The Fairy & the Farm. Part IX: The Pipemaker

Africa » South Africa » Western Cape » Cape Town
February 25th 2007

Published: February 25th 2007

Edit Blog Post

le_flow

Posy & Florid

Self-proclaimed alarmclocks, with a penchant for going off around 3:30. Cock-a-doodle-dooou!

Without a doubt the fairy would have overslept and missed the full moon if it hadn’t been for Siren - the farm’s grey donkey - braying his usual three o’ clock wake-up-call. A wake-up call that, as usual, turned into a wake-up-jam-session as the aptly named roosters; Posy and Florid, joined in with their cacophonous crowing.
The young man was still asleep. Careful not to not wake him up, she sneaked out of the tent.
It was pitch black outside, not even the stars could be seen since dark clouds filled the sky.
“He must have been mistaken” She thought. “There’s no full moon tonight.”
She walked down to the pond where the stone fish lay still at the bottom.
The frogs had gone to bed and the pond was as still and quiet as if sound and movement had never touched its placid surface. She reached down and touched the water.
It was cold. The stone fish didn’t move.
“· knew it, nothing’s gonna happen.” She thought to herself and looked back towards the tent where, to her surprise, a black dog now stood looking at her.
There was something familiar with the dog, didn’t

The Stone Fish

Lurking in the algae infested pond. Who would have thought that she had pearl-tears.

the dog look like…
“Moon-Tan!”
“So it is full moon after all.” She cried out loud and laughed.
All of a sudden, the fish opened her eyes and started yawning. She yawned for so long that the fairy seriously thought she had gotten stuck.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaaaahh. What year is it?” The fish asked in a dark, bubbling, female voice.
“2007 I think.” The fairy took a step back from the small pool, since the fish’s swimming made the water splash over the sides of the pond.
“Damn, talk about oversleeping then. Last time I woke up must have been more than 15 years ago, when two mealy-mouthed businessmen wanted my scales for developing a new cat food flavour. How rude is that, to let those furry predators taste ME every time they’re hungry! It’s preposterous!”
She swam back and forth as much as she could in the minuscule pond and it was easy to see she hadn’t moved her fins in many years.
“Since I got cursed by Antjie Somers to only wake up on full moon nights, I’ve slept so deep that I always oversleep the occasions. Unless someone actually wakes me up; and I’ve already told

Splashing in the pond

After 16 years of not moving, the fins were a bit stiff, you could say.

you how often that happens.” The fish said to her.
“So, thanks a lot for waking me up. Is there anything that I can do for you?”
The fairy hesitated for a few moments while the fish stretched her fins. Then she spoke:
“I’ve had my wings cut off by the devil and ever since then I’ve been searching for someone that could help me. Apparently, the king of the Fynbos Kingdom can, but first I need to collect all these different ingredients. Otherwise, I’ll never get my wings back!”
The fairy explained to the fish how the devil had killed Jan Van Hunks, how the elves of Llandudno had been evicted and killed, how Poverty had stolen her pipe, how civil courage had deteriorated into mere apathy and how the humans were polluting the oceans and killing the fish.
When she stopped, the fish was crying. Real pearls rolled down her cheeks and gathered at the bottom of the shallow pond.
“Brave new world.” The fish said while sobbing.
“I’m happier here in my small pond than in the big ocean after all.”
“But there are good things too.” The fairy said and explained about all the hope,

Pearl Tears

In the Orient, pearls are sometimes associated with the tears of angels, mermaids or mythical nymphs in stories mixing pain and suffering with bliss. That's all wrong, recent research shows that all pearl-tears comes from the stone fish only, and no-one else.

joy and support there was in the world. She told the fish about the good-hearted mama November who regained the stolen flute, Parvati with all her kind advice, the spirit of Ubuntu, and all the other characters she’d met on her quest who were full of compassion.
Now the fish cried even more and eventually the whole pond was full of pearls. So full, that the fish couldn’t breathe any more.
“Help!” She gasped with her bulging fish lips.
Moon-Tan came running and helped the fairy scoop out the pearl-tears from the pond and quickly refill it with water from a nearby hose.
“I’m sorry.” The fish told them as they were done scooping out the pearls.
“It’s just that I’m such an emotional fish, and since I haven’t been able to release any tension in such a long time, I must have built up too much and… Anyway, thanks.” The fish said and tried to smile.
By this time Moon-Tan was ash white again. Neither the fairy nor the fish had seen the transformation, but evidently, at some point during the chaotic scooping, the lunar eclipse had passed.
“Please, take the pearls and use them for something

Radiant Lotus

By means of the water-lily in the pond, the young gardener didn't need a torch when walking in the garden at night. A truly spectacular flower. They say that Glen had found the seed outside Cape Town’s Nuclear Power Plant...

good.” The fish told the fairy.
“Do you think you could come back for a chat on the next full moon, too?” She asked the fairy.
“This time Moon-Tan bowed her head and barked in reply and the fairy left them talking about dog fleas and dirty fish tanks, and walked back to the tent.

The young man had taken all the blankets and sleeping-bags for himself, but, with a slow pull, the fairy managed to at least get one blanket.
Once more, Posy and Florid crowed as loud as they could, but this time the fairy didn’t even notice, since she was already fast asleep.

That she had been stuck between huge sheets of lasagne inside a baking oven, was all that the fairy remembered from her dream as she woke up entangled in a mess of sleeping-bags, blankets and scarves. The young man had already left the sweltering hot tent and on his pillow lay a handwritten note.
“I’ll be at the archives in the Company’s Gardens, writing for the whole day. There’s food down in the kitchen. See you later.” The note read.

