Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle Read online

  “Hear me now, Simbi, it is very disgraceful for a brave girl like you to decline from her wish without seeing the end of what she has determined to know.

  “I am quite sure, in a few days’ time you shall know the ‘Poverty’ and the ‘Punishment’, even you shall see them personally. And you shall experience their difficulties even farther than as you are expecting them to be. Because the difficulties of the ‘Poverty’ etc. are almost without the end.

  “Now, I call your attention back to the matter of setting you free and to have also mercy on you. I can confess to you now, Simbi, that the more I, Dogo, kidnap a boy or girl there is no anything like mercy for him or her at all, and I have never released any of my captives in my life. But I shall sell him or her at all costs whomever he or she may be, and that is my policy from the beginning. Therefore, I am very sorry to tell you now that I shall not depart from this rule, simply because your wealthy mother has no another issue except you alone!

  “Hah! Simbi, you want to know and experience the ‘Poverty’ and the ‘Punishment’? And I assure you now that you shall know them to the very end. And to add more to my explanations. You are now on the Path of Death. Of course, I cannot blame you, because ‘the dog which will lose will not answer the call and will not pay heed to the call of its keeper’.

  “Therefore, Simbi, there is no need for a person who has already fallen into the water to escape for the cold and you are the very person who has fallen into the water,” Dogo explained distinctly.

  But Simbi was greatly terrified when she heard that it was on the Path of Death she was. Because she had been hearing several times from her family and from other people that any one who travelled on this path, was going to die.

  “Keep going now girl! and the only promise that I can give you is that I am going to sell you in a town which is near this Path of Death!

  “The dog which will lose will not pay heed to the call of its master. That means if you have paid heed to your mother’s warning you should have not met this punishment,” Dogo repeated and then he commanded her to keep going.

  And when she refused to keep going, Dogo slapped her at head so heavily that she started to feel headache at the same time, and he was pushing her along the Path of Death with his own hands.

  Having travelled till the evening they came to a town. This town was so far away from Simbi’s village that she could not even trace out the right path to her village, even if she had the chance to escape.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Simbi in the town where nobody sings

  Dogo took Simbi to a big shop immediately they entered the town. It was an auctioneer’s shop and there was a very wide, flat ground at the front of this shop. It was on that ground the auctioneer used to sell all articles or slaves which or who were to be sold very urgently.

  After Dogo had explained to the auctioneer that he wanted him to sell Simbi by urgent, for he wanted the quick money for buying food, then the auctioneer first put Simbi on the weighing scale just to know her exact weight which would enable him to know the real price that he would impose upon her.

  Having quite sure of her real weight, he wore several oversized garments for her. Each of the garments was sewn with about twenty yards of cloth.

  After that, he put on her head an oversized hat which swallowed her head so that she was terrible to see at that moment. All these dresses made Simbi bigger than her usual size.

  After, he put a sofa at the centre of the ground. Simbi sat on it and he compelled her also to swell out every part of her body with pride so that she might be seemed to every intended buyer that she was pleased for selling her. Then a number of the appraisers seated on two benches at a little distance from her. After this arrangement, the touting man of the auctioneer came with a big bell and he stood at the front of her.

  Within ten minutes that the touting man was ringing the bell loudly more than one thousand people heard the bell and came there. They surrounded Simbi who was greatly surprised to see herself in this condition.

  After a while, the darkness of the night came and she could not be seen clearly from the sofa. Then the auctioneer lighted his big “fitila”, he put it nearly to touch her face. Its brown flame shone to all over her body and also to some part of the ground, but there was still darkness at the back of the ground.

  When the auctioneer noticed that enough people had gathered there, he stood up and announced loudly with the voice of business, “Yes, give an offer!” Then those appraisers started their business. They were raising the price of Simbi up and up and up together with those intended buyers. And a few minutes later, every one of the buyers was greedily raising up the price so that Simbi might fall in his hand.

  Having seen this, the appraisers insisted on twenty thousand cowries for which to sell her. At that stage, it became the matter of bribery. “No bribe, no Simbi!” was the slogan saying of the appraisers and the auctioneer. And it was so those people were pressing her body with hands every time just to make sure how fat she was. And a few minutes later she became unconscious suddenly because she was nearly pressed to death.

  Before she became conscious, those people had scattered in the darkness at the back of the ground. Everyone of them was calling the appraisers, the auctioneer, and the touting man up and down and he was bribing them with money. But at last a rich man who was among, bribed the auctioneer with a very considerable amount that he was happily accepted. Of course, when this revealed to the rest intended buyers, they disordered at once and started to fight each other instead to fight the rich man, for they could not distinguish one from another in the darkness.

  However, Simbi fell into the hand of the rich man. Then she was escorted by the touting man to the auctioneer, appraisers and the rich man and she stood before them. And on her presence the rich man paid the amount for which he bought her to Dogo. Having seen this, Simbi asked painfully “Do you sell me in the darkness, Dogo?” “Yes,” he replied sharply. Because it was just revealed to her at that moment, that she was put on that sofa for sale, though she had been thinking within herself that those people were going to instal her the queen of that town. And it was from that darkness she was taken to the rich man’s slave yard.

