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David Diop Books

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“I swear to you that I heard the story of the lion-sorcerer just before leaving for the war. This story, like all interesting stories, is full of clever innuendo. Whoever tells a well-known story like the one about the lion-sorcerer and the fickle princess might always be hiding another story beneath it. To be seen, the story hidden beneath the well-known story has to peak out a little bit. If the hidden story hides too well beneath the well-known story, it stays invisible. The hidden story has to be there without being there, it has to let itself be guessed at, the way a tight saffron-yellow dress lets the beautiful figure of a young girl be guessed at. It has to be transparent. When it’s understood by those for whom it is intended, the story hidden beneath the well-known story can change the course of their lives, can push them to transform a diffuse desire into a concrete act. It can heal them from the sickness of hesitation, no matter the expectations of an ill-intentioned storyteller.”

StorytellingHidden Meaning
Book:At Night All Blood is Black
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“You can't kill a man twice," a very, very quiet voice in my mind must have murmured to me. "You already killed your childhood friend," it must have whispered to me, "when you mocked his totem on a battle day and he leapt first from the belly of the earth. Wait a bit," my mind must have whispered in a very, very low voice, "wait a bit. Soon, when Mademba will be dead without your help, you'll understand. You'll understand that you didn't kill him, even though he asked you to, so as not to blame yourself for having finished the filthy job you began. Wait a bit," my mind must have whispered, "Soon you will understand that you were Mademba Diop's blue-eyed enemy. You killed him with your words, you disemboweled him with your words, you devoured the insides ofhis body with your words.”

Loss And Regret
Book:At Night All Blood is Black
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