Ajaiyi and His Inherited Poverty

by Amos Tutuola

  “Hah, stop weeping, brother! What are you doing all this for! Please stop that, sir!” both of us stood up and caressed him until he stopped.

  Then he stood up. He walked to every part of the house. He peeped to every room just to see the kind of the property which were inside them.

  “But I wonder, our father and mother were so poor that they did not leave any precious property for you except rags, cutlasses and hoes! Hah, I believe now that they were really created with poverty!” the kidnapper shouted as he was returning to the sitting room and then he sat back. So with gladness, Aina went to the kitchen. She cooked the little yam that we got in the house. She brought it to him and all of us ate it together.

  After a few days that this kidnapper had been living with us he advised us: “I believe, things are too dull in this village. Therefore, I shall take both of you to the town where I came from. You will be working in that town and I believe, in one year’s time, everyone of you will become rich and then you will be free from the poverty which you have inherited from our father and mother. Then you will come back to this village as rich persons!” The kidnapper deceived us just to be able to take us to another town and sell us as slaves.

  “Thank you, brother, for your useful advice. But who will be taking care of the house when you take us away?” I asked him with surprise.

  “Never mind about the house, my junior brother, and don’t be afraid, there is no any valuable property in this house which can attract the thieves to carry away. Look at this juju [he showed us one wrapped leaf] which I am going to hang on the main door now. Its wonderful work is to keep all the thieves away from this house!” The kidnapper stood up, he walked to the main door and hung the wrapped leaf there.

  Then by four o’clock in the following morning, before our neighbours and other people woke in the village, the kidnapper took us to another town which was far away from our village. As soon as he took us to this foreign town, he again took us to the house of a wealthy slave-buyer who was also a very strong idol worshipper of this town. When we followed him to the sitting room of this slave-buyer, we met him sat on a high chair which was made of bamboo. He wore black native garment and a big red native cap was on his head. He sat on that bamboo chair at the centre of his sitting room. Several fearful idols were on each corner of the room. The height of each of them was up to that of a tall and huge person. The fresh blood was flowing down from their heads to their feet and this showed us that this slave-buyer or idol worshipper was sacrificing living creatures or human being to them frequently.

  Immediately we entered the sitting room, the kidnapper greeted the slave-buyer and then he sat on another bamboo chair which was on the right. He hardly sat down when he shouted on us to stand at a little distance in front of the slave-buyer and we did so at the same time with fear. Then without hesitation and with a sharp voice, the kidnapper told the slave-buyer: “Yes, I bring these two poor children for you to buy!” He pointed his finger to both of us as he was telling the slave-buyer like that.

  “Good. But how much do you want to sell each of them?” the slave-buyer asked from him with a huge voice. Then the kidnapper told us to pose ourselves well for the slave-buyer just to be able to see every part of our bodies. When he forced us to pose ourselves well for the slave-buyer and we did so but as he gazed at us with his fearful eyes, the kidnapper told him: “I will sell each of them for twenty pounds and you will give me two big garments and caps in addition!” But when we knew that he wanted to sell us, we shouted greatly: “Hah, brother, do you want to sell us?” So without mercy, the kidnapper struck our mouths with a stick as he boomed on us: “Shut up your mouths there! Don’t you know whom you are talking to?”

  But as soon as he became hostile to us like that unexpectedly I became so annoyed that I told him: “But don’t be harsh to us like this at this time! Please, remember that you have confessed to us that you were our eldest brother whose name is ‘Remember The Day After Tomorrow’!” Having heard like that from me, he stood up suddenly and shouted greatly on us: “Who is your brother? Tell me now! Who is your brother?” then he sat back as the slave-buyer was still gazing at every part of our bodies. “I am afraid, everything has now been changed here,” Aina whispered to me with fear.

  Then the slave-buyer turned his face to him and told him: “Well, I can pay only ten pounds for each of the children because they are very young. They cannot work in the farm but of course, I shall sacrifice them to my idols in the next festival which will take place in a few weeks time!”

