ABSTRACT

This chapter talks about the story, which is narrated throughout the Niger loop and Senegal valley, takes its name from the Peul herdsmen's first master of initiation, Koumen. Soule Sadio is presented to her in the tenth clearing, and she subsequently takes over from Koumen to complete his initiation. A Peul herdsman's initiation consists of thirty-three levels corresponding to the thirty-three phonemes of Peul language. With his one eye of outer and inner knowledge he is the spirit of war who possesses the secret of invulnerability and also serves as a reminder of an alliance between the Peul and blacksmiths. The originality of Koumen lies in the presence of a woman master at Koumen's side, who expresses the major concern of the Peul herdsmen: the fertility and health of their animals, man being regarded as the double or twin of mythical hermaphrodite bovine. This snake with ninety-six scales represents Tyanaba, God's delegate on earth and mythical owner of the cattle.