The Whale Caller by Zakes Mda Page B

spirits… that will make him soar from the depths of depression in which he has been wallowing lately. And only Sharisha can do that. He goes back to the Wendy house to fetch Sharisha’s special horn.
    He does not need to go to his peninsula because there are no spectators today. They have run away from the rain that is threatening to fall again. They don’t know how to deal with a wet summer,for this is a region of winter rains. He stands on one of the crags at Walker Bay and blows his horn. The whales are taking advantage of the privacy, and a group of them have assembled a hundred metres from where he stands. He performs a small jig, for he will have fun today without gawking eyes. Not only will he enjoy Sharisha’s joyful splashes, he will have a whole spectacle of magical performances by the rest of the whales. Already they are performing without any prompting from him.
    He blows his horn, punctuating each splash with a siren-like wail, but suddenly stops when he notices something odd. Usually the southern rights that are seen close inshore are females, sometimes with calves. But the whales today are distinctly males, about five of them. He has learnt to spot the elusive difference. While some are engaged in the most exhibitionist breaching, others are circling around a spyhopping whale. They are lobtailing, repeatedly slapping the surface of the water with their tails. The Whale Caller blows Sharisha’s song when he sees the callosities on the head that is sticking out of the water—the snout of the spyhopping whale has a perfect bonnet of pure white callosities. It is, of course, Sharisha, and the males are competing for her attentions. Each one
is
displaying its best moves in an attempt to seduce her.
    The Whale Caller is suddenly seized by a fit of jealousy. He yells at the males, calling them names and shooing them away from his Sharisha. He shouts: “Rapists! You are nothing but a gang of rapists!” But they do not pay any attention to him. They make a concerted effort to reach Sharisha. The Whale Caller blows his horn once again, and this time it surely catches Sharisha’s attention. She thrusts her whole body out of the water in a graceful leap, and splashes down a short distance away from the horny males. He blows once more, hoping for another breaching leap that will take her away from them once and for all. But she seems to be teasing them. She seems to want them to come andhave her. The Whale Caller feels betrayed. But he does not give up. He will yet get them away from her. His confidence in her increases when he realises that Sharisha is not really inviting them for any hanky-panky but is tricking them into taking one direction while she takes an evasive action in another direction. The Whale Caller cannot help laughing and applauding and shouting: “That’s my Sharisha!”
    But he has become gleeful too soon. A persistent male is in hot pursuit while others seem to give up hope. She flees into shallow waters, hoping that the male will give up the chase. But the male is eager to have her even at the risk of stranding himself. She rolls onto her back, and the male reaches her. She submits. They lie belly to belly and copulate. The Whale Caller tries to save Sharisha from this rape by blowing his horn and creating havoc in a discordant tune. The other males are not deterred by the discord; they charge towards the mating couple. The mating is brief and each of the males has her, then sails away. By the time the fourth male is lying belly to belly with her the Whale Caller has given up in exasperation. In no time the feast is over and Sharisha sails away; only her flukes can be seen above the water… sailing further and further away from him.
    “They have done it! They have ravaged Sharisha!” mutters the Whale Caller as he walks back to his Wendy house.
    He thinks about it at night, this ravaging of Sharisha. Perhaps it is a good thing for her. Unlike humans, whales don’t indulge in such acts