Dâri - Oumougna de Dantchandou

I dreamed last night
That Dâri de Tchiga was advising me
Dagni, mother of Oummou, warned me that
These hairdos that you know how to style on [women's] heads
Avoid doing them on the heads of spouses who are not well loved
For those done on the heads of women who are not well loved
Devalue mine.

I than replied
Two persons suit me:
The younger sister of Koungo, Safi the dark-skinned
Safi, whose scars on her cheeks make her look so good
She is among those who dine with princes
And Gatti the daughter of the teacher
Who wears a zeffa-style wrapper
She, too, can dine with princes.

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Oumougna de Dantchandou (20th century) Niger
Translated by Fatima Mounkaila
Source: Women's Songs from West Africa by Thomas A Hale and Aissata G Sidikou, Indiana University Press, 2013