Tagbo and The Dancing Masquerade

AFRICA Many many years ago, in the rich continent of Africa, in the time of the first men, spirits adorned magnificent attires of different colours and celebrated with men. Spirits were gifted with beautiful voices and played music unlike any man. Men gathered to watch and listen to their melodious sounds and were entertained on a daily basis. During this era, children were allowed to enter the beautiful lands of the spirit where anything was possible. A native doctor uncovered the existence of the spirit realm. Thirsty for infinite power, he sought out to acquire secrets only the spirits knew about. He turned himself into a young boy and found his way into the lands. On the fourth market day, The Afor market day, a naughty boy found him out and exposed him to the great spirits. The spirits trapped him from ever leaving their lands. In anger as powerful as ever, he turned all the children there into spirits hoping that the secrets there would never leave. Not satisfied, he mystically transformed himself into a hideous beast and became the gate keeper preventing the spirits too from going into the world of men. But every new yam festival, the music of the spirits were at its peak and was powerful enough to allow spirits with the best of tunes and dance, adorned in masquerade attire pass through to perform for men. As years went by, tales of the spirit land and trapped children became folklore and all that was known about the spirits were their rich tunes and colourful masquerades attire during their new yam festival performances. 2 JOS Many centuries later, Africa split into smaller nations and smaller tribes. One of the many nations was Nigeria. A prosperous country blessed with rich culture, people of different tribe and two great seasons. One season was called the Rainy seasons when people farmed and tilled the grounds for food and the other, The dry season, a time for harvest and celebrations. At the end of the rainy season, new yam festival was celebrated. A young boy sat in his fathers tool shade trying different tunes with his musical instrument. His name was Tagbo. Tagbo had a lot of friends and went to the best school his father could afford. His best friends name was Mudupgap and they both lived in a city called Jos. Jos was a beautiful city filled with magnificent landscapes, fertile soil, breath taking waterfalls and friendly people. Tagbo and Mudupgap spent most of their time together; they played together, flew kites together and even went to the same school. They were inseparable. But what they loved most of all was music. They loved to listen and also to play. While Mududpgap loved to sing and dance, Ekemefuna loved to blow the Oja, a music instrument played like a flute. His father had bought him the Oja at age 3 from Awka. He carried his Oja everywhere he went to. They were attracted to music like nothing else. They performed whenever they were free together. They performed in school, they performed at home, they also performed at street corners. They once performed at the turbanning of Bongwom Jos, the traditional ruler of the town of Jos. Everybody had danced and clapped to their music on the occasion awed by the sight of two children so gifted. A man stared at the rich sprout of green plants covering hectares of land. The stare quickly turned into an empty gaze as he thought about his only son Tagbo. His mother had died when he was an infant and he promised he would take very good care of him. Achebe loved Tagbo and pampaered him. He unconsciously looked in the direction of the tool shade where he was sure Tagbo would be playing his intstrument. He knew he was raising Tagbo wrong as Tagbo grew less ... by the day. He hated house chores and refused to help out at the farm. Achebe wiped his sweaty forehead with his soiled wrists and refused to dwell on the negative. My son is a good boy, he said under his breath managing a smile. He quickly snapped out of his thoughts and summoned one of his workers to discuss about weeding and available transport for harvest. It was the last day of school and it was getting to the end of the rainy season. All the children were excited, they were going for holidays. The children could not hold themselves. They kept looking out the window in anticipation of close of school bells. Tagbo was much more anxious than usual that day. His father had promised to take him to Awka, a city to the east of Nigeria. They were going to attend the New Yam festival. Tagbo had never attended a new yam festival. His father had said there would be a lot of activity and masquerades were going to sing and dance. Tagbo had told Mudupgap and all his classmates. Mudupgap had cried all night until his parents spoke to Mr Achebe, Tagbo`s Father and he agreed to take him along. The school bell rang and all the kids went hysterical. They screamed and ran around in every direction excited. They waved to each other as their parents picked them up. The laughed and screamed and ran off, each with their parent carrying their school bags. The teachers smiled and kept telling them to be good during the holidays. Tagbo could not sleep that night in anticipation of their trip to Awka for the New Yam Festival. His eagerness stole sleep away from him. The next morning Tagbo and his father arrived at the park very early. There were a lot of people there. There were families travelling together, men, women and children. There were old men and women. Everyone had bags and