Ode Isalu

One I was famous as a hunter, I was known all around Oke-Ogun environment. The whole of the land knew about me. I had inherited a lot from my grandfather who was half-man, half-elf. He was born after her mother, roaming the deep forests for snails, had encountered an Elf who overpowered her with magic and had its way with her. The result had been Layiwola, who became a notable magician. I inherited most of this magic. Hunting is a job one does not learn from one’s own father in Yorubaland. Fathers used to loan their young sons out to their professional colleagues, that they might be turned to men, far away from the influence of their mothers who may soften them with pampering. So, it happened that I was apprenticed to Ajayi Iroko, my father’s friend, who like my father, Ayinde-Ogun,was a remarkable hunter in the community. I joined Ajayi Iroko’s household at a tender age of four. Hunters’ education began from learning how to set traps. Squirrels were many in those parts and I captured many to the satisfaction of my trainer. I started handling guns before I was twelve. By the time I was eighteen, my lessons had been learnt. I was released to my parents. But I have to plan and embark on an expedition to prove my mettle and convince the people and my master that I have been well groomed. I planned my expedition and went in to my grandfather for blessings and preparations for the mission. I was thus introduced to magic. I spent the following three months in seclusion; seeing no man but daemons and occasionally, my grandfather. He gave me concoctions of different varieties. He made an array of incisions on my body and taught me varieties of invocations, incantations and spirit summoning mantras. I was becoming a man. By the end of the three months, I could walk on water; I could shorten roads or skip them to save time. I could conjure, I could invoke and I could command spirits to do my biddings. I can see bodiless spirits and listen in on ethereal discussions. I could swim with borrowed fins and could as well crawl with borrowed scales on borrowed glistening reptilian body; I could body-shift. Clairvoyance, time-travel and medium consultation came under my control. I lost interest in hunting altogether, I was fixated on magic, but I had to prove my mettle as a trained hunter. I revel in my new powers, but there was no better place to test them than in a hunting expedition. In forlorn forests where malevolent spirits abound would I go to prove how powerfully spiritual I had become. I chose Igbo Erikina. Igbo Erikina was a forest that our people would not enter. Hunters would not hunt there, farmers would not go near; there was no road leading in and no hand had ever tried to cultivate the lands near the forest. The forest was rumoured to be full of malevolent spirits. I chose to go there for my maiden expedition. I set a date for the commencement of my missionto the revered forest. I set the recovery of Ade-Iwa from the forest as the goal of my quest. My mother with many of my relatives implored me not to go. Many other friends and townsmen advised me not to pioneer a dangerous quest. Only my grandfather and Ajayi Iroko believed that I could return from the fearsome forest. My grandfather insisted that a rat cannot c***k a walnut; it can only play with it. Ajayi Iroko mused that one cannot be half a man; a true man is discovered in hardships. There was fun fair to send me forth. Drummers used drums to praise-sing my family lineage. People drank palm-wine from fat calabashes; some ate venison, some settled for wild turkey, all taken with pounded yam and Egusi soup. Maidens danced and the men shook their heads to the rhythm of Dundun drums. The drummers were experts and many proverbs were spewed by the lead-drummer in praise of valour and noble-mindedness. I felt real proud. While the festivities were going on outide, I entered my room to service my magic and appease the Spirits. I invoked the 400 daemons to bless me. I gave palm-oil to Esu – the arch god. I gave palm-oil to Ogun-the god of Iron, hunters and smiths. I gave mashed maize meal to Yemoja-the river goddess. I appeased Olokun- the Prince of the Witches and Wizards. I appealed to Egungun-the Lord of the Dead, giver of life to the masquerades. I invoked Oro-the god of the Occultists and in same way had I invoked and appeased the sixteen gods and goddesses in the pantheon for the success of my journey. I kitted my bags then, and donned my special vest, studded with various magic items. I was prepared for the expedition. I set out at midnight, with my carbine-powered lamp on my head, my Dane gun slung across my shoulder and my sharp macheteheld firmly in my right hand. I slung my bag on one shoulder and my pet pigeon perched on the other shoulder. I entered the revered forest by the first hour of the new dawn, charting a new course with my sharp machete, while playing my Ekutu flute with my left hand. I used to enjoy playing Ekutu, its sonorous voice always filled me with delight. It dispelled the silence surrounding me and kept my company. I recounted many known stories with it and revelled in the memories that the stories brought with them. I was busy enjoying my music when suddenly the wind started bending the surrounding trees. The place became charged with spiritual presence and goose-bumps appeared on my black skin, I started to shiver. I stopped playing the Ekutu and launched into magical incantations, challenging the offending Spirit to show itself to me because; Everywhere is fire kindled Everywhere is sun manifest All eyes feast on the moon’s effulgence A cadaver cannot hide its essence from the coroner If the debris is blown from a toddler’s eyes, he will see… I commanded the Spirit to show itself in several other incantation verses and the gnome showed itself to me. It had the torso of a man, but it was much taller, it was twelve feets tall, with two horns in its humanoid head. His eyes were green and smoke was coming out from its nostrils. It fumed, clearly upset. “Hello o, Spirit of the forest” I hailed ‘Shut up! You dirty noisy human!’ He spat back at me “Howu, have we met before?” I replied, trying to broker peace ‘You’re stupid for asking such a silly question from me. Did you see any human form like you around the forest here? You cannot even enter peaceably; you kept making noise with your damned flute, disturbing the serenity of the whole forest. Are you afflicted with it? Who do you think you are…?’ “You, creature of the almighty,” I replied “have no right to question my existence, nor do you have any right to dictate where I go. If you don’t like my fluting, I will stop, but you don’t have to be rude about it…” ‘Let the dog of the gods eat your damned mouth. Who do you think you’re bantering with? I have spent One thousand, two hundred and sixty-two years in this forest, and you’re the third human that I would ever see around here. I killed the first two as I am going to kill you and I supped on them, I’ll eat you too. Me, Olumo-n-soro, the Chief Ghommid of Igbo Erikina, the gate keeper of the underworld…today, you’ll travel to hell to see the Prince of the underworld. I shall give you a message for him before I kill you…’ “You shall do no such thing…” ‘I shall! Kill you, I shall…’ “No, for we revere trees for their nodes We respect albinos for the fear of the gods No one harvest garden-eggs to eat when they’ve turned red You shall not be able to kill me. You’re very audacious! What are you made of?” ‘Ah, ah, ah, ah…!’ he roared and the forest echoed with his ear splitting guffaw. ‘I escape hell to come here. It was after our attempted coup against Lucifer failed. I shall tell you a bit of it before I kill you, so that you’ll tell the fiery Spirit that I sent you. Anjaroo, Asakeu, Oro-Ejo and I had conspired to wrestle power from Lucifer, our boss. We had convinced two hundred other Spirits and men from Africa to revolt with us. Two days to the planned coup, Arekereke, one of the two hundred Spirits we’d informed went to inform Lucifer about our plans. Lucifer raised the whole hosts of hell against us immediately and I escaped with my life. I came here, since we were forbidden from human and spirit society. I was an official in hell, you reckon? In hell had I grown familiar with humans and their offending whims and vagaries: Your short existence full of struggles on the earth and the mercy of the Most-High always sufficient for your use in the pursuit of the Holy Place. Your rebellions, your chases after shadows; the hell is full of your race and they regaled me with tales of their exploits…’ he ranted “Spirit of the underworld, you’re wasting my time. I have an expedition to embark on. My aim is to get the Ade-Iwa in the heart of Igbo Erikina for our king, so that he can rule with etherealwisdom and live longer than mortal humans do. I have other things to fetch too, in this forest full of magic. So, get out of my way. I have to proceed…” I made to move, it blocked my way. I tried to go round him thrice and he blocked my way all the three times, so I turned into a giant towering above him. He uprooted a tree and attacked me with it. I dropped my machete and flute, uprooted a tree too and we started fighting. The dust rose to the skies and Spirits gathered to watch us fight. I started hearing drums and animated chants. I heard a voice ask for my name, I replied “Ode Isalu!” The crowd exulted in frenzy; they were divided in whom theysupported between the two of us. Some were chanting my name while some were praising Olumo-n-soro, the gatekeeper of Igbo Erikina. We dropped the tree trunks and settled into wrestling. He carried me and flung me far. I was wounded, but I crawled bravely to my bag, from which I fetched my magic kolanuts that gives strength. I put two lobes in my mouth and chew them thoroughly. I was reciting incantations under my breath all the while. I turned into a long fat python and wrapped myself around Olumo-n-soro, it struggled and was wrenching my neck when I changed to a dragon and blew fire onto its face. He fell back, momentarily dazed by the flame. I blew more flame unto its face and it became momentarily blinded. I disentangled myself from it and turned back to a man. I got my machete and was hacking at its neck but the blade was ineffective and I had to drop it. Its skin was too thick. I turned back into the giant and started throwing punches at him. Spirits were drumming wildly, encouraging me to kill him. It tried vainly to turn me over but I pinned it down, bestriding him, my knees pinning down its two arms. I inserted my two index fingers in its two emerald eyes and it was