Jamila and the Baobab Stalk

From a pocket in her abaya, Jamila retrieved a shriveled plantain and planted it upright in the wooden trough. Then she prayed to Mother Cobra. Almost immediately, storm clouds gathered overhead. Lightning accompanied by peals of thunder coursed across the sky, followed by a light rainfall.

Jamila stood and removed her clothing. She kneeled before the wooden trough, surrounded the exposed part of the plantain with her mouth, and slid her lips down along its length and then back up again. For some time, she fellated it. Then she disengaged from the plantain, turned, and kneeled on the straw bed nearby. She pushed the young man down upon his back, planted her knees on either side of his head, and lowered herself onto his abdomen so that her face hovered over his groin. She lifted his penis and clamped her lips around his glans. Then she fellated him slowly, occasionally pausing to run the tip of her tongue around his crown. The boy shut his eyes, pushed his head back into the straw, and moaned with pleasure. As he was approaching a climax, Jamila withdrew his penis from her mouth, angled it toward the trough, and masturbated him assiduously. His penis pulsed repeatedly and spurted an enormous load of semen onto the plantain.

As the boy's orgasm subsided, Jamila embraced him and kissed him on his lips. For a few moments, they lay contentedly in each other's arms. Then, suddenly, the plantain turned bright green and began to swell. When it had tripled in size, its green covering peeled away and separated into broad leaves that quickly grew to enormous dimensions and flapped rhythmically in the breeze. From the bottom of the plant, a thick stalk emerged. As it grew, it lifted the ripening fruit higher and sprouted a cluster of young plantains beneath it, which quickly grew and ripened.

The five young couples stared in amazement as the plantain transformed itself into a tree replete with clusters of ripened fruit. Without hesitation, each woman pushed the lower end of her plantain into the soil and banked earth around the base in order to keep it upright. She took off her clothes, stripped her husband, and pushed him down upon his back on their bed of straw. Then she kneeled before the plantain, enclosed the top in her mouth, and bobbed her head slowly down and up repeatedly. Her husband wrapped his hand around his shaft and masturbated. Abruptly, she released the plantain, straddled her husband, and fellated him with vigor. As his penis began to pulsate, she disengaged her mouth and angled his shaft toward the plantain, directing a stream of semen onto its top. A moment later, the plantain transformed itself into a fruit-laden tree.

And so they proceeded. With each sexual delight that Jamila taught them, the women became more adept at arousing and pleasing their husbands. In the meantime, all of the plantains sent out roots that burrowed into the soil and sprouted new plants. When the storm abated and the sun peeked over the horizon, the field was covered in vines and trees and hundreds of huge, ripe plantains glistened in the dew. Moreover, the soil of the planting field had transformed into a rich, dark loam that teemed with invertebrates and nutrients.

The following morning, the whole village gathered to wish Jamila a safe journey. She kissed each of the young men and women who had participated in the ceremony. Namiba presented her with a small bag of gold coins, whereupon Jamila bowed and departed.

ξ

To the south, the scrubland transforms into a patchwork of marshes. Jamila was walking along a path that led to the mountains when the trail suddenly became infested with frogs. As she continued, she found more and more frogs hopping madly on the pathway and in the vegetation on either side. Eventually, she came to a village in which all of the houses were on stilts. The village elders greeted her and explained that the people had elevated their homes so that the frogs couldn't invade them.

"What happened here?" she asked.

One of the elders replied. "For many years our village was prosperous and the people were healthy and happy. The lake was surrounded by cattails, and egrets made their nests in them. The birds ate insects, fish, and frogs and thereby maintained the balance of life. We raised crops and hunted small game. But as our village grew, we decimated the local wildlife, including the egrets. When the last one was killed, the frog population exploded. The frogs ate the cattails, and soon there were no reeds to hold down the soil and filter the water, and the lake became foul and its water, undrinkable. Now, many children are sick and dying, and our village has become a joyless place."

The elder and his family welcomed Jamila into their home. After a meal at midday, she conferred with him at length, and then thought for a while. "Do your people have boats?" she asked. The elder escorted her to the lake, where several teakwood dugouts had been hauled up on the shore.

