ONCE UPON AN ELEPHANT

Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan
 Author's Note

Once Upon an Elephant takes a look at the issue of dictatorship, "sit-tightism", or what some
critics have referred to as self-perpetuating syndrome of African leaders at every level of
governance. It amuses me why a mortal would want to achieve immortality either by prolonging
his/her stay in office or by wanting to play god in the lives of other men. This issue has begotten
several plays by seasoned dramatists such as Wole Soyinka (A Play of Giants, Opera Wonyosi,
Kongi's Hanvest and King Baabu); Femi Osofisan (Yungba Yungba and the Dance Contest);
Ahmed Yerima (Ade Ire and Uncle Venyil) and Hope Eghagha (Onawawi Shall Rise Again). The
recurrence of this theme shows that there is something wrong with African politics and
politicians. Such an aberration has also been culturally dealt with in Yoruba folklore from which
this play derives its title. The play's uniqueness lies in its use of suspense and irony. Above all, it
highlights the role of women as cause and sometimes, solution-provider in a story in which they
may be complicit.

Bosede Ademilua-Afolayan

Lagos, 2014.
 One

Grove. Metallic clinking of gong; chants of Ogun in the background. Sitting on a stool, bare-
chested is AJANAKU. Standing by his sides are two elderly men, ODEJIMI and OGUNDELE.
SERUBAWON appears from within. He is also bare-chested, ties a red cloth to his waist.
Performs some rites, and stops.

SERUBAWON: It is done. Rise!

AJANAKU: Are you sure?

SERUBAWON: Sure as I know that only four of us are here.

AJANAKU: Thank you.

SERUBAWON: Thank me when everything is done after seven big markets. But, do not see your
father until after you have had the last bath.

AJANAKU: When is that?

SERUBAWON: I will tell you. (AJANAKU exits through the point SERUBAWON comes in from.)

OGUNDELE: What other bath does he need after the rites we have performed?

SERUBAWON: That aspect involves only me. You may not bother as such.

ODEJIMI: He asked what rite, not the person involved. (Silence.) I hope it is not what I am
thinking, Serubawon.

SERUBAWON: How can I know what you are thinking?

ODEJIMI: Olubori rites of course.

OGUNDELE: But it can't be that one.

SERUBAWON: Is there any better way to prepare a mortal to represent his ancestors?

OGUNDELE: What?

ODEJIMI: But you can't do that.

OGUNDELE: You should have at least asked us.

SERUBAWON: What difference will my telling you have made?

ODEJIMI: Answer his question, Serubawon.

SERUBAWON: What difference will that make, I ask again? The rest is just a few steps away. I
can only urge both of you to stand by me. The young man is more prepared for this task than I
had initially thought. Quite strong-willed and confident.

ODEJIMI: Do you know the meaning of what you are giving that young man?
OGUNDELE: Do you even know exactly what you are turning him into with these rituals?

SERUBAWON: He was here. You should have asked him. People call him a rascal for his
youthful misdemeanour. Riddling often makes it impossible to know the true meaning of names.
But, if we took our gaze away from such market ranting, we will find that that young man yet has
a destiny to fulfil. The only reasonable thing we can do is to help him get to where he is headed.

OGUNDELE: And you know exactly where he is headed?

SERUBAWON: He brought gifts. When you are done asking why he should be king, you can pick
yours from the hut inside the grove. (He turns and goes in.)

ODEJIMI: A-ah! What did he just say?

OGUNDELE: Spirit of our fathers! Serubawon, that boy's father yet lives! Our king lives!

SERUBAWON: (Comes out with a big calabash. He squats and washes his hands in it.) Of what
use is a king, who is unable to perform his duty? You both saw what was left of him a few days
ago, of what use is that near carcass?

OGUNDELE: Carcass?

SERUBAWON: Yes, carcass, what else is left if not a lifeless bunch gasping for life that slowly
ebbs away?

ODEJIMI: Sickness is different from death. He lives despite being the mere carcass you think
you saw!

SERUBAWON: Some illnesses are worse than death, Odejimi. Can we just be honest for once?
ODEJIMI: Don't tell me about honesty!

SERUBAWON: How long has he been ailing?

OGUNDELE: Of what significance is that? Besides, what have you done to help him? You are his
medicine man; his best friend even, what have you done to help your friend and king recover
from his ailment?

SERUBAWON: What have I not done should be the question, shouldn't it? What herbs have not
been administered on him? What ritual baths has he not taken? What medication and
concoction has he not been fed with... everything! The only thing I have not done, and will not do,
is to take his place, or even allow his condition settle cobwebs on the royal stool.

ODEJIMI: What medicine man leaves his patient to die simply because the herbs he tried on him
weren't as effective as expected?

SERUBAWON: What man will allow a strange ailment to strike him down?

ODEJIMl: Are you saying he asked to be inflicted with the ailment? What is this talk?

SERUBAWON: It is time we move on after all these years. That is "this" talk! (He takes the
calabash in, and returns shortly as OGUNDELE speaks.)

OGUNDELE: Akinjobi may be ailing, but he is not insane. He is only ill, and not insane. Our
customs still recognise him as the king, so do our people. Ours is to stand by him, and nurture
him back to good health!

SERUBAWON: Are you both listening to me at all? Akinjobi dies slowly. Nobody can help him
now, nothing can bring back his own hand of time, because his horse has finished its own race.
Nothing - not even the best herbs on earth!

ODEJIMI: How can you know that? You are not our ancestors; they can tell that.

SERUBAWON: I don't have to be anybody's ancestor to know that Akinjobi's sun up there in the
sky is about to set, and another one is preparing to emerge in its full glory. That is the way of the
world. We mustn't live our lives the way it is not meant to be lived. If a door closes, another one
opens, so that people can come in and go out at will. Akinjobi's door closes soon. We mustn't,
because he is our king, shut the door on the faces of others. Our culture knows no stagnation. It
is senseless creating one!

ODEJIMI: Our world, which knows no stagnation, also rests on order and structure. This is not
the way to uphold our ways.

SERUBAWON: By having a new and fresh blood prepared to straddle that height and ensure our
continuity of life?

OGUNDELE: What about those who came before him? What about his brothers, his seniors,
what happens to the process, what about that?

SERUBAWON: What about it?

ODEJIMI: If we must have a new king then, is it even your duty to single-handedly determine? We
have a council that does that.

SERUBAWON: And who heads that council that picks the king? We are the kingmakers, what
difference does it make?

ODEJIMI: Even at that, our king has other sons worthier than that... that...
SERUBAWON: That what? It is with tomorrow in mind that we do favours for today. Why are you
so ungrateful? That "that" has always supported all of us in every way possible.

OGUNDELE: So do the others.

ODEJIMI: Is that reason enough for us to sell our souls to treachery? So, we must because he
assisted us in the past, hide our tongues in our cheeks, and violate tradition in the process?

SERUBAWON: What is the tradition without the three of us here?

ODEJIMI: So you planned it very well to have just the three of us here.

SERUBAWON: Well, like I said, he brought gifts; yours are inside. (He exits.)

ODEJIMI: Is this what our guild has become? Tell me, Ogundele, what has happened to our
sense of thought? What about the king's other sons, especially Baderin, the first son? This is
pure usurpation of his right. He is the eldest, and that should count for something. We must
inform the other elders.

OGUNDELE: No, we cannot.

ODEJIMI: Why not?

OGUNDELE: They won't believe us. What are we doing here in the first place?

ODEJIMI: But he invited us, didn't he? Truth never goes astray. It is falsehood that earns a gash
on the head. Let us tell everyone the truth.
OGUNDELE: How many people do you think recognise the truth these days? (Chuckles.) The
truth! That sounds almost like a word we have not heard before. Odejimi, there is no point
holding ourselves up for more ridicule. Didn't you hear him before he left? He must have been
planning this for a long time. Unfortunately, we just helped him achieve his purpose. It must
stop here. This is enough. We must stop playing fools.

ODEJIMI: So we just fold our arms and allow him enthrone that boy, without even the slightest
regard for our tradition?

OGUNDELE: What do you suggest instead, bring war on him? He didn't even tell us when the
bath will be done. So we cannot possibly know when, and stop him. But we both know what he
intends to do.

ODEJIMI: Exactly why we need to act fast. Our king lives. That is like demanding that he dies, so
that that rascal can be king; not even his brothers will know or can even do anything about it by
that time. That boy cannot be king when I am still alive!

OGUNDELE: It is fine to be angry, Odejimi. But anger, our fathers say, is the brother of
hopelessness. You may be angry, but I am worried. Why will Serubawon do this? Akinjobi is his
friend. Olaniyonu is nothing but a rascal from childhood. We all know that. Why devise this plot
to have him enthroned? Are you thinking what I am thinking? Until we know why he suddenly
wants our values twisted, we are clutching at nothing.

ODEJIMI: So, what do we do instead?

OGUNDELE: Let us hope the rest of the council reject his choice.

ODEJIMI: What if they don't?

OGUNDELE: Well, it means they too will not recognise the truth if we told them.
ODEJIMI: But we cannot just fold our arms.

OGUNDELE: Who says we are going to fold our arms? Let us attend to our ailing king and try to
bring him back to good health. At least by doing that, we can stall whatever plans Serubawon
has. Unless a king dies, another one is never enthroned. That is the custom!

ODEJIMI: And you think that is enough?

OGUNDELE: Shall we just go do that first? (They move.) Wait, Odejimi, what about the gifts
inside?

ODEJIMI: Who cares about his gifts? (He exits. OGUNDELE hesitates, goes back inside to pick
the gift. Lights fade.)
 Two

Bush. Under a big tree. DESOLA stands and sits at interval. She looks around intermittently. It is
apparent she is waiting for somebody. ODEKUNLE creeps on her silently from behind.

ODEKUNLE: Hiyaa!

DESOLA: (She jumps up with fright.) You scared me.

ODEKUNLE: It's a shame you are afraid when it is only me.

DESOLA: What kept you?

ODEKUNLE: I had to pretend to be unwell for a few days. I didn't know of another way to make
my father ask me to stay at home. Otherwise he would have insisted that I join in the hunt.

DESOLA: Has he gone?

ODEKUNLE: Not one of the hunters is left out. Don't forget our king's coronation ceremony is in
a few days. So, it is certainly a big hunt in order to have a sumptuous feast.