baggage. Tagbo spotted Mudupgap with his father Mr Istifanus. As he made to run to them, his father held him back and asked him to behave or he would get into trouble. A park is not a place to go running around. he had said. Tagbo had greeted Mr Istifanus before exchanging proud smiles with Mudupgap. Mr Istifanus finished speaking with Mr Achebe and bent down to Mudupgap and said. Make sure you are a good boy. Do everything that Mr Achebe asks you to do, alright? Yes daddy, Mudupgap had replied. Soon, the bus was filled and they set on their way, driving towards the rising sun. They passed the hills of Hawan Kibo, beautiful trees of forest, bubbling town of Akwanga, ancient city of Lafia, breath taking rivers of Makurdi, twin towns of Otukpo and Otukpa, coal city of Enugu, until they came to the city of Awka. The journey had been a long one. Throughout the journey, they kept looking out the window in excitement and contagious curiosity. Every sight and sound prompted a question and still did not satisfy their inquisitive minds. They asked questions, pointed to the hills, rivers, people, animals markets, houses. Stories were told in the bus. Many people in the bus were going to the New Yam Festival. A fat man that couldnt stop eating told stories of how the gods had blessed masquarades with the ability to sing and dance and how no man could equal their performance. Mudupgap and Tagbo couldnt wait, they were on the edges of their seat in anticipation. They imagined what type of melody and beautiful tunes the masquerades would play and how they would dance. They had exhausted themselves and were asleep by the time they got to Awka. It had gotten dark and clouds had formed in the skies. They were so tired that they only managed to eat little of the akara and akamu that was served to them before finally sleeping off to the even sounds made by the rain as it hit the roof of their house. The village square had been beautifully decorated and there were people everywhere. Vendors were seen selling their wares; vendors sold icecream, biscuits, kpoff-kpoff, kwili-kwili, soft drinks with several other snacks at displays. There were little children with their parents, while some had food in their hands, others pointed to different activities in excitement. The elders spoke into a loud speaker one by one and had the biggest tubers of yam Tagbo had ever seen in his life. Several of them were his size. Men and women in different attires looked excited and cheerful. Mudupgap and Tagbo was starting to get worried, they had not seen any masquerade nor heard their beautiful music. All of a sudden, the sound of Ekwe, a music instrument could be heard. It was unlike any sound Tagbo and Mudupgap had ever heard. It was so beautiful and it filled the air. At that moment, they saw a beautifully coloured masquerade. It had long furs of various colours, with thousands of reflective mirrors on them. The masquerade was as tall as a house and looked elegant. It started to dance to the music. At first, everyone was silent and spellbound by the beautiful sound and sight of the dancing masquerades, then slowly people started to cheer. More Masquerades came out each beautiful in its own right, playing melodies unlike any of the boys had heard before. The music had messages in them. It told of their world. It told of how different it was from the human world. How colourful their world was and how they missed the presence of children. It was too much for Tagbo and Mudupgap. They were hypnotized by the music. They had never heard music sound so good. They jumped and cheered with the crowd in excitement. They could not have enough. They let go of Mr Achebe`s hands and ran around dancing to the sound of the music. The cheering crowd made it difficult for Mr Achebe to reach them.He called after them but they didnt hear him. All they heard was the music. All of a sudden, it started to rain heavily. People ran in every direction, but Tagbo and Mudupgap went in the direction of the sounds of music. The message in the music changed. It became a goodbye message. The masquerades were returning to their world. At this point, the music had warnings in them. They sang of how it was f*******n for humans to follow them or see them leave. It sang that the masquerades were returning to their world and saying farewell to ours. It warned that people should stay away, as their world was different from that of men and had been taken over by darkness. Tagbo and Mudupgap followed the music spellbound by the sound it produced and did not heed the warning message it carried as no one understood the language of the spirits. The masquerades, as tall as houses, made their way to the forest still playing. Mudupgap and Tagbo still followed, dancing as they went. They passed an old woman who called after them warning them to discontinue. But they didnt heed her warning. All they heard was the beautiful music of the masuarades. Tagbo couldnt help himself and didnt want the music to stop. The sound of the music started to get faint as the masquerades, one by one started to get little. They shrunk as little as ants and were washed down the ant holes by the rain into their world. Mudupgap had gotten scared and was slowly coming off the effect of the music. He held Tagbo asking them to turn back but Tagbo would not listen. All Tagbo heard was the sweet melody of the music. He reached out to hold the last masquerade so the music would continue but in that instant the masquerade shrunk taking