blinded totally, green blood pouring from the wound. It roared and the whole forest reverberated. The drummers stopped drumming and the forest was quiet for a brief while. It stirred, tried to rise, but I kept it down. It heaved and sighed. It begged me to spare it, but I did not trust it. It begged me to kill it but I did not know how to. Then I saw a big rock nearby, I can stretch my hands for a mile, so I stretched them and took the rock. I smashed the rock on its head, I heard the skull crushed and Olumo-n-soro went quiet. The forest erupted in jubilation. I rose up from the dead Spirit, packed up my bag and the Spirits dispersed. The forest grew quiet again. I looked back at the dead trunk of the gatekeeper, dusted myself and made my leave, the sun was overhead for it was midday. I walked for three kilometres and sat down under a baobab tree to rest and smoke some tobacco. I looked up to see a deer sniffing at me; I picked up my gears and moved closer to get a clearer shot. It would have made a wonderful meal if I smoke it with fire. The deer kept trotting away from me, from thicket to thicket. Each time I got a clear shot, the deer would move. I kept following it. Thus, I got lost in the magical forest, by night time the deer had vanished from my sight. I was tired, so I decided to sleep on the branch of a Shea tree. I woke up to the feeling of being watched. Self-conscious and alert, I swept the surrounding branches with my eyes until I saw the beautiful snake glistening in the dawns light, it was regarding me, its pronged tongue slithering out of its narrowed mouth. I moved at it, grabbed it by the neck, my thumb under its neck, pinching it. The rest of it dangled from the tree writhing with pain; after many minutes I dropped it to the ground, dead. I jumped down from the tree, cut its head with my sharp machete; I cut it into small fragments and made fire for breakfast. I heard the rumbling sound of a flowing river rolling by; I was amazed at my not noticing the sound the previous night, I attributed my not noticing to the tiredness of the previous night. I traced the sound to a pearly stream, running undisturbed behind some shrubbery. I used my machete to make a way to the stream and used the small calabash I had kept in my bag to scoop some water for the meal. I settled to wash my face in the flowing river. I saw my face in the running water; there were stubs of overnight beard covering my whole face. I took a mental note of how to remove the stubbles but I shrugged the idea off, ‘who care how I look in this deadly forest?’ I thought to myself. I took the water to the clearing where I had made the fire. I was set to have a delicious breakfast of roasted snake when I heard the rustlings and a rather loud voice addressing me from somewhere nearby; ‘Oi, oi, stop! You glutton! You’re set to eat the royal spy? You murderous swine, you murdered the spy and you’ll still commit the sacrilege of eating it. You humans are so depraved. You kill us in your cities, you kill us in your farms; you kill us everywhere you find us. So, we moved and founded this kingdom deep in the forest to escape the likes of you, you still had the audacity to hunt us down here…’ “Who’s the one intruding? Show yourself, for I’m hungry and salivating already. My breakfast is ready and I’m set to eat, you can join me if you don’t mind…” I was replying The forest moved and snakes of different colours, shapes and sizes emerged from the underbrush crawling towards me. They seemed to be more than a hundred. I was shocked and I passed out for it is rare to see two snakes together at a place. I woke up in b*****e, I was kept in a spacious room, and there were two other men, bounded, lying beside me. “Hello” I whispered to the men ‘Hunter?’ one of them asked me “Yes” I replied ‘How did you get here?’ the other man asked me “I was hunting in Igbo Erikina, when I killed a snake…” ‘Ha!’ they exclaimed in unison ‘Hunting in Igbo Erikina?!’ the first one asked “Yes” I replied simply ‘You must be obstinate’ he ventured “Are you hunters too, or how did you get here?” I asked them It was the second man that replied first ‘I am a farmer and I also like to set traps for rodents destroying my maize plantation; on that particular day, I went to inspect my traps when I saw a big snake on one of the traps. I cut a log from the nearby tree to kill the snake, and then I saw numerous snakes rushing at me. I passed out, and I found myself here…’ “Are you from Oke-Ogun too?” I inquired from him ‘No, I’m from the Ibolo region’ he replied. I turned to the first man “Mister, are you from Ibolo too?” ‘No’ he replied ‘I am a Tapa man and I was a fisherman, I was fishing in the Kwararafa, when I saw a river-snake. I took one of my oars and struck at it, I was striking a second blow when I saw many other snakes diving towards my boat, many of them were already in my net. They upturned my boat. I fainted and I found myself here, bound.’ “How long have you both been here?” I asked further ‘About a month, there’s no way of being certain’ the first man replied ‘I was here before he came’ the second man added “Have you ever been let out of this room?” ‘No’ they both replied “How do they feed you then?” ‘One of the bigger snakes that has four limbs always brought us food in small calabashes; the first time I saw the particular snake I fainted, just wait, you’ll see it.’ The first man informed me. ‘I didn’t know that snakes could stand until I saw this particular monster’ the second man added. I looked around the room and discovered to my utmost joy that our belongings were packed in a pile by one corner of the room. I was particularly glad to see my machete standing haughtily against a wall. I started mouthing incantations: The melon balls cannot be tied with ropes No one ties the dawn and restrained it from breaking No one ties the sun and restrain it from shining The flax of spider would break in the face of fire Three eggs cannot be tied by new flax No one tied an elephant to a post… The ropes binding me snapped into many bits and I loosen my companion’s b*****e in turn. They thanked me profusely. I signalled to them to keep quiet. I got to my machete; I held it and hid by the doorpost. I motioned to the two men to maintain their initial positions. We waited. Not long afterward came the serving-snake walking on two hind limbs carrying its tail aloft, it was holding a small calabash with two short frontal limbs. It was walking upright. At the door, the snake stretched its neck in to examine the strange spectacle before it. Strange, for it was supposed to be three men in there, but it was seeing two. I struck at it and cut off its head. The men rose up. I packed my belongings; the men, one picked up his big stick and the other, his oar. I told them to hold on to me as I started another round of incantations: The spider-web is weightless When eagles spread wings, journeys start Ofe, spring me up! The three of us disappeared from the scene, only to find ourselves on a rock, in a totally unknown territory. We climbed down slowly and we discovered that we were near a small village. We went down to the village. As we approached the ramparts, we met a woman going to the farm, we greeted her and asked for the name of the village. ‘Ikereku’ she replied ‘Are you strangers?’ We said ‘yes’ and she took us to the Chief’s house. The Chief welcomed us and gave the three of us a room in his house. He commanded one of his wives to prepare a meal for us while he listened intently to our stories. It was then that I found out my companions’ names; one was Asamu, the other was Aileru. Aileru was tall and fair, very handsome and strong looking. He was the fisherman, the Tapa-man. Asamu was the farmer, he was rather short and portly with his head balding at the temple. He looked quite elderly, in his mid-fifties, I suppose. He was the man from Ibolo. As they told their stories, the Chief listened intently. I could see disbelief etched on his serious face. He did not seem to believe any of the stories. I narrated my story too. After all narrations, the chief calmly replied; ‘Ikereku is a small, peaceful community. I have heard your stories; we are obligated as Yoruba citizens to offer you accommodation and be hospitable to you. That is what Omoluabi is all about in Yorubaland. We’ll accommodate you till you can find your ways back to your old lives. But remember what I just told you; that we are peace-loving people. As much as we hate violence, we abhor criminality. We’re tough on criminals. I hope you won’t make me regret taking you in.’ I spoke next and assured him of our gratitude at his openness and generosity. I assured him we were not criminals and informed him that we were ready to work to earn our keep. He prayed for us and his wife brought the food and we ate and were satiated. We spent two months in Ikereku, we would have stayed longer but for the misbehaviour of Aileru. His misbehaviour caused the Chief to turn us out of his village, and I had to command each of them to find his way back to his province. I shall tell you about Aileru’s misdemeanour presently. The Chief was becoming old but he had nine wives. They were all beautiful women but the Chief had little time for them. Amope was the second to the last wife of the Chief; she was in her early twenties and was ravishing, with a beautiful smile. She had dimples on both cheeks that deepened whenever she smiled, this enhanced her beauty. Amope felt Chief’s neglect more keenly. In keeping with our promise of earning our keep, I turned to hunting of beasts like deer, antelopes and occasionally, buffaloes for the Chief. He was happy with the constant and adequate meat that I was supplying for his family. Asamu took to working on the Chief’s farmsteads. He was strong and the Chief was happy with him. Aileru had to beg for a spare net and a canoe from one of the two village fishermen before him. They provided him with all he needed for his trade between them, knowing full well that his fishing for the Chief would relieve them of the portions that they would normally give to the Chief. The river bounding the village was broad, deep and pearly. One can see the fish from the bank of the river, in different colours. It was a nice place to fish and Aileru knew his job well. We were admired and respected by all the villagers. The women in the village all fetch from the river for their domestic use; daily, women brought their clothing and that of their families to the riverside to wash. The best time to fish was in the night. Therefore, Aileru would sleep at day and start fishing at night. The fishermen had little