"I will help you," said Jamila. "I will need one of your dugouts and two strong men to power it and a young woman to assist me. All three must be unmarried and no less than eighteen years of age. Each man must bring a blanket and sufficient straw to make a bed. If we succeed in our mission, then when we return, your people must follow any instructions that I may give them. If they do what I ask, the lake will be restored and the plague of frogs will end."

The elder was puzzled, but he conferred with his peers, and eventually they agreed to Jamila's conditions. The following morning, Jamila, accompanied by the elder, two young men, and one young woman, made her way to the lake. She selected a stout dugout, and she and the woman sat in the middle seats. The men pushed the vessel into the water, jumped onto the front and rear seats, and paddled the boat away from shore.

"You must guide us along the shoreline, all the way around the lake," said Jamila. "Somewhere in the vegetation, there must be at least one cattail that was not destroyed. We must find it."

The men did as she asked. All four occupants of the boat searched the lake margin carefully, but by early evening, they had progressed half way around the lake without finding what they sought. Needing a place to camp for the night, they pulled the dugout onto a grassy meadow that bordered the lake, and there, in its midst, stood a solitary cattail. Its stalk had begun to yellow, and the brown seed head at the top was fragile and thin. Jamila built a fire and told her companions to assemble two beds and lay them close to the cattail.

As the moon rose, Jamila prayed to Mother Cobra, and moments later, a storm lashed the lake and its surroundings. Jamila removed her clothes and told one of the men to do likewise and recline on a nearby bed. Jamila lay down between his legs so that her face was over his genitals. She wrapped one hand around his penis, and, with the other, caressed his scrotum. Then she sucked his testicles and simultaneously masturbated him. The man shut his eyes and moaned with pleasure. When he was fully erect, she drew her tongue up along the underside of his shaft, surrounded his glans with her lips, and fellated him. As his penis began to spasm, she withdrew it from her mouth and angled it toward the cattail. He ejaculated forcefully and sprayed the seed head with semen.

There was a tremendous peal of thunder. Jamila disengaged from the man and kneeled before the cattail. She wrapped her hands around the stalk and twisted them slowly back and forth in opposite directions. Then she engulfed the seed head with her mouth and fellated it. When she withdrew, the cattail's stalk had thickened and turned a bright green. The seed head had increased in length and girth, and, at its base, new leaves had appeared. For a moment the cattail swayed in the breeze. Then it jerked violently and expelled a stream of seeds from the top of its head. The seeds alighted in the grass and immediately germinated, and within a few minutes, the cattail that Jamila had fellated was surrounded by a dozen others.

Immediately, the young woman removed her clothing, stripped the second man, and performed upon him the same delights that Jamila had performed upon the first. Then Jamila kneeled between the beds, grasped the shafts of both men, and masturbated them. As their penises began to shudder, she angled them toward the swollen cattail and painted it with semen.

Suddenly, the cattail grew to enormous proportions and spurted a massive stream of seeds high into the air. The storm distributed them around the margin of the lake, and, instantly, the shallows were filled with vibrant green reeds with plump brown seed heads. Rocked by the wind, the new plants swayed rhythmically.

The couples made love throughout the night, and, as the storm abated and the sun rose, hundreds of egrets descended onto the lake and its surroundings and immediately began to consume the frogs. By the time the lovers had paddled back to the village, the frog plague had ended. As the villagers helped them to draw the dugout onto the beach, they heard the cheeping of hundreds of nestlings, and soon, the lake margin was replete with eggs and baby egrets.

Jamila turned to the villages and said, "Go into the cattails, locate as many egret nests as you can, and from each, remove one egg. Then bring them all to me." The people nodded in agreement and dispersed into the reeds. Throughout the day, they brought their eggs to Jamila, who examined each carefully and put ten of them aside. Then, when all of the villagers had returned, Jamila told one of the women to bring water and wash the selected eggs. To everyone's astonishment, their white coloring dissolved, revealing that the eggs were made of solid gold.

The following morning, the villagers turned out to wish Jamila well, and the elder gave her one of the golden eggs. Jamila accepted it with a smile, bowed respectfully, and resumed her journey.