him along. Mudupgap tried to help by pulling Tagbo away, but shrunk with them. They were all washed down the ant hole to into the spirit world. Tagbo opened his eyes, not sure what had happened. He felt a hand on him and screamed, turning to find Mudupgap screaming with him. Where are we? Tagbo asked, Spirit world, Mudupgap whispered with fear. It looks like a forest, Tagbo replied. I want to go home, Istifanus said crying. Do not worry, replied Tagbo, lets find a masquerade and ask the way home. They set out to find a masquerade that would point the way home to them. The forest was like nothing they had ever seen. The trees were all extremely tall, with leaves of different colors. Each tree had produced several different fruits all looking ripe. They made their way through the forest with no one in sight. These trees look strange, said Mudupgap, they are beautiful, replied Tagbo...yes said Mudupgap but strange. Trees bear the same leaves not a variety of leaves, Mudupgap said. They walked on and on, fascinated at the beauty of the forest. Nothing seemed the same. The floor felt softer and the sky looked purple, strange coloured animals scurried away at the sight of them. They walked on until they heard the running sound of water. They ran towards the direction as they had gotten thirsty. On reaching the water, they were amazed to find a flowing river, purple in color. Is that water? asked Mudupgap, i dont know replied Tagbo, it looks like Zobo. They were thirsty and tried some. It tasted nice and they gulped large mouthfuls of it. They drank more and started splashing around. What are you doing here? they were startled by a voice behind them. Turning, they saw the scariest face they had ever seen. Mudupgap ran off screaming, and Tagbo ran after him,screaming too. They ran a great distance screaming all the way. Getting tired, they stopped to catch their breath. I want to go home, Mudupgap cried. Me too, Tagbo replied, crying too. Just then they felt an arm around them lifting them off the floor. They screamed some more.... They looked up and saw a giant of a man. He had a scale like skin and claws like nails. He had two sets of eyes and a nostril without nose. His hand felt coarse like rough dried mud. Be still, he said, trying to steady the wriggling kids. Who are you, Mudupgap asked, still frightened. I am Ikwikwii replied the giant of a man and i am a spirit. You two should not be here, this is not your world, he said. You both look tired and hungry, he said trying to calm the kids. Come with me, you cannot be out here, it is dangerous. They followd Ikwikwi across the purple river to his home. He served them dinner and told them all about the spirit world. He also told them that after the third market day, the Nkwo,they would both transform into spirits. The boys were sad, they didnt want to become spirits. Ikwikwi assured them that taking the form of a spirit was better than being eaten. If they were uncovered before their full transformation, they would be eaten by the gate keepers. Who are the gate keepers? the kids asked together. Ikwikwi took a deep breath and started to sing. His song told the story of the native doctor and his tricks. It told of how beautiful the spirit world was. He sang about its deep bright colors, its unique animal life and its fertile lands free from hunger. What if we put on masks like masuarades? Mudupgap responded, singing too. We can sneak out back to our world, he continued. Tagbo joined, singing of the beauty of the human world and how the hardship made people come together adding that they had to leave. Ikwikwi laughed. Impossible.Every masquerade leaving must perform at the Exit ceremony. Only the best performing masquarades are allowed to go and perform in the human world. And everybody knows that no man can perform as good as a masquerade. It is late now. You must go and sleep. Time will heal your wound. It is not so bad here. As a matter of fact, you will feel much better tomorrow. The next morning, Ikwikwi got up early, hoping to sneak out before the kids got up. He opened his drowsy eyes and saw two sets of eyes staring at him. He gave out a startling scream, shooting himself up from bed. The boys laughed, surprised that a spirit was frightened. Ikwikwi ignorged them embarrassed and set about getting ready to go out. They followed him around the house, begging him to help them find a way out of the spirit land. They stared at him with sad faces while he ate, disturbed him in the toilet, got in his way everywhere he went until he finally agreed. Okay, okay. There may be a way, but no one knows for sure. There is a cave beyond the red river. There are scrolls there that could help. If there is a way to get out of here it is probably there. Thank you the kids said together hugging Ikwikwii. They set out the next day for the caves. They travelled for what seemed like days, riding on the backs of huge squirrel like animals that slept for hours and rode few minutes at a time. Though they rode faster than horses, Tagbo wished they could move faster, fearing they may not have enough time before their transformation into spirits started. After travelling for days, they heard the raging sounds of water and then came upon a stretch of red coloured water with heavy current and fierce waves. How do we sail across that? Mudupgap asked shouting over the noise made by the crashing waves. We dont, Ikwikwii replied getting down from the squirrel. I do not understand. I thought you said