  “You are going to sacrifice us to your idols or what do you say?” Aina and I shouted with fear as we stared at him.

  “I say shut up your mouths there! Will you pose yourselves once more to the slave-buyer!” the kidnapper shouted on us with a fearful voice. Then he turned his eyes back to the slave-buyer and said: “All right, pay the money now. But of course, each of them is worth more than ten pounds!”

  Then without hesitation, this slave-buyer or idol worshipper paid him the money and he gave him two native garments and two native caps before he told him to go away. But as this kidnapper was going away, I shouted with tears: “Hah, you sold us!” and Aina shouted with tears as well: “But you have told us that you were our eldest brother! But we have just been understood that you are not our brother at all!” Without shame, the kidnapper now proudly explained to us: “I am sorry that it is too late now before you do understand that—‘Remember The Day After Tomorrow’ is not the name of a person but it is a warning. And it should have been better if you have asked the meaning of it from your father before he died. So there would be no a kidnapper like myself who would be able to bring you from your village and then sell you as slaves like this! Goodbye!” So the kidnapper went away with laughter as Aina and I were still standing and were shaking with fear before the slave-buyer. A few minutes later, two strong men entered the sitting room. They tied our arms together with ropes and without mercy they dragged us to the compound where there was a shrine in which there was another fearful idol. Then these two men left us before this idol and then went out.

  After a few minutes these two strong men came back to us in the shrine with strong ropes in their hands. They put my both arms to my back and then tied both tightly with the rope. After that they put Aina’s both hands to her back and tied both together with the rope as well. Having done so, they laid both of us flatly in front of the fearful idol which occupied the whole of the shrine. After that both of them went out. But after they had gone out, I looked at this fearful idol and I saw that many long swords were hung round it. All were dangling here and there whenever the breeze blew. The idol itself was in height of a giant, it had the shape of that of a human being from neck to the foot but its head was that of a bull with two long horns on head. But of course, the head was bigger than that of a bull and also the two horns on its head were longer and thicker than that of a bull.

  When we were sure that the slave-buyer who bought us from the kidnapper was going to sacrifice us to this idol, then we began to struggle to loose the ropes away from our arms and then to escape for our lives. But we could not loose the ropes at all. After a while, I asked from Aina that “Who will save us from this place?” But Aina replied that “There is nobody who can save us except our dead father and mother.”

  It was like that we were tied up in this shrine till the night without giving us anything to eat. When it was about five o’clock in the following morning, the slave-buyer or the chief idol worshipper, his family, servants and his followers began to sing loudly and all were coming to this shrine as they were dancing. As we were hearing them singing loudly, Aina said with fear—“Hah, they are coming to kill us now for this idol.” But as soon as they reached the entrance of the shrine, all of them stopped, they began to flatter the idol with different voices. But as they were still doing so and the drummers were still beating the drums in such a way that the chief idol worshipper, his family, servants and his followers, began to dance round the shrine l
ike a mad person. Then this time, I did all my best to loose the rope away from my hands and God was so good the rope was cut unexpectedly. Then without hesitation, I took one of the swords which were hung round the idol. I hastily cut off the rope which was on Aina’s arms.

  So I hardly cut off the rope when I put her in one of the corners of the shrine. After that I held the sword firmly and then hid myself in another corner. I was waiting for them to enter and then to fight them with the sword. After a while, all of them with the drummers rushed in to the shrine as they were still dancing and singing loudly. But as soon as all of them were kept quiet unexpectedly when they did not see us in front of the idol. I rushed against the Chief Idol Worshipper (slave-buyer) but as I was about to behead him with the sword. All of them were so feared that they run away from the shrine. And they hardly rushed out when I told Aina to follow me. Then I began to chase them along to kill with the sword which I raised above my head. But as I was still chasing them about in the town to kill, they escaped into the bush without their wish.

