Prologue/Epilogue

A King doesn't laugh in the streets

A King doesn't break bread in public

A King doesn't dance in front of his subjects

A King doesn't undress in sunlight

A King doesn't show his temperament

Commonplace gestures desecrate him               

A King is not made of the same flesh

as the rest of us humans

Royalty is not excrement

I repeat my prosody: Royalty,

it isn’t bullshit!

The same goes for King Nzinga Mvemba, christened ‘Afonso I’ - in Kikongo: ‘Ndo Mfunsu’. Ndo Mfunsu strolls through his palace. He's bursting with enthusiasm. His heart is pounding. Ndo Mfunsu wants to run, jump, frolic, shout with glee, but he tries to contain his emotions with all his might. For the first time since his precious childhood, he is gripped by such a sense of euphoria. Ndo Mfunsu has just defeated his brother Panzu thanks to his Portuguese allies. He is now the sole ruler of Kongo dia Ntotila, which is made up of six provinces: Mpemba, Soyo, Mbamba, Nsundi, Mpangu and Mbata.

Ndo Mfunsu is unusually lewd. He does not hesitate to think in grandiose terms. ‘This country inherited from my father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather and my noble ancestors is built like a leopard,’ he whispers pensively, ‘but I, Afonso the First, am going to extend its borders to the ends of the earth: I'm going to make it as vast as the Nzadi River, clearer than the sky in the dry season’.

‘I, Afonso, don't navigate life like a snake. I don't eat with the bees. I don't get caught up in all the nonsense and morbid selfishness we witness. I am a visionary. A giant, among the titans of this inferior world.’

NDO MFUNSU CLOSES HIS EYES.

A thousand images run through his mind.

Ndo Mfunsu sees Portuguese masons,

Ndo Mfunsu sees Portuguese crossbowmen,

believers, gunsmiths,

brickmakers, blacksmiths,

schoolmasters,

farriers,

craftsmen with huge biceps descend into his domain.

In his repetitive visions, Ndo Mfunsu sees this whole crowd at work. They're erecting churches,

building homes for aristocrats and family relatives, fitting edifices for him and his descendants;

building schools for girls and boys.

The Lusitanians are at the oven, the mill and the brewery.

They are planting exotic trees,

starting with fig and lemon trees.

The Lusitanians disappear and return laden with seeds of all sorts.

Pumpkins, melons, beans, cabbage, lettuce...

Ndo Mfunsu is walking briskly, eyes fixed on the clouds.

Ndo Mfunsu glimpses (for the umpteenth time) bright lights in the firmament,

and on earth, parishes filled (to the brim) with believers being baptized (in droves), all bearing Christian or Portuguese-sounding names in a sacred and paradoxically superfluous intimacy:

Sandoval,

Telma,

Sabrina,

Conceição,

Faustina,

Bartolomeu,

Eliseu,

Florinda,

Simão,

Lourenço,

Nicolau,

Sebastiana.

King Afonso has endless faith in his hallucinations, prophetic visions or dreams of grandeur.

Ndo Mfunsu hears creaking bells

and a crescendo of rumbling organs

all the way to the mouth of the Nzadi River.

A hymn for the Virgin Mary.

A hymn for King Solomon.

A hymn for King Manuel of Portugal.

A hymn for Queen Eleonora of Portugal.

A hymn for recalling the exodus from Egypt.

The trumpets of Jericho!

Ndo Mfunsu, eyes still shut, sees his people

(men, women and children, their eyes red from invoking the Virgin Mary), singing a myriad of Gregorian chants at the top of their lungs.

Cries of joy.

Incantations

Vociferations

Cursing

A sky filled with white birds

Ndo Mfunsu sees horses of all breeds racing through a pastoral landscape. In his mile-long vision, Ndo Mfunsu sees white dogs.

Ndo Mfunsu sees a cohort of chariots with iron rims.

The King sees the Lusitanians (specifically sent) by his Portuguese fellow, entering his sanctuary, their arms heavily laden with gifts: hats, fabrics, clothing, cookies, artillery supplies, chalices, silver crosses and incense burners for the Church.

NDO MFUSU OPENS HIS EYES. 

A twilight breeze sweeps over the country.

The next few days are crucial.

Afonso I launches a grand operation of seduction.

One should take advantage of the Lusitanians and their Sovereign ruler.

                                                               The King of Portugal ruminates on the same ramblings.

A sublime game of chess with no name, where each player wants to eat the other's pawns.

In 1508, Dom Henrique, Ndo Mfusu's eldest son, and a few children (cherry-picked) from his Kingdom, traveled to Portugal to learn the white man's science. And in 1508, Father João de Santa Maria was sent to the Congo with twelve canons from Saint John the Evangelist.