DESOLA: Would you rather prefer that?

ODEKUNLE: Nothing is more important to me than you are.

DESOLA: Hm!
ODEKUNLE: What?

DESOLA: Nothing. (Silence.) Why are you silent?

ODEKUNLE: Nothing.

DESOLA: Then, say something.

ODEKUNLE: What?

DESOLA: That you love me.

ODEKUNLE: But you know I do.

DESOLA: I want you to say it.

ODEKUNLE: Desola, daughter of Serubawon..

DESOLA: What? (They both laugh and embrace.) He said after the next harvest, your parents can
come formally to ask for my hand.

ODEKUNLE: Your father said that? He did? Ah, Ogun, our patron-god, I thank you (He starts to
sing, and dance.) Did he tell you himself?

DESOLA: He told my mother, and she told me.

ODEKUNLE: I am really happy to hear this. That means we can stop our secret meetings in the
bush.

DESOLA: Who says this is a secret?

ODEKUNLE: What do you mean? Do people know we meet here?

DESOLA: Yosola knows we meet here. She always sees me to the bush path over there
whenever I am coming too meet you.

ODEKUNLE: You scared me at first. I thought you wanted to say everyone in the land knows.

DESOLA: No, only Yosola knows because she is my friend.

ODEKUNLE: Well, I guess Yosola can keep secrets. But, that will be over soon.

DESOLA: I can't wait, Odekunle.

ODEKUNLE: Same thing with me, but we have to. (Silence.)

DESOLA: What are you thinking? I hope you will sleep well tonight.

ODEKUNLE: Next harvest. I wish it was yesterday. (They both laugh and embrace.)

DESOLA: But I am happy and scared at the same time, Odekunle.

ODEKUNLE: Why are you scared? I thought this is what both of us have always wanted.

DESOLA: I am not scared of getting married to you, Odekunle. In fact, that has always been my
prayers. But, what if something goes wrong? What if something...?

ODEKUNLE: May Ogun forbid. Don't say that!

DESOLA: I hope it doesn't. There was something Yosola told me.

ODEKUNLE: What?

DESOLA: She said she had a dream that scared her.

ODEKUNLE: What dream? (Silence. She turns her back.) Why are you scaring me?

DESOLA: I don't mean to, Odekunle. But, I had the same dream a few days ago.

ODEKUNLE: What did you see in your dream? (Pause.) Please, tell me, what did you see?

DESOLA: Terrible thing. Everybody was there ... a big crowd, all sorts of people. It was our
wedding ceremony. You were with your friends, drinking and chanting a lot of ijala. I have never
seen you that happy. I was also very happy. Indeed, I felt like some goddess incarnated in
human form, and the people as my devoted worshippers. It came to the time for me to chant my
own ekuniyawo, and bid my parents farewell, that, at last, I was going into the warm embrace of
my beloved husband. Every young girl looks forward to that moment... and... there is mine, right
in front of me... but ...

ODEKUNLE: But what?

DESOLA: I lost my voice. Everything in my head was blank, like some strange darkness had
consumed me. The harder I tried, the harder it was for me to remember anything. I began to
sweat and cry at the same time. My mother also began to cry, and you... you were so angry and
humiliated that you threatened to kill me if I did not sing. I was trying to explain, but just could
not find my voice. Odekunle, tell me it was just a dream ... please!

ODEKUNLE: (Sighs.) Have you told anybody?

DESOLA: No, just you. Why?

ODEKUNLE: It is not a good thing to tell people bad dreams.

DESOLA: But, Yosola told her mother and she wants me to tell my father.

ODEKUNLE: You cannot tell your father

DESOLA: Why?

ODEKUNLE: The whole marriage may be affected.

DESOLA: How do you mean? (Silence. He turns away.) What is it? What are you hiding from me?

ODEKUNLE: You know I won't hide things from you. Your father and the hunters' guild have been
having some quarrels lately.

DESOLA: How does that affect the marriage?

ODEKUNLE: My father and yours have been the most at loggerheads, especially regarding the
choice of Prince Olaniyonu.

DESOLA: Prince Olaniyonu? I thought they said the elders chose him.

ODEKUNLE: No, your father did.

DESOLA: But, he couldn't have done that alone.

ODEKUNLE: I don't know how, but he did.

DESOLA: But, that was not what he told my mother. Anyway, it is too late for anyone. Olaniyonu
will be crowned in the village square in a few days. The whole community is already agog with
celebration.

ODEKUNLE: That is it.

DESOLA: What?

ODEKUNLE: His taking the crown. People think ...

DESOLA: Forget what people think, Odekunle. Let us think about ourselves for now. (Silence.)
What are you thinking of?

ODEKUNLE: Of you.
DESOLA: What exactly?

ODEKUNLE: Desola, can we...

DESOLA: Can we do what? Say it! (They embrace. Lights fade.)

 Three

Village square. AJANAKU's coronation. Heavy drumming, singing and dancing. He addresses
the people.

AJANAKU: Amazing ... how the words of our fathers often come to pass, amazing indeed! When
I was a child, an intant grappling and struggling to suckle from its mother's breasts, my father
already saw the greatness in my childish grasp. He saw this crown firmly placed on my head. He
would call me "Ajanaku". He would say "He is Ajanaku, more than 'I have caught a glimpse of
something,' for when you see an elephant, you surely have seen something huge, awesome,
imposing... even impregnable like a rock". And, when I started to crawl on all fours, tumbling and
wobbling my way through infancy, then fought with little children my age and brought them
down in swift childish combats, my father, obviously amused and pleased, would say, "Isn't he
really showing the strength and behaving like Ajanaku?" But, what exactly does an elephant do
to creepers, and thorns, and bushes, and thickets, and a whole forest of trees standing in its way?
He tramples them!

SERUBAWON: The assembly is for the people; and to the king belongs the crowd. Surely the
populace may gather, but only the king can unite them.

AJANAKU: Indeed? I had thought that if a cock crows on earth, its peers in heaven respond. But
do we have such corresponding gestures from those who twirl round us like cracking whips
wielded by excited teenagers behind a masquerade?

OGUNDELE: Will My Lord accept our assurances of utmost support to his monarchy?

AJANAKU: Indeed?

ODEGBAMI: Perhaps there are things My Lord has heard or seen. We will ask that he lets his
council deal with them as deemed appropriate by our customs.
OGUNDELE: Many hands are required to rub camwood on the body. It is by coming together that
a task is thoroughly done. Our elders have decided to stand by royalty.

AJANAKU: Like locusts which draw strength from number to strike down a branch from the
farm?

ODEJIMI: The baldness which afflicts the vulture is hardly the result of its carrying heavy loads.
There is hardly any reason to doubt the support of the elders.

AJANAKU: Indeed the gods may confer greatness, but it is the king who enjoys it. We will not
follow in the footsteps Of our predecessors, and their weak approach to resolving matters.
Everyone should know that ours shall mark a new beginning, and the beginning of an end that
will last forever!

ALL: Kabiyesi o!

AJANAKU: We have been given power to rule; and rule we shall. Celebrate! (He exits, followed by
the Council of Elders except ODEJIMI, OGUNDELE and ODEGBAMI. Villagers also sing and
dance out.)

ODEGBAMI: Let us go into the courtyard and continue the celebration.

ODEJIMI: What do you make of that? Or am I the only one who heard what I heard?

ODEGBAMI: To what are you referring, Odejimi?

ODEJIMI: The royal speech. Perhaps it is more appropriate to call it a declaration of war.

OGUNDELE: A declaration of war on who?

ODEJIMI: Are you saying you didn't hear that, or you didn't understand it either, which one?

OGUNDELE: I do not want to find for myself enemies where there are none.

ODEJIM: Even when the enemy is bent on getting to the bottom of what happens between you
and your wife in your bedroom at night?

ODEGBAMI: You may yet be right, Odejimi. It sounded rather strange to me. What manner of a
child would berate his lineage and openly call his father a weakling and a failure?

ODEJIMI: The hedgehog does not live in the grassland, but in the forest. Certain things are
proper, certain things are not.

OGUNDELE: Such is the time we live in, Odegbami. Times are changing.

ODEJIMI: Whose time? His father did not...

OGUNDELE: Can we leave his father out of this conversation? We have a new king; let us start
thinking of how to help him, not pick holes in a monarchy that has hardly begun.

ODEGBAMI: Better to start on a good footing.

OGUNDELE: And what he said isn't? Shall we just go and join the others?

ODEGBAMI: Certainly. (They exit. Lights fade.)

 Four

ODEJIMl's house. He walks in. Sits down thinking. Music in the background. IYALE, his wife
rushes in.

IYALE: A-ah, Baale mi, are you here? Are you not supposed to be at the palace with the other
elders? (No response.) Anyway, I came to pick my blue gele. The other women say blue is good
for royalty, as if something is wrong with yellow or green. (She rushes in, comes out shortly
holding the blue headgear.) Baale mi, are you still here?

ODEJIMI: Haven't you found your blue gele?

IYALE: This is it. But, I wonder if it is gele that is important, or giving our new king a befitting
welcome into royalty. (Silence.) Baale mi, are you all right?

ODEJIMI: Did I complain of sickness?

IYALE: Are we quarrelling?

ODEJIMI: Am I holding a cane?

IYALE: Oh, I know what you are thinking.

ODEJIMI: What?

IYALE: You cannot solve all the problems in the world, Baale mi. Think less of what you cannot
handle. Do you even think it is only you that worry about Olaniyonu? Until a dog begins to have
stomach troubles and then vomit, it will never listen to any advice to desist from eating food
from the ground.
ODEJIMI: Haven't you seen your blue gele, Woman? Why not leave me with my worry?

IYALE: Let me ask you: how do you think I have managed to keep my position among our
women? It is because l don't give advice when it is not needed. People will not listen to you
unless they can't help the situation. That is the only time they listen even to the most foolish
ideas, just for their burden to be lifted. Worry less, Baale mi, what you can't help, let it be.

ODEJIMI: How can I let it be, Iyale? Everything is just wrong. Why are people not seeing that
things are wrong?

