Oddessy of Bataou Part Three
Night Fire: Oddessy of Bataou Part Three
One does not protect oneself from evil by turning his back to it; one often forgets that evil always starts its work behind us. It prepares itself and sets the conditions that are favorable to it behind our backs, only presenting itself to our faces in the final phase. The evil only presents itself to us when it is shown that we cannot defend ourselves. As our ancestors say, the arrow that will pierce your heart is the one you did not see coming. In modern times, we will say the bullet that will kill you is the one you did not see. The fact that through his nature, the human being is easily subject to corruption is proven by the fact that the best of our friends today does not offer us a guarantee that he will not become our worst enemy tomorrow. Whatever the path we are taking, that path will have its mountains and its valleys. Every rose will have its thorns. The survival, then, of human quality becomes a matter of the art of living. It only took the wife of Inipu to tell him that his brother wanted to sleep with her for Inipu to lead his brother into the mutilation of his genital organs. As Bataou himself said so well, "Oh, brother. You have kept a memory of one act that I'm supposed to have done while I spent all my life serving you!" Maybe this is part of the human nature that we all find heinous, but we never hesitate to prove it. The human being simply does not keep in memory the gifts and the offerings he receives, but he never forgets a refusal. A human being is like a double-edged sword, and as such, it can cut from both sides. The neighbor, the other, whether he is a man or a woman, can become our problem; he can present himself as a boil on the elbow, just to hurt whichever way we bend our arm. Life can only be a matter of harmony. Whatever our perception of the individual destiny, there is no reason for us to turn our back on evil. If we build our destiny as we advance, we then are deserting our responsibility to bring goodness to this world. If we perceive this destiny as a fatum, it will not help to turn our back. The individual who is drowning can only try to swim out of the water.
Bataou spent his new life in the Valley of the Cedars. He spent his time hunting and every night he was laying under the cedar tree whose: flower was supporting his ka. Later on, he decided to build the house by that tree. He decorated the interior of his house and made it one of the most beautiful and attractive places to be. One day, while he was coming out of his house to hunt, he encountered a group of Gods. These Gods talked to him in these terms: "Oh, Bataou, bull of the circle of Gods, you are living here all alone after you ran away from your native town; know that your brother Inipu has killed his wife and he has done all the offerings destined to reinforce your ka so that your ka can be strong enough to drive back every attack made towards you. Your brother is every day in mourning for you despite the time that has passed."
The God Ra-Heru-Kuti then asked the God Knemu:
"Create a woman for Bataou so that he will not live alone."
Knemu then created a partner for Bataou.
The wife of Bataou was the most beautiful in her person and the most beautiful woman in the world. She contained within her the essence of Gods. To know the destiny of that woman, Bataou invited the seven Hathor deities. These deities looked at Batou's wife and announced in one voice, "Her death will be caused by a knife." Bataou became deeply in love with his wife. She stayed at home every time Bataou was going to hunt the beasts of the mountains. Every time he came back from hunting, he would drop the kill in front of his wife. He always asked her, "Do not venture away from the house; do not go to the river. If you do, it will drown you. I know it because me, myself, I am like a woman. I have mutilated my sex and my heart and my ka are on top of the cedar flower. If anyone ever comes with evil intentions, I will protect this tree..." He revealed to his wife all his thoughts and secrets.