the cave was beyond the red river. Yes it is. We do not sail across, we fly across. He said pointing at birds in the sky. We cannot fly on birds, they are too small. They appear small because they are far away. They are gigantic. Okay. How do we catch them? Ikwikwii laughed. We do not catch them, they catch us. They feed on animals called Utu. Tomorrow, we will mimick Utu and hope the birds see us. The next morning, they mimicked the Utu movement and was swallowed whole by giant birds. The birds carried them across the water and vomited them on their nest over the cave. They got out of the nests as soon as the birds where gone and made their way down the steep sides to the mouth of the cave. The caves mouth had water falling down over it like a veil. They got into the cave but could not see a thing as it was pitch dark. Ikwikwi began to sing... He sang about the wonders the cave held, about the days the children came to the caves and laughter abound. About the great Aka Ji Ofor who kept the cave sacred... Why are you singing? Mudupgap whispered? Sing along Ikwikwi replied. Tagbo sang along and Mudupgap joined. Bring back your lights and lets see the beauty of your world. No sooner had they ended the song, lights lit up the length and breath of the cave. That was amazing Mudupgap said smiling. The cave paths looked like an unending maze. They tried several paths and ended up at the same spot. After being at it for hours, they came upon a huge door made of stone. They tried getting in but the door would not bulge. What next? Tagbo asked Ikwikwi. I dont know he replied shrugging. There has to be a way in. Tagbo said, maybe a song. I do not know any song about closed doors Ikwikwi said, looking unsure. We can`t go back now we have come too far. Why have you gone so quiet? Tagbo asked, looking towards Mudupgap. Shhh...... returned Mudupgap, studying the door. That looks like a puzzle, Mudupgap continued, pointing to a set of coloured stones besides a group of words. Lets rearrange them and see what happens, Tagbo said. Hold on ,Mudupgap replied. Lets take time to figure it out. We do not have time, Tagbo said. What is the harm in trying? Mudupgap is right, Ikwikwi said, I have heard of stories of vanishing Masquarades that tried to get in. They probably thought they could try random solutions. Tall tales, replied Tagbo, as he pushed around the colours then tried pushing the words around too. You see, nothing. As soon as he said that, his lower body started to disappear. Tagbo, your feet Mudupgap screamed in horror. Tagbo looked down and they were gone. He started screaming, do something. Panicked, Ikwikwi tried pushing the colored stones around, he too started to vanish. Do something Tagbo kept screaming as Mudupgap still stood studying the colors and words. Tagbo shoved him aside and tried more combinations. The more he tried, the faster parts of him vanished. Soon, he had no hands. All that was left of him were part of his face. Ikwikwi was down to his upper body. Tagbo was still screaming as his body parts started to reappear. Hey, its ok. You can stop screaming now, Mudupgap, said touching him. Tagbo looked down and saw he was full again. They heard a loud thud and the sound of rock grinding over rock as the door slowly opened. How did you do that? Tagbo asked Mudupgap, still shaking. I think this place is about the beginning. The four squares needed primary colours put into them Red, Yellow, Blue & Green. The words there were easier to figure out. Double the key music notes with corresponding colour. What key music notes?? Tagbo asked, as they walked into the massive room. Do, Re, Me, Fa, Sol, La, Ti, Do, Mudupgap replied. Seems everything about this place has to do with music. Getting into the large room, they saw large stone tablets with writings on them. Lets make sure we do not touch anything, These tablets tell the story of the spirits and the spirit world Ikwikwi said, moving from one tablet to another. Let`s find one that tells us how to get home,Tagbo said, going over them as well. Ikwikwi was not moving, he just starred at a tablet with his first finger and thumb holding his chin. Can you help out? Tagbo called out to him, we do not have all day. There is something about this tablet. It looks new and i have never heard these words before. Tagbo and Mudupgap came to join him and Mudupgap read the writings out loud. “When all hearts become one and all soul rise in unison. All shall be as it was” How does this help us? Tagbo asked, frustrated. It does not even make sense. He tried moving the tablets and they immediately heard the loud thud again and stone grinding over stone...the doors were shutting. What do we do? Mudupgap shouted over the noise being made by the door. Sing? Run Ikwikwi Replied. They ran. They ran past the door, narrowly making it through. Other doors that seemed not to be there initially were starting to shut too. Faster, ikwikwi shouted over the noise of sliding stone doors. They ran as fast as they could. They ran faster than they had ever run before. We are not going to make it, Mudupgap called after Ikwikwi and Tagbo as he lagged behind. We won`t make it, Tagbo thought to himself. Ikwikwi looked back and shook his head. He knew they would not make it out on time. He turned back, picked the boys up in his arms and ran past the sliding doors. They made it outside past the mouth off the cave and beyond the water fall veil. The gate keepers, monstrous creatures like wolves were standing over