ξ

In the mountainous region, there are deep valleys. Communities that live in them are effectively isolated from each other; so each has a unique culture. The route that Jamila was following led into one of these, which was inhabited by a people who had widely been reported to be happy. But when Jamila arrived at their village, no one was smiling. People walked about quickly, as if they felt threatened.

In the commons, by the well, in the shade of a tree, an old man was seated at a bench and was carving a bowl out of cedar. The man stood and greeted Jamila politely and told her that he was the village chief. He invited her to sit in the shade on the bench that was facing him.

"Why are your people so uneasy?" she asked.

"Long ago," he replied, "the gods gave us a begena that played beautiful music without the aid of a musician. For generations, the magical harp protected us from harm.

"A year ago, a storm blew in from the eastern ocean and dropped figs throughout our valley. The animals ate them all, except for one, which germinated and produced a banyan tree. Within a day, it had grown and twisted its way up the face of that cliff." He pointed to the side of a mountain that bordered the valley.

"The following morning, a huge man climbed down the banyan tree, walked into our village, and stole our begena. Since then, he has been coming to the village every day and demanding a ransom. If we fail to pay, he says, he will destroy the harp. We have already given him all of our gold and silver. So whenever he comes and is dissatisfied with what we offer, with one blow of his fist, he destroys a hut. Many families have moved away, and soon the village will be empty."

The chief invited Jamila to stay with his family, and, together, they had their evening meal. The following morning, Jamila arose early and made her way to the base of the cliff. She climbed up the banyan and was surprised to see that the mountaintop was covered in a dense, green forest that was rich in wildlife. Birds sang in the canopy and tree frogs chirped in the leaves. As she walked along a path that led away from the cliff, her green clothing blended well with the foliage and made her virtually invisible.

Jamila heard music and splashing ahead, and crept forward cautiously. She parted some branches and saw a large, stone-lined pool at the base of a waterfall. On a flat rock by its side stood a magnificently carved begena, trimmed in ebony, ivory, and gold. Its diaphanous strings shimmered as if they were being plucked by an invisible musician. Seated in the pool with his head tipped back and his eyes closed was the giant. From time to time, he splashed water on himself and rubbed down his body with a large bar of soap.

Then the begena changed its tune. It began to play an eerie melody accompanied by a rhythmic pulsing like that of a djembe drum. Mysterious and exotic, the music had a visceral eroticism that excited the giant. He reached down between his legs, lifted his gigantic penis, and masturbated until he underwent a massive orgasm that spouted semen onto the trees.

The giant let out a sigh and got out of the pool. He dried himself with a towel and put on his clothing. Then he walked off into the forest.

As the sound of his passage diminished, Jamila heard a woman crying. Walking quietly in the shadows, she came upon a richly decorated house. Outside, seated on a marble bench, was a beautiful young woman who was weeping mournfully. When she saw Jamila, she stood, wiped the tears from her cheeks, and composed herself.

"Welcome, lady," she said. "What brings you to our home?"

Jamila explained how she had come to the village and what the chief had told her. The woman invited her indoors. She served bread, cheese, and wine, and Jamila enjoyed a pleasant meal with her hostess. Then, after a comfortable silence, she asked, "Why are you grieving?"

The woman responded. "When we were wed, my husband was already a big man, but, to everyone's surprise, he continued to grow until he reached a gigantic stature. Increasingly, it became difficult for his penis to penetrate into my vagina until, eventually, it became impossible. He became frustrated and bitter, and took me away to live in this place. He has been angry and spiteful ever since.

"He stole the begena because he thought that its music would soothe him. But the begena was perceptive and realized that my husband needed relief; so it played seductive music that induced him to stimulate himself to orgasm. It is a poor substitute for a woman's love, but it is the only pleasure available to him. He has grown distant and cold, and now it has been one year since we last made love."

Jamila thought for some time. Then she said, "Show me your garden." The giant's wife nodded and accompanied Jamila outside. They walked through the garden, which was rich and extensive, until they came to a marble cupola. Under its roof in the center of the floor was a large ceramic pot filled with rich brown soil. "When your husband is sound asleep tonight meet me here." The woman was puzzled, but she agreed. Then she returned to the house.

