The Fatal Dance of the Hausa Masquerade: Tread with Caution, Backing is not Foolproof

Grace in 1982

 Check your Backing

When I was much younger, there used to be this Hausa Masquerade circus act of sorts that that roamed from village to village, town to town to perform. Their performances were renowned because of one of their acts that defied belief. At each village and town that they visited, they would stop to perform and receive money from those who came to watch. 

The defining thing about their performance was that it seemed they had some mystical sleight of hand that prevented knives from cutting them. They would slash the knives across their skin to prove that nothing could cut them. This of course earned them gasps and loud ovations from viewers who considered their act as magical.

One fateful day, the troupe arrived in town to perform as usual and there was excitement in the air. Of particular interest that day was a charismatic looking performer who, after a series of moves, revealed his traditional Hausa knife. The knife looked so sharp and wicked, and the crowd held their breath as he began dragging the knife across his stomach. As usual, rather than cut him, the knife sang against his stomach and other parts of his skin as though grazing against a whetting stone. He pulled off the stunt successfully without sustaining any cuts.

However, I can only imagine that maybe his ‘enemies’ or ‘his village people’ must have been hard at work that day. All I do know is that he seemed unusually energized and became intoxicated with the energy of the crowd and the performance that he kept sharpening the knife he was using to perform.

Of course, the knife kept singing against the stone and the crowd could hear the shrill of the knife singing “Payun! Payun! Payun!” as it was dragged repeatedly against the whetting stone. The theatrics of the performance, the noise of the crowd and the sound of the knife rose to a crescendo and he dragged the knife across his stomach one more time.

Suddenly, what had seemed like the climax of the performance became a horror story because rather than the usual singing sound of the knife grazing against his seemingly impervious skin, a different sound was heard. The knife’s music had changed, and a wet sound quietly filled the air as he dragged the knife against his stomach. To the utter horror of the crowd, all could see that he had cut open his stomach. That was his last act in life.

That day, I learnt a valuable lesson: no matter how invincible you may feel, or what backings you may have, always tread with Caution. It doesn’t matter what assurances you have, act as though you do not have it, because it could in fact fail you.