The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories (6 page)

Long ago, an old man and his wife lived in a village. The old man’s name was Oluwo. He had three sons and the name of the youngest was Rere. Rere was barely twelve years old when one morning he told his father that the work which he preferred to do was hunting. But his father tried his best to persuade him not to go hunting. And, Rere’s father being rich, he told him that he would give him anything which he demanded from him if he chose another profession. But Rere would not change his mind.

‘I prefer the hunting profession to all other professions that are on earth,’ Rere insisted.

But Rere’s father loved him so much that – instead of allowing the boy to go and hunt in the bush, for Oluwo feared the wild beasts would kill him – he went to the market. There he bought a gun, plenty of gun-powder and gun-shot, and he also bought many rams and goats. He tied the animals to the trees which were at the back of his house. Then he gave the gun, gun-powder and the
gun-shot
to Rere, and he told him to practise shooting at the rams and goats.

Yet Rere rejected his father’s advice. He insisted he would go and hunt in the bush and jungle instead. So Oluwu left him to himself.

One morning, Rere took his gun, gun-powder, gun-shot and machete. He went to a faraway jungle without telling his father and mother. When he got to the heart of the jungle, he started to roam about looking for animals.
Unfortunately, he did not see any animal before the rain came. The rain was so heavy that it forced Rere to enter into a large hole of a big tree and he hid himself there.

When the rain did not stop till the night was
approaching
. Rere came out from the hole of that tree. He started to go home in the heavy rain. But he did not track far before he reached a stream. And as soon as he had crossed the stream to half-way, the torrent started to carry him away suddenly. Rere struggled hard to free himself from the torrent, but all his efforts failed.

His luck was that the torrent did not carry him far when Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, saw him as the torrent was rolling him away. Without hesitation he jumped into the stream; he held Rere and pulled him to the bank. Having given him first aid and noticed that he was conscious, he took him to his house which was near the stream. He gave him food, and after the boy had rested for some minutes. Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, asked, ‘Why were you so careless as to enter the stream which had a strong torrent like that?’

‘It was the night which was near that forced me to enter the stream, though I saw that it rushed strongly. I did not want to sleep in the jungle,’ Rere explained to the Jungle Drummer.

‘But what did you come to do in this jungle which is full of wild beasts, a small boy like you?’ the Jungle Drummer asked with wonder.

‘I came to hunt in this jungle,’ replied Rere, dejected.

‘Have you not been advised by your father not to come and hunt in the jungle?’ the Jungle Drummer asked calmly.

‘Of course, my father warned me not to come,’ Rere explained clearly. ‘He even bought many rams and goats for me just to practise hunting at, instead of going to hunt in the jungle or bush. But I did not know at that time that he was saving me from harm. And at last, when he noticed
that I did not pay heed to his advice, he left me to myself.’

Then, when Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, asked more questions of Rere, the boy put all his father’s advice into song and he sang it to Tortoise:

When Rere sang like that with a lovely voice, Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, was so impressed by the song that he stood up suddenly and danced up and down happily for some minutes. ‘Oh, yes, this boy is a very good singer. He has a good and lovely voice. Now I will not allow him to leave me, but I shall be adding his lovely song and voice to my playing whenever people invite me to come and play my drum for them.’ Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, thought this to himself.

Fortunately for the Jungle Drummer, at the time he rescued Rere from the stream and took him to his house, it remained only twelve days to the time when the king of Tortoise’s town would give sacrifice to his head. And
Tortoise
, the Jungle Drummer, was one of the drummers that the king had invited to come and beat their drums at the big ceremony connected with the sacrifice.

So, before the day was reached, Tortoise carved a big tree into a huge drum with many small holes around its body. The drum was so light that a person could hold it up easily with one hand, and it was so roomy that it easily accommodated such a small boy as Rere.

When Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, had completed the drum, just to test it, he put Rere in it and sealed both ends with strong leather of antelope. Then he told Rere to sing his usual song.

As Rere started to sing his song, and the Jungle
Drummer
or Tortoise started to beat the drum to the song, both were so lovely and fascinating that those who were near there started to dance here and there until they were exhausted.

