by Amos Tutuola
It was a great disappointment and surprise for the rest people when I chose this old man instead of a young man. Of course, when the rest did not allow me to follow him to his house, his family held my arm. But as they were about to be taking me along to his house the rest started to beat them. After a while a very serious fight started. They were beating themselves with whatever they picked from the ground. At last when several people were wounded and several fell down helplessly, then they stopped to beat one another, but they took me to the palace of their king who had just died a few months ago before I came there.
After this palace was beautifully redecorated and after their king-makers cleared the whole hairs of my head together with the burrs, they took all the rags which were on my body away and after I bathed. They gave me many costly big clothes to wear. After I dressed in these costly clothes, they put the throne at the outside of the palace. They told me to sit on it and many costly clothes were also spread on the ground on which I rested my feet. Having done that and in the presence of the whole people of this town, these king-makers put the crown on my head and then they pronounced loudly that as from this day I became their queen and that I was their ruler and to be punished one who disobeyed me.
After this ceremony was performed, the king-makers took me to the palace while the rest people were beating drums and drinking all kinds of drinks which were specially provided in respect of this ceremony.
When I sat in the palace I could not talk for two hours because when I looked at my surroundings and saw how they were beautifully decorated I wondered greatly how I came to this luxurious position unexpectedly.
When it was eight o’clock in the night, these king-makers wrapped the hairs and burrs which they had cleared away from my head before they installed me their queen, with the rags (my clothes which were torn to rags by thorns) which they had removed from my body. They wrapped the hairs and the burrs with these rags in form of a round parcel. Having done that before me then they took this parcel to a certain part of this palace. But when they returned after a few minutes, I did not see the parcel with them except one big key which one of them held. When they came back with only this key they bowed down before me and then told me to stand up and I did so at the same moment. And with a soft voice the most senior of them told me that they would be very happy if her majesty would allow them to show me the whole parts of the palace so that they might hand over the palace to me.
So when I stood up they came to my back and then I was following one of them who held a powerful light which reflected to every part of the ground on which I was smashing. They showed me every part of this palace and they repeated it that it blonged to me as from that night. But when they took me to a separate house, which had only one very big room, they showed me this key. After they warned me very seriously, that although this one roomed house blonged to me as well but I must not attempt to open the door of it because it was forbidden for me to see what was inside it. Then they gave me the key and told me to keep it with me. After that they took me back to the throne. After we dined and drank together they went back to their houses while the servants, etc., were with me in the palace.
I wondered greatly when they warned me that I must not open this room and they gave me the key of it to be kept in my possession. And I did not know what they did with my hairs, burrs and my rags which they took away from my body but all I could say was that I only saw them when they wrapped the hairs and the burrs with my rags in form of a round parcel and then took this parcel to the direction of this one roomed house. It was like that I became the queen of these bachelors.
It was after two weeks that I was in this palace as a queen before I noticed that there was not a single woman or female in this town except men or males. And it was this time it revealed to me that no wonder, immediately I came there everyone of them had wanted to marry me. I noticed as well that more than ninety per cent of the people of this ‘Bachelors’ town’ were very rich but yet none of the ladies agreed to marry any one of them. And it was a great wonder to me when I found out later, that it was their first generation who had offended their creator who had cursed them that none of the females who would agree to marry either one of them for ever.
Of course a lot of them were musicians and for this, mighty beautiful halls were seen everywhere in the town. But I was very surprised too that as they had no wives they were still happy always. They were always dancing, drinking, beating drums and joking with one another. They were not quarrelling with each other so much. But the noises of their drums and the cheerful noises of the merrymakers were too much in this town. And for the whole period that I spent there as their queen, the merrymakers and drummers did not let me enjoy my life as luxuriously as it must be. Because they used to visit me several times a day. Whenever these visitors saw me several of them would not aware when they would open mouths widely and utter—“Ah! this is a lady whom we are longing for to marry!” Whenever they uttered carelessly like that those valets or servants were warning them at the same time not to say so and that they must remember that I was their queen.
Within a few months that I was in this happiness my mind was about to change not to go back to the Jungle of the Pigmies or my town again. It was even coming to my mind once a while that I had been a huntress before or in my life, because I was not suffered for anything and I was so much admired by these bachelors that several special concerts and many other amusements were performing each week in respect of me. But I was always afraid greatly that I was only a lady among several thousands of these bachelors whenever I was at the concerts, etc.
But when I completed about six months in this “Bachelors’ town” one fine morning, after I ate nice breakfast, I drank and I wore several costly garments and after I put costly gold beads in my neck, wrists and I put earrings on my ears. Then I thought within myself that why should I not open this one roomed house which these king-makers had warned me for not to open, when the key of it was given to me and again I was the ruler of this town. After I sat down and thought in my mind like that for a few minutes, I stood up, I went to where I kept the key of this room since the day that they had given it to me. I took it and I came back to my seat. When I sat down I continued to think over about this locked room. As I was thinking about it, it was so I was throwing this key up and catching it again as if I was simply playing with it.
