The Witch-Herbalist of the Remote Town (21 page)

But as I was going along in the town to my father’s house, there came to my memory again the kinds of punishments which could be given to my first “mind” and second “mind”, and which could not disturb them from performing their duties to my body. But anything which might happen to me will also happen to my “Supreme Second”. But who could help me to solve this problem—which really puzzled me? Thus I
began to think of this thing with confusion until I reached the house at noon.

So I ate and drank to my satisfaction as the people of the town were still beating the drums, singing, dancing, eating and drinking about in the town in respect of the human sacrifice which was abolished by the god and goddess of the river in respect of the two “removable heads” which I gave them. And the merriment ended in front of my father’s house in the evening of the seventh day that it had started. But as soon as the merriment was ended, the old people told my wife to bring her baby to the front of the house and in front of the two-headed spear which I had pegged on the ground, they blessed the baby and after, the whole of them returned to their houses with hilarity which could not be described.

Amos Tutuola was born in Abeokuta, Nigeria, in 1920. The son of a cocoa farmer, he attended several schools before training as a blacksmith. He later worked as a civil servant. His first novel,
The Palm-Wine Drinkard
, was published in 1952 and brought him international recognition. From 1956 until retirement, he worked for the Nigerian Broadcasting Company while continuing to write. His last book,
The Village Witch Doctor and Other Stories
, was published in 1990. He died in Ibadan in 1997.

THE PALM-WINE DRINKARD

MY LIFE IN THE BUSH OF GHOSTS

SIMBI AND THE SATYR OF THE DARK JUNGLE

THE BRAVE AFRICAN HUNTRESS

FEATHER WOMAN OF THE JUNGLE

AJAIYI AND HIS INHERITED POVERTY

PAUPER, BRAWLER AND SLANDERER

THE VILLAGE WITCH DOCTOR AND OTHER STORIES