Insila, the Eyes and Ears of the King

Insila, the Eyes and Ears of the King is a fresh, modern translation of the Zulu novel, "Insila kaShaka", which was first published in 1931, the first novel by a Zulu writer. Dube's narrative is an extraordinary, gripping and haunting window into Zulu life as it was lived before the land was lost to the Europeans. It tells of a young man, Jeqe, who is summoned by Emperor Shaka to his Royal Residence at Dukuza to be his Insila. There is no accurate translation of the word, insila. The only way to find out what it entails is to read Dube's book. An earlier translator, J. Boxwell, translated it as 'bodyservant'. This captures only one aspect of the Insila's role. The word insila means body dirt and conveys the fact that the Insila becomes very close to and inseparable from the king. When Shaka is murdered by his half-brothers, Jeqe must be buried along with Shaka's wives and his earthly possessions. Jeqe's Buthelezi ancestors come to him in a dream. They tell him he still has much to accomplish - and he flees. This is the start of an enthralling adventure involving traversing dangerous bushveld teeming with wild animals of all kinds, crossing mighty rivers and negotiating lands populated by foreign peoples. The story includes some wonderful and thrilling encounters - the courting of Zakhi, the love of his life; the island school of Nkosazana, the female mistress of traditional medicine and divining in the swamps of the Usuthu River between what is now South Africa and Mozambique; and an apocalyptic landscape of abandoned villages and dying people on a plateau in the Ubombo Mountains. Dube is anxious to record the culture and social conditions of the time as well as to tell the story. It is thus a Zulu novel in a real sense, quite different to the form that developed in the West. This translation of Insila kaShaka by Thembani Ndiya Nene and Robert Mshengu Kavanagh, comes with a substantial introduction and a glossary.