She hurried out from the tent, struggling to

Kitchen Proteas

The less famous sub-specie kitchen protea (Lat; Diningtablus decorationius) has a short life span and no roots. Still it can be seen on varying dining-tables in blooming season.

close the broken zipper.
Down at the pond the fish was as petrified as usual but now resting in a new position. Probably the fish had cried some more during the night, because the fairy found some more pearls at the bottom of the pond. She collected a few handfuls which she put into her bag. The rest of the pearls she spread out in the garden as decorations. When she was done she walked back to the five bee-hives where she found that the honey had already been put in a jar labelled:
“Amaryllis Honey Moon Blend, particularly well-suited for the brewing of mead.”
“Thanks.” She called out to the bees, but they where already busy collecting nectar again, so she put the jar in her bag and walked down the hill to the kitchen.
The kitchen was messy and full of people. It doubled as a workshop and was home to a newly hatched peep of chickens, a crow, a few piglets and enough cockroaches to keep the chickens happy. A small boy played guitar and some other kids played “freeze tag” under the kitchen table. Next to the stove, King Proteus stood stirring a huge

Wack it in a pan

Royal stews, for Bollywood princesses, served by King Proteus himself.

pot that gave off funny sounds.
“Morning.” He said when he saw the fairy.
“How are you doing so far?”
“So far so good.” The fairy answered cryptically.
“I still haven’t figured out where I can find a ghost here at the farm. Could you perhaps give me a hint?” She asked as she was served a plate of never-before-seen breakfast.
“Hmmm, the farm is honeycombed with secrets and there are probably more ghosts here than you might need.” He said.
“The most conversational ghost I believe would be Adonis. He’s been around since Pharao Necho II sent out a fleet of Phoenicians to circumnavigate Africa over 2500 years ago. For some reason, Adonis was left behind. Ever since then he’s been worshipping Tanit - the chief Goddess of Carthage - for a safe return home.”
“You can find him in the secret tunnel that leads from the storehouse all the way down to the Castle of Good Hope. Though the tunnel is not more than 300 years old, it’s probably the closest he’s found to a tomb here in Cape Town.” King Proteus explained while serving food to the kids.

After breakfast, the fairy walked towards

The Pipemaker

"I have no politics in my head, and I have no religion in my heart. That's how I've managed to stay this happy." The Pipemaker explained. He was a simple man, he didn't like complications.

the huge storeroom. As she passed the old bridge, she again saw the unnamed woman under the nearby wooden bridge. This time, the woman was eating live earth-worms dipped in Mrs H.S.Ball’s Extra Hot Chutney.
An old defunct van stood resting outside the storeroom.
As she passed it, she noticed smoke coming from holes and cracks in the car’s body. She knocked on the van’s door to make sure nobody was inside.
“Hello! Is anyone there? Wake up! Your van is on fire.”
The fairy heard a loud coughing from inside the van. Then the old side-door flung open and a man with a grey beard and red eyes looked out.
“Hi!” He coughed.
“Nothing to worry about, I’m just trying a new pipe of mine.” He held out a wooden tube pipe of curious design.
“I’m the Pipemaker and this is my abode.” He said and explained with a gesture of his hand that he meant the cramped little van. On the walls hung pipes of varying size and shape. He showed her a Cornish fisherman’s pipe made of a crab’s claw, an Eskimo makeshift pipe of willow and a Chippewa pipe with a snake stem.

The art of a briar pipe

"A pipe is never just a pipe!" The Pipemaker knew everything about pipes, and he could (litterally) spend hours explaining it to you. This pipe is home carved from the root burl of the tree heath. The stem then is loosely attached for adjustable ventilation to the bowl.

“I collect them.” He said while stuffing his pipe.
“It’s a hobby inherited from my father.”
“Then maybe you want this one.” The fairy said and pulled out the pipe from her bag. The Pipemaker inhaled deeply from his pipe, then said with an impressed and revered tone:
“The legendary pipe of Jan Van Hunks.”
He held it up towards the sky and surveyed the bowl, the shank and the mouthpiece for a long time.
“I must clearly give you something back of similar significance.” He said.
The fairy tried to explain that no such gift was needed but the Pipemaker didn’t hear her since he was busy digging out another pipe from the depths of his van.
He returned with a pipe in his hand which he held up to the sky.
“This is King Mtesa’s ivory pipe. It is cut from the tusk of the last jungle mammoth along with twelve beautiful war horns. The Wagandan king had them charged with magical power by his witch doctor Wukembe Magutombe - the most powerful sorcerer on the continent at that time. It’s said that if anyone challenges the pipe’s owner to a pipe smoking duel, the

King Mtesa

A statue raised in Kirstenbosch Botanical Garden for the memory of the brave King and his unused pipe.

twelve war horns would give sound, and shatter the bones of any mortal foolish enough to dare such a contest.”
“According to legend, the pipe was never used, and king Mtesa eventually gave it to the European adventurer, Speke, and that’s how it finally came to be in my family’s possession.”
“Here, take it.” He handed the big bone-white pipe to the fairy, who for some time adored the intricate carvings of kobs and crested cranes along its stem.
“And who are you, if I may ask?” The old man asked the fairy as she put the pipe into her bag.
“I wish I knew.” She thought as she pulled her arm out of the bag. To their surprise, a small man followed. He was completely green and not taller than a tea-spoon, had a long maintained goatee and smiled like a joker in a deck of cards.
“Finally, I’m out!” He stood on the edge of her bag and squinted at the light.
“Well done I.” He congratulated himself by giving himself a hug and a pat on the shoulder.

Additional photos below

Photos: 26, Displayed: 26