Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle (11 page)

Very early in the morning, the Satyr went there with his usual cudgel of bone. He beat Simbi for one hour before he went away.

Immediately he went away, another evil spirit came with hot water, he threw it on Simbi, after that he flogged her for a few minutes and then he left there. “Can I free from these punishment?” Simbi asked from her heart seriously. “Certainly, you will free from it,”
her heart replied quietly. “How long that will be?” she asked sorrowfully.

“In the near future.”

“I don't believe so,” she asked.

“You must believe,” her heart assured her.

“All right, if it will be so, by whom?”

“By one whom you have saved his life,” her heart replied sharply.

Thus she was discussing with her heart, when about one thousand of these evil creatures together with the Satyr, the noxious creature, came. Then they started to beat her and they beat her till the evening before they left there. Simbi wept bitterly till she had no power to shake her body or to make any sign of pain whenever they were beating her. She suffered greatly for food, water, cold and for the heat of the sun but these evil creatures had no mercy on her.

One night, the rain came, it was so heavy that within two hours from when it started the water absolutely covered her body. Luckily when the water was about to swallow the whole of her body together with that rock, it became a powerful stream of water. And at the same time it was pushing the rock along to another part of this Dark Jungle.

When it pushed it to a short distance from the Satyr's dwelling place, then it was stopped by a big tree. The surroundings of the Satyr's dwelling place or house was too terrible to see or to remain there for some minutes. When Simbi saw it, she was nearly to faint for fear, especially when she remembered all kinds
of the punishments which were going to give her in the morning.

As she was thinking all of that in mind, there appeared the very gnome who had saved her when she was tied to the tree to be killed in the town of the multi-coloured people, the town in which Bako became a cock when she stole the old woman's hen. The gnome stood before her and said “I have been hearing you crying sorrowfully from a long distance. What are you crying so loudly and sorrowfully for?”

“Look at both my feet to the thighs and then look at both my hands to the shoulders how all have changed into the rock,” Simbi said whisperly.

“Hah! who has done this?” the gnome was greatly excited when he saw that both her feet and arms were petrified.

“Eh, talk softly so that the Satyr may not wake, look at his house near here. Let me explain to you, I had once fought and conquered the Satyr before I had been thrown into the hole of a tree by an eagle. And again when I came back to this Dark Jungle, the Satyr with the rest evil creatures and the phoenix started to fight me and the other refugees just to revenge of what I had done to the Satyr from me and from the rest refugees.

“But with the help of my three gods, I killed the phoenix and several of the rest evil creatures were wounded. Although the phoenix had carried away Sala, Kadara, Bako and the rest refugees before it was killed.

“After he had struggled to kill me but failed, then he built an illusive hall, the wall, roof, etc. were migratory
birds. And I entered the hall in respect of its beauty and the melodious songs which I heard from there. Having danced and sung for a few hours with the creatures that I met there, I feared greatly and I felt to leave there. But as those creatures were still deceiving me with the dance and songs, I fell asleep unnoticed. And then the Satyr came in there, he woke me up and he carried me from there and put me on this rock. He changed my feet and arms into the rock as you see them. And since from that day, the Satyr and the rest creatures are coming to me every morning and evening, they are punishing me nearly to death before they would leave me and go away,” Simbi explained painfully to the gnome.

“Is that so?” the gnome wondered. “Yes it is so, even if you can hide near here till the morning, you will see them when they will come to punish me,” Simbi said calmly.

“What kind of a help do you want from me?” the gnome asked. “I shall be happy if you will change me now back to my usual form and after that I want you to show me the right path to my village, so that I may go back at the same time, because I have fed up with all the punishments and poverties which I used to meet every day and night, every hour and minute since from when I had been kidnapped from my village by Dogo.”

“It is against the rule to give you too kinds of helps at a time. But I will help you now to become to your usual form.

“But I am quite sure that after you have become to your usual form, the Satyr will find you out and he shall
fight you probably to death if you don't struggle hard to fight him to death.”

After the gnome explained to Simbi like that, he rubbed her body with his left palm and at the same time Simbi changed to her usual form, and all the pains of the beats went away. She was then in sound health and was so powerful that if she dashed to a tree it would fall down at once.

Then she knelt down and thanked the gnome greatly. After that he disappeared and then Simbi left that place at the same time so that the Satyr might not meet her in that there.

Having travelled for about one week, she discovered the hole in which she put her three gods and in which she was living before she was caught from the illusive hall and then transformed into the rock.

She entered the hole, she took the gods, she hung the satchel in which all were kept on her left shoulder. After that she left there and started to roam about.

After a while she travelled to a dam. She stopped there, she drank the water to her satisfaction, she bathed, after that she washed her gods as if they were human. Having done that, she sat at the bank of the dam, she waited until the sediment of the water went down, so that she could see her shadow clearly from the water. Then she lowered her head towards the water. And her shadow proved that the hairs of her head had scattered and very rough. Then she washed them again and having dried them, she parted them and wove all into six plaits. Having done that she cut about one fathom of rope which
was a little thicker than the sewing thread. Then she stitched her cloth with the rope, because it had already torn in rags, after that she put it on. Then she looked at the water again. But her shadow proved that her beauty was disqualified by one thing and that was the powder of the cam-wood. Luckily when she looked thereabout there was the very tree from which she could obtain it. She went there, having looked at the bottom of the tree, she saw some of it (tree) which insects had torn into the powder. She took as much as she liked and then she came back to the dam. She mixed the powder with some water. After that she rubbed her body with it.

