ABSTRACT
To illustrate this, I have chosen two autobiographical anecdotes that relate in the first instance to the self-image built up by a colourful Maasai elder. The second is of a misencounter of my own during my first spell of field-work, narrated years later. Each can be viewed in its historical context and both are shown in the concluding section to relate to the interpretation of maturation and ageing in the relevant culture.