IYALE: How do you want them to see it, if it doesn't affect them and make them cry? Our people
don't bother much about things which do not threaten their peace. Nobody tells the blind that
fire is burning. If he cannot see it, at least he can feel the heat, and smell the smoke coming
from it. When fire burns the dog, it will also burn the hunter holding the rope attached to the
neck of the dog. That is if the hunter is foolish enough to hold on to the rope as the dog burns.
That is what Iya Agba says most times.

ODEJIMI: Iya Agba? Can you talk about people who are sane?

IYALE: Iya Agba, insane? You also still believe what people are saying? (Chuckles.) Oh, why am I
telling you anyway? Aren't you one of them?

ODEJIMI: There is nothing that kills faster than talking too much. Get a handle on your mouth,
Iyale.

IYALE: It is hardly the people who have problem. You know what is troubling this land?

ODEJIMI: You know?

IYALE: Yes, and it is excessive worrying. Why do we waste time thinking instead of doing
something about what troubles us? Iyale won't stop talking about it even if you insist she talks
too much. Okarakara is calling and blood drips from its beak. It says even if its mouth tears into
shreds, it will not stop calling. As long as a problem persists, one should not stop calling for
help.

ODEJIMI: And thinking about a problem is not part of finding a solution to it? Iyale, please just
take your gele and leave my presence.

IYALE: You are not the only one who knows or feels things, Baale mi. When you are done
thinking, you can ask me what I think we should do.

ODEJIMI: You? Before now, I thought you talked too much; but now, you are ridiculous.

IYALE: Life is a bunch of proverbs, Baale mi. You can never know it all. Iya Agba speaks the truth
(She exits.)

ODEJIMI: Iya Agba? No wonder everybody is insane! (Sighs. Lights fade)

 Five

Palace. AJANAKU is in council with the elders. Two women and a man are present.

AJANAKU: If my memory isn't failing me, this same land issue was tackled by my father. I
thought a decision was taken on it. Why do we still have to deal with it?

SERUBAWON: The case is a complicated one. Your father couldn't tackle it for fear of hurting
either of the groups.

ODEJIMI: But he suggested that they should work together; mutual benefit of some kind. That
makes sense at least, considering how tricky the subject is.

AJANAKU: Whose land is it?

WOMAN I: The land belongs to my ancestors, according to the story my father told me before he
died.

MAN: My own fathers had tilled the soil before her own father was born. I have been farming on
the same land before she was born.

WOMAN II: Liar!

ODEGBAMI: Hold your tongue!

AJANAKU: What is on that land in dispute?

MAN: Cocoa is on one side, My Lord. Vegetable is on another, and there are palm fruits on the
rest.

AJANAKU: You have all that on the same piece of land?

OGUNDELE: It is an expanse of rich soil, Kabiyesi.

AJANAKU: Indeed?

MAN: I work day and night on the farm with my only son. These thieves just want to take it from
me!

WOMAN I: It is you who have stolen the land that belongs to us!

ODEJIMI: It is all right. Perhaps my lord will allow us to say a few words.

AJANAKU: Go ahead.

ODEJIMI: (Turns to WOMAN I.) You, what do you do?

WOMAN I: I sell okra in the market.

ODEJIMI: (Turns to WOMAN II.) And what about you?

WOMAN II: My husband is also a farmer. We both .

ODEJIMI: I didn't ask about your husband. What do you do?

WOMAN II: She is my mother.

ODEGBAMI: He says what do you do, not who is your mother?

WOMAN: I also sell yam tubers in the market.

AJANAKU: Are you her only child?

WOMAN II: No, My Lord. There are five of us; the rest are men.

AJANAKU: And what have your brothers been doing while this old man tilled the soil alone, with
only the support of his little boy?

WOMAN I: My Lord, your father the late king was a friend to my father. He had already ordered
the land to be returned to us.

ODEJIMI: He asked what your sons were doing, not what Oba Akinjobi told you.

OGUNDELE: It is obvious why her children didn't work on the farm. Who doesn't know that
laziness is a very terrible disease?

ODEGBAMI: Even at that, Ogundele, this land issue was not actually resolved by our late king.
Why did she say it was?

AJANAKU: Is that question really necessary, Odegbami? It is obvious all they want are the
produce from the farm, and not the hard work that goes with it.

MAN: Thank you, My Lord. May our ancestors continue to guide you.

AJANAKU: At the same time, you have been very selfish. How can only you sit on that rich
expanse of land? An individual does not make a crowd. Both of you are not good examples.
Laziness and selfishness are two of a kind. Royalty cannot even boast of such diverse and
robust harvest. From now on, we will manage the farm, including everything on it. We shall tell
you our decision on it in due course. Let us have the next case. (MAN, WOMAN I and WOMAN II
are still waiting.) I said you may go to your homes. (They all get up reluctantly, still confused.
They move out dejectedly.)

ODEJIMI: But, it is obvious the old man has worked on that farm. I had thought My Lord will
consider that at least.

AJANAKU: How about the women who truly own the land as custom demands?

ODEJIMI: Why didn't they do something while it was a thick forest? Why come out to claim it
now that the harvest approaches?

OGUNDELE: But, it still does not change the fact that he was selfish. How can only one person
plant cocoa, palm fruits and vegetables at the same time? (IYA AGBA enters.)

IYA AGBA: The king who buried coral beads; and the king who digs them up for people's benefit,
both will have their names remembered only differently.

AJANAKU: What is she doing here?

IYA AGBA: Because a child committed the first act, and was not caught; he was happy. He
forgot that misfortune does not kill; it is indulgent happiness that kills.
OGUNDELE: You shouldn't be in the palace.

IYA AGBA: Really? And, what are you people? They deceive themselves greatly; whoever collects
rain water with a sieve. Do you know what fate awaits a treacherous arrangement? Whoever
incites a terrible force to fight will rue his folly.

AJANAKU: What are you all waiting for? Get her out of here.

IYA AGBA: (Starts a song. The singers pick up the chorus.) The leper said two things, one of
which is a lie; he said after he had struck his child with his palm, he also pinched him severely
with his fingernails.(She starts to sing again.) Erin ka re'le o wa joba, erin yeeye; erin yeeye.
(Singers pick it up.) You can only fool yourself when you claim to have done the impossible! You
remember the tale of the elephant, don't you? (She exits singing. AJANAKU is furious.)

AJANAKU: (Gets up in anger.) What was she doing here, that mad hag, what?

OGUNDELE: We were also surprised, My Lord.

AJANAKU: Nonsense. She mustn't come to my palace again. Make sure she doesn't! we must
not set our royal eyes again on her. (He storms out.)

ODEGBAMI: Who knows what she wants?

OGUNDELE: I wonder.

ODEJIMI: Have you forgotten she used to live in this same place?
OGUNDELE: Since when has she lost that privilege?

ODEGBAMI: Is her madness so serious she doesn't know where to head for? (They all leave
talking. Lights fade.)
 Six

Palace. Sitting with her back to the inner chambers is IYA AGBA. Shortly, AJANAKU comes out,
followed by OMOYENI, his wife.

OMOYENI: There... your visitor.

AJANAKU: What are you doing here again?

IYA AGBA: Are you talking to me?

AJANAKU: Who else would I be talking to? What do you want in my palace?

IYA AGBA: "My palace" is never the right word for a king Worthy of his position to say, Olaniyonu.

AJANAKU: You must call me by my rightful name. I am Ajanaku, conqueror of lands and forests!

IYA AGBA: Oh, true indeed. The lizard may resemble a crocodile, but they are certainly different. I
thought you had changed.

AJANAKU: How can you know? Madness is the worst enemy of memory; you lose every sense
of time, and roam the streets in mental darkness. Don't you experience it daily?

IYA AGBA: Then you must remember your own moment of madness. It plagues you as I can see.

AJANAKU: What happened in the past has no meaning to me.

IYA AGBA: If it meant nothing to you, surely you won't be running from it as you are trying to do.
It is only people who forget, our ancestors don't.

AJANAKU: What do you know about ancestors?

IYA AGBA: They don't forget wrongs, they never overlook rights either. What you took from me
and others will be returned in due course of time.

AJANAKU: The only thing that follows you around is the shame of your adultery. My father did
the right thing by having you excommunicated. You defile this ground of my palace by standing
on it.

IYA AGBA: Your palace? I thought this place belongs to my husband, Akinjobi.

AJANAKU: Akinjobi is dead. His palace died with him.

IYA AGBA: You still deny Akinjobi the honour he deserves even in death, after deceiving and lying
to him. Anyway what will a nestling do for its mother other than become mature and fly away?

AJANAKU: Your guilt follows you around. Isn't it obvious am destined for this?

IYA AGBA: Shame. You only kill a man, not his good deed. Come to think of it whoever thought it
wise to have you defile this ground and desecrate the throne by sitting on it, must have lost their
head.

AJANAKU: It is you who have lost your head. Leave here now, or I will have you thrown out. Get
me the armed guards. (OMOYENI exits.)

IYA AGBA: (She dances and sings.) Erin ka re'le o wa joba, erin yeeye; erin yeeye. (The singers
pick it up.) What is being thrown out by you compared to what you did many years ago? Is
caressing a dead body not better than killing it?

AJANAKU: Oh, caressing of course. I almost forgot that. Isn't that what you enjoy doing most?

IYA AGBA: Did you enjoy doing it? Do you still remember how it tasted? Surely you do, and have
turned it into a duty, running after everything in wrapper without shame (OMOYENI returns with
two palace guards.) And this pathetic one is also under your spell. How great is your power!

AJANAKU: What exactly do you want, mad woman?

IYA AGBA: Just to be sure that I am still mad; I needed to hear it from you. (Facing OMOYENI.)
Are you not Ajasa, the blacksmith's daughter? (No response.) Are you not Adunni's daughter? I
thought they said Delani worked in your father's blacksmith furnace for months in order to pay
your bride price. Or, is the "madness" of Olaniyonu so strong that you also forgot what Delani
has done to have your hand in marriage? You forgot the young man's hard work in your father's
smithy in order to marry you. And, what is this I see protruding heavily in front of you? Whose
child will that be?

AJANAKU: And how does that ...

IYA AGBA: Let her speak! (Silence.) So, you also decided to join our company of madness. No
wonder he recognises it. How can he if he is not living with and raising bastard children with
another mad woman? The owner of a habit will not travel and leave his habit behind. They will
travel together. You really have matured in your rascality. Your father will be so proud of you,
Olaniyonu. (She sings.) Erin ka re'le o waj'oba, erin yeeye; erin yeeye. (The singers sing along.)

