At the beginning of the world men and God were in a direct
relation, and men could move up and down from the sky. Some
say they were linked by a rope, others by a bamboo tower, and I
have once heard it said it was by a tall tree. This bridge between
heaven and earth was broken and men fell down, scattering into
their present distinct groups each with its different language;
before that all men spoke the same language, said either to have
been Lugbara or Kakwa. Since that time all peoples have been
separate, their constituent groups having their own ancestors and
with them forming traditionally and ideally self-contained spheres
of social relations, conceived and structured by agnatic kinship.
Middleton, John, Lugbara Religion: Ritual and Authority among an East African People, London, New York, Toronto: Published for the International African Institute by the Oxford University Press, 1960, p. 270.
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