If Gods have created a human being, they made sure to make a human being human instead of a God. Human nature, by itself, quickly becomes the mountain we all must climb; the problem that we must all resolve. The first proof of this fact resides in the fact that we know that Gods love us, and for the Gods, the proof of that love resides in our creation by itself. They have created us. They have given us seventy-seven commandments to guide our steps. They have taught us the necessity of purifying our bodies and our souls through ablutions. They have pointed their fingers to the importance of the ancestral spirit, etc. But we are still searching for the proof of their love; we want them to accept us with the corruption that inhabits us! We want Gods to sacrifice their nature for the love of us…
One day while Bataou was hunting, his young wife went to sit under the cedar tree. Her beauty quickly attracted the attention of the spirit that inhabits the water in the river not far from the tree. The spirit came out of the water and started walking toward her. When she realized this, she ran toward the house and closed the door behind her. The spirit then started crying and talking to the trees: "I am in love with this woman! Hey, cedar, give me this woman or I will dry out all the water from the river." The tree then showed the spirit a part of its trunk where Batou's wife was sitting. The spirit looked there and found some hair that was stuck to the bark. He took the hair and placed it in the water. When the hair was in contact with the river water, it started bringing out an aroma with a sweetness and pleasant feeling with no precedent. The perfume continuously emitted by the hair of Bataou's wife rejoiced the heart of every inhabitant of the waters. This perfume followed the currents of the river and expanded.
Far downstream, in the city of the Pharaoh (may strength, health, and long life be accorded to him), the watchman of the Pharaoh, while doing his laundry, observed that the Pharaoh's clothes were smelling of the perfume of exceptional quality. One of them said, "There is a smell on the clothes of the Pharaoh that I can't recognize the origin!" They then started looking for the origin of that smell. They followed the river upstream, guided by the chief of the Pharaoh's watchmen. They finally arrived at the place where the hair of Bataou's wife was. They retracted the hair and realized that it was emitting the scent that was very pleasant. They brought it to the Pharaoh.
All the wise men and scribes of the Pharaoh were called. After observation, they announced to the Pharaoh, "This hair belongs to the daughter of Ra-Heru-Kuti. The essence of all the Gods can be found within her."
The Pharaoh then sent people throughout the world to look for that daughter of Ra-Heru-Kuti. A few days later, they all returned empty-handed, but those who were sent towards the Valley of the Cedars did not return. Everybody that was sent to the Valley of the Cedar had been killed by Bataou except one so that he would bring the message of Bataou to the Pharaoh.
His majesty decided to send an army and cavalry so that they will bring the daughter of Ra-Heru-Kuti. They went with a woman who brought with her jewels and diverse gifts for the wife of Bataou. While the cavalry and the soldiers were fighting with Bataou, the woman was negotiating with the daughter of Ra-Heru-Kuti and succeeded in convincing her to come with them. When Bataou's wife arrived in the city of the Pharaoh, the whole city celebrated. His Majesty quickly fell in love with her. She was named "The Great Sacred Woman". It did not take long to seduce the wife of Bataou. The royal treatment, the presence of diverse servants, the jewelry, the flattery, etc., are a corruption that only takes time to reach the depths of the human being and tries to distract him from the goals he has given to his life.
The wife of Bataou appeared to have been convinced of the cause of the Pharaoh. Afterward, it was mentioned to her how the existence of her husband was preoccupying the Pharaoh. Bataou was difficult to kill. He has challenged a whole army and the whole calvary sent against him...the woman did not take very long before telling His Majesty: "Majesty, the secret of the invulnerability of my husband is in the fact that his ka is protected by the cedar tree. If you cut this tree down, you will be able to kill him." Soldiers were sent with hatchets and after they cut the tree, they went straight to the flowers and cut them off. When they cut the one that was protecting the ka of Bataou, he fell to the ground and died at once. The soldiers returned triumphantly towards the city of the Pharaoh. The royal court celebrated the victory over Bataou, this supposed enemy who only became an enemy because the political power, or let's say the chief of the social machine, had fallen in love with his wife.
One of the characteristics that we recognize in the faces of evil is that they never accept their defeat. Bataou has seen in the woman of his older brother the manifestation of the forces of evil. He has naively believed that the one that Gods has fashioned for him will not betray him…
It is so true that evil will never leave us alone, whatever is the place we choose to live and the path we choose to walk on. The survival is like a plate entirely made of air. We need to eat it constantly and always prepare it fresh. To feel full is to prepare one's own death.