AJANAKU: I am Ajanaku. It is from childhood that the elephant has been greater than the
buffalo.

IYA AGBA: Really? To the real elephant belongs the forest; all other ones are pretenders. To the
rafter belongs the load; the shelf only pretends. (Chuckles.) Olaniyonu, no matter how much rain
beats the tree stump, it cannot change its position. Yes, indeed, you are Ajanaku; so very big
now, mighty, full of strength, but with vain glory and an empty brain. You are doomed to fail.
(She sings.) Erin ka re'le o waj'oba, erin yeeye; erin yeeye. (The singers sing along.)

AJANAKU: You are totally insane and incurable!

IYA AGBA: Of course, as you proclaimed me many years ago, and deceived my husband with
your deceitful conducts.

AJANAKU: Nobody listens to the rantings of a mad woman.

IYA AGBA: Your days of lying gradually come to an end. You will soon find out. (She sings.) Erin
ka re'le o wa joba, erin yeeye; erin yeeye. (The singers sing along.)

AJANAKU: (Beats his chest.) I am the king; I am the law, and you stand forever accused.

IYA AGBA: You stand forever plagued by your deceit.

AJANAKU: I am not the one living on the outskirts of the land; you are. If anyone is plagued by
anything, it is you. Your husband, my father, is gone. He should have killed yous perhaps part of
his mistakes. You can at least heave a sigh of relief that nobody can kill you again for your
unfaithfulness.

IYA AGBA: My husband and your father? Oh, pity you still live your life on that lie. Better if you
had killed me than...

AJANAKU: Of what use is his killing you anyway, what for? I think my father was right after all.
Who would wish to take over the dung beetle's habit of rolling dung about? Why waste such
royal effort on you? You are already dead. What use is left of a mad, old woman anyway?
IYA AGBA: Did you hear him? Did you hear the liar and brute rascal? How is your father? They
say his hand turned our tradition upside down. (SERUBAWON comes in, greets AJANAKU.) Ah,
just as I was asking about him.

AJANAKU: Can you see now that your madness is incurable? My father, the late king is dead, yet
you call Serubawon my father.

IYA AGBA: Is that? Tell him, Serubawon. Tell the bastard child who his real father is.

SERUBAWON: What is she doing here? What are you doing here?

IYA AGBA: Isn't it timely that we three are together after all these years? Why not tell him, that he
might know who he really is?

SERUBAWON: Guards, get her out of here!

IYA AGBA: You cannot run away from your past, Serubawon. The nose cannot become so big
that it takes speech out of the mouth. Tell him he is nothing but a huge dirt on a white cloth; a
black pigeon in a poultry of well-bred fowls. Tell this rascal here wearing the crown that he does
not belong in this household. Tell him he was sired by a goat; a dishonest goat and a shameless
baboon. Tell this goat he has no place in a horse's stable, tell him! (She sings.) Erin ka re'le o wa
j'oba, erin yeeye; erin yeeye .. (The singers sing along.)

SERUBAWON: (To guards.) I say get her out of here!

IYA AGBA: Don't touch me! If a war captures one by mistake; a curse will never. Akinjobi has his
legitimate sons; this one is never one of them.
SERUBAWON: What are you waiting for? Are you mad? I said bundle her out!

IYA AGBA: Stop your deceit before it is too late, Serubawon. Wrapping the hilt in leather will not
keep a machete from breaking loose! (Guards try to grab her) If you dare lay your hands on me!

AJANAKU: Bundle her out! (Guards lift her up. She struggles with them.)

IYA AGBA: Disdainful look does not kill, Serubawon. Tell him he sits on a stool that will burn and
roast him alive!

(She is taken out. AJANAKU paces with anger. Guards return.)

SERUBAWON: How did she come in here? Answer me!

GUARD I: We.. we don't know, My Lord!

SERUBAWON: What do you mean you don't know? Every child in this land knows she is insane.
How did she gain entrance into the palace?

GUARDS I & II: (Variously.) We were in the courtyard, My Lord! We didn't know when she came
into the palace! She must have used the restricted door, My Lord!

SERUBAWON: Mad men! What were you doing when she was using the restricted door? I said
what were you doing when she used that door? Be vigilant. That is why you work in the palace.
Be vigilant!

AJANAKU: Let them be! (Silence.) What are you waiting for? Get out! (Guards run out. He paces
about angrily.) "A huge dirt on a white cloth"; "a black pigeon in a poultry of well-bred fowls".
What does she mean I am a goat? Serubawon, what was she talking about?
SERUBAWON: Don't tell me you are giving any useful thought to her words. Who would give
serious thought to the rantings of a mad woman?

AJANAKU: She called me a bastard. What about that one? She said it more than once.

SERUBAWON: There is nobody in this land who doesn't know that she is insane. She can say
anything. She is completely insane.

AJANAKU: She called me a goat in a horse's stable... a pigeon among fowls, what does that
mean?

SERUBAWON: You should not give any thought to a mad woman's rant. Your father learnt that
too late. But, when he did, he put her in her proper place, where all mad people go. Don't bother
yourself about her ranting.

AJANAKU: I don't want to see her again. She mustn't come to this palace again. Do something
about it. I don't care what, just do something about it! (He exits angrily. SERUBAWON is shaken.
He also exits. OMOYENI is alone, disturbed. Lights fade.)
 Seven

Palace. Elders are in council. AJANAKU is with them. Some visitors are present. Serious
discussion in progress.

AJANAKU: Shall we hear the case before us?

ODEGBAMI: Perhaps, My Lord will consider the plight of the people of Oguno before any other
one?

AJANAKU: What do you mean?

ODEGBAMI: Two of their people are here to ask for our help. As we know, the people of Oguno
pay tributes to us, and they have never failed. Now that they need our help, we cannot afford to
turn our back on them.

AJANAKU: Who says we cannot afford to do anything? Who is commanding us to do things?

ODEJIMI: What Odegbami meant was that...

SERUBAWON: He understands what Odegbami meant.

AJANAKU: Let him explain what Odegbami meant to us.

ODEGBAMI: Pardon my approach, My Lord. But these people are here. They can explain things
by themselves.
MAN I: We beg Your Highness to listen to our plight. For several moons now, we have been
invaded at will by some group whose identity we don't know. They have taken our children away.
Our land is continually threatened. We don't have the power to match these people. We may be
helpless, but we have the assurance you can help us.

OGUNDELE: How long has this been happening?

MAN I: Several moons. The pains have even dulled our sense of time. We live our lives in
absolute fear and trepidation.

AJANAKU: We know your plight. We also know you deserve no mercy.

MAN II: Aah, we beg you! Our people are in bondage. They die every day in a strange territory.
They cry in a foreign land!

AJANAKU: Enough! (Silence.) What was my message to your people just before the new
planting season?

MAN I: You wanted increase in the tributes we pay.

AJANAKU: Why hasn't that royal request received a positive gesture from your people?

MAN II: But, we increased the tributes before your coronation upon your request. Just after your
coronation, we did the same thing. Our people thought we needed time to adjust to that
frequent and sudden changes before responding to another one.

MAN I: We would never disobey you, but we have children to feed, My Lord. If we keep
increasing the tributes at the rate you asked for them, there will be nothing left to feed our own
children.
SERUBAWON: Are those children not the same ones in a foreign territory?

ODEJIMI: I don't think that is the right question to ask, Serubawon. These people are in pain.

AJANAKU: Who cares if they all die! (Silence.) We will help you, but you must bring the tributes
first before any other consideration. That is our stand!

MAN I: Aaah!

MAN II: Please, have mercy on us!

MAN I: Only few people are left. Most of them are old women and babies whose parents have
either been killed or abducted.

MAN II: We cannot even go back to our village. Our assailants will kill us if they laid their hands
on us ... please help us.

ODEJIMI: What exactly do you want?

MAN I: You have hunters here ... great hunters. They can help us get back our people taken
away. We shall be eternally grateful to you.

AJANAKU: Shall we move on to the next case?

MAN I: (Angrily.) What kind of a man are you? You are supposed to help and not push us away
like some useless lepers. What did we do to offend you?
SERUBAWON: Watch the tone of your voice, Gbeleyi.

MAN I: Then tell him how cordial our people's relationship with yours has been before this time.
Tell him we are not just neighbours. We are kinsmen, from the lineage. We don't deserve this
kind of treatment from him. This is not the way to treat family!

AJANAKU: Really?

MAN I: Your father didn't treat us like this! He didn't make paying tributes a condition to help us
in times of need. He loved us, and we loved him in return. He was very good to us. That was the
mark of a good leader!

SERUBAWON: You talk out of sense, Gbeleyi.

OGUNDELE: What insult! How can you say that?

MAN I: Why won't I say that? We are helpless people in urgent need of assistance. Must he
further humiliate us?

AJANAKU: (Silence. AJANAKU rises slowly and goes to him.) How well did you know my father?

MAN I: He was my friend.. my very good friend, and a kind man.

AJANAKU: Did you know how he died? (Silence. ) I will tell you. First, he lost his voice, then his
limb, and finally his eyes. For several moons, he couldn't move, confined to a spot like a
vegetable, gradually diminishing like salt placed where dew can touch it.
ODEJIMI: We will ask Your Highness to please, stop.

AJANAKU: (Raises his hands up to ask for silence.) After that, he became completely lost to his
ailment -decaying and smelling to be specific. No herbs could cure him. He lost every sense of
time, and of ever being a human being... he was simply reduced to nothing!

MAN I: This is outrageous! How can you say this about your father?

AJANAKU: He may have been kind, but he was lonely when it mattered. He was alone ... and
miserable. I am not my father! Guards! (Two guards standing by rush forward.) Seize this fool
and strip him off his clothes. Put him outside under the scorching sunlight, so that his weak
bones can slowly burn unprotected. He will learn what it means to be really humiliated!
(Pandemonium as MAN I struggles. They remove his buba, and he suddenly draws a knife.
Guards back off. Elders react.)

MAN I: Come and remove my sokoto if you dare! (Silence and tension. Guards stand away
terrified. AJANAKU approaches him slowly. MAN I also retreats slowly.)

MAN I: You speak ill of your father ... insanity. That is insanity!