Having tested the drum and Rere’s song, and seeing that both were extremely fascinating, Tortoise believed that the other drummers could not beat him. As soon as Rere came out from the drum, Tortoise ran to the king and boasted before him, ‘Your worship, the king. I, Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, shall beat my wonderful drum and sing an enchanting song in an impressive way, so that you will stand up from your seat and dance with great joy on the day and in the night that you are sacrificing to your head, though people have not seen you dancing before.’

‘You, Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer? But how will your drum and song be so impressive and fascinating that they will make me dance? How many times have you seen me dancing since I have become king? Eh, tell me, Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer?’

‘I assure you, king, you will stand up and dance merrily on the day you are sacrificing to your head,’ the Jungle Drummer confirmed to the king.

‘If it happens as you are telling me now, I promise I shall divide my slaves, my pawned men, and all my other property into two parts, and I shall give you one part of them,’ the king promised, though he did not believe Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer.

Tortoise left the palace as soon as he had promised the king all that he would do on the day that the king was to make sacrifice to his head. So he and Rere began to prepare for the big day.

When the day was reached, Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, gave sufficient food to Rere. After the boy had eaten to his entire satisfaction, the Jungle Drummer told him to creep into the huge drum. Then he sealed both ends of the drum
with the fine leather of antelope. Having done that, he put the drum on his head and then he carried it to the assembly ground where the celebrations of the sacrifice to the king’s head would take place. Although several other drummers preceded Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, and all were set with their drums ready for beating, he did not waste time but he hastily set his own drum down near their own.

After a while, the king, his lieutenants, chiefs and bearers arrived on the assembly ground. They walked in procession into the pavilion which was mainly erected for the king. After the chiefs had performed the sacrifice for the king’s head, in which many cows and rams were included, beating of drums, singing, dancing, and
flattering
started. But Tortoise did not beat his drum this time. He kept calm and was just looking at the other drummers.

Although the other drummers played and sang well, neither the beating of their drums nor their singing various kinds of songs impressed the king, his lieutenants, chiefs and bearers enough to stand up and dance.

But as soon as the Jungle Drummer, Tortoise, struck the side of his drum three times, which was the sign for Rere to start singing, and Rere started to sing with his usual impressive and enchanting voice, and Tortoise started to beat his drum to Rere’s enchanting song, then the king, his lieutenants, his chiefs, his bearers and the multitude of people rushed to the centre of the assembly ground. All started to dance here and there merrily as if they were intoxicated by hot drink. The king and his people were so impressed by the enchanting song being sung inside the drum by Rere that they danced merrily till midnight.

When all were tired and had stopped dancing, the king, according to his promise to Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, divided his slaves, his pawned men, and all the other property into two parts. He gave one part to the Jungle Drummer, Tortoise. Then the king went back to his palace
while other people went back to their houses in happiness.

Of course the king and his people were not aware that it was a person, Rere, who sang the enchanting songs inside Tortoise’s drum for them. Thus Tortoise, the Jungle
Drummer
, surpassed all other drummers, those who returned to their houses with shame, while Tortoise returned to his house with honour.

Meanwhile, Rere’s mother and father, Oluwo, had started to look for him from the day he went to the jungle and they did not know his whereabouts. They did not know that Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, had rescued him from the torrent of the stream and had detained him in his house and was using his enchanting songs in the drum.

So, after Oluwo had tried his best to find Rere’s
whereabouts
but failed, he consulted the wise man, who explained to him: ‘Certainly, you will find your son, Rere, if you can sacrifice the used or old leather of a drum, and with it the small bells which are attached to the edges of the drum, to the god of the river.

‘After that,’ the wise man continued, ‘you will prepare an important feast to which you will invite several people. You will invite Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer, as well, to come and beat and sing at the feast. Surely, that is the day you will find your son, Rere. But be sure that you supply plenty of hot drinks in the feast.’ Thus the wise man advised Rere’s father, who then went away and made the sacrifice to the god of the river as directed by the wise man.

Then a few days later, Oluwo prepared a very rich feast, and, in addition, he bought plenty of the hot drinks.
Afterwards
, he invited several people and also Tortoise, the Jungle Drummer.

Then, after the guests had eaten and drunk, Tortoise was to beat his drum. He was too greedy, and he was drunk to excess before he started to beat his drum. But still, as soon as he started to beat his drum, and Rere started to sing his enchanting song, all the guests, and
Rere’s father and mother did not resist when they stood up and started to dance merrily.

