The Lion and the Jewel: Morning Summary & Analysis

Sidi, dressed in traditional broadcloth and balancing a pail of water on her head, walks through a clearing near Ilujinle's schoolhouse. Students in the school recite the multiplication table as the young schoolteacher, Lakunle, notices Sidi and comes outside. He's dressed in a too-small western suit and tennis shoes.

Lakunle tries to take the pail of water from Sidi and spills water on himself in the process. Sidi and Lakunle tease each other and Lakunle tells Sidi that she shouldn't carry loads on her head because doing so will squash her elegantly long neck. Sidi reminds Lakunle that he told her only yesterday that he'd still love her no matter what she looked like.

Lakunle changes the subject. Motioning at Sidi's breasts and bare shoulders, he tells her that a "grown-up girl" must cover her shoulders so that the men of the village don't ogle her. Sidi, annoyed, tells Lakunle that she can't tie her broadcloth any higher or tighter and still be able to use her arms. Lakunle says that "modest women" cover themselves, and asks if it bothers Sidi to hear the taunts from men. Exasperated by this, Sidi reminds Lakunle that the village calls him a madman with his "big loud words and no meaning," while nobody says anything of the sort to her.

After a moment, Lakunle recovers himself and declares that he will rise above the taunts from the "savages" of the village. This angers Sidi and she threatens to hit Lakunle, who responds airily that such a reaction from a woman is only natural, as women have smaller brains than men. Sidi becomes even angrier and she asks him where he gets these ideas. Lakunle refuses to engage, saying the argument will go over Sidi's head anyway. He grabs her, holds onto her, and implores her to not be angry with him specifically, since scientists say that women have small brains and are the weaker sex, not him.

Sidi throws Lakunle off of her and asks if women who pound yams and plant crops with babies on their backs are truly weak. Lakunle only says that soon the village will have machines to perform those tasks, and Sidi accuses him of turning the world upside down. Lakunle clarifies that he only means to transform the village, and that he means to start with Baroka, the village Bale (leader). Lakunle refuses to tell Sidi why he means to go after Baroka specifically.

Sidi asks Lakunle where his crazy thoughts come from. He describes the city of Lagos, where ideas like his are commonplace. Sidi tells him to go to Lagos where the women won't find his ideas oppressive. She declares that she's leaving and asks for her pail, but Lakunle refuses to give it to her unless she swears to marry him. He takes Sidi's hand and emotionally tells her that she understands him. Sidi is confused, but Lakunle goes on to promise that he'll open her mind.

Sidi declares that she endured enough of Lakunle's nonsense the day before. Lakunle loudly takes offense to having his ideas called nonsense. He tells Sidi that his heart is bursting with love, but the villagers, including Sidi, are trampling his heart with their ignorance. Completely baffled, Sidi asks Lakunle why he even stays in the village. Lakunle says that he has faith and again implores Sidi to pledge her love to him so that he can "stand against earth, heaven, and the nine Hells."

Angry again, Sidi tells Lakunle that his words sound the same but mean nothing. She reminds him that she'd be happy to marry him any day, provided he pays the bride price for her. She asks him if he wants the village to think she wasn't a virgin and had to shamefully marry him without a price. Lakunle spews a string of words to describe the custom of paying a bride price, including "excommunicated" and "redundant" along with "humiliating" and "degrading." When Sidi asks saucily if he has more words, Lakunle replies that he only has the Shorter Companion Dictionary.

Sidi tells Lakunle to pay the price, and Lakunle again shouts more words to describe the tradition of the bride price. He tells Sidi that he doesn't want a wife to simply serve him and bear children—he wants a life companion, a friend, and a partner. Sidi pretends to have lost interest and inspects her necklace, but tells Lakunle again to pay the bride price. Lakunle tenderly tells Sidi that paying a price would be no different than buying a cow at the market. He describes that when they're married, they'll eat off of breakable plates and sit at a table, and they'll walk together on the streets. He says that Sidi will wear high heels and lipstick, they'll frequent nightclubs, and that they'll kiss. He kisses her.

Backing away with disgust, Sidi states that she hates kissing. She deems it unclean and asks if Lakunle is being rude to her by making the kissing sound. Lakunle sadly tells Sidi that she's a "bush-girl" and always will be, and says that kissing is part of "civilized romance." Sidi lightly corrects him and says that it's a way to cheat and not pay the bride price. Lakunle offers some poetic lines about romance. Sidi simply stares at him for a minute before telling him that she's beginning to understand why the village calls him mad. She says that Lakunle will surely ruin his students.

