Read Ajaiyi and His Inherited Poverty Online
Authors: Amos Tutuola
But great fear and sorrow filled up our minds
immediately
the three of us had heard from this mother that we were the three substitutions who would be sacrificed to her witch members instead of her son, Ishola.
However
we gave up ourselves to whatever might be happened to us in the captivity of this witch mother. So Ishola, his witch mother and the three of us went back to the unfinished basket. The mother continued to weave it while Ishola and the three of us continued to dress the rough palm-fronds for the mother.
But since when we had failed in all of our attempts to escape from this wicked witch mother but she was still confining us for the day that she was going to kill us for her witch members. I started to pray to the Creator
wholeheartedly
every minute in both day and night not to let this witch mother be able to kill us as she was planning to do.
In the evening, after the basket had been completed and it was hung on the usual rack in the sitting room. Ishola took one stick and so did his witch mother from the same rack near the basket. Then the three of us, without
holding anything, followed them to the small bush which was behind the garden. The mother told the three of us to enter this small bush, she and Ishola stood in front of the bush. As both of them raised their sticks high up and got ready to beat the field rat which might run out to death. The mother gave us the sign to start to drive the rats towards them.
It was not so long that we started to drive them when hundreds of them began to dash here and there in the bush. After a while some mistakenly ran out of this bush. Without hesitation both mother and son began to chase them about. At last, the mother tried all her efforts and she killed one. Then the whole of us went back to the sitting room. As Ishola was hanging it near the basket, the mother went to the kitchen, she cooked a nice food and brought it to the sitting room. After we ate, she and Ishola began to sing and dance. As the three of us were looking at them without taking part in their amusements because we were not happy at all. The mother forced us to join them and we reluctantly did so. After we reluctantly sang and danced with them for a few minutes. The mother told us to stop, she went to the doors and closed all. After that she told us to go and sleep in the usual room and she went and slept in her own. That time was about nine o’clock in the night.
As soon as she lay on the mat she shouted from her room to Ishola: “Good-night, my son!”
I
SHOLA:
“Hope you will not change yourself into a bird and go out to kill people this night?” he asked loudly.
M
OTHER:
“Not at all! The witches have no meeting this night!” she paused for a while before she replied.
Then she stood up from her mat, she went to the light just to quench it.
I
SHOLA:
“Please mother, don’t quench that light!” he shouted with fear.
M
OTHER:
“Why, Ishola!” she asked as she was still standing before the light.
I
SHOLA:
“Because as you are a witch you may change yourself into a bird this midnight and if you do so and come to kill me, I shall see you through the light!” he explained with fear to his mother.
M
OTHER:
“All right. I leave the light unquenched!” she left the light unquenched but she returned to her room sadly.
I
SHOLA:
Yet as the light was not quenched, Ishola was unable to sleep for fear perhaps his mother was coming in to kill him. After a few minutes, he stood up, he went to his mother cautiously. He whispered with great fear as he was looking at his sleeping mother: “Oh, I thought she has changed to the bird and gone out to kill the innocent people.” Then he went back to the room and slept when he was sure that his witch mother had slept.
M
OTHER:
“Ishola, get up!” in the morning she first woke up and then entered the room in which we slept together with Ishola. She shouted greatly.
I
SHOLA:
“Ah, you come in to kill me!” he woke and was startled as he sat up on the mat suddenly. Within that moment he stood up, he ran to the sitting room with great shout. Again, he hastily left the sitting room but he began to run about in the house with fear.
M
OTHER:
“Oh, my son, I don’t want to kill you!” she
chased him and caught him as he was just running to the outside. Then she began to caress him.
I
SHOLA:
“No! I cannot believe you at all! You want to kill me because you are a witch and you had killed my sister, the only daughter you got in your life! Leave me alone!” he was shouting greatly as his witch mother held him in the sitting room.
Ishola was still shouting greatly when the voices of his mother’s witch members were heard as they were knocking at the door heavily: “Good morning here!”
M
OTHER:
She hastily left Ishola, she ran to the door and opened it. Then her members entered, all stood in the middle of the sitting room and Ishola was in the circle with sadness while Ojo, Alabi and myself stood in the left corner of the sitting room and were looking at them with fear. We were
thinking
in minds that moment that perhaps it was this morning they would kill and eat us. Then the mother greeted her members:
“Good morning to you all, my members!”