huts scattered by the river where they sort and sometimes smoke their fish. Aileru was allotted one of the huts. Aileru began spending more time in the hut than in our room at the Chief’s place. We thought that he preferred the privacy and the coolness of the riverside hut, so we left him alone. But the reason for his choice would soon manifest.It was that some wayward wives had been visiting him in the hut. These wives would come in the guise of having clothes to wash or fish to buy; they would end up in his arms in the cool hut. The women of the village whispered this to one another and Aileru’s hut became consulting room for disgruntled women. He was generous to them with fish and with himself. Amope heard about this and visited him herself and thus became one of his lovers. Some men heard about Aileru’s malpractices, and some of them whose wives were Aileru’s customers went to report to the Chief. It was decided they should lie in wait for him. He was captured three days later, Amope was with him. He was beaten till he fainted. It was the Chief that stopped them from killing him. Thus, we were banished from the village. I inquired about how I could get back to Igbo Erikina from the farmers around but they had no idea, since they have only heard rumours about the forest, and no one in the village had ever gone there. They, however, knew how I can get back to Oke Ogun. Hence, I returned home. two I entered our town to loud greetings of welcome. I had been gone for a month and my mother had been worried. I was plied with food of different sort. I had missed mother’s cooking, so I ate and was merry. I was glad to be back among my own people until I asked to see my grandfather that I was told that he had died a week earlier. I was devastated. I became despondent. How could the old-man die? It was a heavy blow to me. My father pleaded with me, he told me that everyone would die. He told me we have to make exploits that would make my grandfather smile from heaven. He took me to my grandfather’s magic room and acquainted me with some more magic. Since my father was the only surviving male child of my grandfather, the magic room and all its content was passed to him. My Aunts and other relatives gathered to discuss grandfather’s funerals. The representative of the Hunters’ Union in the town promised that the Union would provide all the meat to be used at the funerals. The Tapper’s Association promised barrels of wine. The family would buy the dog to be sacrificed and provide the black peas that would be served. My father would buy the kegs of palm-oil that would go with it. Alabi, the husband of my eldest Aunt, promised to procure gun-powder for the hunters. Aunt Jumoke would yield a fat hen as Adie-Irana (Sacrificial Hen). Ajao, another uncle-in-law promised to get the chairs for the people that would attend the ceremonies. Aunt Modeere promised to provide all cooking utensils and cooking ingredients. Alamu, my father’s cousin, volunteered to provide the fire-woods needed for the cooking at the funerals. Many other family members made promises and the meeting ended with our sharing from fat gourds of palm-wine. The funeral itself was the talk of the town, some families still warm the soups they had made from meats taken from the funeral, weeks after the events. People ate, drank and were merry. The town’s champion drinker drank to stupor. The hunters entertained the people with their plangent Iremoje. The dog was sacrificed at the Ogun Shrine. Black peas were cooked in great quantity and people ate it with Isele – distilled palm-oil. Some added Garri to the meal. The hunters and their family members ate the sacrificed dog. Strong young men volunteered to carry the remains of grandfather. One of my Aunts came before them, canting grandfather’s lineage’s praises, while plucking the feathers of a live hen to bless the road that they were passing through. Priests of the gods followed the youths, chanting incantations as grandfather was being carried to be buried. It was a feat of many parts. That was how warriors are buried. After the burial, the drummers started their own shows, praising in danceable tones and extolling the virtues of the departed warrior. The family members danced first. Then dancing became free from all. People danced and were merry. Then another meal was served, a meal of pounded yam and Egusi soup. Palm-wine came out in plastic drums and people drank to their relish. That was on the first day of week-long festivities. That was how warriors are buried. I saw Awero at the festivities. She was a graceful dancer, a very beautiful girl. I will tell you about her subsequently. After the festivities, I felt the urge to return to Igbo Erikina, though the whole town had accepted me as a renowned hunter. I was bored in town, though I had been hunting in the nearby forests, killing deer, antelopes and water buffaloes for sale. I felt restless. I informed my father of my intentions of returning to the forest and he gave me his blessings. My mother persuaded me not to go, but I assured her that I would be safe and she blessed me. I set out again, this time with lesser fanfare, in the month of Ebibi, I entered Igbo Erikina at midnight on the seventeenth day. Unlike the first expedition, I travelled for two weeksinto forest without unusual