The Witch-Herbalist of the Remote Town Read online

  The Witch-Herbalist of the Remote Town

  AMOS TUTUOLA

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Acknowledgement

  The Rocky Town

  The God of the State

  When I Became a Hunter

  At Last I was Married to Lola

  My Wife was Barren

  My Preparation for My Journey

  I Left My Town for the Remote Town

  The Brutal Ape

  Abnormal Squatting Man of the Jungle

  The End of the Path

  The Wild Jungle Wealthy People

  The Strange Round Shadow

  Long-Breasted Mother of the Mountain

  The Crazy Removable-Headed Wild Man

  The Town of the “Born and Die Baby”

  The Offensive Wild People

  The Stalwart Gateman and his Devil

  The Fight on the Roadside Shrines

  The Roadside Town

  Road to the Remote Town

  The Remote Town

  In the Palace of the Witch-Herbalist

  In the Hall of Assembly of the Mother

  The Complete Skeleton Man

  The Bald Lady

  The Epileptic Man

  The Woman with One Ear

  The Man with Eight Burdens

  It is My Turn Now

  On My Way Back to My Town

  I Ate from the Soup on the Way

  I Returned to My Town At Last

  Wife and Husband Conceived

  Under the River

  People Thought that We were Deads

  My “Memory” Sued My First “Mind” and Second “Mind”

  About the Author

  By the Same Author

  Copyright

  The publishers would like to thank Molara Ogundipe-Leslie of the University of Ibadan for her advice and help in preparing Amos Tutuola’s manuscript for publication.

  The Rocky Town

  In the Rocky Town, the inhabitants worshipped only the god of iron, god of thunder, god of oracle, and god and goddess of the rivers. All kinds of images and idols and the “god of the state” which belonged to the government of the Rocky Town, were also worshipped. The inhabitants lived amongst the wild animals such as tigers, lions, wolves, leopards, etc. This was so because jungles, forests, etc. were more than the inhabitants of the town.

  But as my father was more intelligent than the other old people, he was installed as the chief priest of oracle and the chief of the pagans. There was a big and deep river on the outskirts of the town, the distance of which was about two kilometres from the town. Several shrines were built near the banks. All of the people of the town kept their gods, idols, images, etc. in the shrines. And there they worshipped them. But as these gods, idols, images, etc. were of different kinds, therefore, different kinds of sacrifices were offered to them.

  The big and deep river was flowing heavily to the south with very strong tides and waves. The water which formed this river was gushing out continuously from a strange pitcher of antiquity which stood like a small hill at the spot from where the river started to flow. As various kinds of bold and terrible images were carved on the back of this strange pitcher of antiquity, it was so different kinds of fearful noises were coming out from the inside of it. All these horrible things made the people fear to go near both the river and the vast pitcher, although many beautiful mighty trees, palm trees, coconut trees, etc. were lined up along the banks which had very lovely white sand.

  But there was none of the people who lived in this Rocky Town, neither grown-ups nor children, without his or her own god, idol, or image which he or she worshipped. So as uncountable shrines were built at the banks of the river, the people called the banks at some time THE TEMPLE OF GODS, IDOLS, IMAGES, ETC. If any one of the inhabitants had no god, idol, or image, which he or she worshipped, both children and grown-ups of the town would not like him or her, but they would take him or her as an unbeliever, and the rest of the people would not even go near him or her at all.

  The God of the State

  Furthermore, there was one of these gods which was called “the god of the state” and it belonged to the government of this Rocky Town. This special title was given to it because it was the most powerful and terrible of all the rest of the gods and idols, except the god of thunder. The height of this “god of the state” was just like that of a sternly looking giant. It was too terrible and fearful for the eyes of human beings to see, because it held above its head a very long and big spear by the right hand in such a fearful way as if it was preparing to stab to death without hesitation one who might go near it or stand at a short distance before it. This big and fearful spear which it held was so dazzling from its sharpness that it was hard to look at it for a half-twinkling or thirty seconds, without the eyes being hurt. (In the Yoruba language, “twinkling” means minute.)

  The body of this “god of the state” was fearfully decorated with the skins of various kinds of animals such as lions, tigers, leopards, crocodiles, boar, forest lizards, etc. All of these skins were jointly woven into one huge garment of the Rocky Town’s type. The huge garment reached only to its elbows, neck and a half of its thighs. On the left of this god, there was a complete skeleton of a man which it held tightly with the left hand. The platform on which it stood upright was about twenty metres above the ground. It was round but was flat at the top. Hundreds of skulls of men, women, animals, big birds of all kinds, etc. were stuck round the platform and so many were gathered round the feet of the god.

  The neck of this terrible god was very huge and several thick veins were sprung out round it. Its eyes were just like those of an owl but bigger and more fearful. Each was moving sternly to different directions at one-twinkling intervals. Its nose was the same shape like that of a human but bigger. Each of the nostrils was so large that it could easily contain a big bottle. Its head had the shape of that of a human as well, but it was bigger than that of a human. The hair on this head weighed more than one ton of a load. All was muddled together from the rotten blood of the animals, humans, etc. which was pouring on it often and often. Each of its jaws was flat and thick beyond what a person could see and laugh at.