O
DERE:
“By the way why did you not attend to the
meeting
last night midnight, you as the Chairwoman of the witches?” Odere, the president of the witches asked with great annoyance.
M
OTHER
(Chairwoman): “Well, it was not my fault as I could not attend to the meeting, but …” she replied as the other members were listening angrily.
A
YINKE
(Secretary): “Whose fault it was? Tell us now, whose fault it was?” she interrupted angrily.
M
OTHER:
“You see, once I have told my son, Ishola, that I am a witch, he is in great fear that I am going
to kill him!” she explained to her members as she was pointing hand to Ishola.
P
RESIDENT
(Odere): “Your son fears you not to kill him? Is it n’t?” she scowled at the mother and then asked loudly. Then all of the four members sat on the long seat which was nearby and after a while the mother sat with them on the same seat while Ishola was still standing sadly before them.
M
OTHER:
“Yes, Ishola is fearing of not being killed by me!” she explained to the members.
V
ICE
-P
RESIDENT
(Awele): “Why did you not tell him frankly that all of my own sons and daughters had been killed and their bodies were cooked and eaten by my witch members!” she spoke to the mother sharply and without mercy.
M
OTHER:
“I have not told him all about that!” she
replied
as Ojo, Alabi and myself were kept quiet with fear.
V
ICE
-P
RESIDENT
(turned eyes to Ishola and she explained to him): “Ishola, look at my eyes well. I have killed the whole of my own sons and daughters only on whom I relied and your mother, who is the chairwoman for us, ate from their flesh! So you should not be afraid if your mother is preparing to kill you soon for us! By the way, has your mother told you that she was the one who had killed your senior sister a few months ago and that all of us had enjoyed her body?” the Vice-President of the witches explained as Ojo, Alabi and myself lifted our heads up and fastened the eyes on her with fear.
A
BEKE
(messenger for the witches): “Ishola, has your mother told you as well that she ate from my only
son when I killed him recently for the party?” she scowled at Ishola and asked with a smile.
I
SHOLA:
“She has not told me that,” he replied with a very weak voice as he was trembling with fear.
M
OTHER:
“I ate from the dead body of her own son when she killed him for us. I even enjoyed it more than my own daughter that I killed last time!” the witch mother or the Chairwoman of the witches hastily stood up and told Ishola loudly.
S
ECRETARY:
“Ishola, let me tell you now that sooner or later it will be your mother’s turn again to prepare another special feast for her members and I believe, you are the next son to be killed for her members because she has no any other issue except you!” she interrupted with a sharp and humorous voice as she stared at Ishola.
I
SHOLA:
“Fear upon fear! This is another fear, my mother!” he stared at his witch mother and said with a trembling voice.
M
OTHER:
“Never mind and don’t be afraid! I am not going to kill you! But these three fellows (she pointed hand to us) will be killed instead!” she walked to him and caressed him.
But when all the members stood up and were ready to leave, the President, who was very stern, stared at Ishola and shouted horribly: “Ishola, look at me well, I am the fear of fears!”
I
SHOLA:
“So you and my mother are witches!” he asked as he stared at the whole members.
But his witch mother hastily stopped her members as they were about to leave and she told them loudly: “My dear members, this is a good news for all of us!
I have already got three fellows! The three fellows are standing in the corner over there!” she pointed hand to us and her members looked at us for a few minutes as she explained to them further that: “The three fellows were provided by the god of Iron. And I am keeping them ready to be killed for you when it is my turn again to invite all of you for feast!” But the President told her at the same time: “We cannot accept these three fellows from you if you kill them now because they are too lean. You have to be feeding them regularly with the nice food but when they have become very fat we can then accept them when you kill them for us. But it will take you a long time before you will be able to feed them fat!”
Ojo, Alabi and myself were happy when the President of the witches told the mother who was their Chairwoman, that she must feed us fat first before killing us. We thought perhaps before we became fat we would be able to escape from her. Having told the mother to feed us fat first, the Vice-President of the witches said loudly: “Well, the Chairwoman (the witch mother), you are fined for failing
to attend to the meeting last night! Good-bye!” the members then left.