But when they had danced for about one hour, Rere’s father and mother stopped dancing suddenly. When they stood still and listened carefully for some minutes, they were shocked with horror the moment they identified the voice of their son, Rere, who was singing a kind of song in which he was mentioning his father’s name, Oluwo, over and over again. And the song was coming out of Tortoise’s drum.

Now Rere’s father and mother were impatient to see their son. What to do to get their son back from the Jungle Drummer, Tortoise, was a big problem for them. If they told Tortoise openly that their son was inside the drum, he might run away with him. However, after a while, a thought came to Oluwo’s mind. He stopped Tortoise
suddenly
from beating his drum. After that, he invited him to a small room in his house.

As soon as he had given Tortoise a seat, he started to serve him and flatter him continuously. And as Tortoise was greedy in everything, he drank so much that he became unconscious within a few minutes. As soon as he fell down from the seat and fell asleep, Oluwo went and loosened the leather of the drum and then pulled out his son, Rere, who was nearly suffocated by the heat. Then Oluwo sealed the drum back with the same leather that he had removed from it. He did the seal so carefully that the drum seemed as if its leather had not been removed at all. Then he replaced the drum behind Tortoise.

Then he rushed his son, Rere, to an open place where there was fresh air to breathe in.

All Oluwo’s guests had gone away before Tortoise woke up in the mid-night. As soon as Tortoise, the Jungle
Drummer
, lifted up his drum and felt that it was lighter than when Rere was inside it, he knew that Rere had come out of it.

‘Who has tampered with my drum?’ Tortoise started to
shout angrily. But when Rere’s father heard the noise, he beat Tortoise with a club mercilessly, and then drove him away from the house.

After Rere had become conscious and had eaten, his father asked, ‘Rere, will you go and hunt in the jungle again?’

‘Never shall I go and hunt in any jungle any more, not until I am old enough!’ Rere replied with regret.

Once there lived an old man and his wife. They had two sons, named Ajala and Adele. Ajala was older than Adele. Their father and mother were so poor that they could not live without borrowing money from the inhabitants of their village. They were also buying their clothes on credit.

One day, when the father failed to pay some of their debts, the creditor acted very rudely to him. Having seen this, Ajala was so ashamed that, the following morning, he invited his younger brother, Adele, to one corner of their house, and told him, ‘Adele, you see, we are old enough to go abroad to find a kind of job to do. When we work there for some years and we save some amount of money, then we shall come back to our father and mother and give them the money. And when they pay their debts from the money, they will be free from their debts.’ This was Ajala’s advice to Adele.

Without argument, Adele agreed to his brother’s advice. Then the following morning, both of them told their father and mother that they were going abroad for a job, and they all bade each other goodbye. Thus Ajala and Adele left their village for an unknown place.

A very long, long time after they had left their village they came to an endless jungle. Having travelled in the jungle for nine days, they came to its middle.

Ajala and Adele were tired and wearied before they reached there. They stopped their journey, and they sat down in order to rest on that spot for some hours. But as
they started to discuss the food that they would eat, a fearful old woman appeared before them unexpectedly.

Ajala and Adele were so afraid of the strange old woman that they were unable to stand up and run away for their lives because they thought that she came there to kill them.

‘What have both of you come to do in my land, or don’t you know that this is my land?’ the old woman shouted horribly at them.

Ajala, the senior brother, hastily apologized with a dead voice: ‘We are sorry that we have come to your land. But we shall be happy if you will spare us a few minutes to explain to you what we were looking for before we came to your land.’

‘Yes, I am pleased to listen to your explanation, boys,’ the strange old woman confirmed loudly.

‘Thank you, mother. You see, our father and mother are so poor that they buy almost everything on credit. They owe so much money that they cannot go out in the day, but only at night. But to help them pay their debts, both of us have resolved to go abroad to look for a job there. When we work hard and save a large sum of money, then we shall go back to our father and mother, and then we shall help them pay all their debts,’ Ajala explained to the strange old woman.

‘Is that so?’ she bent forward and asked with wonder.

‘It is so, mother,’ Adele, the younger brother, confirmed loudly.