AJANAKU: I am your king. You will not dare lay your hands on me!

MAN I: You will not humiliate me! (Silence, tension rises. MAN I stabs himself AJANAKU turns
quickly. SERUBAWON and elders lead him in. MAN II rushes to MAN I as he slowly goes down.
Guards carry him out. Elders return.)

ODEJIMI: Why would he do that?

OGUNDELE: That served him right. You don't come into a palace and slap the king; that is
tantamount to desecrating tradition.
ODEGBAMI: Slow down, Ogundele. Those men were under a lot of pressure. We cannot totally
blame them.

OGUNDELE: Even when he drew a dagger at the king?

ODEJIMI: What did you call that, stripping him naked in the presence of the whole world? He
tried to defend himself.

OGUNDELE: By threatening everyone with a dagger? He could have stabbed one of us. Maybe he
should have stabbed you in the eye.

ODEJIMI: Did he look like someone who intended to stab?

OGUNDELE: Why did he draw the dagger in the first place?

ODEJIMI: What about the condition Ajanaku gave to help rescue their people from the hands of
their abductors? Was that fair to a people who held allegiance to us?

OGUNDELE: What exactly do you have against this king, Odejimi?

ODEJIMI: What do I have against him? Nothing.

OGUNDELE: I don't believe you. You hardly see anything good in what he does.

ODEJIMI: I can never see anything good in someone who takes a crown through the back door.
OGUNDELE: That is it!

ODEJIMI: That is what?

OGUNDELE: They asked the bird Awoko, "Did you insult the king?" Awoko replied, "When would I
have time to insult the king, given the task of singing two hundred songs in the morning; two
hundred in the afternoon, and two hundred at night?" You must stop your disdain for that young
man.

ODEJIMI: Who says I hate him?

OGUNDELE: Your attitude does. Secret designs only ruin a community that works for its
improvement.

ODEJIMI: Where are you getting these ideas from, Ogundele? Who says I am working something
in secret?

OGUNDELE: But you will support people like those men who just came here and tried to kill him?

ODEJIMI: I will support whatever is honest and done in good faith.

OGUNDELE: Ajanaku is the king. Start living in that reality! (Lights fade on them slowly.)
 Eight

Bush. ODEKUNLE and DESOLA are together She rests on his laps. The mood is romantic.

DESOLA: Sing that ijala for me again.

ODEKUNLE: Which one?

DESOLA: The one you sang at the last Omo Ode rites.

ODEKUNLE: There are so many of them, which particular one?

DESOLA: The one about hunters who failed to catch any game.

ODEKUNLE: Oh, that one? But, I have better ones.

DESOLA: I like that one. Sing it.

ODEKUNLE: All right. (Clears throat and begins to sing.) You can't really enjoy the song while
sitting. Maybe we should dance. (They both get up. He starts to sing, and she dances. He also
begins to move. AJANAKU's bodyguards creep in on them, without being noticed.) I have
composed a special one for our wedding.

DESOLA: Really? Odekunle, I trust you. Let me hear that.

ODEKUNLE: No, wait till that day.

DESOLA: Please. Just a bit from it.

ODEKUNLE: All right. (He chants and they start to dance. Guards pounce on them.)

GUARD I: Stop. You run, you die! (They are afraid.) You stand on this side. (GUARD II drags
DESOLA to another side.) Face the other side!

DESOLA: Please, don't kill me! (AJANAKU appears.)

AJANAKU: Bring her here!

ODEKUNLE: You can't take her anywhere! (ODEKUNLE struggles; he is thrown to the ground by
the guards. He is pinned down, while AJANAKU approaches.)

AJANAKU: I am here because of her. I am not interested in you. But, you will both do as I say, or
you die. (Silence. He gives instruction as he moves out.) Bring her to me! (GUARD II drags
DESOLA out, she pleads as she is dragged out. GUARD I stands with ODEKUNLE. DESOLA can
be heard crying and begging.)

DESOLA: Aaah, Kabiyesi, please, don't do this! Aaaah! (She screams. Lights fade.)
 Nine

Lere's house. ODEKUNLE sits dejectedly. It is apparent he has been crying. YELE, LERE and
DELE are with him.

YELE: They did that to Desola in your presence? What did you do?

ODEKUNLE: What could I have done?

DELE: He asked what you did, not what you couldn't do!

ODEKUNLE: They were armed, and I was alone.

DELE: They were armed; is that what you did, trying to find out if they were armed or not, while
they took your woman's pride?

ODEKUNLE: (Crying.) Nothing. I... I couldn't do anything!

LERE: That was cowardice, my friend. Sheer cowardice!

YELE: Didn't you hear him? He said they were many, and armed.

DELE: Stop saying rubbish, Yele. They seized his woman in his presence.

LERE: He did nothing.

DELE: They spread her flat on the ground in the bush.

LERE: He did nothing

DELE: Then, they forcefully and vigorously took her pride.

LERE: He did nothing.

DELE: Well, you can as well continue with the leftover and do nothing!

YELE: I don't think this is the right thing to say to a friend at a time like this. We should be
consoling him.

LERE: What are we supposed to say so that he will be consoled?

DELE: I am not surprised. It is only a bastard child who doesn't resemble his parents. Who does
not know in this land that his father is also a coward? (ODEKUNLE springs up and grabs him.)

ODEKUNLE: Don't you say such things about my father!

DELE: Why didn't you fight back over there! (Others separate them.)

LERE: We are really sorry this happened, Odekunle.

YELE: Where did this really happen?

ODEKUNLE: At the kolanut farm.

LERE: But the kolanut farm is right in the heart of the thick forest. What were you both doing
there?

YELE: What sort of question is that? You have two lovers, and you are asking what they are
doing in the corridor at night.

ODEKUNLE: That was our secret meeting place.

DELE: Did you hear that? They had a secret meeting place, but we didn't know about it. And we
are supposed to be his best friends. This is just fine. The snake that travels alone gets killed by
the farmer.

ODEKUNLE: She insisted we shouldn't tell anybody.

DELE: So, why are you telling us now?

LERE: Still you should have tried to defend yourself? Weren't you holding a cutlass or something?

ODEKUNLE: You think I didn't try to do something? Do you ever imagine I will just fold my arms
and let them assault Desola without doing something? They meant to kill me. They threatened
to harm her. (He bursts into tears again.) He.. he threatened to kill her if I fought them. He would
still have had his way. He does always and nobody stops him!

YELE: He threatened?

LERE: He? Who?

YELE: But I thought you said they were many and armed.

DELE: You see? He is changing his words again. And you expect me to pity this coward and liar.

ODEKUNLE: I am not lying!

LERE: Who threatened? Who is "he"? (Silence.)

ODEKUNLE: What will you do to him if I told you? What can you even do to him?

LERE: But, at least let us know.

ODEKUNLE: (Sighs, not talking. )

YELE: You wanted us to know. Isn't that why you came to us?

ODEKUNLE: And you have! What else?

LERE: Please... you can't keep this to yourself. Whoever conceals a disease from his medicine
man is beyond help.

DELE: Why are you begging him? The wife was the one they made love to, but it is the husband
who got pregnant. (Silence.)

ODEKUNLE: All I want you to do is to go and see Desola. Let me know how she is doing. I can't
face her. I feel really ashamed. Our meeting in the bush was my idea. If I didn't suggest it,
perhaps this would not have happened to her.

DELE: There he goes again, blaming himself.

ODEKUNLE: What exactly do you want me to do? You said I am a liar and a coward, what else is
there? Let me be what you think, just let me be!

LERE: Who did this to you ... who?

ODEKUNLE: (Sighs.) Ajanaku.

ALL: (Exclaim.) What! Otio! Ogun o! (Silence.)

LERE: Why would he do that?

DELE: What does he want?

YELE: What does he want, or what is wrong with him? This is madness!

DELE: Somebody has to stop him.

LERE: And, who might that be? Wherever the jackal lurks, the chicken must give the place a wide
berth.

DELE: What are you saying?

LERE: Exactly what I am saying. Caution!

DELE: When are we going to end this season of cowardice? Let us march to the palace and
confront him.

YELE: The baboon does not send an ultimatum to the leopard. Dele, slow down!

DELE: So we should let him destroy these young ones just like that? What is wrong with us in
this land?

YELE: Whether a gun has a trigger or not, who would permit it to be pointed at his head? It is
foolish to take foolish chances.

DELE: Then your idea of standing up against tyranny is foolishness?

LERE: It is foolishness and stupidity together if you don't have the right resources. Dele, think
about it. Whatever we must do should be done with caution. We are talking about challenging a
king. This is different from setting a trap for a rodent in the bush.

DELE: So that is how you see it?

YELE: What he meant is that this needs careful thought. Unless an elephant swallows
something, it doesn't turn its bloated stomach to the hunter. We are angry because of what he
did to our friend, but caution, anger does not know that its owner has no leg to stand on.

LERE: Unrestrained daring makes the acrobatic masquerade to expose his private in public.
Daring pleasurable activities also require restraint, not to talk of challenging a merciless tyrant
on the prowl. Are we strangers in this community? Don't we hear how cruel and chaotic his
decisions have been?
DELE: You all surprise me with your utterances. If a tick fastens onto a dog's mouth, does one
ask a jackal to dislodge it?

ODEKUNLE: Can you just stop your empty boast, Dele? One's mouth should not be more
powerful than one's hands. Oh, how the hand of time turns and deals with us for our
wrongdoings! When this same Ajanaku forcefully took Delani's wife, what did we do? We all said,
"Good for Delani," and called him names because he was not our friend. Because he has no
parents. An orphan, but a good one. We were so reckless with the things we said about that
young man. Yet, he had worked so hard in your father's smithy just to marry your sister, and
raise a family of his own. Because it involved our own friend, we used the cord of friendship to
sever the cord of truth. And you were the most antagonistic.

DELE: Well, Delani's case was pathetic enough. But how about Omoyeni who decided to leave
him? Is she not Yele's sister? What did his parents do about it? Yele's mother was happy. Who
doesn't want to be the in-law of the king?

YELE: So, this is the time to spread blame?

DELE: Didn't you hear him now? As if I was the only one who poked fun at Delani.

YELE: How are we to know he was going to do something more terrible than that one?

DELE: Indeed, how are we to know?

LERE: Well, now that he has done, what do we do?