  After a while, when I could not trace them out in the bush, I told Aina to let us go away from their town. But as we were going along in the town as fast as we could, the kidnapper who sold us to the slave-buyer or the Chief Idol Worshipper, met us. As he was dressed in a big costly garment, he stopped and he proudly told us—“I am sorry that it is too late before you do understand that—‘Remember The Day After Tomorrow’ is not the name of a person but it is a warning or proverb. And it should have been better if you have asked for the meaning of it from your father before he died. So there would be no a deceiver and kidnapper like me who would be able to kidnap you and sell you as slaves. And it is a good practice for a person who does not understand a word, warning, proverbs, etc., to ask for its full meaning before it is too late! Goodbye!” The kidnapper explained to us as hastily as he could but as I rushed to him just to behead him with the sword, he jumped into the bush. Then Aina and I left that town as quickly as possible to an unknown place because we did not know the right road on which to travel back to our village. That was how we were saved from the chief idol worshipper or the slave-buyer who wanted to sacrifice us to his idol. And it was in this town Aina and I had understood the meaning of “Remember The Day After Tomorrow.” The meaning of it was also—“One will reap what he sows.” So if we sow a bad thing we must reap a bad thing in future.

  THE SPIRIT OF FIRE

  What others do to us teaches us sense.

  There is no chance for other matter in the stomach of a hungry person.

  *

  Immediately we left that town, we began to run away in the forest as fast we could so that the Chief Idol Worshipper and his people might not be able to capture us. Because we believed that all of them would chase us to catch. But of course, as he had wanted to sacrifice us to his idol, this had taught us a sense not to hesitate in one place and I still held the long sword which I took from the shrine of his fearful idol. It was with this sword I drove he and his people out of their town before we were able to escape into the forest.

  Having travelled in the forest till eleven o’clock in the night and when we were sure that we had been freed from the Chief Idol Worshipper and his people. Then we stopped under a big tree and we sat down just to rest. But as we had been tired and we were very hungry before reaching there. We did not know when we fell down and slept. We enjoyed this sleep so much that we did not wake till when the noises of the birds woke us at about ten o’clock in the morning.

  As soon as we were woken by the terrible noises of these birds, we stood up but as there was no river or pond which was near there. We went to the nearby weeds and then we washed our faces with the little dew that which we could collect from them. Having washed our faces with the dew we came back to that tree, I took the sword from the ground and then we continued our journey in this endless forest. When we travelled for about one hour luckily we came to a mighty tree and we stopped under it. And when we looked at it very well we saw that it was a dika-nut tree or wild mango tree with uncountable ripen fruits on its branches.

  But as we had been nearly starved to death and as there was no chance for other matter in the stomach of a hungry person. Therefore, as we could not think any other matter in our minds this time because of hunger, I did not waste time at all to climb this tree. I hardly climbed it to the top when I began to pluck the fleshy fruits on to the ground. Without hesitation, Aina, as she held my sword, began to collect the fruits in to one place under this tree.

  When I was sure that I had plucked down about one hundred, I came down. Then we began to eat them one by one and we enjoyed them more than any other cooked food. Of course when a person was not yet hungry he would avoid many kinds of eatable things but it was not so for us this day in the forest, but we enjoyed these fruits of the wild mango even more than any of cooked food.

  But as we were still enjoying the fruits there we heard unexpectedly that somebody was squabbling repeatedly as he was coming to us as quickly as he could. As soon as we glanced with fear at the direction from which we were hearing the horrible squabble, there we saw faintly at a long distance a fearful old man. He was coming to us with great anger as fast as he could. So without hesitation, both of us stood up and we stared at him with fear as we held the fruits which we were eating and I also held my sword firmly this time.

  But as we were still trying our best to see him clearly just to make sure whether he was a human being or a dangerous forest spirit. He had come nearer with his squabble which was shaking the ground like a strong lightning. As soon as he was visible to us, we saw him clearly this time that he was not a real human being but we had not yet known what kind of a living creature he was. He had about six followers who was following him. As he and his followers were at a distance of about two hundred yards from us, we saw that he was in front of them and all were coming to us directly immediately they saw us. When he and his followers came very closely to us, then we saw him clearly this time that he was the Spirit of Fire. But as he was in front of his followers he shouted greatly with anger and as he opened his mouth very widely and shouted on us, a large quantity of big fire was sparking out from it and it (fire) was spilling upon us continuously. This fire was burning us so much that Aina and I did not know when we began to shake our bodies so that the sparking fire might be missing us.