Then she looked at the water again, but her shadow proved that her face still needed something that which would make it looked more beautiful. And she went to a dried wood. She took a part of it which had already decayed. She brought it back to the bank. She ground it with stone and then she rubbed her face with the powder which came out of it. After that she looked at the water and her shadow proved that she was then become a complete beautiful lady. She turned her hands, feet, back, etc. to the water but her shadow proved that she was in excellency dress.

But when she raised up her head and was thinking in mind as if she wanted to remember something which had been escaped her mind, the Satyr who had been looking about for her since when she had left the rock, appeared to her at that moment.

“Hah! you are the noxious creature indeed and the death of this Dark Jungle, as the people are saying!”
Simbi wondered and frightened greatly immediately the Satyr appeared to her.

At the same time she ran to the spot in which her gods were drying in the sun. She put them back into the satchel and hung it on her left shoulder. Then she stood firmly on the bank of the dam.

She exclaimed without being feared of anything that the Satyr might do to her, “Come along, I am ready now to fight you to death! you hopeless evil creature, the death of the wayfarers! the cannibal of the Dark Jungle! Come on now, I am ready to fight with you!”

“Heh, I am sorry to tell you now that I have been thinking in mind before I met you here, that if I catch you I should keep you alive in the cage for a few days before I should kill you and eat your meat. But I am going to kill you now, because of your proud speaking!”

As the Satyr was still roaring on Simbi, more than one thousand of the evil creatures heard and came there. They surrounded the dam. All were shouting with joy for they put hope on the Satyr that no doubt he would kill Simbi within two seconds.

With pride, the Satyr jumped on to the bank of the dam. He slapped Simbi's head so heavily that she shrank to the size of one foot tall at the same moment. But as he was trying to take her away, she jumped up and immediately she fell down she became to her usual height. Without hesitation, she slapped his eyes and he became blind at the same time, but as Simbi was trying to push him into the dam and then to press his head down until
he would die inside the water, he rubbed his eyes with palm and at the same moment, he gained his eyesight back. But when he breathed heavily on both his palms, both became as hot as a hot red iron at once. And when he was trying to grab Simbi with the hot palms so that she might be burnt to death, having seen this Simbi dived into the water. But the Satyr jumped into the water as well, he was searching for her just to grab her with the hot palms.

As he was still struggling to find her out from the bottom of the water, Simbi had changed into the water insect, she was swimming about on the surface of the water, and that was the last power she had.

When the Satyr saw this insect as the only living creature in that water, he held it and was suggesting “This insect is called ‘Iromi'. This lady [Simbi] told me the other day that we fought together and conquered me, that she could change into ‘Iro …' but she did not say on that day that she could change into ‘Iromi' and this is ‘Iromi'.”

Then he threw it back into the water and it started to swim swiftly about on the surface of the water at the same time.

The Satyr was greatly confused about the name ‘Iro . .' which Simbi had told him that she could change to. When she was about to mention the full name of the insect “Iromi” to the Satyr at the first time that they had fought together, Rali whispered to her on that day—“Hah, Simbi, don't you know that a lady must not leak out all she could do to her enemy as this Satyr?”

But Simbi stopped at the same time when she was just mentioned “Iro …” instead of “Iromi” immediately she heard the warning from Rali.

A few minutes later, the Satyr grabbed this insect again. He looked at it for about five minutes. “This is ‘Iromi' and not ‘Iro …' as the lady had mentioned into which she could change.” Then he threw it back into the water and all of the rest evil creatures who surrounded the dam were looking at him as how he was suggesting within himself about the “Iromi” which Simbi had abbreviated to “Iro …”.

Having thrown it back into the water, he did not go away but he was keeping watch of the time that Simbi would come out from the water.

After a while, the insect flew out of the water and entered into his nose unexpectedly. And at the same time it was biting his nostril so severely that within five minutes he was unable to bear the pain any longer. Then he was running about, he was crying loudly, he blew the air out from the nostril but the insect did not come out. He jumped up and down, he dashed to the trees and rocks but the insect was still biting him severely. As he was doing all these things the rest evil creatures were following him about and were laughing at him, with the intention that he was simply playing.

But when he fell down and died, they feared greatly and then they ran away.

When he was falling to the ground he shouted so horribly that everything became quiet at the same moment. His voice nearly rooted out all the big trees and
the rocks and the mountains were nearly to blow up as well.

After he fell down and died, then the insect flew out of his nostril and then changed back to Simbi at once.

Thus Simbi killed the Satyr of the Dark Jungle, the noxious guard.

Then Simbi left there with gladness. She was wandering about in this Dark Jungle without being feared of any creature because she had killed the most harmful one, the Satyr.

One day, as she was going along as fast as she could, she came to the house of the Satyr which was behind of a rough hill. The surroundings of the house were so fearful that a person who was not brave could not go near there. But being Simbi had become a brave lady by that time, she entered the house.

When she travelled round it, she saw Rali in a cage at the back yard. She ran to the cage, she forced it open and then Rali came out. They embraced each other with gladness.

“Hah, I am glad as you come to safe me because there is no doubt, the Satyr shall kill me in a few days time, because he had told me about that before he went out since four days ago. Of course, he has not returned home since that day!” Rali explained with gladness.

“What about Kadara, Sala, Bako, the cockish lady, and the nameless refugees?” Simbi asked softly.

“The Satyr had killed and eaten all of them, but he ate Bako, the cockish lady, last,” Rali replied.

“Is that so? It is sure then that they were destined to
be killed by the Satyr. Oh! which means, they have preceded the Satyr to heaven? Although, the Satyr himself is now in heaven and he is now dining with the inhabitants of heaven,” Simbi said.

“Satyr is in heaven or what do you say now?” Rali wondered greatly.

“Yes, I have killed him about two days ago with the help of my three gods!” “Killed what?” Rali wondered.

“I say I have killed the Satyr, the owner of this house!”