As soon as her members had left she told Ishola that he should not mind her members. She promised him that she would not kill him for them. After that she told him to let them sing a song that which would expel his fear. Ojo, Alabi and myself walked to them. We then joined them to sing one song. In fact, as soon as the whole of us sang this song of the witches, Ishola had no more fear again. He was then happy and cheerful to the three of us.
In the following morning, Ishola and his witch
mother took the dead rat and the basket from the rack. Ishola held both and then his mother followed him to the market. Both of them left the doors unclosed because the mother was sure that if Ojo, Alabi and myself attempted to escape the three terrible heavy lumps of the iron would not allow us to do so. The mother followed Ishola to the market this morning so that she might revenge on the three strange men or spirits who had commanded the dead rat to become alive and run back into the bush last market-day. But as soon as we saw that Ishola and his witch mother had left for market. The three of us cut a part of the roof of the house as quickly as possible. We then passed through the part that we cut to the outside. But to our fear again, as we were running away as fast as we could so that we might be far away from this country of the witches and wizards before the witch mother returned from the market.
There we saw unexpectedly that these terrible heavy lumps of the iron were chasing us to catch with their usual fearful noises. As they were chasing us along to catch it was so we too were running along faster than ever. But within a few minutes they reached us and without
hesitation
they obstructed our way. They did not allow us to move. But as they wanted to crush us to death we
returned
to the house at the same time. That was our third attempt to escape but we failed entirely. Then the three of us were expecting the witch mother to return from the market whether she would punish us for a part of the roof of her house which we had cut.
When she got to the market with Ishola, they put both basket and the dead rat on the table. Then Ishola began to shout repeatedly: “Here is the basket for sale! It is a nice
basket! Here is the dead rat for sale! A very fat rat!” As Ishola was still shouting like that, the three spirits came again. They then began to price both basket and the dead rat:
A
JALA
(the first spirit): “Yes, how much is your dead rat this morning?” he asked loudly as many people came nearer and surrounded them and were listening as the witch mother stared at the three spirits.
I
SHOLA:
“My dead rat is one shilling this morning!” he shouted on them disrespectly.
F
OLA
(the second spirit): “Will you sell it for us for one farthing?” he priced the rat as he held it up by the tail.
I
SHOLA:
“You come again! I shall sell it for one shilling and there is no reduction!” he replied angrily as his mother scowled at them (the three spirits).
B
OLA
(the third spirit): “How much is your basket as well?” he interrupted while the mother was looking at them with great anger.
I
SHOLA:
“My basket is one shilling as well!” he replied as he snubbed at them.
B
OLA
: “Will you sell it for us for one fathing as well?”
I
SHOLA:
“Go away from here, the three thieves! Go away!” he shouted on them in such a shameful way that all the people or onlookers who had surrounded them bursted into a great laughter suddenly.
A
JALA
(the first spirit): “You call us thieves?” he asked quietly as the three of them had become annoyed.
M
OTHER:
“Yes! The three of you are expert thieves! But if you are not thieves why then did you price both rat and basket so cheaply as if though I had stolen them from the bush! Go away from here!” she
shouted on them with anger and the onlookers bursted into a great laughter again.
F
OLA
(the second spirit): “All right, as you have called us thieves, I shall let you see now what you have not seen in your life before! And …” he told the mother angrily as he scowled at her.
M
OTHER:
“By the way, what are you?” she interrupted suddenly.
B
OLA
(the third spirit): commanded suddenly “Oh, let this dead rat become alive now and run back into the bush where it came from and let this basket become the palm-fronds and go back onto the palm-tree on which they had been cut!” he commanded as the rest two were looking on angrily while Ishola and his witch mother were standing up with great passion.
M
OTHER:
“Come back, rat! And come back, basket!” she commanded hastily as the rat had become alive and was running back into the nearby bush. She hastily commanded the palm-fronds to become the basket. As soon as the palm-fronds had become the basket and the rat had become dead and both came back to her. These three spirits were so surprised that each of them shook hands with her.
“Very wonderful! But will you follow us to our dwelling place in the jungle?” the three spirits shouted greatly with wonder.