Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle (5 page)

Immediately they entered this town without their wish, they entered a big house and met an old womans at with sorrow in one of the rooms that were in that house. She was the owner of the house.

They hardly saluted her when they hurriedly begged her for the cold water with which to quench their thirst that which had nearly killed them, because that day was muggy.

The woman was greatly feared them having seen their horrible attitude and having noticed that they were mono-coloured persons, for she had never seen such the mono-coloured persons as these gang of refugees in her life. Anyhow, as she was a good natured old woman, she showed them the pot of water with her finger. She was se old that it was hardly for her even to stand and walk away from her seat and she was even poorer than a church rat, for she had no any issue or one who could feed her.

It was after they drank the water when they could notice that the whole people of this town and with their domestic animals were multi-coloured, and they were
greatly wondered and feared in respect of this multi-colour and thus the old woman was looking at them with wonder and fear in respect of their own mono-colour as well.

Having rested for a few minutes on standing, because the woman did not tell them to sit, they told her to allow them to stay in her house for some days and then to continue their journey. “Where are you coming from and where are you going?” the old woman asked with the weary voice.

“We are just coming from the Sinners’ town, and we are looking about for the right path which goes to our village and to go back,” they explained with respect.

The old woman paused for a while, and then asked “On which path did you travel to this town?” “We travelled on Path of Death.”

“On Path of Death? and you did not meet any danger on it before reaching this town?” the old woman nodded and then asked patiently. “Just so,” they replied softly. The woman was greatly wondered to hear this, because there was no a person who could travel on Path of Death for two days without being killed by the noxious creatures.

“I am afraid of your mono-colour, anyhow, I shall have mercy on you to allow you to stay in my house, but I will show you to the king first who will permit me to do your request, because he will be the one who will punish you if you offend me in future,” she explained quietly.

The whole people of the town were rushing out of their houses and were following them to the palace of the king
as the old woman was taking them along. And the king was also terrified when he saw them with their mono-colour.

“On which path did you travel to this town?” the king asked this question as well with great wonder. But as Simbi, the leader, had the gift of the gab more than the rest of her gang, she replied very sharply, “We travelled on Path of Death hence there is no any other path after that.”

“Hah!—a!—a! you travelled on Path of Death which belongs only to death, poverty, punishment, illness, cruel, etc., etc.!” the king together with his incalculable people that surrounded him exclaimed unexpectedly immediately they heard this explanation from Simbi.

Then the old woman told the king that they asked her to allow them to be staying in her house and she told him to approve the request of the refugees before she would allow them to stay. When she told the king like that, the whole people exclaimed “Not at all! we shall not allow you (refugees) to stay in our town, hence you are the mono-coloured persons and we are the multi-coloured people.” And the king himself said sharply “We don’t hate yourselves but your mono-colour.” But he agreed when Simbi explained their difficulties which they had met in the past or before they came there. And he told them that everyone of them must find a kind of work a to be doing for her living, he told them that he did not want any thief in his town.

They thanked him greatly and then followed the old woman back to her house.

She gave one room to each of them to be living in, because there were many rooms in that house. She told them that everyone must be feeding herself, and they agreed.

And everyone was earning her living, but Simbi being a lady of strong physique among the rest, she made a big farm at a little distance from the town. She planted many kinds of crops.

One day, when the crops were ripen, Simbi noticed that some animals were coming to the farm from a long distance and they were eating the crops. Having discovered this, she went round the bush which surrounded this farm and she discovered the path of those animals on which they were travelling to that farm.

But there was no other kind of a trap except to set the rope or to dig a deep pit at the centre of an animal’s path. Therefore, Simbi dug a deep pit at the centre of the path of the animals. Though they were not animals as called but their appearances was just seemed so.

Three days after, Simbi went there. But she was greatly surprised to meet inside the pit three kinds of creatures. They were in the forms of tiger, snake, and a rat who was a hole dwelling animal respectively. And a hunter fell into the pit as well, by a mistake, in the mid-night, when he was travelling on that path just to kill any animal he could find. This hunter was a native of the town of the multi-coloured people.

All the three animals and the hunter were unable to come out of the pit. Having seen all of them there Simbi wanted to pull the hunter alone out as he was a person like herself, though he was multi-coloured person, and after that to kill those evil spirits who were changing to that of bush animals whenever they were going to the farm.

But as she was trying to pull him out, those animals explained as if they were persons, “Because this hunter is a person like yourself, therefore you are trying now to safe him alone among us. Perhaps he may be one who will cause your death in future.”

“So the more you safe him out, the more you will safe us out as well, though we are bush animals,” they persuaded Simbi just to think that they were animals. “Please don’t mind them, they are bush animals, just take me out and after that I will shoot them to death for you,” the hunter said hurriedly, because he too thought they were bush animals.

But Simbi was afraid indeed to take out only that hunter, when the animals insisted that unless if she would take them out as well. She paused for a few minutes with fear, and she was thinking of what to do next to safe the hunter alone.

A few minutes after, she remembered to ask the hunter of what he would do for her if she helped him out of the pit. For she thought as those animals were not human, they would not be able to make any promise, and for that reason, she would free from their blame if she took out only the hunter.

“Listen to me, my dear hunter, what kind of a help you will render to me if I take you out now?” Simbi asked from the hunter.

“You see, Simbi, the promise that I can give you now is that as from this day, I shall be keeping watch of your farm just to safe the crops from the animals which are eating them.”

“Yes, tiger, what is your own promise?” she asked boldly. “As from this day, I shall be killing one bush animal every night and bringing it to the farm. Therefore, try to be going to the farm every morning to take the animal,” tiger promised loudly.

