by Amos Tutuola
As soon as they had buried their money and were sure that it was safe. Then they removed to one hut which was not far from the spot that their money was buried and I followed them with my talking lump of the iron to that hut. There the three of us were living as the work of their new upstair was in progress. But Ojo and Alabi hated me this time, they did not want me to live or eat with them any more.
But it was a great sorrow to them that when their upstair was getting to its completion, their two sisters, the lives of whom they had spared for Devil, died suddenly. Their sudden death was a great shock to all of the people of this village because they did not know that their brothers (Ojo and Alabi) had already spared their (two sisters’) lives to Devil who had made them the richest young men in the village. Although Ojo and Alabi were now rich but the death of their two sisters was a great sorrow to them. They shrank with fear especially when it came to their minds that they had agreed for Devil to shorten their lives to six years instead of their remaining sixty-six years to live. And they became extremely sad too when they remembered many more vows which they had made to Devil before he gave them money. They were sure now that they had made great mistakes for all the promises which they had made to Devil would certainly come upon them soon.
However, when I saw that my poverty was becoming worse than ever, the burdens which the talking heavy lump of the iron were too much for me to bear and that I had no good clothes to wear except dirty rags. One morning, I made up my mind that instead to return to my village with my poverty and the talking lump of the iron. I would leave for another place perhaps I might get money. As soon as I thought like that within myself, I put my talking lump of the iron on head, I wore the only rags that I had, I took my matchet and then I bade Ojo and Alabi good-bye. Thus I left their village for another place probably I would get money there.
But of course before I left Ojo’s and Alabi’s village thousands of people had become friends with them because they were getting financial supports from them. Although “No one claims relationship with a poor man, but when he is rich, everyone becomes his relative.”
I BECAME SERVANT TO THE DEVIL-DOCTOR
A born and die baby makes the doctor a liar.
One who is righteous will never follow the satan.
*
Although I left Ojo’s and Alabi’s village with my poverty, with my talking heavy lump of the iron, which was another burden to me, with the dirty rags on my body and without even half a penny in my hand. But I did not know which was the next village or town to go. However, as I was carrying along on the road to the east the talking lump of the iron, which the god of Iron had given to each of us (Ojo, Alabi and myself) when we visited him on our way returning from the town of the Creator. I met one middle aged man on this road, I greeted him with a tired voice. He stopped and answered to my greeting with a cheerful voice. Then I threw the talking lump of the iron down in front of him. I asked from him whether the road on which I was travelling to the east led to a town or village. As he stared with fear at the talking lump of the iron, he replied that the road led to a town but that town was still far away.
When this middle aged man told me so, I asked from him whether I could reach that town before nightfall. He replied at the same time that it was impossible for a person to trek to the town in one day but two days. After that I asked him again whether I could get a sort of job there to do in order to get money. He replied without hesitation that he could not say whether there was a job which could fetch a man money because he was not a native of the town. He told me further that although the town was very big but the land which was surrounded it was very barren therefore almost all of the inhabitants were very poor.
When I heard like that from him I groaned and I asked him again whether he knew somebody there with whom I could lodge with this my talking lump of the iron. He replied at the same time as he lifted up his head that he knew one middle aged man there who was the only strong Devil-doctor. He told me that I should ask for him as soon as I was just entering the town. But when I told him that I did not like to lodge with the Devil-doctor for I hated the satanic ideas. This middle aged man was so kind that he explained to me that only the Devil-doctor like that one could safe me from the talking heavy lump of the iron. I was very happy when he told me that the Devil-doctor of that town would safe me from the talking lump of the iron. And I thought in mind that it was better to give what was for devil to devil. Having thought so, without asking this middle aged man any more question, I asked him to help me put the talking lump of the iron back on to my head. When he helped me put it on the head, I thanked him greatly and then I continued to travel along on that road and he too went on his own way.
Having travelled till nightfall, I put the talking lump of the iron down, I collected some fruits and I ate them before I laid down and then slept. In the morning, I woke but without eating anything, I tried all my best and put the talking lump of the iron on my head. Then I continued my journey on this road. But I could not travel as fast as I wanted to because this talking lump of the iron was so heavy for me to carry that it was hardly for me to travel one mile before I put it down and rested for some minutes. I was so delayed on the way by this terrible lump of the iron that it was nearly nightfall before I reached this town.
As soon as I entered the town and as that middle aged man had told me. I began to ask for the house of the Devil-doctor, the only person who was brave enough to allow my talking iron and myself to stay in his house. For everybody who saw me with this talking lump of the iron was afraid. However when I asked from the third man that I first met in this town, he was kind enough to take me to his house. But he was greatly shocked when I entered his house and he saw the talking lump of the iron on my head. Because he understood that it belonged to the god of the Iron and that in it (talking lump of the iron) there was a terrible and merciless spirit who was also calamitous.