  The upper lip of this “god of the state” was spread on the lower one and it could not move up or down because of the large quantity of long hair which pressed it one one place, And the lower one was dropped towards its chest because of the very long and thick beard which overweighted it.

  Furthermore, one of its jaws was painted with white and red paints, while the other was painted with white and yellow paints. So whenever the strong breeze started to blow, the garment of the various kinds of animal skins which were woven together would be making different kinds of fearful noises which the ears of the human beings could hear and be happy from. So for its fearful and ugly appearance both young men and women of the town feared it greatly. But they gave it much respect which they could not even give to the king.

  As thousands of the gods, idols, etc. which belonged to the common people of the town were kept in the shrines at the bank of this river, as well as the “god of the state”, special ceremonies were performed for them in the tenth month of the year, for seventeen days and nights. The sacrifices which were given to each of the gods, idols, etc. were of different kinds. But the kinds of the sacrifices which were given to the “god of the state” were almost all kinds of the bush animals and domestic animals, including kola nuts, bitter kola nuts, palm oil, etc. And this “god of the state” was the imitation of the very powerful and most kind god or spirit of the river.

 
Special sacrifices were given to the god of the river once in a year. But many people were giving the god thank-offerings in addition. Of course, as he was kind, it was so he was cruel. Because sometimes he made the barren women to become mothers of children, and sometimes when he was cruel, he forced swimmers to drown and then dragged them to the place of his abode in the bottom of the river, and there he would detain them throughout their lives’ time. So when sacrifices were ready to be given to him in the year, a very big canoe would be carved from a mighty tree. Several kinds of bold images would be carved right round its body. Each of the images would be painted with different colours of paints, and the canoe itself would be beautifully painted both inside and outside. Then after, all of the sacrifices including one young man and one young lady were put in the canoe. Then many animals and fowls would be slaughtered. Having cooked their flesh and every one of the people having eaten it to his or her satisfaction, they would start to sing and dance round the canoe and also the “god of the state”.

  Having sung, danced and drunk the palm-wine for a while, then one big ewe would be slaughtered in front of the “god of the state”. So having poured some of its blood on the “god of the state”, they would pour the rest on the heads of the young man and the lady who were dressed in beautiful clothes, etc. After that, the whole people would pray greedily to the god of the river to accept their sacrifices and to send peace and good health to them in return. Having prayed greedily like that for about twenty twinklings, then the drummers would start to beat their drums, and as the whole people started to sing the song of the god of the river loudly, some of the strong men would push the canoe to the middle of the river. As the water started to carry the canoe away gently, the drummers would continue to beat the drums and the rest of the people would continue to sing, dance, etc. until the canoe would be lost to their view. But as soon as the canoe was lost to their view, the people would continue to sing and dance as they were going back to the town.

  When I Became a Hunter

  When my father saw that I was stronger and braver than any of my playmates, and also saw that I was bold and stout, he bought one bow and a large quantity of arrows for me. He told me to go to the nearby jungle to hunt for wild beasts. So I was very happy when my father gave me the bow and arrows. But the people of my town were very surprised to see that I killed many kinds of wild beasts before I came back to the town.

  Having seen this, both young and old people were afraid of me each time they saw me. As I continued to kill many of the wild animals every day for some months all of my friends deserted me, because they thought that sooner or later I might kill them as I was killing the wild animals in the jungle. But I recalled them with the flesh of the animals as soon as I understood what they thought about me. So as soon as they ate from the flesh of the animals they were no more afraid of me, and we continued to play together as before I became a hunter.

  At Last I was Married to Lola

  As soon as I became twenty years of age, I told my father and mother that I wanted to marry a girl. So both were happy to hear this from me and they told me that I should be looking for one, and they too would be looking for one so that I might choose one from the two. But I was greatly sad at last, because every girl that I approached used to run away from me with fear, for she thought I would kill her as I was killing the wild animals. But after a few months I did not bother whether a girl agreed to marry me or not, for I knew that the whole people of the town would soon realize the goodness which I was doing for them. Because their lives were saved considerably more now than before I started to kill the wild animals. The wild animals did not attempt to come to the town to kill people and domestic animals as before.

  For the period of five years that I was killing these wild animals, the people of the town did not realize my work and none of the girls agreed to marry me each time that my father and mother spoke to them about me. Then one midnight, it came to my father’s mind that his closest friend, who was the progenitor, had one beautiful daughter who was not yet married to any man, although the progenitor had no other issue except Lola, the name of the daughter. So the following morning my father sent a message to the progenitor that he wanted to see him. But as my father and his friend, the progenitor, liked each other so much, it was not more than sixty twinklings before the progenitor came to him.