  But to everyone’s surprise, it was in this town Dogo had spent such a considerable amount of money for food and gambling before he left for his town.

  Immediately Simbi was mercilessly pushed inside the slave yard of the rich man who was then her master. All the wide slave girls rushed to her. She was first welcomed with several blows that which made her to dash to the pillars and wall before she fell on the ground helplessly at the same time.

  After a while, she became conscious, then she stood up with both feet which were shaking for the pain of the sudden blows. Having managed and stood up, those slave girls were pushing her again from one to another and from the pillars to the wall. They left her when she was about to die and then they explained to her “We are now pleased to have you in our company. Because a new comer like you must be first served with blows instead with food!”

  It was after Simbi was left to beat when she noticed that many of the junior slaves were chained and laid on the ground since about one week. There the rain was scorching and the heat of the sun was beating them. Because they offended “myrmidon” who had the right to punish any of the junior slaves to death, if her offence so deserved to do.

  “Yay! no doubt, I shall die in this yard,” Simbi feared immediately she had seen those who were chained and laid on the ground.

  “Not yet the time you shall die here, just sit down and let me sit down on your head, for I feel to rest for a few hours,” the myrmidon said sharply. Willing or not Simbi sat on the ground and the myrmidon sat on her head and then she (myrmidon) was enjoying herself. And Simbi was still in this condition when a junior slave brought half cooked food to her. But in respect of the heavy weight of the myrmidon, she was unable to eat the food. Although she had never eaten anything since when she had been caught from the jun
ction by Dogo.

  When the myrmidon noticed that she did not eat the food but she was simply looking at it, she ordered one of the junior slaves to beat her and she was beaten nearly to death, while she (myrmidon) was on her head.

  “Ah! my mother had warned me not to attempt to know the ‘Poverty’ and the ‘Punishment’!” suffering forced Simbi to remember.

  “Which means your mother had already warned you? Let us hint you, you have never received any punishment here, but we are still playing with you as if you are a gentlewoman!” several slaves exclaimed. Having heard this again, Simbi sighed and said aloud “I die today!” For she was sweating continuously at that moment for the heavy weight that which was on her head.

  They were not singing at all in this town. Even beating of any kind of the drums, laughing, joking, or merry making were entirely banned there. Because if they did one of these things nearly the whole people of the town would die without special reason. Because their gods disliked any kind of the merriment.

  In the following morning, Simbi followed the rest slave girls to the farm of their master. They worked from the morning till when the darkness came. Within a few minutes that she started to work with the rest, both her palms were bruised and were so paining her that she could not touch anything with them (palms). Because she had never worked since when she was born, but she was only singing about.

  “You are too lazy, Simbi!” the rest slaves were always repeating that after they had punished here severely.

  One mid-night, when she believed that if she continued to be working along with her colleagues like that, she would die in a few days’ time, she thought of what she could be doing that which could satisfy her colleagues. But as she had been an expert singer before she was kidnapped by Dogo, she remembered one of her long songs before the day-break, and she kept it in mind to sing it for them early in the morning. Whereas such a thing as this must not happen in this town, but she did not know about that.

  And it was not yet early in the morning when Simbi started to sing the song. She was singing it on and on and on until it woke the rest slave girls, her master and his family and many people of that area.

  Her master was running furiously to the yard just to check her to stop singing, immediately he heard her singing. Unfortunately when he entered the yard, he stumbled his right leg against a stub, he fell down suddenly and then he died at the same time. And when all her master’s family heard the news they rushed into the yard.

  Having seen the rich man, Simbi’s master, lay helplessly on the ground, all exclaimed “Yay!—ay! Simbi, you have killed your master!” “Not I at all! I am not the one who killed him!” “You are the one! It was your song killed him!” the family of the rich man insisted loudly.

  At the same time, one of the family suggested “It is better to beat Simbi now to death with a cudgel just to revenge from her at once!”

  “Oh! don’t let us beat her to death. To beat her to death immediate does not severe enough as the kind of a punishment that which her offence deserves. But my own suggestion is to stab her at heart with a pointed knife and leave the knife there till she will suffer to death!” another man suggested.

  “No! to stab her to death does not severe enough. But my own suggestion is to make a solid coffin of plank. Then we will put her alive inside the coffin and after that the lid of the coffin will be nailed. Having done that we will carry the coffin to a river and throw it there. Therefore the tide will be carrying the coffin about until Simbi will be suffered to death,” another one of the family suggested.

  “Very good! we do agree to your suggestion!” the rest family exclaimed.

  One hour later, the coffin was brought. They dressed her with three big garments out of her master’s garments, they put on her head one of his hats, one long sword which was in the sheath was hung on her left shoulder, they forced her to hold one walking stick with left hand and a shot gun with right hand, all these things belonged to her master.