“Yes, rat, what is your own promise?” “You see, I am a hole dwelling animal who can dig a parallel hole under the ground to a distance of twenty miles. Therefore I promise now that in a few days’ time I shall dig such a hole from your room to the property room of the King of the multi-coloured people’s town. I will pass all the king’s properties, as gold, jewels, clothes, etc. from that property room through the hole to your room,” the rat promised.

“Yes, snake, what is your own promise?” “I cannot tell you now the kind of my own promise. The reason is that some of the persons are kittle cattle and perhaps this hunter who is only a human among us inside this pit, may be one of the kittle cattle persons and he may be in future laid you heart bared.

“But in the indirect way, I heartly promise now that any day it is difficult for you, believe me, wherever you may be, I will come there just to fulfil my promise or to render my help to you,” snake promised calmly.

After everyone of these victims had promised Simbi and everyone heard each other’s promise except snake’s promise which was indirect and the rest did not understand it.

Then Simbi took them out of the pit and everyone went to his own way. But when Simbi went to her farm in the following morning, she was greatly surprised to meet there one animal, which had been killed and had brought there by tiger, as he had promised. And the hunter fulfilled his own promise as well for he was keeping watch of the farm so that the animals might not eat the crops.

A few weeks later, the rat, as called, who was the hole dwelling animal, dug a parallel hole under the ground from Simbi’s room to the inside room in which all the properties of the king were kept. Then he packed all the properties therein and brought them through the hole to her room.

But it remained only snake, as called, to fulfil his own indirect promise which Simbi never understand.

A few months later from when the properties of the king had brought to her room by the hole dwelling animal, rat, as called, one day, when the king wanted to go somewhere, he opened the door of his property room just to take some of the gold, etc., that which he wanted to wear to the place that he wanted to go.

In the first instance, he could not believe his eyes when he found none of his properties inside the room. His family rushed to the room when they heard him horribly exclaimed “Where are my properties! Who had done this?” he asked painfully from his family. “It should be
a number of burglaries who had carried away the properties,” his people were puzzled.

“I wonder, the windows or the door were not broken and there is no any sign which can show that the properties were carried away by the thieves,” the king doubted. “Let us look at the partitions perhaps there may be a sign which will show that the properties were packed out through there,” one of the king’s family advised.

The king hardly heard this advice to the end when he drew a three legged powerless stool near the window and off he climbed from the stool onto the partition. And hardly reached the partition when he fell headlong onto the floor and then he fainted. “Eh! the king falls and faints!” his family exclaimed until he became conscious. Then with pain he staggered back to his throne.

“But it is very disgraceful to a king like you to climb the partition for yourself in looking for something! If you don’t respect yourself you must respect your office!” his prince who just heard and came in warned him painfully.

“The best thing which your majesty should have done, instead of climbing the partition for yourself, is to give the order to one of your bellringers, to announce what has happened with bell to everywhere in the town, perhaps some one may know one who has stolen the properties and then to bring the news to you,” a young lady advised the king.

“Oh yes! you are right, lady, and it is today I believe that one person can never have the whole senses of this world. Thank you, lady! All right, call me one of my bellringers!” the king ordered. “Here I am, your majesty,”
the bellringer prostrated with face turned to the floor and was expecting what order the king would give. Neither to behead him or to send him to somewhere, he never knew which was which.

“Bring me my long smoking pipe!” the king ordered another man while the bellringer was still prostrated in his front.

When the pipe was brought, the man loaded it with newly withered tobacco and then plenty of hot-red coals (fire) were taken from the nearby heath and put them into the pipe.

It was this kind of a long pipe the king used to smoke in the day that a serious thing happened to him, or the day when an offender was to be beheaded before him or the day he had to sacrifice human to his gods, etc. But as he was too perplexed by the loss of his properties, so that he was unable to blow out the smoke from the pipe. “Please help me to blow out with your mouth the first smoke!” he ordered one of his chiefs. But about four chiefs grabbed the pipe from his mouth at a time, of course the rest left it for one of them at last.

He put it in the mouth and blew out the first thick smoke. After that he replaced it to the king’s mouth. Then four of them (chiefs) held the rest part of the pipe while he was enjoying the smoking. Because this pipe was too heavy for the smoker to hold it for himself. Then the rest chiefs or those who stood round were blowing the air onto him with the woven large fans while the bellringer was still prostrated.

“Yes, my chiefs, which is the right message to send the
bellringer that which he is to deliver to the people of the town?” the king asked. “He is to announce with the bell for the people about your majesty’s stolen properties,” the chiefs explained. “Thank god, I think I am called to be sacrificed to the god but it is only to ring the bell,” the bellringer gladly remarked having gone out of the palace.

Then he rang the bell to every part of the town. He announced to the people that any one who might know whereabouts the stolen properties should report to the king.

But because the hunter who was among those animals (as called), who had been fallen into the pit and had been saved out together with the animals the other day by Simbi, the owner of the pit, had heard when rat, the hole dwelling animal, was promising Simbi on that day that he (rat) would bring all the king’s properties through the under ground hole to her room, and because this hunter had since then kept in mind the promise made by rat, therefore, immediately he heard the bellringer announce the stolen properties, he went to the king as a liar. He explained to him that all his properties were in Simbi’s room. And without hesitation, the king sent a large number of guardsmen to her room.

Then they arrested her and took the properties and herself to the king. Without asking her how the properties came to her room, he ordered his guardsmen to tie her with a rope to the big tree which was at the front of the palace, ready to be killed to the gods in three days’ time, at the presence of all the town’s people.