  When my father’s friend, the progenitor, came and as both of them used to chat first immediately they saw each other, so he first shouted to my father: “Hello! the chief priest and pagan of gods, idols and spirits! How do you do? Hope there is no bad complaint from the gods, idols or spirits, this morning?” But the progenitor had hardly finished his chats when my father replied loudly with a smile: “Hello! the progenitor of the gods, idols and spirit-worshippers, there is no complaint at all! How do you feel this morning?”

  Then after both had chatted together, the progenitor sat down on the mat on which my father sat. My father had not yet told him anything about his daughter, but he told me to bring the keg of the morning palm-wine. So I ran at the same time to the corner where the palm-wine was gushing out white lather from the spout of the keg. When I brought it, I put it down in front of them. After that I returned to the same corner, I brought two calabashes, and then I started to serve both of them with the wine continuously.

  After some twinklings that everyone of them was satisfied, my father drew the bowl of “ayo” which was near him to the front of them (“AYO” is a kind of the Yoruba game; also called “warry”). Then both of them started to play the “ayo” as they were joking funnily and loudly.

  After about forty twinklings, my father defeated his friend the progenitor, for three times consecutively. So this proved that the request which my father was going to make about the progenitor’s daughter would be successful. Then they stopped to play the “ayo” game, but as soon as they continued to drink the palm-wine my father disclosed what he had invited him for. He explained to him that he had tried for five years to get a lady for his son but he could not get one for him. So he would be happy if he, the progenitor, would agree for his son to marry his daughter. But when the progenitor heard this request from my father, he raised his head up. He thought this matter over for about two twinklings before he raised his head down again. Then he asked solemnly from my father why he could not get one lady for his son out of uncountable ladies who were in the Rocky Town, despite his being the chief priest and pagan of the town.

  But my father did not waste time to explain to him that the reason why every one of the ladies feared to marry his son was that she thought his son would kill her as he was killing the wild animals in the jungles. When my father explained to the progenitor like that, without hesitation he said with happiness that he agreed to marry his daughter to his son. Having seen that his request was approved by the progenitor, his friend, my father thanked him greatly and he prayed for him for some sixtieths of a twinkling. Then both of them put the wedding-day for forty-two days’ time. After that they continued to play on the game “ayo” as I continued to serve them with the palm-wine. It was like that my father got a wife for me at last.

  Both of them were still playing the “ayo” and drinking the wine until my mother returned from the farm, when it was at about the twelfth hour of the day. But when my father told her that his friend, the progenitor, had agreed for him to marry his daughter for me, she knelt down before the progenitor and thanked him greatly with happiness. So as soon as she stood up and went to the premises, she brought one big keg of the palm-wine for the progenitor, just to show him the appreciation of his only daughter that he had allowed me to marry.

  Then my father and his friend, the progenitor, enjoyed themselves with the palm-wine and the “ayo” till the fifth hour of the evening. The progenitor returned to his house. Then the following morning he told his daughter that he wanted her to be my wife. But as she must not disobey her father’s wish, she agreed at the same time with happiness. So in the evening, I met her at her father’s
house. We talked together and both of us agreed to marry together. But having spent some hours with her, I returned to the house late in the night. It was like that I continued to visit Lola every evening and both of us were talking happily for many hours before I returned to the house.

  But as I was a BORN AND DIE BABY before I was born, a special sacrifice must be prepared and taken to the same “Iroko tree”, which was my former dwelling place or home from where I came into my mother’s womb, before I could marry a lady. This special sacrifice was to appease my “born and die baby” folks who were still expecting me to return to them. They were still living in the same “Iroko tree” until when they would be fortunate to find wealthy mothers.

  If this sort of sacrifice was not taken to them at this time that I was preparing to marry, willing or not they would take my life so that I might return to them by force. But as my mother and father had already known the secret of the “born and die babies”, the right sacrifice was prepared. According to the custom of the “born and die babies”, my fiancée carried the sacrifice by the head, then her mother, her father, my mother, my father, the drummers and myself, danced with the sacrifice from the town to my former home which was the “Iroko tree” and which was on the outskirts of the town.

  When the sacrifice was put down at the foot of the tree, all of us danced and sang round the tree for many twinklings. Then we danced back to the town with happiness because the sacrifice was accepted by my folks who were “born and die babies”.

  Now, as the right sacrifice had been given to my folks who were the “born and die babies” when there remained two weeks to the day of my wedding, so the minds of my father and mother were then free to prepare for the day. And they were happy to announce the day to their friends, neighbours, etc. So when the day was reached, it was a great day indeed in the Rocky Town. For as noble people and common people of the town were full in my father’s house and in the front of the house, and as the drummers were beating their drums and the flatterers, etc. were flattering my father and mother and I, it was so for the house of the father of my fiancée. As the people were eating, drinking and the drums were beating and the whole of us were dancing merrily here and there, it was so they were doing in the house of my fiancée’s father.