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Authors: Amos Tutuola
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having failed to find any treasure in that forest.
To my fear was that, when it was about two hours that I was sleeping, I woke suddenly by the barks of my dogs. Then I peeped down to see what was happening to them, but I saw that all of them were tied up together with a single rope to one nearby tree. They were struggling to cut that rope but they could not do it. But when I was preparing to come down to see who was ill-treating them like that, there I saw clearly this time that over five hundred of the savage people sat round that tree. Then without hesitation, I hid back in the leaves and they did not suspect that I was on top of that tree. Not knowing that the bottom of that tree was the place of their meeting and they came there that night to make an important meeting. I wondered that my dogs did not wake until when they were tied up to the tree.
I saw through the flame of the fire which was glaring in the centre of their circle, that many of them were seriously satdown, many were arguing within themselves so seriously that they were preparing to beat themselves, fighting weapons were in the middle of them. Their attitudes showed that there was a serious misunderstanding between them and that they gathered under that tree and were waiting for their king to come and settle it.
After they had waited for about one hour but their king did not come out. One of them stood up, he shouted loudly: “Oh, the king of the savage people, why not you attend to the meeting, this night? Are you sick? The skull of man is your drinking vessel! The bones of man are your walking-stick, etc! Come out! Come out! Come now, we are waiting for you!” After the flatterer had flattered their king like that, then he (king) shouted so terribly and loudly that his voice shook the hills, rocks and trees and all the animals in that forest were so feared that they became mutes, all birds woke in their nests and all the rest living creatures were so feared that they were unable to move their bodies but stood still as if they had died.
After a few minutes that the king had shouted like that, I saw him when he was coming out from one mighty rock which was not so far from that tree. He was walking with the walk ing -stock which was made with man’s bones and his bearer carried one big skull of human being with one chair and he was following him to that meeting. When both of them came to the meeting, the chair was put in the centre of the circle and when he sat on it then that skull was put down before him and he rested his feet on it. Then the bearer went to his back and he stood there as if he was keeping watch of him. After that the king shouted very loudly and terribly as before. But his voice shook that tree so heavily that I fell on him suddenly without my wish.
This was a great danger to me, because the king was badly wounded and his chair was partly damaged beyond repair.So I admitted at the same time that the next thing that they would do was to kill me immediately. As many of them were scrambling me not to run away it was so the rest were scrambling their king and were taking care of him not to hurt more. At last when he became normal, he ordered one who was next to him in rank, the senior chief, to take me to his house and to bring me back to the meeting, which was postponed to five days’ time, to be killed. After that he cancelled the meeting of that night and then every one went back to his house. But they left my dogs tied up and I was not quite sure whether they forgot to loose or kill them before they had left there.
So the senior chief was pushing me along to his house and so he was ill-treating me along. After we had travelled in both darkness and rays of the moon for about one hour, he came to his house at about three o’clock in the morning. After he had pushed me in, he shut the entrance with one heavy stone and then he continued to push me along.
His house was the hole of a vast rock. It was a long and deep hole which was
To my fear was that, when it was about two hours that I was sleeping, I woke suddenly by the barks of my dogs. Then I peeped down to see what was happening to them, but I saw that all of them were tied up together with a single rope to one nearby tree. They were struggling to cut that rope but they could not do it. But when I was preparing to come down to see who was ill-treating them like that, there I saw clearly this time that over five hundred of the savage people sat round that tree. Then without hesitation, I hid back in the leaves and they did not suspect that I was on top of that tree. Not knowing that the bottom of that tree was the place of their meeting and they came there that night to make an important meeting. I wondered that my dogs did not wake until when they were tied up to the tree.
I saw through the flame of the fire which was glaring in the centre of their circle, that many of them were seriously satdown, many were arguing within themselves so seriously that they were preparing to beat themselves, fighting weapons were in the middle of them. Their attitudes showed that there was a serious misunderstanding between them and that they gathered under that tree and were waiting for their king to come and settle it.
After they had waited for about one hour but their king did not come out. One of them stood up, he shouted loudly: “Oh, the king of the savage people, why not you attend to the meeting, this night? Are you sick? The skull of man is your drinking vessel! The bones of man are your walking-stick, etc! Come out! Come out! Come now, we are waiting for you!” After the flatterer had flattered their king like that, then he (king) shouted so terribly and loudly that his voice shook the hills, rocks and trees and all the animals in that forest were so feared that they became mutes, all birds woke in their nests and all the rest living creatures were so feared that they were unable to move their bodies but stood still as if they had died.
After a few minutes that the king had shouted like that, I saw him when he was coming out from one mighty rock which was not so far from that tree. He was walking with the walk ing -stock which was made with man’s bones and his bearer carried one big skull of human being with one chair and he was following him to that meeting. When both of them came to the meeting, the chair was put in the centre of the circle and when he sat on it then that skull was put down before him and he rested his feet on it. Then the bearer went to his back and he stood there as if he was keeping watch of him. After that the king shouted very loudly and terribly as before. But his voice shook that tree so heavily that I fell on him suddenly without my wish.
This was a great danger to me, because the king was badly wounded and his chair was partly damaged beyond repair.So I admitted at the same time that the next thing that they would do was to kill me immediately. As many of them were scrambling me not to run away it was so the rest were scrambling their king and were taking care of him not to hurt more. At last when he became normal, he ordered one who was next to him in rank, the senior chief, to take me to his house and to bring me back to the meeting, which was postponed to five days’ time, to be killed. After that he cancelled the meeting of that night and then every one went back to his house. But they left my dogs tied up and I was not quite sure whether they forgot to loose or kill them before they had left there.
So the senior chief was pushing me along to his house and so he was ill-treating me along. After we had travelled in both darkness and rays of the moon for about one hour, he came to his house at about three o’clock in the morning. After he had pushed me in, he shut the entrance with one heavy stone and then he continued to push me along.
His house was the hole of a vast rock. It was a long and deep hole which was
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