  After that, they put her master’s smoking pipe with plenty of tobacco leaves inside his juju-bag, which he would be smoking along the heaven road and in the heaven and they put his shaving knife inside the bag as well, with which he would be shaving his beard, etc. in the heaven. And then cooking pots, plates, etc. oil, salt, pepper, then one hen and one goat were killed, all of these things were put in a part of the coffin, for the uses of the rich man having reached the heaven. Having filled the juju-bag with some of his money, they hung it on the left shoulder of Simbi and it was this money he would be spending in the heaven. They explained to Simbi “You are now following your master to heaven and as you were a slave girl to him when he was alive thus you shall be for him in heaven. Therefore you must be taking great care of him. Be preparing his food at the right time. All his jujus and some of his properties are in the bag.”

  Having explained like that to Simbi, willing or not she was laid inside the coffin. She struggled very hardly to come out of it when the lid was nailing, but all her efforts were failed.

  After, six strong men put the coffin on heads and the rest people were singing and following them to the river. Then the coffin was thrown in the river, and her master was buried at the bank of that river. Having done all these things they came back to the town.

  And the coffin was floating along to where the water was flowing along. She was trying all her power just to break the coffin and come out, but she could not do it. Although she was lucky that some fresh air was blowing to the inside of the coffin, otherwise she should had died within two hours that she was inside it.

  The water carried the coffin for many days before it carried it to its bank where there was no strong tide that could carry it further. This bank was near a big town.

  A number of the fishermen of that town discovered the coffin at mid night, and they took it to the town. They thought that it was a box which contained precious things and that perhaps it fell from a canoe into the river by a mistake.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  The Life of Simbi in the Sinners’ Town

  When these fishermen opened the coffin they discovered that it were Simbi and her master’s belongings were there. They were greatly terrified and then covered it back at once, because they thought Simbi was dead before she was put inside it.

  “It will be better if we return this coffin to the river before morning, otherwise the guardsmen will arrest us for it,” one of them suggested.

  Then some of them put it on heads and the rest were following them to the river. Having travelled to the centre of the town, a number of the guardsmen who were on night duty challenged them. Instead to wait and explain how it was found, they threw it down and the whole of them escaped for fear of not being arrested.

  And this coffin was carried to the king by the guardsmen. When its lid was removed before the king and his chiefs, they were greatly feared and were wondered greatly to see a girl (Simbi) put inside a coffin alive.

  They took her out of it and asked who had put her there, but she was unable to answer because she was half dead at that time. But after a while, when the fresh air rushed to her, she explained to the king how she was put there. Then he (king) ordered his people to give her food and water. He said to himself that if he could treat her and could become healthy, she would be among of the slaves who were to be sacrificed to his head when it was time. Because this king used to sacrifice more than two thousand slaves to his head every year, so that he might live longer. And the sacrifice was taking place before his gods which were in a special built shrine.

  Then Simbi became a slave again and she was put among the slave girls whom the king had bought before her. She was working with them and they were awaiting for the time that the king would sacrifice them on presence of his gods to his head.

  Only sinners were living in this town. They were pagan. They were not sacrificing neither fowls nor animals to their gods but their slaves.

  Simbi was greatly surprised when she met her four friends among the slaves. They wer
e Rali, Sala, Bako and Kadara. But Rali and Sala had just been kidnapped before her. Bako and Kadara had been kidnapped since when they were children.

  All of them embraced Simbi with gladness when they saw her. Then she asked “How did all of you manage to be in this town as well?” “We were kidnapped from our village and brought here by Dogo,” her friends explained with sorrow.

  “And I too were kidnapped from the junction near our village by the same Dogo, and he sold me in a town where I was put inside the coffin and thrown it in the river,” Simbi explained.

  “I am afraid, Dogo will nearly kidnap all the children to this town,” Bako wondered.

  “How was my twin sister before you left our village, Simbi?” Bako asked, because she was a twin and her second was with her mother.

  “Your twin sister and your mother were in good condition before I left the village but they were still in deep grief for your loss,” Simbi replied.

  “But I wonder, how Dogo managed to kidnap you from your wealthy mother, Simbi?” Rali asked. “Oh yes, thank you very much for asking me the reason. You see, when I had become tired of my mother’s wealths and had fed up with the enjoyments and freedom that the wealths had been giving me, I told my mother that I liked to know the ‘Poverty’ and the ‘Punishment’ and to experience their difficulties. But when she refused to tell me the meanings of the two words, then I made the sacrifice which could help me to know them, and when I took it to the junction Dogo kidnapped me from there.”

  Rali and the others exclaimed when Simbi explained of what she was finding about. They blamed her seriously for it. But they were happy to see each other again.

  Though all of them were working hardly every day for the king, their buyer, but he was not giving them anything to eat for many days, because he recognised them as goats.