DELE: Are you asking me?

LERE: I am asking us. (ODEKUNLE gets up, moving towards the exit.)

YELE: Odekunle, where are you going?

LERE: What are you planning to do? (He exits without responding)

DELE: What is wrong with him?

LERE: What won't be wrong with him?

YELE: Can we just talk about what to do? (Lights fade slowly.)
 Ten

SERUBAWON'S house. DESOLA sits brooding, sobbing quietly. YOSOLA, her friend enters.

YOSOLA: You are here. And, your mother said she hasn't seen you since sunrise today. (Silence.)
Are you all right, Desola? What is it? You should be happy your head has spoken well. Your in-
laws wait anxiously for you to join them. Smile, my friend, your prayers are answered. (DESOLA
bursts into more tears.) What is the meaning of this?

DESOLA: You don't know?

YOSOLA: Know what?

DESOLA: Can't you see?

YOSOLA: See what?

DESOLA: No prayers were answered here, Yosola. This is a torrent of curses.

YOSOLA: Don't say such things, Desola. It is dangerous to think of evil, when one is preparing
the bridal bed.

DESOLA: And, you think mine is really a bridal bed, or of shame? How can I face the people?
What am I going to say to them? How do I begin? How do I explain it? People of this land, I am
finished. Wrecked, ruined, destroyed totally!

DEMOKE: (Entering.) A-ah, kai! Don't say that again! What is wrong with you? What is it, Yosola,
what is wrong with your friend?
YOSOLA: I don't know. She has not spoken to me.

DESOLA: Maami, you don't want to know what has happened to me.

DEMOKE: Nothing bad will happen to you. Listen, I will carry your children's children, on my back.
I don't know why Eledua gave only you to your father and I. We tried our best to have other
children, but nothing. I know you will have a hundred. I will not be tired of carrying them on my
back either.

DESOLA: I am not going to have any children, Maami.

DEMOKE: Don't say that. May Ogun forbid!

DESOLA: Where was Ogun when he was doing it? Maami, where was Ogun when ... when... he
was doing it?

DEMOKE: Doing what? Who did what? (DESOLA sobs.) Yosola, what is your friend talking about?

YOSOLA: I don't know. Desola, what are you saying? Who did what?

DESOLA: Ah, Yosola, I am finished. Look at them.. people, many people, drinking, laughing and
waiting for my own white handkerchief with my pride glowing. But, there will be no white
handkerchief .. only ashes of shame, torn baskets, gunpowder and jeers!

YOSOLA: Don't say that.

DESOLA: He has taken it, Yosola. He ... took it!

DEMOKE: Took what? Who took what?

DESOLA: I have to talk to Baami. I have to talk to him!

DEMOKE: I am your mother, talk to me.

(SERUBAWON enters with ODEGBAMI.)

SERUBAWON: What is the noise about? What is going on here?

DEMOKE: It is your daughter. Help me, egbami o!

SERUBAWON: Can you all leave us? We want to be alone.

DEMOKE: You cannot be alone now. We have to get to the root of this.

SERUBAWON: Root of what?

DEMOKE: Desola, talk, this is your father.

DESOLA: He took it, Baami!

SERUBAWON: Who took what?

DESOLA: He has killed me, Baami. He dragged me out completely naked... out of this
honourable house, into the jeering laughter in the marketplace. I am naked and empty!

SERUBAWON: Will you just talk to me? Who took what?

DESOLA: Ah, Odekunle ... oh, 'Dekunle o!

YOSOLA: Ehen, what did you say? My brother did what?

DEMOKE: What did Odekunle do to you?

DESOLA: Ah, Odekunle ... aah!

YOSOLA: Did you both..! Ah, Desola, don't tell me you..!

SERUBAWON: What? What did Odekunle and Desola do?

(YOSOLA gets up suddenly and runs out. They call her to no avail.)

ODEGBAMI: Well, I think we are making some sense out of the noise and cries. Desola, what did
you and Odekunle do?

DESOLA: Odekunle did not do anything to me!

SERUBAWON: Odekunle did not do anything to you, so who did?

DESOLA: Aah, Baami!

SERUBAWON: Stop crying and talk to me!

DEMOKE: Don't shout at her. Can't you see she is in pain? (Also sobbing.) Desola, please you
promised not to shame me. You said no matter what happens, you will not shame me; you will
not make me cry.. please don't put me to shame.

DESOLA: I ... I want to talk to Baami alone.

DEMOKE: But, I am your mother, Desola... please.

DESOLA: Let me talk to Baami o!

ODEGBAMI: Serubawon, whatever it is, our ancestors will help you to tackle it. (He exits.)

SERUBAWON: So, what is it?

DESOLA: We went there as usual ... Odekunle and I.

DEMOKE: Went where?

SERUBAWON: Will you allow her to talk?

DESOLA: The kolanut farm. Then he came with his guards .. all armed. Then they seized
Odekunle...and gripped me ...! (Lights fade.)
 Eleven

Palace. AJANAKU is with OMOYENI; she is pregnant. They are in a romantic mood.

AJANAKU: (Playfully.) Has he kicked you today at all?

OMOYENI: A-ah, six times! Six good times.. oh, there he goes again!

AJANAKU: (Laughing loudly.) That is my kind of strength .. another elephant sired from my loins.
From the loins of Ajanaku, who tramples the forest and homestead alike!

OMOYENI: Who doesn't know that? O-ooh, there he goes again!

AJANAKU: (Laughing more loudly.) He knows his father is here with him. Let me touch him. (He
places his hand on her protruding tummy.) Now, see that. He becomes calm.

OMOYENI: Oh, he smiles.

AJANAKU: He did?

OMOYENI: Yes, he just did. I know whenever he does smile.

AJANAKU: Amazing! (AJANAKU laughs very loud. SERUBAWON enters. They both pay no
attention to him.)

SERUBAWON: Olaniyonu, we need to talk. (Silence. AJANAKU continues to play with his wife.)
This is very important. We must talk now! (AJANAKU nods at OMOYENI to excuse them. She
gets up reluctantly.)

OMOYENI: Don't tarry too long, My Lord. Your son needs his father. (She exits.)

AJANAKU: Did you hear that, Serubawon? Whatever brought you must be brief. Ajanaku's son
needs his father.

SERUBAWON: How could you do that?

AJANAKU: Perhaps my memory fails me. Do what exactly?

SERUBAWON: You make me sick when you pretend. After everything I did to make you what you
have become, how could you?

AJANAKU: Have you come to remind royalty of the services long offered and duly compensated?
You chose the wrong time then. Perhaps it should have been in an open arena, with people to
applaud you, if that is what you want. (OMOYENI peeps from the door; she is not seen.)

SERUBAWON: Who is talking about any service?

AJANAKU: Well, then speak your mind.

SERUBAWON: What did you do with the ninety-day rites?

AJANAKU: I did what you wanted of me. And, now that you mentioned it, I think it is fine we talk.
Sometimes I wonder if that was not a curse, what I had to do for me to stay alive, and thanks to
your mistake.
SERUBAWON: I did what was necessary for you to sit on the throne.

AJANAKU: And you also turned me into your plaything, don't forget to add that. Is that not the
sixth and last one? Then, let us have your all-too important final ritual bath, and I can sneeze you
and your rites out of my troubled life for good! Don't worry, keep the position you have the king's
most loyal subject; his confidant and medicine man, everything you have except the throne. Who
knows what plans you had initially?

SERUBAWON: What in the name of our ancestors are you saying?

AJANAKU: Is your ninety-day ritual not enough burden for a king to bear, with all the opposition
coming from every quarters? You think I don't know that my chiefs do not like me, starting from
that ingrate, Odejimi? All I do the whole of my life on the throne is to count days.. every ninety
days! But, you should thank me for keeping my words. I keep my words, Serubawon, for you and
me to maintain our positions; you the chief priest, and me, the miserable king at the mercy of
the chief priest, and don't question my judgement about it!

SERUBAWON: Is that why you have been reckless?

AJANAKU: Me? Reckless? Tell me; did you really want me to sit comfortably on this throne of
my father? Did you? Or you just wanted a toy; a foolish fool that will run and pant at your every
beck and call?

SERUBAWON: You are out of your mind.

AJANAKU: Of course, insane even. But, just be honest with me for once, Serubawon. You didn't
find any of my brothers willing to run errands for you, so you picked me. And, of course, the
foolish Olaniyonu believed you, Serubawon, and you had your way. Perhaps, Iya Agba was right
afterall. I am Ajanaku, the big and senseless elephant stalking the community in shame and
foolishness. I sit on the throne. But it is you who hold the rope and the hook in your hand. And
me? Just the miserable fish swallowing gullibly and hungrily without sense. So whatever
appeals to you, you do with the hook, the rope and fish. How brilliant can that be!
SERUBAWON: What is this nonsense talk?

AJANAKU: Oh, just thank me for keeping my word, Serubawon. Thank me for a job well done. I
have had the sixth virgin, so do your job, but thank me for keeping my word!

SERUBAWON: You kept your word! (He sits down slowly very dejected.) You kept your word, and
ruined something very dear... how could you? Couldn't you have chosen carefully? Couldn't you
have..? Oh, this is madness! (He breaks down sobbing quietly.)

AJANAKU: What is wrong with you, Serubawon? What is the meaning of this you are doing,
whimpering like a child desperately in need of its mother's breasts?

SERUBAWON: It shouldn't have been that girl. It shouldn't have been her!

AJANAKU: Who should it have been? When did we start making specific selection about the
virgin that serves our purpose?

SERUBAWON: Not that girl, Ajanaku, not that one!

AJANAKU: What girl? Which girl?

SERUBAWON: The one at the kolanut farm.

AJANAKU: Oh, that one? Stubborn bastard. She nearly ruined the rites with her resistance and
stubbornness. I should have killed her when I finished. And the idiot had one silly, hungry-looking
boy cuddling her right in the bush when my men burst into them. She even begged me, and I
almost pitied her. Can you believe that, Serubawon? I almost listened to her. How disastrous
that could have been! Thank your ancestors, Serubawon. That fool could have ruined everything
we built together in the last few years. (Chuckles.) But, I tell you, she was the only virgin I ever
enjoyed despite her stubbornness... so very fresh!

SERUBAWON: Stop laughing! (Panting with anger.) She begged you? How could you be so
heartless... and she begged you?