At last I said within myself that the more I was the ruler of this town there was no reason why I should not know the whole secrets which were in this palace. And then without hesitation, I stood up and I went direct to this locked room. As I stood before the door I reminded myself that the king-makers had already warned me seriously the other night that I must not attempt to open the room because it was forbidden to me to see what was inside it. When I reminded myself like that I feared greatly and I moved my body just to go back to my seat. But as I was about to go back it came to my mind again this moment that as I was the ruler I supposed to know all the secrets which were in the palace. So without hesitation I put this key in the lock of this room and I hardly turned it round when the door opened.
When I entered this room with great fear, I travelled slowly to a part of it where there was darkness and then I stopped when I did not see anything in it. But as I began to scorn those king-makers that why had they warned me not to open this room when there was nothing in it, there I saw one bird which held the parcel (my hairs, burrs and my rags with which the king-makers wrapped the two things) with its beak. As I was still looking at this bird in the darkness with embarrassment. It flew suddenly to me and put this parcel on my head and at the same moment it flew back to the darkness and vanished immediately.
But immediately I touched this parcel with my hands with hatred just to push it away from my head, it was in the heart of big thick forest I found myself again. And when I opened my eyes and I looked at my body, I saw that I was in my usual rags. When I touched my head it was full of long dirty hairs which were twisted with the burrs and my body was as
rough and as scratch as before I had been a queen.
As this was still just a dream for me, so I went to a tree which was near by. I leaned my back on it and I began to think over and over whether it was not myself who came back to this poor condition unexpectedly. And as it was a great sorrow to me immediately I found out my mistake, of course “there is no one Who is rich beyond temptation”. So I blamed myself that if I had not opened that room as the king-makers had warned me not to do, I should had not come back to this my former poor condition.
As I was still blaming myself like that I did not know when I cast down under this tree and I was weeping bitterly. After a few minutes a number of pigmies heard my voice and they came to that spot just to see who was weeping there. And I wondered greatly that immediately they saw me there that I was the very huntress who had ruined their town, they wanted to catch me for killing. But before they could do so, and immediately I saw them that they were pigmies I sprang up and I was running furiously along in this endless forest. Because I believed that they were those pigmies who had escaped when I ruined their town and nearly killed the whole of them some time ago, and they wanted to revenge of what I had done to the rest of them.
As I was running away for my life it was so they were chasing me to catch and kill. They were still chasing me along until when I saw a small hut which was in the heart of this forest. Immediately I saw this hut, I was running to it. But when they about to catch me I shouted greatly to the inhabitant of this hut to help me. And to my surprise, I hardly shouted when a very old and weary man ran out from the hut and he was asking me—“What is that! What is that!” until when he saw these pigmies at my back. Immediately he saw them that they wanted to kill me, he gave me chance to run to his hut, but he hastily expanded both his hands to left and right which were disturbed them, he did not allow them to enter his hut.
When he stopped them he asked from them what was the matter. And they explained to him with great anger that I was the huntress who had driven them out of their town after I had killed the rest of them. They told him as well that as they saw me this day they were prepared to kill me as a revenge. And they did not let this old man say anything when they forced their way in and he followed them at the same time. But I had passed to the forest through the back door of the hut as they were still explaining to him all what I had done to them some time ago.
When they searched this hut and they did not see me from there. They told this old man to find me out at all costs. But when he refused to do so, because he wanted to safe me, then they began to beat him with the sticks which were in their hands. At last when he felt much pain he took his cutlass and he was cutting everyone of them without mercy. And when he nearly killed all of them then the rest who were not more than two or three in number, escaped. After the rest were escaped I came back to the hut, I thanked greatly from this old man. After that both of us buried those whom he killed. And that was how I came out from the “Bachelors’ town”.
After we buried them near his hut he gave me food and I ate the whole of it within a few seconds because I was very hungry before I came there. Although this food was not as nice as the kind which I had been eating when I was the queen of the “Bachelors’ town”. Having finished the food and I rested to my satisfaction, I told him that I would be living with him for some days before I would continue to find my way to go back to the Jungle of the Pigmies and he agreed.
This old man was so quiet and wise that I followed all the advices which he used to give everyday. But I was unable to look at his face or mouth whenever he was advising me, it was a great fear for me, because “When the front teeth fall away, the beauty of the mouth falls” and that was so for this old man, all his front teeth had fallen away and it made his face so ugly that it was very fearful to see always.