As it was still on my head and as I stood in front of him, he hastily asked from me: “How did you come about this talking lump of the iron?” I explained to him that the god of the Iron gave it to me to be worshipping it in my village and so he gave one to Ojo and one to Alabi when we went to his town a few years ago although Devil had taken Ojo’s and Alabi’s own the very night that both of them had become his followers. But as I had refused to be one of his followers, he did not take my own from me, but it was giving me much terrible burdens since when he (god of the Iron) had given it to me although Ojo and Alabi had been free from the burdens of their own.
This brave Devil-doctor then asked again: “Why did you not take it to your village then but to my house?” I explained to him with very weak voice as a large quantity of perspiration was rushing on to the floor from my body in respect of the heaviness of the talking lump of the iron which was on my head: “You see, the Devil-doctor, it would be certainly shameful to me to return to my village with this talking lump of the iron instead of money. I left my village years ago for abroad in order to get the money so that I might be free from my inherited poverty which has now become a chronic one.”
Again, he asked from me: “What help do you want from me then?” I replied that I wanted him to help me to get some sort of job to do so that I might get a considerable amount of money to take back to my village. I begged him as well to take this talking lump of the iron from me so that I might be free from its burdens as well as Ojo and Alabi had been free from their own. But he told me that it was a great petulance to Devil when one had refused to be his follower. He told me further that Devil hated such a petulant person so much that he would leave him to his burdens. Having explained to me like that he told me to follow him to the grove in which his shrine was.
When I followed him to the grove, he told me to throw this talking lump of the iron down at the foot of one mighty tree which was near the entrance of his shrine. When I threw it down he hastily poured a kind of oil on it as he gaped and incantated for a while. But to my surprise and fear was that as he poured a kind of oil and t
hen incantated on this talking lump of the iron, I saw that the figure of a living creature (spirit) came out of it in form of thick smoke and within one second it disappeared in that grove. When he was sure that the bad spirit of this iron had gone out of it. He told me that he had driven the bad spirit which was giving me burdens out. Then I prostrated and thanked him greatly for he had saved me from this terrible talking heavy lump of the iron.
But as soon as I stood up from prostration, he told me that he required one servant and that he would take me as his servant as from that day. He promised me that he would be paying me some amount of money every month and that he would be feeding me regularly. He promised me as well that he would give me one wonderful thing whenever I was ready to go back to my village. But he remarked seriously that if I offended him he would call the bad spirit of the heavy lump of the iron back into it and then he would tell me to carry it away from his house even from that town. When he told me like that I promised him that I would try my best to satisfy him in all respects. I made this promise simply because he had saved me from the talking lump of the iron but I had forgotten that things might change in future and that promise was a debt.
Having agreed to be his servant, he asked me to follow him to his shrine and I did so. He told me to take away all the dirty rags of my body. When I took all away from my body, he took them from me, he hung them in one corner of the shrine. After, he gave me new clothes and I wore them at the same time. After that he took me back to his house. When I rested for a while, he told his wife to give me food. Having eaten to my satisfaction, he told one man to take me to another house. This house belonged to his late father and there I would be sleeping because he was so powerful in the satanic work that there was nobody who could sleep with him in his own house. There were many rooms in his late father’s house. It was very big with a very large compound. About fifty of his families were living in this house. One big room was given to me to be sleeping in it.
Although this Devil-doctor was a strong gentile but he was very genial to neither his people nor strangers. His shrine was full of people in both day and night to help them solve their problems and to make medicines for them or to help them kill their enemies with his satanic power. He had many wives. The youngest was very beautiful, smart and was cheerful always. But this youngest wife hated him because she did not like to marry such an old man as this. But she was forced to marry to him by her parents and she did so for she must not go against her parents’ wish. It was this youngest wife who was giving me food whenever I was hungry.
Now as I had become a servant to this Devil-doctor, he was sending me to wherever he liked. I was following him to the bush or forest to help him to carry herbs with which he made medicines and he was sending me to the market every five days to buy materials for sacrifices. Thus I was serving this Devil-doctor everyday for three months without paying me any money although he had promised that he would be paying me some money every month. One morning, I reminded him that he had not paid any money to me since when I had been serving him. But he explained to me that he would not be able to pay me monthly but yearly. But when he explained to me like that I knew that he was poor and that he was just deceiving me, but I was just doing labour without being paid. This moment, I thought in mind that it was quite sure that I would not be free from my inherited poverty.
After a while, I left his shrine as he was still attending to many people. With sadness, I went back to my room, I cast down and continued to think about my chronic poverty. I was still in sadness of being disappointed to get money in all my efforts when his youngest wife entered my room and she met me as I cast down sadly. She immediately asked from me: “What is wrong with you? Are you hungry?” I replied: “Not at all. I am not hungry. But I am thinking of my poverty and of my being disappointed to get money.” She asked again: “Has the old man (Devil-doctor) not paid you since when you have been serving him?” I replied at the same time that: “He has not paid me even half a penny since when I have been serving him!”