‘Well, if both of you can keep to my law, you will leave this my land with much money and happiness,’ the old woman assured Ajala and Adele.

‘We shall keep your law, mother,’ Ajala and Adele promised.

‘All right. If you are sure to do so, stand up and follow me now.’ So without hesitation they stood up and they
followed
her. After a while, they trekked to a big farm which was full of kola-nut trees. She took them round the farm and showed them the kola-nuts.

‘I put both of you in charge of these my kola-nut trees as from today. Whatever kola-nuts the trees bear are for you. If you wish, you may carry the nuts to the market which is near this my jungle. Any amount you sell them for is yours. But be sure that you keep all the money so that you may have a large sum of money to give to your father and mother when you return to them perhaps in six months’ time.’ Thus the old woman explained to them as if she really wanted to help them.

After that, she took the young boys, Ajala and Adele, to a small hut which was in the centre of this farm. She told them to live in it. She also showed them one strange spot. On this strange spot, there was a big deep and wide pit, and it was covered with a broken pot. Inside this covered pit, there were two duck’s eggs, but Ajala and Adele did not know what was inside the pit.

Having shown them the covered pit, she warned them seriously, ‘Whatever happens to you, you must not attempt to remove the cover of this pit in order to see what may be inside it. If you dare remove the cover and see what may be inside the pit, it means you break my law. And breaking my law means you disobey me, and this can transform you into a horrible thing.’ Having thus warned Adele and Ajala, she disappeared unexpectedly.

So Ajala and Adele lived in that hut. They plucked the kola-nuts and carried them to the nearest market, selling them, and keeping the money in a small hole which they dug in a corner of the hut. And they were so very careful to keep to the old woman’s law that they did not go near the pit or remove its cover.

When Ajala and Adele had spent three years on the farm and they had saved enough money, they decided with each other that soon they would leave there and return to their father and mother.

Unfortunately, just a few days before the period when they decided to leave, their youngest sister, who was born
after they had just left their village, and who had heard that she had two brothers but who both had gone abroad, started to look for them. Thus she was going from one village to another looking for them until she came to this jungle. She was lucky to meet Ajala and Adele, her brothers, in their hut one morning not long before they planned to leave.

Bukola, for that was her name, greeted them with due respect. Although they responded nicely, they could not recognize her as their sister. But when she explained
herself
to them, that she was born a few months after they had left the village, they received her with gladness. Then she told them the condition of their father and mother, that it was far worse than before, when Ajala and Adele had not left them. And they told her how the old woman received them with kindness and how they had saved a large sum of money. Then they showed her the covered pit and warned her not to attempt to remove its cover in order to see what was inside it. And she told them that she would not.

But one morning, after Ajala and Adele had taken their kola-nuts to the market, Bukola, their disobedient sister, went to the pit. She remarked to herself, ‘What kind of thing will be in this pit which a person must not see? Today, I will remove the cover to see what is in it.’

To Bukola’s surprise, when she removed the cover of the pit, she saw that there were two duck’s eggs. She took both out at once. But immediately the eggs struck each other. They hatched and two ducklings came out. Then with fear she took them and walked back to the spot where she had been sitting in the hut. She sat down while the two ducklings were in front of her, and then she waited for the return of her two brothers to show them the ducklings.

She waited and waited till nightfall, but they did not return to the hut from the market. She took both
ducklings
; she walked to one corner of the hut; she sat down
and started to weep bitterly. All this time she did not know it was her two brothers who had turned into those ducklings.

As she continued to weep, while the two ducklings were in front of her, the old woman who had permitted her brothers to be in charge of her farm and sell her kola-nuts for their own benefit, appeared before Bukola. It was so dark that she could see the old woman only faintly in the darkness.

‘What are you weeping for?’ the old woman asked.

‘I am weeping for my two brothers who have not returned from the market since morning!’ said Bukola with tears.

‘Yes,’ the old woman explained to Bukola, ‘your brothers cannot return to you any more because they have turned into these two ducklings which are in front of you now. Your brothers have turned into ducklings because you opened the pit and took out the two duck’s eggs, which later hatched into ducklings. But of course, I had warned your brothers not even to attempt to open the pit.’