  As both of us were still shaking our bodies to left and right just to avoid the fire, yet we managed to look at this fearful creature and we saw him clearly that his head was three times bigger than his body and it was about six feet long and taper towards the end. The whole head was curved a little bit towards his back. As it was a little bit curved towards his back, it was so both edges of it had many long and wide feathers which were also curved together with the head. His nose was thicker than a round pillar of about three feet diameter and it was so much curved like a sickle that it was touching his chest. Each of his ears was as big as a big hat. Both his eyes were at the point where his curved head started. Each was seeing faintly in his skull and it was sparking out fire continuously to all directions to which he was turning his head.

  His lower jaw was also large and was so much curved up that it was touching his forehead. But both his tongue and teeth were exposed for his wide mouth was permanently opened. Furthermore, his mouth was opened throughout the day and night in respect of his non-stop squabbles and the fire which was sparking out from it continuously. His neck was very thick with uncountable of thick veins which were surrounded it like that of a big tree. All of these veins were rested on both his shoulders, chest, etc. Each of his arms was longer and thinner than it should be. But each of his palms was as flat as a flat hand-fan but it was thicker than a plank of two inches. Each of the five fingers on each of his palms was very long and the nail on each was about eight inches long. His chest was as thin as a string. Both his thighs down to the toes had no shape at all. Each was long like a stilt and it seemed as if there was no flesh but bone.

  From his tape
r head down to his feet was entirely fire. He and his followers were in the same form but his own appearance was more terrible. He was so old and dried up that if it was not for his terrible shout, squabbles, movements, etc., there would be nobody who might see him would believe that he was a living creature.

  As soon as he and his followers came nearer to us this morning, they stopped at a distance of about ten yards from us. But as Aina and I were about to start to run away for our lives. This cruel Spirit of Fire moved his mouth and shouted greatly on us. His shout was so fearful that we could not run away as we had been trying to do. Because as he shouted terribly on us a large quantity black smoke was then rushing out from his mouth and it covered both of us at the same moment. And without hesitation, as he and his followers stood on the same spot and as he held a heavy club of bone with both hands and raised it above his curved head, he began to tell us loudly with great anger: “You these two squanderers are certainly perished today! Hah, I say, whosoever you are, you are certainly perished this day. I shall take both of you to my town, the town of fire, to be burnt into ashes because you have eaten my fruits!” this Spirit of Fire shouted on us like that as he was wheezing with extreme anger.

  When he paused and thought what he wanted to do for a while and then he squabbled with anger for some minutes, he continued to shout with extreme anger: “You these two human beings, probably you don’t know who I am! Let me tell you first what I am before I shall take you to my town! I am the Spirit of Fire, the most cruel creature on earth! I am the owner of the fire with which the people of the world cook their food, etc. Without me, there would no fire for the human beings to use, yet the human beings hate me. But for the hatred they have on me, I am so cruel and merciless to them that I used to send great fire to every part of the world to burn uncountable houses, property, etc., everyday! As I hate the water it is so I hate the human beings because they use the water to quench my fire whenever it is burning them or their houses, property, etc! Although the water was first created and I was the second who was created by the Creator! As I am a living creature of fire it is so the water has its own living creature who is the goddess of the river or Nymph. As I am cruel to the human beings it is so I am kind to them in some ways but instead to be kind to me in return they take my kindness as an odium. Although the water is kind to the human beings and many other living creatures but thousands of them are drowned in it a year and their houses, property, etc., etc., are damaged also by it every year and I shall not forget to remind you of that! I am living in the greatest fire which is near this place and which is under the mountain of desperation. My followers who are uncountable and are cruel and merciless like myself are my messengers whom I am sending to all parts of the world to destroy the human beings’ blongings!