apply cream on its face .
The buzzing of the wings woke the villagers up from their sleep and gathered around Niini , seeing for the first time a fly of that size. After completing the ritual, Niini flew off , soaring high into the sky. The villagers watched it for a while, listening to the rhythms made by its wings as it ascended until it faded from view. Niini continued its flight towards Errr’s nest. It took a full day, until it landed on Err’s wings.
“Hey, Err Jukko Kiti” Niini saluted.
“Hello, Niini,” replied Err Jukko Kiti
“I was delegated to you,” said Niini.
” I guess you have important news”, Err said.
” A white elephant was found dead,” said Niini.
To make sure, Err, asked further questions.
“Where is the corpse?” “ Who killed it”?
Niini replied, “It is in the area between Marqra to the north, Arowa to the west, and Hiriha slightly to the east and the extension of sand dunes between Arowa and Heriha in the south” Niini continued; “Exactly at the tundra where few scattered acacia trees are found”. “The rumors said it died of overeating”.
Then immediately, Niini was instructed to fix itself tightly in the wings of Err . As soon as Niini had fixed itself, the journey started.
Err quickly set off in flight, soaring in the sky. The more it flew, the higher it rose in the air until it reached a height that enabled it to see the topography of the location as if a visibility battery were mounted in its eyes.
To be certain of the scene, Err asked skeptically about an object that had caught its eyes, with some comments, “I see something white in the very location, looks like a small hill, but as far as I know, there is no hill there. What is it, what do you think?” However, Niini never answered the question directly, instead, insisted on verifying the location, so Niini asked Err to describe the landmarks accurately.
Err began describing landmark after landmark: “To the west, I see an object, it seems like Mount Arowa. An object like a stone trivet is seen to the north where Mount Margra is located. To the east, I see a cliff, probably Mount Hiriha. A dark brown strip is also seen stretched between the cliff and the object to the west. The white object lies at the end of the water shed, the well-known tundra where Amjena grass grows abundantly..
Niini confirmed the description, “Yes, go down to the very location, exactly, I guess the animal died there of the nutritious Amjena grass.'”
Err flew as fast as the wind and landed violently on the tundra where the corpse was found . It made a terrifying noise and caused shaking around the nearby area. The birds immediately deserted the site out of fear as if they were under a surprise attack.
As soon as they realized that Err was the one who had landed, they returned and gathered around the old vulture.
The old vulture exchanged greetings with the gathering and from their body language Err concluded how critical the situation was. However one of the crows exerted an effort to convey the situation but couldn’t continue because of hunger. The situation was critical and urgent, so Err swiftly moved to the corpse. First, it pecked twice at the ribs and found them tough. It moved to the chest but it was much tougher than the ribs. Then it tried the area between the abdomen and thigh. It found the skin there too tight to bite . Finally, it turned and galloped toward the rear side of the corpse. It stood face to face with the camel’s anal. Err placed its talons on the upper end of the thigh, pushing forward then plunged his sickle-like beak into the rear of the corpse, pulled hard and created a hole. As a result, the corpse burst open with fatty intestines. The hungry birds started devouring the fatty meat of the camel.
Whenever they were satisfied they took a rest then they resumed feeding. They continued feeding themselves for three days until the corpse absolutely turned into a skeleton.
On the final day, the Grandpa bid farewell to the scavenger birds and decided to visit the nearby village before traveling home. At the entrance of the village there was a dog barking at it. It whipped the dog with its wing until it nearly died. The villagers ;men, women, and children all stood watching the Grandpa while it showed off and offered the villagers a special greeting. In an acrobatic manner, the Grandpa raised its right leg horizontally and stretched out along with its right wing and released a fluid exçrement as black as tar, while chanting with a voice of an exclamation ; “Salaaam Baaar- a bull raised for nine yeeeeeeeears!!!!!”. Then the bird flew high and high until it disappeared.
By: Hussien Arko Menwai
May 2026