Ajaiyi and His Inherited Poverty (8 page)

Very early in the morning I left my village as quickly as possible so that my creditors might not see me. Having travelled about one quarter of a mile to the village, I came to where three roads met. But as “it is the place where three roads meet that always puzzles the strangers.” So I stopped at the junction of these three roads because I was so puzzled that I did not know on which of these three roads to travel. But as there was a small hut on the centre of the junction of these three roads which was built for the Devil which the old people of my village were
worshipping
. I stopped, I knelt down before the Devil who occupied the whole of the hut. I called out his titles and I praised him with a cheerful voice to show me the right one of these roads which to be taken. Because the Devil was so important that we must regard him when going
somewhere
, etc.

As soon as I had regarded him it came to my mind to take the road which was on the left. Then I stood up and I began to travel along on it at the same time. When I
travelled on this road till about seven o’clock in the
evening
without reaching any town or village except the people who I did not know that I was meeting on the road. So when the darkness did not allow me to see the road again, I stopped, I sat down on the bank of the road. I cast down and then I fell asleep at the same time without fear,
because
I was very tired and hungry. It was like that I cast down and slept till daybreak. When it was daybreak, I woke up and I continued to travel along on this road without knowing the destination of it.

After I travelled about twenty miles, I came to a town at about two o’clock p.m. But as I was wandering about in this town with the hope that I might see one of the inhabitants who would be kind enough to allow me to stay in his house until I would get a job to do. But it was a great disappointment to me that every person that I saw and greeted in this town did not answer. For all of them thought that I was a mad man in respect of my dirty appearance especially the dirty rags which were on my body.

However, as I was still roaming about with shame of being in this my dirty appearance, I came to the extreme end of this town where there was a house. All of the walls of this house were almost cracked and all were nearly to fall down for lack of care. The roof was thatched with spear-grasses from a very long time because they were so old that most of them had been carried away by the breeze. Immediately I saw the house in this such a bad condition, I knew that the owner of it was as poor as myself. Now, without shame, I went to the entrance, I knocked at the door gently so that it might not fall down because it had already been dislocated from the
cracked walls. After a while, two men who were on the same age with me, came from this house to the door. Both greeted me with the voice of that of a poor man. But as it is “Hardwords draw out the club or gun, but softwords bring the kola out from the pocket”, was that I answered with great respect and with the voice of that of a poor man. Although when I looked at both of them very well, I saw that their own appearances were even worse than my own. Both of them were dirty more than myself and were in rags many parts of which were stitched together with ropes instead of thread because they had no money to buy the thread.

Having seen me in this poor condition like themselves, they did not hesitate to tell me to follow them to the inside of the house and I did so. When they took me to their sitting room they gave me one very old stool and I sat on it at the same time while both of them sat down on the floor because they had no other stools. But as they lifted their heads up and were expecting me to tell them what I came to them for. Then I explained to them that the poverty which I had been inherited from my father and mother before they died had forced me to leave my village. But as I was wandering from one place to
another
just to find a job to do to get sufficient money, the only thing which could set me free from my poverty and I had not yet got it, then I came to their town unexpectedly. When I explained to them like that with a sorrowful voice and yet I wanted to
explain to them further how Aina and I were kidnapped and sold to the Chief Idol Worshipper.

Ojo and Alabi, as that were their names, did not allow me to finish my explanations when they waved hands to
me to stop and I stopped at the same time. Then without hesitation, they explained their own poverty to me with tears. When the three of us wept bitterly together for some minutes in respect of our poverty, we stopped weeping and then we comforted ourselves that if the Creator spared our lives probably he might set us free from our poverty before we died. But as “It is in the time of difficulties and hardships that one knows a true friend” was that as soon as we comforted ourselves, Ojo and Alabi told me to stay with them instead of wandering about like a mad man. It was like that we three poor friends began to live together with sorrow.

As we were living together, it was so the three of us were working hard everyday. We were working even harder than any other young man of our age. But to our surprise, as we joined hands together and we were working hard it was so our poverty was growing worse than ever and our debts were becoming more and more everyday. And within six months our creditors were so many and were troubling us so much that we were unable to return from the farm to the town in the daytime except in the night when the darkness was not allowed them to recognize us. Now we became the recluses of our creditors.

But at last, when our debts and poverty came to the climax. One day, the three of us sat down and began to discuss within ourselves what we could do to ease this our hardship. As we were still suggesting whether to commit suicide, it came to our minds to go to the Creator by all means to beg him to set us free from this our poverty. When this thought came to our minds we put the day to leave the town for the Creator’s town for eight days time. But it was extremely difficult to visit the Creator in his
town, because his town was very far off. Even many people were saying that his town was not in this world. However, when the day was reached, everyone of us took his own cutlass, bow and arrows, etc., with which to fight the bad spirits, ghosts, etc. whenever we met them on our way.

We were going to travel in the jungles, bushes, forests, in the deep valleys, on high hills, etc. etc., for more than six months before, probably, we could reach the town of the Creator because there was no road on which to travel at all. So we left the town before dawn and we started our journey so that our creditors might not see us otherwise they would not allow us to go unless we paid their money. It was like that Ojo, Alabi and myself started our journey without a half-penny in hand but with rags on our bodies.

There was nobody who must go to the Creator’s town twice. Even once a person had returned he would fear to go back because of the difficulties, hardships,
punishments
, etc. which he had met on the way for the first time he went there. And the people who were not extremely poor, etc. would never attempt to go there. By that time the way to the town was still opened for people to go there but alas! that way had already been closed and the people who are still alive could not visit him again. Why? Because the Creator hates the sins.