The fifth day, which was “The Day of three Resolutions” which was Saturday, that I was living with him and as we were discussing together how he came to live in the forest, there entered the hut a wonderful man. Immediately he entered the hut we raised up our heads and then we were expecting what he was going to say. But instead to tell us what he wanted he simply took one stool, he sat on it and then he asked for food without hesitation. Of course as this old man was quiet and wise he gave him food and water without any question.
As this wonderful man was eating he began to tell the old man that he would be living with him and he would be working for him. He told him further that his mother had wilfully thrown him in the jungle since when he was about nine years old, because he had troubled her too much. After he explained to this old man like that he (old man) asked from him his age and he replied that he was about fifty years of age. The reason why this old man asked for his age was that his voice was sharper or older than his appearance.
Both of us bursted into a great laughter when he said that he was about fifty years of age. Because we wondered greatly when we saw his height which was not more than two feet and he was so thin that I could compare him with a stick which its diameter was not more than four inches.
He was a talkative because he could talk throughout the day and night without a break and he was talking very fastly yet his voice was very sharp. He was so troublesome that he could not live with anyone but we did not aware of that at first. Whenever he was talking fastly thus he would be closing and opening his small eyes and thus he would be turning his head here and there and also sniffing the smell of that place. However, this old man pitied his condition and he agreed to him to be living with us. But when he asked for his name the following day that he came to live with us, for he (old man) had forgotten to ask for it before this time. He told us that his name was Ajantala, but the old man chuckled suspiciously and he did not say anything.
In the following morning, when this old man was preparing to go to his farm to fetch for our food, Ajantala told him that he would follow him and he agreed. But when he put some yams and some edible fruits in the basket and he asked Ajantala to carry it to the hut. To his fear, Ajantala shouted on him without hesitation—“What do you tell me to carry, old man?” and the old man repeated what he had told him to do. Again Ajantala shouted on him—“Oh, is that how you want to treat me? All right, I will teach you a sense now!” So without hesitation, Ajantala threw a handful dust into the old man’s eyes unexpectedly, and as he was staggering about for help, Ajantala hit his head again with a heavy stone and then he fell down helplessly at the same time. But when Ajantala saw him in this condition he let him there and he ran back to the hut, for he thought he would die after a few minutes.
Immediately Ajantala entered the hut and met me as I was still preparing our food. With his usual sharp voice, he told me that the old man sent him to come and collect all his (old man’s property) property and bring them to him, because the old man did not want to come back to his hut any more. When I first heard like that from him, I was greatly shocked at the same moment. I thought within myself that which meant this old man wanted to leave I alone in this hut and again I thought that perhaps the rest pigmies had made arrangement with him and he had agreed to them to come and kill me and perhaps that was the reason why he wanted to leave his hut without me.
As I was still suggesting in mind like that, Ajantala had put the whole of this old man’s property at the front of the hut. Not knowing that when the old man lay down in the pool of blood for a few minutes he got up and then he was coming back to his hut when the blood stopped. But when he met Ajantala as he was just tieing all his property into one bundle and after that to carry them away, he challenged him at the same time that what was he doing with his property. Of course Ajantala did not deny at all, he explained to him that he was going to sell them. When he heard like that from him he began to struggle with him to take them back from him while I stood near the hut and I was looking at them.
But at last when I believed that Ajantala wanted to overpower him and if it was so, he would run away with the property. So I ran to them and I helped the old man to take his property back
from him. But Ajantala held the property so tightly that we could not take it from him till this old man became dizzy and then fell down, because too much of blood had run down from his forehead when Ajantala hit the forehead with a stone in the farm.
Now it remained I alone who was ingrafting Ajantala not to take this bundle (the old man’s property) away. Although I was a brave huntress but I was unable to conquer Ajantala at all. Because as he was so small and thin he was very strong like a giant. After a while he flung me away as if I were a grain of maize, but I hastily gripped his thin legs when he was about to run away with this bundle. But as he was trying to take his legs back from me he fell down. Now both of us held ourselves and we were beating ourselves mercilessly while he still held the bundle with his left hand. Luckily when he was about to overpower me the old man stood up. He came to us, he ran to Ajantala’s back, he snatched the bundle from him unexpectedly and then he ran to the hut with it while Ajantala was still beating me and I was beating him as well.
This old man hardly kept the bundle in the hut when he ran back to us when he believed that Ajantala would beat me to death soon. Then both of us were now beating Ajantala until when we were tired. When Ajantala stood up he ran to the hut, he searched it but he could not trace out this bundle because the old man, the owner of it, hid it under a big pot but Ajantala did not remember to open it. When he failed to trace it out, we thought he would go away. But when he did not go away, this old man told him frankly that he did not want to see him in his hut any more. But to our fear, Ajantala replied that he would not go away except when he got the bundle back. At last when the old man failed to drive him away from his hut he left him. But he was still troubling us badly to take this bundle away and whenever we were eating he would eat it along with us without asking him to do so.