Part I Summary: The Buffalo Woman

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After detailing his ancestry and explaining his authority to recount the tale, the narrator begins the story of Sundiata by describing how Sundiata's parents came to be wed. Sundiata's father, Maghan Kon Fatta, is the ruler of Mali. He has a wife named Sassouma Berete and a son called Dankaran Touman. One day, a hunter arrives at Maghan Kon Fatta's court, offering part of his catch as a tribute to the king, as was the custom. The king asks the hunter, who is also a seer, to perform a divination ceremony using cowry shells to foresee the future. Speaking in cryptic terms, the hunter reveals that the king's successor has not yet been born and that this heir will come from an unattractive woman brought by two strangers.

Later, two hunters from the land of Do arrive at the court with a veiled, hunchbacked woman. They declare her a suitable wife for the king and recount how they came to acquire her. The hunters had set out to find a buffalo that was devastating the countryside of Do. A great reward was promised to whoever could kill the buffalo. The hunters met an elderly woman who pleaded for food, which they provided. In gratitude, she disclosed that she was the buffalo in human form and revealed the secret to defeating her animal form. She instructed them that when offered a choice among the local maidens as their reward, they must choose the unattractive hunchback named Sogolon Kedjou. Sogolon embodies the soul of the shape-shifting buffalo. The hunters agreed to her terms.

The buffalo's spirit gives Sogolon great strength, and she resists the hunter's attempts to consummate their marriage. Unable to fulfill their intentions, the hunters present her to Maghan Kon Fatta but fail to inform him that she will not submit to any man.

Reminded of the fortune-teller's prophecy by his griot, Gnankouman Doua, the king decides to take Sogolon Kedjou as his second wife. On their wedding night, however, he struggles in vain to possess her, as she uses the buffalo's strength to fend him off. After a week of unsuccessful attempts, the king tells her he has realized he must sacrifice her. She faints in terror, allowing him to consummate the marriage. Sundiata is conceived that night.

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Part II Summary: Sundiata's Childhood

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