Having left the town before dawn, we travelled on the real road for seven days and then we came to the end of it. Now, we continued our journey from forest to the jungle, etc. As we advanced in this journey we were eating only ripen fruits whenever we were hungry for food. We were sometimes sleeping in the hole of a big animal when it was night. And it was so the bad creatures like spirits, elves, goblins, one legged ghosts, four legged ghosts, etc.
which we were meeting on the way in the jungle, were attacking us without mercy and it was so we too were fighting them stubbornly until we were winning them.

One day, in the second month that we had been
travelling
in one dreadful jungle, we met two strange creatures unexpectedly. These two strange creatures were one legged ghosts with one eye and one big ear on their heads. We had not met these kind of ghosts since when we had begun our journey. As soon as they saw us far away both of them left the direction that they were going but were coming to us as hastily as they could. When we saw them that they were coming to us and that their attitudes showed that they were bad ghosts, we branched to another direction and we were going as hastily as we could so that they might not be able to meet us. But as we branched to another direction they too branched to that direction. Having seen them did so we branched to the left but they too did so. Again, we branched to the right and we
continued
to go as quickly as we could perhaps they would go back from us but they too branched to the right and were coming to us even faster than before.

Having seen the fearful attitudes of these one legged ghosts which showed that they were coming to harm us. Then without hesitation, we began to run furiously along in this dreadful jungle which was the home of the harmful creatures. Having seen that we were about to lose to their view, they too began to chase us to catch at the same time and within a few seconds they overtook us. And without hesitation they held us as if we were thieves and then they began to box both our ears and faces repeatedly without mercy. After they boxed both our ears and faces with all their power to their satisfaction. They began to drag us
along to where we did not know yet. When they dragged us along in this jungle for about two hours they came to their home which was under a mighty hill.

As soon as they dragged us into their house, we saw that one of them ran to one corner, he took one knife and one strong lont rope. When he brought them, both of them wanted to tie us up to one big tree which was near there and then to cut our necks with that knife. What they were just trying to do was that having cut away our necks they wanted to roast us from the fire and then to eat us. But when we understood what they wanted to do and as we were quite sure that “when the head is cut away from the neck, the body is entirely useless.” We did not waste time at all to defend ourselves. I told Ojo and Alabi with bravery that however it might be, “a man never die twice but once.” Therefore we must fight these two ghosts with all our power to save ourselves from them. I told Ojo and Alabi further that if these two ghosts could overpower us and kill us in their hole we should not mind or if we could try our very best and overpower them then we would continue our journey to the town of the Creator.

I hardly told Ojo and Alabi like that when the three of us held our cutlasses firmly and then we were ready to fight them. But when they came to us and as they were preparing to tie us to that big tree with the rope before they would cut our necks away. We started to cut them with the cutlasses repeatedly with all our power. As we were cutting them with the cutlasses it was so they too were boxing us with all their power. They were boxing us so heavily that we were falling down ten times in a second because they were as strong as a giant. This fight was so fiercely that we damaged both their house or
hole and all of their belongings within a few minutes although their powers were beyond that of the human beings. As our bodies were bleeding and sweating as if though we bathed it was so for them as well.

After a while, we were so lucky, they became tired. They were so tired that they fell down and began to struggle to die but of course they were immortal creatures. As soon as both of them fell down helplessly, we took all of their fighting weapons. After that we sat down, we rested for some minutes because we were extremely tired. Having rested for a while, we ate all of their food. Having satisfied ourselves with the food we took their fighting weapons and our own. Then we came out from their hole and we continued our journey at the same time in the same jungle. It was like that we were safe from these one legged ghosts.

But when we travelled for about seven days in this dreadful jungle we came to another one. Then we stopped, we hastily treated all the wounds which were inflicted on our bodies by these bad ghosts. Having done so, we did not attempt to continue our journey this day, because we were very tired. But in the following
morning
we did not hesitate to continue our journey in this new jungle without fear of being caught again by any other kind of a harmful creature.

When we travelled fast for about six miles without stopping to eat or rest, we came to the end of this new jungle. But unfortunately, as there was a very big deep river at the end of it, we stopped at the bank of this river. We gathered some edible nuts that which we could find around. We made the fire and roasted the nuts from it, then we ate them, after that we drank the water
from the river to our satisfaction. But as there was no canoe or any other thing with which to cross this river to the other side, we waited at the bank. We began to think how we could cross it to the other side but we did not know how we could cross it till when the night came. At last, when we failed to cross it, we laid down on the bank and then we fell asleep at the same time.

But as we were still enjoying the sleep, it was hardly midnight when about fifty strange creatures came to us. As soon as they had surrounded us they began to kick us with all their power as they were shouting horribly on us with their topmost voices: “Wake up and let us beat you to death! You hopeless human beings! Wake up and let us beat you to death at once!” These strange creatures
shouted
greatly on us like that with great anger. So their
horrible
shouts were so fearful that we did not know when we woke from sleep and then we stood up and began to tremble from head to foot with fear. And as we were still trembling with fear we saw these strange creatures that they were a kind of harmful and merciless creatures of that river. They came out from this river and they hated the human beings so much that they killed them whenever they met or saw them. But we had not met these kind of strange creatures since when we had begun our journey in these jungles.