event, killing animals for food, making fires to roast them and sleeping on trees. Sometimes I play my Ekutu, but most of the time; I travelled silently, pondering on the futility of human existence and the pointlessness of all man’s struggles. I enjoyed my solitude a great deal. I sometimes come across edible fruit trees and I would stop to gorge myself with fruits. On the third week, I came upon a clearing. I heard voices. I looked at the horizon and I spotted a settlement. I was surprised; a settlement in the forbidden forest of Erikina? I approached the settlement. It was a settlement of spirits. I late learnt that the spirits used to hold their markets in the place and that was how the settlement was founded. It was a market town. Apari Fodakun, one legged ghommid was the Chief of the settlement. They had no king. He, it was, who built his house on the hilltop bordering the settlement. He was a terrible spirit; not good, not particularly bad, just terrible. You will soon understand this. As I approached the settlement, the Chief had seen me from a mirror in his house sent some guards to take me straight to himself. The guards met me as I was entering the settlement and told me politely that I have to follow them to the Chief who would like to see me immediately. They had human torsos, but the five of them had only one eye in the centre of their faces, the eyes are so big and green, they looked like glittering melon balls. Their heads are a bit bigger than humans. Their teeth were jagged and they all had pointed noses and pale complexions like a Caucasian. Their tongues were pointed. I followed them. We passed houses built on stilts. This, they told me later was because the neighbouring spirits of the river always visited the settlement every other fortnight bringing with them flood. Spirits peered at me from their various places as we passed on our way to the Chief’s place. It took us three hours of trekking in the afternoon sun to get to the Chief’s palace. We passed by the market and I saw items like gourds of palm-wine, palm-oil; locust bean meal, yams, cooking utensils, mud lamps, raffia mats, camwood, raffia fans, coconuts, cocoyam, oranges, mangoes, fish, animal skins, animal fats, animal parts and whole animals on the display for sale. But at that particular time, most of the market people had deserted their wares to watch a fight going on between a giant c**k and a magic-strengthened-cockroach. The cockroach flew in the face of the c**k, the c**k was flustered. It flew again and blinded one of the c**k’s eyes. The c**k was enraged and captured the cockroach in one of its mighty paws. The crowd dispersed as the c**k removed the head of the roach and drank some of its black blood. Another trouble started when other c***s arrived to share in the carcass of the dead roach. The pecked themselves relentlessly until the market leader arrived the scene to settle the squabble. We left then, for the house of the settlement’s chief, Chief Apari Fodakun, the terrible one. I spent two months in the settlement. I shall tell you more about my stay with Apari Fodakun, but I shall tell you more presently about the Ade Iwa that I took it upon myself to retrieve from the Igbo Erikina for our King. The story of Ade-Iwa is centuries long, but I shall summarise it presently. three Ade-Iwa – Crown of Virtues is a crown made of magic. The king who adorns the crown would be able to command daemons, demons, humans and spirits. He would be filled with ethereal wisdom and it would give him longevity. The last king that wore it spent seven hundred years on the throne. His father before him spent one thousand, three hundred years. The Crown, however, has many laws; dos and do-nots. Oba Ajawejura lost the Crown to ghommids from Igbo Elerin in the battle of Ijawura, a thousand years ago. He had violated one of the Crown’s laws, and was unable to give command at the battle. The ghommids defeated him easily and made away with the Crown. He had spent seven hundred years on the throne by then. He was thirty years old when he ascended the throne. The older and more important princes felt too preoccupied to become king, they were all very rich and powerful. So, they allowed their brother, their father’s youngest son to become the king. Immediately he was secured in his position as king, he had his brothers arrested, about fifty-six of them and had them all executed in one day. It was Adelani, the son of the second eldest brother who took the matter to ghommids in Igbo Elerin and they swore to avenge his father and the other slain princes. He made a pact with them and turned himself to a ghommid too. He was the one who led the war against our town, his own birthplace, in the seven hundredth year of his uncle’s reign. He slaughtered the king and seized the Ade-Iwa. People had expected Adelani to wait and be crowned king in place of his uncle, but the prince did not. He returned with the crown into Igbo Elerin. Folklore has it that Prince Adelani lived for a thousand years. Ladegbuwa, Adelani’s cousin that reigned next spent only fifty-seven years on the throne. The young hunters in the town started making plans for an expedition to reclaim the Crown from Igbo Elerin. Some spirits went to tell Adelani and he promptly moved the Crown into the Igbo Erikina to avoid confrontation