them as they got out. The creatures growled taking them away. They were brought before the gatekeeper. He looked like a giant dog with three heads, large fangs and sharp claws. He was a hideous sight. What nice meal you would make, the gate keeper said. Fetch me my favourite plate. I havent had children in a long time. You cannot eat us, Mudupgap said, you are a man. The gatekeeper growled in thunderous laughter. I am not a man any longer. I am the most powerful being in existence. My claws are sharp enough to tear you apart and my teeth strong enough to eat you up. They are not strong enough to eat me, Ikwikwi said. This made the gatekeeper upset. He wished they were three kids so he could eat them all. You are going to work in my barns for the rest of your life, the Gatekeeper replied Ikwikwi. Spare my friends and we would tell you the new secrets we uncovered in the caves. There are no more secrets there, the gate keeper lied with curious eyes. Okay then ,replied Ikwikwi. The gate keeper looked at the kids and back at Ikwikwi. The kids would make a nice meal but he would like to know more. Probably have more powers. Okay,i will make you a deal, the gatekeeper said cunningly. Tomorrow is the third market day here. It corresponds with new yam festival in the human world. The best masquerades would be performing. Your friends can perform too. If their music is better than the rest of the spirits, i will spare them. If it is not, you will tell me the secrets and i will also have my meal. Ikwikwi knew it was impossible for a human to sing as well as a spirit, but before he could respond, Tagbo shouted Deal!!! Good then, responded the gatekeeper smiling. What have you done? Ikwikwi asked. You can`t take it back, the gatekeeper said happily and walked away locking them in the room. That was not smart, Ikwikwi said, turning to Tagbo. We can do it, Tago said, turning to Mudupgap The day of the competition finally came, and all the spirits gathered at the gate with their music instruments. It was always a sad day for the gate keepr. He knew the music on that day held great powers, enough to get spirits across to the human world. But on this day, he was happy. He would get to eat the kids and learn more secrets. He came out and announced that it was a special day, that there would be competitors from the human world. All the spirits started to laugh. They knew no human stood a chance against them nor was good enough to make it through. The occasion soon started. Spirits performed one by one and in groups with good music and sweet melody. They all played a variety of instruments. Other spirits clapped and cheered some got across. Soon, it was the time for the kids to perform. The gate keeper brought them out and gladly announced to everyone that it was their turn. He had hardly finished speaking and all the spirits started to laugh uncontrollably. They laughed and fell to the floor, and laughed some more. Tagbo took out his his Oja. Then the spirits laughed even louder. That is a hard music instrument to play they said. They could not stop laughing. Tagbo thought about his father, about his friends in school about his teachers, about the beautiful city of Jos and about the many people he loved that loved him back. Tears swelled up inside him, emotions ran wild and his heart was broken. The life he once had was gone. His loved ones may never see him again. He was about to remain in this strange place forever. With an aching heart and swelling emotion, he lifted the Oja to his lips and blew the first note. Seconds passed, he then blew into it again and continued. He sang about his life and all the beautiful things in it. He sang about the beautiful city of Jos, the beauty of its hills and mountain, the hills of Hawan Kibo and the ancient city of Lafia. The masquarades all stopped laughing and chattering and listened. No sound could be heard besides the beautiful tune from the oja. He continued blowing. He sang about the city of Akwanga and how visitors never left due to their hospitable nature. He sang about the bubbling city of Makurdi and the beauty of their culture. He sang about the twin cities of Otukpo and Otukpa how people had told the stories in the bus. The masquardes couldnt help it their feet had begun tapping the floor in rhythm with the tunes of the oja, their heads nodding in acceptance. They felt the melody filtering into them. They could not only hear the music, they could smell it. He kept singing. He sang about the coal city of Enugu and how cold it could get cold during the dry seasons. He sang about Awka. He used the song to tell stories he had heard about Awka. He sang out his heart. At this point, there was no masquerade sitting. They had all gotten to their feet controlled by the melody of the Oja. They danced and they danced and they danced. Soon, some of the spirits started getting smaller. Scales started falling off their skin. Their skin got smoother. Play on, Ikwikwi shouted, surprised. At that point, all heart had become one and all soul had risen in unison. The curse was broken. There were tears everywhere. They were tears of happiness. There were children everywhere.” No, no, no...” the gatekeeper cried out.” Impossible impossible,” he said. He had turned back into an old man. The spirits took hold of him and locked him up, putting the key away. A great feast was thrown for Tagbo and Mudupgap. There was laughter everywhere. The spirits thanked the two boys and gave them a key to the spirit world.