A year later, the King of Portugal sent his Congolese fellow a fleet of six fully equipped ships to assist Afonso I in the pacification of his lands.

The King of Portugal presents his brother with a coat of arms, flags and batons of command.

The King of Portugal sends greetings to his fellow.

The King of the Kingdom of Congo does not miss the chance to return the greetings. He sends his new Portuguese brother and friend some slaves, copper, ivory and other rare products from his country. To conquer his soul and express the depth of his faith, Ndo Mfunsu (in turn) burns sacred and non-sacred objects!

The King of Portugal is moved to tears. He sends his African fellow some gifts: Dutch shirts, cups, velvet shoes, copper candlesticks, breviaries, missals, trays.

Ndo Mfunsu is not to be outdone.

Ndo Mfunsu sends gifts.

The King of Portugal sends gifts.

Ndo Mfunsu sends gifts.

The King of Portugal sends gifts.

Ndo Mfunsu sends gifts.

The King of Portugal sends gifts.

Ndo Mfunsu sends slaves.

The King of Portugal sends shirts

Ndo Mfunsu sends parrots

and other exotic animals.

The King of Portugal sends fur coats.

Ndo Mfunsu sends minerals and slaves

The King of Portugal sends humanitarian aid

Ndo Mfunsu sends slaves and minerals

Ndo Mfunsu sends slaves.

The King of Portugal sends trousers.

Ndo Mfunsu sends parrots

The King of Portugal sends underwear

and hats

and breviaries

and missals

and shirts

and plates

and lamps

and eye-glasses and forks.

The alliance between the two Sovereigns soon shattered.

The King of Portugal can't get enough. He's a sickly greedy man. Again and again he demands gifts: slaves, civets, minerals and more slaves. Ndo Mfunsu would also like to overtake the Lusitanians. Ndo Mfunsu performs endless prayers, jeremiads and salamalecs. Ndo Mfunsu calls for masons; he protests and demands carpenters here and there, aks for priests, and more carpenters. Ndo Mfunsu is offended, surprised that there isn't enough wine and flour for the Eucharist. He calls for more and more priests. Things got out of hand.

The Portuguese in Africa excelled in the slave trade. They bought and sold slaves at every turn. Ndo Mfunsu urged them to "buy only real slaves and no women, so as not to set a bad example," but they didn't care. On the contrary, they were speeding things up. The governor of São Tomé, Fernão de Melo, boycotted him, even calling him a son of a bitch.

The slave trade predominates! Everyone is likely to end up in the hold of a ship. Even the King's strongest allies and closest relatives are spied on, tracked down and sold off to the Americas or to São Tomé. The gifts that the King of Portugal sends to his Congolese brother are now plundered and embezzled, right under the Congo King's nose. So Ndo Mfunsu protests to his fellow, "we were given twenty pieces of coarse cloth, not even enough to dress little rats". As if this downward spiral of misfortune wasn’t enough, the King of Portugal began bargaining with the King of Angola. A dishonor and betrayal for the Congolese King. Ndo Mfunsu takes the blame! He goes into a rage. Ndo Mfunsu no longer drinks water. Ndo Mfunsu no longer closes his eyes. Ndo Mfunsu stops eating. Ndo Mfunsu tries to resolve the situation, but the Portuguese kick him out. Ndo Mfunsu complains (for the thousandth time) to his Portuguese fellow, but he doesn't give a damn about this clownery - a spoiled child raging for nothing. The King of Portugal (ashamed) made him understand that there was no turning back, and that the slave trade had to continue in the nicest way possible! He also gave him orders and morality abuse: let me do business in your kingdom, prepare for retirement, and hand over the reins to your children.

Ndo Mfunsu writes to his fellow:

"Now we ask Your Highness, for the love of Our Lord Jesus Christ, not to abandon the fruits of Christianity already achieved in our kingdom. We can do no more, indeed, for we have but one mouth to preach and teach. As for us, we are already religiously married, as are the nobles near us. As for those who are distant, they don't want to marry religiously because of the bad examples they see every day, and they don't want to obey. We therefore ask Your Highness, for the love of God, to help us get them married. If Your Highness doesn't want to help us spiritually, we beg you, kissing your Royal hands, to send five or six ships for us, our children and our parents, so that we may not see such great loss."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"Your Highness, I ask you to send masons and carpenters to build a school to instruct our relatives and subjects. The envious and the jealous only set bad examples."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"I am in great need of a ship and you would be doing me a very great favor by letting me buy it. I don't know why Your Highness won't consent. It seems to me that, indeed, thanks to this ship, I shall be better equipped with everything I acquire for the service of God and I have no other desires."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"So we gave him many gifts. We immediately sent Fernão de Melo a thousand manila shackles and slaves, and, for Jusarte, twenty slaves and three hundred manila shackles because he claimed to be Your Highness's nephew. We also gave him many of our fabrics, leopard skins, twenty jars of honey and four civets for Fernão de Melo. What's more, he said that if we sent you shackles and slaves, Your Highness would be very grateful."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"I have received a letter from Your Highness, telling me that my parents, whom I sent to Portugal for their studies, are not benefitting at all from them. I am very sad about this, as I sent them for no other reason than to learn the service of Our Lord Jesus Christ. They will then be able to advance our holy Catholic faith, enlighten those who are blind in my kingdom, and, after my death, support the faith of Our Lord Jesus Christ."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"The destitution in which I find myself, with regard to certain objects for our churches, obliges me to pester Your Highness, which, certainly, I would not do if I had a ship. I would have chartered it myself, and I wouldn't be bothering Your Highness with so many requests. But I can't do otherwise, since I don't have a ship. Here is the list of items needed for the church, as requested by Father RUY D'AGUIAR, the vicar Your Highness asked for. Kissing Your Highness's hands, I beg you to send me: a silver cross, a costode for the Blessed Sacrament, a curtain for the altar."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"Your Highness would do us a very great favor if, in service of God, our nephews both returned from Rome as bishops. As we have written several times to Your Highness, our kingdom is very large, very populous and includes large provinces and powerful lords. Therefore, one bishop is not enough.

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"Your Highness must know that on several occasions we have written to your father, the late King, May His soul rest in peace, how much we need numerous priests to visit the whole extent of these kingdoms and lordships. We need to cleanse them of the leprosy and defilement of idolatry. This land is vast and would require, to cleanse its inhabitants, many priests spread throughout the kingdom and its provinces."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"Your Highness must know that our kingdom is heading for perdition, so the necessary remedy must be provided. What is causing much debauchery is the fact that the head of your factorerie and your officials are giving merchants permission to come establish themselves in this kingdom, to set up stores there, to sell goods there, even things that we prohibit."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"We often go five or six months without mass or sacraments because Your Highness's officials want it this way, which hinders the service of God and causes great unrest among our subjects. It is whispered that Your Highness no longer remembers us or the Christianity that the King, your father, May His soul rest in peace, supported for so many years in these regions, thanks to his many visits and his exhortations and encouragements which gave everyone constancy and faith and offered us great consolation."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"Your Highness, avoid sending us merchants who deal in vile trade and wicked wares."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

 "This kingdom is as Portuguese and loyal to your service as the one Your Highness inherited by law, and, and secondly, we do not tolerate ingratitude."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

"We ask you, as a favor, to agree to send us someone to help us in the service of God, in addition to the bishop. Let it be our third nephew Dom Afonso, who has been studying in Portugal for several years."

Ndo Mfunsu writes:

“Your Highness, we have a lot of ivory and we receive more every day. We would like to send it, by your ships to your kingdom, to pay the expenses we cause to Your Highness. However, your pilots won't transport it, even though we've sent it to the port and it's of no use."

THE HIGH CHRISTIAN LORD DOM AFONSO, KING OF CONGO, DIES MYSTERIOUSLY. HIS BROTHER, DOM MANUEL, WRITES TO THE QUEEN OF PORTUGAL ASKING FOR MONEY FOR THE FUNERAL:

"Her Majesty!

I wish to inform Your Highness that the King of Congo is dead. I would like to have some thirty masses performed and do some good deeds for his soul, but at the present time I find myself without money. I therefore ask Your Highness, in the service of God, to kindly intervene with the King, my Lord, so that he may grant me the four hundred cruzados belonging to my brother, the King, may God rest his soul. This will enable me to accomplish what I have stated. The rest of the sum will be used to cover the costs of my journey. For the peace of the kingdom, Her Majesty, I must indeed go there, for the service of God and the new king, my nephew, whom I know greatly desires to have me by his side. The four hundred cruzados are in the possession of a certain GRIMANEZA FERNANDES, living in Lisbon. She is the wife of a certain DIOGO DE CAMPOS who brought this money here to make purchases on behalf of the King, my brother, may God rest his soul. I therefore ask you to obtain permission for me to leave from His Royal Highness, as I'm not at service here. Since I have been here, I haven't done the slightest thing, and already the man who sent for me is dead. My only desire now is that the highest of the lords, God, may lengthen your life and increase the majesty of Your Highness in His holy service."