Sidi and Lakunle hear people coming. Sidi asks for her pail of water so the villagers won't tease her. A group of young people enters the clearing. The young women are extremely excited and tell Sidi that the stranger with the "one-eyed box" came back to the village. Sidi asks if he brought the images, and one of the girls says that he brought a book that shows pictures of the entire village. Sidi excitedly asks if the girls saw the book and if it truly made her look beautiful, like the stranger said it would.

One of the girls says that the book surely makes Sidi look beautiful, and that Baroka is still looking at the images. The girl tells Sidi that there's a photo of Sidi on the cover, and one that spans two pages in the middle that shows Sidi from head to toe. The girl tells Sidi that it looks like the sun is her lover in that photograph. One of the other girls says that Baroka is pretending to be proud of Sidi, but that he's actually jealous.

Sidi asks if Baroka's photo is in the magazine as well, and one of the girls says with contempt that while his image is in the book, the photo of him is very small and next to the latrines. It would've been better if he hadn't been in the book at all. Sidi excitedly asks the girl to swear that it's true, and the girl does.

Sidi declares that the images of her mean that she's more powerful than Baroka. Lakunle petulantly declares Baroka a "devil among women" and deems it divine justice that a woman is more powerful than he is. Sidi tells Lakunle to be quiet and suggests that she has no reason to marry him now, as marrying a schoolteacher would hurt her newfound fame. Lakunle looks stricken, but Sidi happily reminds Lakunle again that she's more famous than Baroka thanks to the images. She asks how many "leaves" of the magazine her own image occupies and forces Lakunle to count them. When he does, she leaps around and cheers for her own beauty and the stranger. The crowd joins in her cheers.

Sidi suggests that they dance the dance of the "lost traveler." She moves through the crowd and divvies out parts. Four girls are assigned to play the wheels of the traveler's car, a young boy will play a python, and Sidi struggles to find someone who will be able to appropriately play the drunk stranger. She turns to Lakunle and assigns him the part, which Lakunle refuses by saying he's never been drunk. Sidi says that Lakunle's father drank enough for Lakunle. Lakunle tries to escape to teach a geography lesson, but Sidi wildly says that it's a holiday now that the stranger is back—the students aren't in school anymore.

The group drags Lakunle towards the center of the clearing as he states that the dance is idiotic and he has more important things to do. Sidi and the villagers surround Lakunle and chant that Lakunle looks, speaks, thinks, and is clumsy like the stranger, and so he'll do for the part. After six or seven times through the chant, which grows progressively louder and faster, Lakunle agrees to participate.

Lakunle enthusiastically positions the cast throughout the clearing as parts of the jungle. He directs the four girls who will play the wheels of the car. While Lakunle performs realistic miming, everyone else truly dances. The girls dance the car driving and then breaking down. Lakunle inspects his "wheels" and pinches the girls as he does so. One bites him back. Lakunle grabs his "camera" and sets off through the human jungle, taking swigs from his imaginary flask as the snake and a monkey dance at him and scare him.

Lakunle as the stranger hears a woman singing and in his drunken state, thinks he has heatstroke. He tosses his imaginary bottle at the sound and hears a scream. He peers through the forest, whistles, and pulls out his camera to find the perfect shot. In the process, he falls into the river. The woman screams again and Sidi comes out from the trees, barely covered. She runs away and returns with the dancers playing the jungle, reformed as villagers. They grab Lakunle and lead him to the center of the clearing.

Baroka enters and the dance abruptly stops as everyone kneels and respectfully greets him. Lakunle tries to sneak off, but Baroka calls him out. Lakunle greets Baroka with "good morning," which doesn't please Baroka. He asks Lakunle if they're feuding, and Lakunle claims they aren't. Baroka goes on to say that the dance was in full swing until he arrived, right on cue. Lakunle says that surely the Bale of the village doesn't have time for such nonsense, but Baroka says that his life would be dull without the "nonsense."

Baroka suggests that they resume the dance and commands his attendants to seize Lakunle. Lakunle is perplexed, but Baroka accuses him of stealing the "village maidenhead." Lakunle nods and steps back into his role as the stranger. The villagers threateningly surround him and throw Lakunle down on his stomach. Baroka decides to take pity on the stranger and calls off the mutinous villagers. He sets out a feast in the stranger's honor, and the stranger photographs everything. Sidi dances wildly and he takes a number of photographs of her. The stranger drinks the local village brew until he has to leave to vomit. As Lakunle runs away, the dance ends.

Lakunle returns and Sidi happily tells him that he was a perfect stranger and should've been a jester instead of a teacher. Baroka asks where the village would be without Lakunle's wisdom. Sidi is barely listening. She rallies her friends to go find the real stranger and his photographs, and tells Lakunle he must come to translate for them. Sidi and the villagers chase Lakunle as they all run away. Baroka, now alone, sits down and takes out his copy of the magazine. He admires the photos of Sidi and says to himself that he hasn't taken a wife in five months.