with his own people. The hunters made the expedition to the Igbo Elerin but they could not find Adelani and Ade-Iwa. Some of them returned, but many of them got married to the beautiful daughters of ghommids and became the residents of the forest. They lived so long, after eating the fruits of life, that were reserved for spirits. Many hunters that hunted later in the Igbo Elerin have come with stories of meetings with these elders who never grew old; who had told them about their great-grandfathers that were their friends. The spirits in Igbo Elerin are always nice to our hunters. People had advised me to do my expedition there, but I had refused. In dangers are real men forged. My goal then is to retrieve the Ade-Iwa from wherever Adelani had kept it, after a thousand years of the crown’s disappearance from the town. Adelani could be dead, I should get the crown. Were he to be alive, I should plead with him to return to town with me. four Let us get back to my times in the land of the spirits. The town was named Adogan. Apari Fodakun, the Chief was a strict Spirit. He collected exact taxes from the traders in the settlement. His messengers would beat defaulters to stupor. He can stomach no nonsense and flied easily to rage. He is however just in judgements. He would not take bribe. He would not seduce women and would suffer no fool. He was hospitable. He freely gave wine, though he would not drink. The citizens both loved and feared him. When I got to his house, he regarded me carefully with his lone eye and exclaimed; “Oh human! Beloved of the gods, corruptors of nature; Enemy of peace, hater of tranquillity… What have you come to do in my territory? Poised for battle? I can see your glistening machete…” ‘No, our father, I am a hunter. My name is Ode Isalu, I am on a quest to find Ade-Iwa; allow me free passage of your territory. I shall disturb no one’ he laughed and his messengers laughed with him, a throaty dry cackle. “I know you came in peace. I have been observing you for close to a week, here, in my mirror; your killings, eating, making of fires and sleeping. Why can’t you stay in your house? Looking for Ade-Iwa, how old are you? You’re looking for something that had eluded your town for a thousand years. You’re a lover of trouble” he paused, regarded me more closely, then continued “I admire your boldness and valour, stay with me here for a while. I shall show you the way to get to Ade-Iwa” he turned to his servants “prepare a room for him and bring him a keg of palm-wine.” He turned back to me “sit down, human. What did you say your name is again?” I sat on a bamboo bench and observed him closely. He was darker than his servants and bigger than them. I cleared my throat ‘My name is Ode-Isalu, and you already know that I am from Oke-Ogun.’ “Very well, I have a job for you, when you finish it, you’ll be free to go” They brought the palm-wine. It was cold. I took the calabash bowl I was offered and pour myself a pint of the white wine. I poured libation and prayed for my host, my grandfather and the war-loving human race. I then settled to drinking. Hardly had I settled down to my wine before some citizens brought in a gangly spirit bound in chains, there was babel of noise. The chief had to calm the party down. I dropped my calabash bowl of wine grudgingly to listen to the story of the humanoid spirit. The culprit had entered the market in the night preceding the incident. It had carefully monitored other spirits in the marketplace and had trailed one of them from the market. He had sprung on the victim on the bushy path that led to the victim’s hut. He tried taking a bracelet from the victim, but the victim would not budge, he held out shouting “Thief, thief!” A fight ensued. The victim did not stop shouting while the attacker was wrestling with him. A passer-by came upon them and ran back to get support for the victim. The attacker would have run then but the victim would not let him. The fight was still on, when a crowd from the market arrived the scene at the behest of the passer-by. The attacker was arrested and tied in chains. He had wounded the victim. The crowd would have lynched him but for the intervention of an elderly spirit – a ghost of five thousand years who warned them of the chief’s aversion to jungle justice. So, the young spirit-the attacker was brought to the chief. Apari-Fodakun sat on his judgement seat and his hefty attendants took the offender from the mob and tied his chains to a post specially made for such purpose. The chief faced the culprit ‘Spirit, speak in your own defence, but that would be after answering the questions as I will pose them to you, you understand?’ “I understand” he replied, facing down ‘What is your name?’ “My name is Ijamba and…” ‘You will answer only questions that I ask you ‘He cut in tersely and continued ‘How old are you?’ “Three hundred and twenty five years old, chief” ‘Now, are you not aware of the law of the settlement that forbids stealing and violence?’ “I am!” ‘Then tell me your own defence, why you acted the way you did, and why you should not be punished.’ The young sprit bowed, coughed and began to speak; “Three hundred years ago, before the establishment of this market and the settlement, this man, whom I was arrested for attacking, came with his friends to Atake settlement to raid the little farmers’ market there and had carted away many valuable items, among which is a magic bracelet that had belonged to my family for millions of years. There is a special use for that bracelet. I needed it, and I went for divination and the Seer traced it to this settlement, so, I came to look for it, only to see it on the wrist of this wretch,” it pointed at the spirit it had attacked, then continued “so I trailed him and tried to recover the item from him before all this people came and bounded me and I was brought here. Please help me get the bracelet from him Sir” Apari-Fodakun faced the spirit that was attacked, he then asked ‘What is your name?’ “Jaagba omo Jogbo, high chief” ‘Jaagba, how did you come about the bracelet on your wrist?’ “My father gave it to me Sir!” ‘Where is your father?’ “He’s dead Sir” ‘When did he give you this bracelet?’ “At the point of his death, two hundred years ago” ‘How did he come about it?’ “I don’t know Sir” ‘How old are you?’ “Two hundred and twelve years old Sir” ‘What was your father’s work when he was alive?’ “He was a mercenary Sir, a warrior…” ‘Alright, you heard this man, Ijamba, say the bracelet was an heirloom belonging to his family. Will you give it to him?’ “No Sir! He’s certainly lying, my father did not tell me such tale about the bracelet. I believe he’s a robber, just finding excuse to evade punishment…” ‘Alright, Ijamba!’ he turned to the other spirit “Yes Sir!” ‘Since when have you been looking for this bracelet?’ “It was stolen three hundred years ago, it was last month that I consulted a diviner…” ‘What have you been doing all these while and when the diviner pointed out this town, why didn’t you come to me?’ “I am sorry for not coming to you sir; I had searched for it everywhere before I met the diviner” ‘Jaagba said it was his father that gave it to him…’ “His father must have been one of the thieves sir” ‘We shall see. Ode Isalu! What do you think?’ I took a long draught of palm-wine from my calabash bowl that I had refilled during the interrogations. “I am all ears, Chief!” I replied “I cannot make any statement on this case. But, I am interested in the settlement of the case.” ‘Alright!’ said Apari-Fodakun ‘you two, bring me the mirror standing on the left wall in the strong room’ he commanded two of the guards. They brought in the mirror, it was sixty inches wide and forty-five inches long. They placed it by a wall. Apari-Fodakun gave order for Ijamba to be untied from the post, but the chain tying him was still in place. Everyone was watching the mirror, seeing their own reflections until Apari-Fodakun started incantations; If a big fish blows in the waters, Watchers would know Fishermen shouting, there she blows; When frogs croak, attention is drawn The moon cannot be wrapped in a shroud All eyes see the effulgence of the sun… I command you mirror to take me to three hundred years ago Take me to Atake…. We want to see what had happened… There appeared images on the screen of the mirror, of three men walking briskly down an path. The path led them to the farmers’ market. One of them shot something into the air. There was melee; some of the crowd ran away. Others lay down on their faces out of fear. The attackers were packing the marketers’ wares into three big sacks that they had brought with them. They injured some of the marketers lying on the ground striking some of them with swords and some with clubs. One of the men forcefully removed a bracelet from a humanoid spirit. He made to protest but his assailant hit him on the head with a club, wrestled the bracelet out of his wrist and placed it in his own pocket. As the villagers from the nearby community were rushing in to the rescue, the three robbers took their bags to the middle of the market, held on to one another and disappeared from the scene.The assailant of the young humanoid spirit had a clear semblance with Jaagba. He would have to be Jogbo, his father. ‘You can now all see?’ said Apari-Fodakun ‘Jaagba, would you now hand over the bracelet to me? Release Ijamba!’ Jaagba removed the bracelet and reverently gave it to the Chief. Ijamba was freed. ‘I have always warned you to avoid jungle justice. This young man would have been lynched. His stupidity would have done him in. he should have come straight to this place to table his complaints before accosting Jaagba. I have always told you, A spirit’s anger would always prove to be a snare unto him. The bracelet is clearly an heirloom of Ijamba’s lineage. I knew his grandfather who sprang from the Banana stem and made his home in Itake. I have lived for two thousand years and seen many things under the sun. I was there when the Jewish Sun smote thousands of demons on Palestine. I fled with others to this jungle in the heart of Africa. Ijamba come!’ Ijamba approached the judgement chair. Apari-Fodakun placed the bracelet in his palm. There were ululations, claps and wide smiles. The people were happy with the judgement. Later that night, before I was shown into the room I have been assigned in the Chief’s house; I asked him if he had known how the case would turn out ahead of time. He told me he had seen the crowd before they got to his place and had known what had happened, but he had gotten to know the nitty-gritty of the incident as the case progressed.