Then Bukola knelt down and begged the old woman to change her brothers from ducklings back to persons. But the old woman advised her, ‘No! Unless you can pretend to be a dumb girl from this moment for the period of seven years! Which means you must not talk or make a single noise whatsoever happens to you throughout that period. Then at the end of the seventh year your two brothers will change from ducklings into their usual form as persons.’

Having advised Bukola like that, the old woman began to search every corner of the hut for the money which Ajala and Adele had realized from the kola-nuts. After a while, she found one of the four holes in which the two boys kept their money. Without mercy, she took all the money that she met in the hole. Then she walked zigzag back to Bukola who had by then pretended to be dumb. The old woman threatened the girl so perhaps she would
talk or make a noise, but when she did not even make a noise, but was like a real dumb person, the old woman disappeared with the money.

The old woman was not an ordinary woman but a strong witch of this jungle. She would always take the money of those who lived in her farm or jungle after she had turned them into ducklings. At first she would pretend to be kind to those who had trespassed on her farm or jungle, and she would permit them to pluck her kola-nuts and sell them and keep the money they would realize for their own use. But as soon as she had turned them into ducklings, she would search for their money and then take all away for her own use.

This old woman or witch had designed this means in order to get money for her living because she had become so old and wearied that she had no longer had power to pluck her kola-nuts and maintain the farm by herself.

Then, now that Bukola was pretending to be a dumb girl, a prince who was hunting for animals in that farm or jungle saw her in the hut. ‘What are you doing here?’ the prince asked with wonder, ‘You, a very beautiful girl. What is your name? Where have you come from to this hut?’

But Bukola would not reply at all. She was just breathing in and out and looking on like a real dumb girl, with her eyes which showed she was in great sorrow.

‘Are you a dumb girl? If you are so or not, I am taking you to my town to be my wife.’ Having asked a number of questions from Bukola to which she did not reply, the prince thought that she was dumb. Then he simply took her, and her two ducklings, on the back of his horse and then rode to his town.

But when his royal family spoke to Bukola and she did not reply, they believed that she was really dumb. And as it was against the tradition of this town for their prince to marry a dumb lady as his wife, all the royal family advised
their prince strongly not to marry Bukola. The reason that the royal family of the town objected to their prince
marrying
a dumb girl or lady was that they did not wish the son of a dumb woman to rule their town whenever he became king.

At last, when their prince rejected his family’s advice and married Bukola, the royal family gathered together and they decided secretly that whenever Bukola bore either a male or female baby, they would kill it on the day of its naming ceremony. The prince was not aware of this evil plan, but Bukola, who was with them, heard their plan, but still pretended to be dumb.

A few months later, Bukola was delivered of a male child, and, in accord with the royal family’s evil plan, they killed the child on the very day that the name was given to it. And this evil deed was done in the presence of Bukola, for they had confirmed to themselves that she was dumb. However, she was so shocked that she was about to speak out that she was not dumb when she saw that her child was being strangled to death. But she controlled her mouth, for otherwise her two brothers who had been turned into ducklings would not ever change to persons again.

And so it was that the royal family killed all her newly born children.

But of course, as God was so good, when Bukola was being delivered of her fourth child, the end of the seventh year was near. Indeed, it was to be on that very day that her child would be named and then killed, that the end of the seventh year, when she would be free to talk, would be reached. So it was that after the name was given to her child, and the royal family prepared to strangle the child to death, at that moment she hastily spoke to the royal family: ‘Please don’t strangle my child to death. I am not dumb!’

The royal family did not believe their ears at first when
they heard her voice. But as she continued to speak to them for some minutes, they believed she was not dumb at all.

Then, all of a sudden, the two ducklings changed into her two brothers. And she was so happy to see her two brothers in the form of persons that she started to dance about in the presence of the royal family.

When she had danced to her satisfaction, the royal family asked why she pretended to be dumb. And when she told them the reason, then the king and the other members of the family were sorry for her and her two brothers.

Then, having sympathized with her for her children which had been killed, and also for her brothers who were turned into ducklings by the witch mother for seven years, the king gave them a large sum of money and a lot of valuable things as well which they took to their village. They paid all their father’s and mother’s debts. Then, after some weeks, Bukola, their disobedient sister, went back to the prince who was her husband.