AJANAKU: What should I have done... listened to her plea?

SERUBAWON: That girl begged you!

AJANAKU: A rite is a rite; and so must be performed. That was your very word!

SERUBAWON: You should have listened to that one!

AJANAKU: (Shouts angrily.) How could I have? What do I care about your ninety-day rites? That
was your idea. Mine is to keep my word, find the right girl and I did! (OMOYENI comes out
quickly.)

OMOYENI: My Lord, are you all right?

AJANAKU: (Panting with anger.) I am fine. Leave us alone.

OMOYENI: I heard your scream and I thought..

AJANAKU: Leave us alone.

OMOYENI: Well, don't tarry. Your son awaits his father.

AJANAKU: Let him wait! (She is shocked.) Get out! (She exits hurriedly, SERUBAWON cries
softly.) Did you come here to cry about a girl or is there something else? Is there anything else?
(No response.) There is nothing anybody can do for her now. You said it yourself. She must
have been cursed, or chosen by our ancestors, or both. To be the one that I will lay my hands on,
means her destiny wanted to serve my own purpose. Is that not what you told me? When you
are done crying over the moral behind it, think of Jobele rites. After that we both don't have to
worry about any more virgins. Yet, if you think we need another one, my men will begin the
search immediately. (He moves towards the door about to exit.)

SERUBAWON: She is there in my house. She will neither eat nor drink; or even be consoled.
Every single day is spent in pain, and you caused it.

AJANAKU: What are you talking about? What is she doing in your house? (Silence.) What are you
not telling me? (SERUBAWON gets up slowly, going towards the door dejectedly.) Do not turn
your back to me! (SERUBAWON stops, but does not turn to face AJANAKU.) Who is she? Whose
daughter is she?

SERUBAWON: (Turns sharply.) You should have asked before laying your cursed hands on her.
You should have listened when she begged you. You should..

AJANAKU: I did what I had to do!

SERUBAWON: (Rushes to him and grabs him suddenly.) You did what you are not supposed to
do! (Both breathe heavily in anger, SERUBAWON chokes him. AJANAKU calls the guards. Two
palace guards rush in, and pull SERUBAWON away.) I made you king to be useful to me. I didn't
ask you to ruin me. You should have asked who she was... whose daughter she was. You should
have applied restraint!

AJANAKU: Get him out of here! (Guards bundle SERUBAWON out. He shouts as he is carried out.
OMOYENI rushes out again. Guards return.)
OMOYENI: Are you all right? My Lord, are you ...?

AJANAKU: (Shouts after SERUBAWON.) It is not my business to ask questions, but to perform a
rite! Never you dare, do what you just did to me again! (He pants.)

OMOYENI: Talk to me ... please. My Lord, talk to me.

AJANAKU: Out, all of you. Get out! (Guards run out.)

OMOYENI: My Lord, it's me, your wife.

AJANAKU: So what? Get out! (She dashes out. AJANAKU paces about. Dirge underground.
Lights fade.)
 Twelve

Night. IYA AGBA's house. IYA AGBA grinds pepper; she sings a song. OMOYENI comes in slowly
behind her. IYA AGBA does not turn, but speaks.

IYA AGBA: There is nothing here for you to steal. Don't waste your time.

OMOYENI: I have not come to steal anything, Iya. Please, I need your help.

IYA AGBA: Well, you made a mistake with that one too. How can a mad person help someone
that is sane; isn't that ridiculous madness?

OMOYENI: (She kneels.) The last time you came to the palace and asked for the king's father. I
thought you should know he has joined his ancestors. Why did you ask?

IYA AGBA: How can a mad woman know that?

OMOYENI: I don't think you are. I don't believe it. Is there something you know about him?

IYA AGBA: Why should that bother you? (She gets up, going in.)

OMOYENI: Please, don't go in. There is something I have to tell you. (Pause.) Everybody says Iya
Agba is mad, but lyale says Iya Agba understands. I also believe her. But, I don't really know
what Iya Agba understands.

IYA AGBA: Greet your husband for me. (She makes to go in.)
OMOYENI: He is not the father. (Silence. IYA AGBA turns.) But, I can't tell him.

IYA AGBA: Who is not whose father?

OMOYENI: My husband... the king. He is not the father of my child. (IYA AGBA looks at her
intently and then bursts into laughter:)

IYA AGBA: That the calabash faces downward is no antisocial behaviour; the calabash is only
acting according to its nature. So, it is not only Iya Agba that is mad. This land must be swelling
with mad people!

OMOYENI: (Sobbing.) I am in pains. I have lived my life in painful silence all these several moons.

IYA AGBA: Only mad people live their lives in painful loneliness, child.

OMOYENI: What should I have done? People blame me for leaving Delani. But, I had to. I ... I just
had to give in to his love advances. I had to, at that time!

IYA AGBA: Whose child is it? (OMOYENI sobs.) Who is the father of your child?

OMOYENI: It is Delani. We were meeting secretly.

IYA AGBA: Well. The handcuffs are fine, but has anyone seen the blacksmith fashion one for his
own children?

OMOYENI: Well? What?

IYA AGBA: There is only one thing to do.

OMOYENI: What is it? (Lights fade)

 Thirteen

IYA AGBA's house. IYALE leads in DEMOKE. ODEKUNLE carries DESOLA on his back. Also with
them are YOSOLA, DELE, LERE, YELE. IYALE signals to them to wait. She goes inside. Shortly,
IYA AGBA'S voice is heard, laughing as she comes out. She has a long chewing stick in her
mouth. IYALE is behind her.

IYA AGBA: (Laughing.) You will not kill me with your tongue, Iyale. Why will I not brush my mouth
in this land? You want your people to start singing my name about town that Iya Agba is not only
insane, her mouth also smells. (She pretends not to see the crowd. IYALE signals to them to
greet. Everybody goes down as appropriate except DESOLA who lies on her back on the ground.)
Let me tell you, I do not only do this early in the morning, it is also a night ritual.

IYALE: Iya Agba, your children are greeting you.

IYA AGBA: I can't remember having any child for Akinjobi.

IYALE: I mean your children.. the villagers.

IYA AGBA: Did they say I have been adopted as mother-effigy? Nobody told me that. Anyway,
who would even talk to a mad woman, except Iyale, my only friend?

IYALE: Please, Iya Agba, they are here, all around you.

IYA AGBA: Where? When? How?

DEMOKE: Iya Agba, we beg ..

IYA AGBA: Don't come near me! Iyale, what is this you have done?
IYALE: Pardon me, Iya Agba. I had to. There is real trouble in the land.

IYA AGBA: Trouble is never a new thing in this land, is it?

IYALE: This is different. Demoke and her daughter need your help. In fact, the whole of these
people need your help.

IYA AGBA: These people? Is that the names of your husband's new hunting dogs?

IYALE: Iya Agba, these people are your children. They are greeting you.

IYA AGBA: Me? Does this place look like your palace? Or, do I look like Ajanaku, your king? Greet
me the mad old woman?

IYALE: Yes.

IYA AGBA: Now, I know everybody in this land is mad.

IYALE: Iya Agba, they are really greeting you.

IYA AGBA: Are you sure you know what you are doing, lyale? Remember this is a dangerous
place to come to in this land. Madness grows all around here like trees. Is that not what these
same people say, even right there in the market? You better get your husband's hunting dogs
out of here before they are infected with madness.

IYALE: They can't leave, Iya Agba.

IYA AGBA: They have to.

IYALE: It is not for them, but for Desola's sake. You told me never to tell anyone what we
discussed. I have kept that promise until now. But, you will pardon me, I have to say this.
Remember you told me that Desola is your special daughter. These people are here because of
that same Desola.

IYA AGBA: You think you can fool me.

IYALE: I am not fooling you, Iya Agba. As the sky does not grow grass, so the soil of the
graveyard does not afford the dead an opportunity to read trails. Some situations offer people
no useful signs to help them understand. Please, this is one of such situations. (IYA AGBA does
not budge. She turns away. DEMOKE goes to her, kneeling and sobbing, so do the others.)

DEMOKE: We beg you, Iya Agba. The shin often forces the stream to speak out. Some matters
one cannot ignore often force one to take irrational actions. I know I have wronged you seriously.
I beg for your forgiveness, not for my sake, but my daughter's.

IYALE: You told me Desola was born on a day something good happened to you in spite of the
tribulation you suffered at the hands of this land. Because of that, you adopted her as your own
daughter. You even pray for her sometimes. Iya Agba, your Desola is here. She dies slowly. She
needs your help. She is dying.

IYA AGBA: Where is Desola?

YOSOLA: She is right here. (IYA AGBA turns, sees DESOLA lying on the ground and rushes to
her.)

IYA AGBA: Ah, my child! Can't she sit up?

YOSOLA: She can't. She cannot even talk again.

IYA AGBA: And, you people still exposed her to this cold? Why didn't you bring her inside?

DELE: But, you just said ..

LERE: Shut up! (ODEKUNLE and YELE quickly help her up and carry her inside.)

IYA AGBA: What was it? What happened to her?

DEMOKE: It was Ajanaku.

IYA AGBA: Who?

ODEKUNLE: The king.

IYA AGBA: What about your husband? What does he have to do with this?

DEMOKE: I don't know. He has not said anything. He only looks at her every time and sigh deeply.
When I ask he says nothing.

IYA AGBA: Serubawon is a terrible liar. He must know about this. (SERUBAWON enters.)

SERUBAWON: Yes, I do. (Everybody turns. They are shocked.) I know what happened to her. (He
kneels in submission.) Please, Iya Agba, I need your help.
DEMOKE: You know what happened to Desola and you didn't tell me. Ah, Serubawon, you are
wicked! (She pounces on him. IYALE tries to disentangle her hold, but to no avail.)

ODEKUNLE: This is not the way to help your daughter! (Silence. DEMOKE gradually leaves
SERUBAWON, but she continues to sob quietly.)

IYA AGBA: Serubawon, what did you call me just now? (Silence.) I want you to call my name
again. (Silence. IYA AGBA shouts at him.) I said call my name!

SERUBAWON: Fadeke!