Jamila walked into the forest. She searched until she found a sweet potato plant and dug it out of the ground. The yam was long, thick, and cylindrical with a round swelling at one end. At its base were two spherical root nodules. Jamila pulled the stalk, leaves, and rootlets off the plant and carried the yam and its conjoined nodules to the bathing pool. Then she washed them until they were clean and smooth.

She returned to the cupola and planted the yam in the ceramic pot so that the spheres were exposed and the shaft was upright, with the swelling on top. Suddenly, the giant returned. He was about to enter the house when he froze and sniffed the air. " I smell you," he shouted. "I know that you are hiding in the garden." He drew his sword and advanced in the direction of the cupola. Quickly, Jamila hastened back into the forest and stood against a tree. The giant appeared and sniffed repeatedly, trying to find her. He stared at the trees, but because of the color of Jamila's clothing and headdress, he could not see her. He shook his head, re-sheathed his sword, and walked back up the garden path and into the house.

That evening, the air became pleasantly warm and the moon rose and bathed the garden with light. When the giant's wife arrived, Jamila prayed to Mother Cobra, and, once again, a storm lashed overhead. Jamila asked the wife to kneel before the ceramic pot. When she had complied, Jamila took off her abaya and headdress and, naked, kneeled beside her. A flash of lightning illuminated the yam. The giant's wife drew in her breath; for the yam closely resembled an erect penis with a pair of testicles suspended at its base. Jamila kissed the rounded tuber lovingly and ran her tongue upward along its front. Then she surrounded the swelling at the top with her mouth and bobbed her head slowly up and down repeatedly. As she did so, the yam grew bigger. Soon Jamila was compelled to disengage from the plant, for its top swelling had grown so large that it no longer fit in her mouth. When the yam had become as large as the giant's penis, it stopped growing.

Jamila told the giant's wife to remove her clothing and fellate the yam. The woman tried to get her lips around its top swelling but failed. She began to weep, but Jamila dried her tears and told her to have faith.

There was a tremendous peal of thunder. The storm clouds covered the moon and cast the garden into absolute blackness. When the moon peeked out again, on the floor beyond the ceramic pot, there was a large cobra. It reared up and addressed the giant's wife. "My child," said the cobra, "do you know why it is possible for me to swallow prey larger than myself?"

The women was frozen with fear and could make no response. "It is because the rears of my upper and lower jaws, and the fronts of the two halves of my lower jaw, are connected together by flexible ligaments that can stretch and move independently. It is a beautiful mouth, is it not? Would you like to have one like it?" Weakly, the woman nodded affirmatively. "Open your mouth, child," said the cobra. The giant's wife obeyed. The cobra sprayed venom from its fangs into the woman's mouth. Jamila saw her jaw bones move briefly beneath her skin, but otherwise, her appearance remained unchanged.

"Go, now, and delight your husband," said the cobra. Then it disappeared. The women arose. Jamila retrieved her abaya and reached into its pocket. She pulled out a black niqab and assisted the giant's wife in securing it over her face. Then she donned her own niqab. Together, clad only in their masks, the two women walked quietly into the house and entered the bedroom.

The giant was asleep, naked, and lying supine upon the bed. Jamila and the giant's wife lay down on either side of his body. Jamila raised the bottom hem of her niqab and kissed the giant's penis repeatedly. His wife did likewise. The giant moaned with pleasure and awakened.

In the gloom, he saw two nubile women wearing facial coverings licking him. He grasped the base of his shaft and lifted his penis into an upright position. The women giggled in delight. Jamila pressed her mouth against the giant's right testicle and rolled the tip of her tongue in circles upon his scrotum. The giant's wife did likewise upon his left testicle. As his penis began to harden, they each placed a hand on his shaft and stroked it. It gave him immense pleasure. His moaning became louder and more intense.

Jamila withdrew and kneeled upon the mattress. She slid her hands up her abdomen, cupped her hands over her breasts, and caressed her nipples with her fingertips. Then she lowered one hand onto her pubis and stroked her rosebud. It caused her body to shudder with delight. The giant's wife followed Jamila's example, and soon, the two women were wriggling on their knees and moaning with pleasure. The giant cupped one hand under his testicles and stroked their undersides with his fingertips. He wrapped the other around his shaft and masturbated.