When she heard so from me she grew annoyed. She kept quiet for a while and then she sat by my side very closely. Then she began to tell me: “You see, your master (Devil-doctor) is just deceiving you. He has no money which he can pay for you every month. You can serve him for even ten years but he will not pay you any money because he is poor. But now I shall be frank to you today that I like you to be my husband, and I am ready to follow you to your village anytime from now.” But when she told me like that I thought in my mind at the same time that what I was thinking in my mind was far different from what this woman told me now. But after she had hesitated for a while to hear from me whether I agreed to what she told me but she did not hear anything from me. She asked with a lower voice: “Do you agree to what I have told you?” But I reluctantly said: “Yes, I have agreed to take you to my village and be my wife.” I told her like that just to please her but I hated to take another man’s wife.
Having heard from me that I agreed to take her to my village she was so happy that she stood up and danced for some minutes. After, she walked out, and after a few minutes I was surprised to see that she brought a very nice food for me. It was this day this youngest wife had started to treat me better than before and she was paying me frequent visit. But I was still serving her husband, the Devil-doctor, everyday. And I was still following him to the bush or forest or jungle to help him to carry almost all kinds of herbs with which he was preparing medicines because he was seriously banned to carry any kind of loads either by head or shoulders by the evil spirit which he was worshipping. Although he was poor but he was quite sure that one day his evil spirit would carry his good luck to his shrine for him. But he was strictly banned to carry loads by himself otherwise he would die as soon as the loads had touched his head.
For his poorness, his youngest wife was quarrelling with him always and she was telling him that she would divorce him if he did not find any other kind of the job to do which would fetch him sufficient money always. But of course whenever his wife advised him like that, he was telling her that his evil spirit had promised him that he (evil spirit) would carry good fortunes from the grove of the evil spirits to his shrine for him one day. So he was waiting for the good fortunes. This Devil-doctor was telling his youngest wife like that each time she quarrelled with him about money.
But this youngest wife was giving nice food to me regularly and she was telling me always to escape with her to my village as soon as possible. Although she was pressing me to do so but I could not leave this Devil-doctor as soon as his wife wanted me to do. Because I was afraid to leave him without his wish whenever I remembered that he had told me that if I failed to satisfy him, he would call the evil spirit which was in the lump of the iron back into it, he would tell me to carry it and he would then drive me away from his house even from that town. Now as the fear of this talking lump of the iron did not let me leave him for another town or my village. I continued to serve him without paying me any money. Thus I served him for five years and eleven months.
But in the twelfth month of the sixth year, one morning, at nine o’clock sharp, this Devil-doctor went to the grove of the evil spirits to bring a certain leaf for the special medicine which he wanted to prepare for one of his friends. This grove was about six miles away from the town. It was very big and was the home of all kinds of the evil spirits. He did not allow me to go there with him because I was not brave enough to see the evil spirits without being feared them. And if one feared them they would harm him or turn him to another thing. There was no any one of the other people of this town who was bold enough to enter this grove of the evil spirits except this Devil-doctor. In it, there were uncountable of the mighty trees, hills, rocks, etc., in which these evil spirits lived. There were uncountable of the paths on which they travelled from one place to another.
As soon as the Devil-doctor travelled to this grove that morning and entered it. He was going from one tree to another as quickly as he could and he was looking for the
leaf that which he wanted to cut. He was doing so without seeing the right kind of the leaf that which he wanted to cut until he reached the heart of this grove. As he was still going along, he came to one mighty tree. At the foot of this tree he saw one very big pot. Its length was about four feet and the diameter was about three feet. It was full of pure corals which could be sold for more than four thousand pounds. This Devil-doctor did not believe his eyes when he saw this pot of corals. He stood before it and wiped both eyes with palm first for more than five minutes. When he became normal, with great surprise and happiness, he bent down, he examined some of them. Then he put them back in the pot, he stood up and began to think whether to carry this pot to his house.
As he was still wondering whether he was dreaming, he did not know when the happiness forced him to shout greatly: “Hah! I have got my good luck this morning! But how can I carry this pot of corals to my house now?” As soon as he shouted like that, he bent down, he lifted up the pot with all of his power. But as he was about to put it on head, it came to his mind this moment that he was not allowed to put any load on head by his evil spirit otherwise he would die as soon as it had touched his head. When he remembered that he was banned to put loads on head by his evil spirit, he hastily put the pot down on its place. Then he lifted his head up to the sky, he thought in mind that: “I am poor. I have no money and this (he pointed finger to the pot) is the pot of corals. The pot of wealth. If I can carry it to my house and sell them (corals) I shall become a wealthy man today! But I must not put any load on my head. But of course, my evil spirit who has warned me not to put any load on my head, had promised me that he would carry my good fortunes to my shrine by himself. Therefore, there is no need to worry myself to carry it to my house then. I am quite sure, my evil spirit will fulfil his promise today! Hah, I thank thee, my evil spirit!”