IYA AGBA: Fadeke. Omofadeke Adunni ... that was my name. But, you lied and cheated, then
used your treachery to change my name. Suddenly, I became that mad woman, and then Iya
Agba, all because you wanted to cover up your atrocities. I was once a respected queen in the
palace of Akinjobi. You turned my husband against me. You connived with Adebisi, my younger
wife, and Demoke, your wife, backed up your lies. She even swore to what she never saw, and
both of you crashed my own world. Akinjobi believed you because he trusted his friend and
medicine man. What else will the elders do? Now tell me, that night I saw you and Adebisi in her
room doing what only my husband had the right to do with his wife, did you think I was going to
expose you? Did Adebisi not tell you that I swore never to say anything provided you stopped the
abominable act? Oh, she did, but you both had enjoyed it so much that you couldn't stop. You
completely betrayed the trust of those close to you. No one can turn back the tide of time. It is
too late now to cry. I did a lot of crying, alone, miserably, but that was in the past. I have only one
question for you. Who is Olaniyonu's father? (Silence.) Who is Ajanaku's father?

SERUBAWON: (Quietly.) I am!

DEMOKE: Aah, I am dead! (People are shocked.)

IYA AGBA: The unthinkable happened, and with it a series of other calamities. While Akinjobi
was legitimately sharing the bed with his wife, unknown to him, his blood was also mixing freely
with that of a bastard child. Soon, he developed a strange ailment. The same Serubawon
sharing the bed with his king's wife, was also his medicine man. And, to cover up their sacrilege,
they arranged for Olaniyonu to come into the bathroom. That boy forcefully took what belonged
to his father. I was accused of adultery, and Demoke swore to what she never saw!

DEMOKE: Please, ... don't say more please! (SERUBAWON is dejected. He moves to his wife.)

SERUBAWON: I am sorry, Demoke. Please, forgive ..

DEMOKE: Don't touch me! Iya Agba, I beg you. I know I do not deserve being in your presence for
what I have done. But, for the sake of motherhood, help me.

IYA AGBA: What do you know about motherhood? Anyway, how can I help you when I don't know
what Serubawon has done? Your husband is here, let him tell us what he did to your daughter.

DEMOKE: What did you do? What did you do to my daughter?

SERUBAWON: (Sighs.) It is ljedodo.

IYA AGBA: What did you say?

IYALE: Ijedodo? What does that mean?

IYA AGBA: Is that what you said, Serubawon? Did you really say ljedodo?

SERUBAWON: (Reluctantly.) Yes.

IYA AGBA: Oh, how can you do that? Ah, it is finished!

DEMOKE: What is finished? Please, tell me what is finished?

IYA AGBA: How can you be so terribly wicked? ljedodo has no cure. It feeds on the blood of the
virgin to keep whoever has done it alive, while that virgin dies a slow and painful death!

ALL: (Variously.) Aaah! Paga! Ogun o!

DEMOKE: (Holding SERUBAWON.) Kill me! Just kill me too! (ODEKUNLE suddenly rushes in,
returns with a cutlass aiming at SERUBAWON. DELE, LERE and YELE hold him. SERUBAWON
gets up quickly and removes his buba and faces ODEKUNLE.)

SERUBAWON: Leave him alone! Let him to do it! (Silence. DELE, YELE and LERE gradually leave
ODEKUNLE.) Go on, strike me. I deserve it. Go on do it... do it! (ODEKUNLE hesitates.) Strike me,
I say! (Moments of hesitation by ODEKUNLE.)

IYA AGBA: Give me the cutlass, Child. You have a great future ahead of you. Do not, out of anger,
rename yourself. Go on, give it to me. (Silence. ODEKUNLE sobs quietly, as his knees buckle and
he sinks to the ground with the cutlass. YOSOLA goes to embrace him.)

SERUBAWON: You should have allowed him. You should have allowed that boy to strike me
dead because I deserve it! Desola's life ebbs away. There is no cure for her condition and you
know that, Fadeke!

IYA AGBA: How can you be so sure?

SERUBAWON: Because there is no where I can find the only thing that can!
IYA AGBA: Well, it's your luck. You have everything you .. the prince, the king, the throne... you
have everything.

SERUBAWON: I have nothing. Desola is dying. Ajanaku is not mine anymore. I can't even
recognise him. I have lost everything! (Voices from outside. There is a short argument between
a man and a woman.)

VOICE I: Please, don't do this! You cannot do this now, please!

VOICE II: I can't do what? Haven't you ruined my life already? It ends today! (DELANI runs in,
followed by OMOYENI.)

OMOYENI: He is here, Iya Agba. You wanted me to bring him.

DELANI: So you tricked me into coming here, Omoyeni. You tricked me.

IYA AGBA: Sit down.

DELANI: What is happening here?

IYA AGBA: What does it look like? I said sit down! (DELANI sits.) Tell them what you told me the
last time you came here. (She looks around confused, afraid and unsure.) These are the same
people you know, are they not?

OMOYENI: But, Serubawon is..

DEMOKE: Forget Serubawon. He is nothing!

DELE: What does she have to tell us? What good thing can come from the mouth of a betrayer?

OMOYENI: He threatened me. Ajanaku threatened me. I love Delani, and have not stopped loving
him.

YOSOLA: But, you are carrying Ajanaku's baby. What kind of love is that?

OMOYENI: He would have killed my parents. Who doesn't know how rascally he behaved before
they made him king? Who could have stopped him from doing so? I had to give in to his love
advances to protect my parents, and the man I love.

DELE: Stop saying the man you love. It is annoying!

OMOYENI: But he is still the father of my child! (Silence.)

LERE: What did you just say?

DELANI: The child in her is mine.

IYALE: Aah, not again!

YELE: You have turned the palace into a breeding ground for bastards!

OMOYENI: Beg him for me. He insists I have to publiciy announce that he is the father of my
child and not the king.

LERE: That is the right thing to do.

OMOYENI: Don't you understand? Ajanaku will not only kill me; he will kill my parents. He will kill
him too!

DELE: Then, that solves the problem you created.

DELANI: Madness is in your liver. How can you say that?

DELE: What is more insane than what both of you have done?

SERUBAWON: She doesn't have to. (Silence.) There is a bath Ajanaku needs to do after which he
becomes unconquerable for anyone.

IYA AGBA: You want to make him immortal. What kind of man are you? Where on earth have you
ever heard that any mortal being rivals the divine? When do you plan to do that?

SERUBAWON: During the Jobele festival.

LERE: In three days?

SERUBAWON: We have what will end all of this.

IYA AGBA: And, what is that?

SERUBAWON: (Points at OMOYENI's tummy.) That one!

OMOYENI: (Springs up, and runs to hide behind IYA AGBA.) No, please don't do this! (DELANI
quickly picks up the cutlass on the ground.)

DELANI: You dare not touch her! (IYA AGBA goes to sit down quietly.)

IYALE: Is there no other way? (Silence.) lya Agba, please, say something!

IYA AGBA: What?

IYALE: Anything .. just anything apart from this!

IYA AGBA: (Sighs and sits down slowly.) I.. I don't know!

(DEMOKE and YOSOLA cry silently, so does ODEKUNLE. The rest of the people are in painful
silence. Lights fade.)
 Fourteen

Palace. Jobele Festival. Music, and dancing. Everybody is present. They are all dressed in
wrapper, all bare-chested except the women, who tie a wrapper round their bosoms. AJANAKU
is dressed in a long white robe, with a white cap on his head. The elders are all present except
SERUBAWON. Shortly, AJANAKU calls for calm. Silence everywhere.

AJANAKU: Let us thank our ancestors for standing with us, in wealth and stormy weathers; in
sickness and good health. In the very recesses of our hearts, let us all clamour for continued
relationship that our harvests might remain bountiful, our young men's vitality to perform their
duties, and our wives, safe delivery. Jobele festival is a time of renewal, but, for me, a time of
ascension into immortality. (Pause.) Where is Serubawon?

OGUNDELE: Perhaps, he is making sure everything is in their proper places, My Lord.

AJANAKU: This is not the time to tarry.

ODEGBAMI: (To a guard.) Get him here quickly! (GUARD exits.) Shall we proceed with the rites,
My Lord?

AJANAKU: Certainly. (Drumming and dancing commence. lt gradually builds up to a crescendo

and stops suddenly. A lone voice chants a very powerful dirge. People begin to wonder.
AJANAKU rises slowly.) What is that song? I said what song is that? (DESOLA walks in slowly.
She is naked except for a short pant, and a girdle that covers her bosom. Everybody is shocked.)
Who are you? I am your king, answer me! (ODEKUNLE and his friends enter: They are all armed.
ODEKUNLE holds a big calabash, which he places down at his feet. IYA AGBA Comes in, with
IYALE, DEMOKE and YOSOLA. They are all dressed in white, with girdles round their waists.)
Mad woman, what is the meaning of this? (ODEJIMI approaches ODEKUNLE with surprise.)

ODEJIMI: Odekunle, what is this? What are you trying to do?

IYA AGBA: Don't touch him!

ODEJIMI: He is my son!

IYA AGBA: Not now! (DESOLA suddenly lurches forward, and embraces AJANAKU. They both
stagger: She pulls back, but holds on to the neck of his white apparel, and tears it into shreds.
She staggers and falls face down on the throne. ODEKUNLE quickly opens the calabash, brings
out a red cloth sewn with gourds and charms, runs to AJANAKU and places it round his neck.
AJANAKU screams as ODEKUNLE steps away. People watch with utter consternation and
shock. AJANAKU gradually begins to react in a strange way as he goes down slowly.)

OGUNDELE: What have you done?

IYA AGBA: To who?

OGUNDELE: Him!

IYA AGBA: Ask him. Is he not your king? But for her, she just snatched her life back from your
tyrant. (To DEMOKE.) Go and get your daughter. She will live. (DEMOKE and YOSOLA rush to
DESOLA and raise her up, tending to her: She suddenly sneezes. DEMOKE and YOSOLA cry with
joy. GUARD runs in shouting from outside.)

GUARD: My Lord! (Enters, sees AJANAKU on the ground, goes to him slowly.) My Lord... Your
Highness!

ODEJIMI: Where is Serubawon?

GUARD: He is dead, My Lord. His body dangles on the iroko tree! (People express consternation.)
IYA AGBA: Whoever wishes to die a decent death should live a decent life. As one lives, so one
dies, and so shall one be buried. What are you still waiting for? Go to your homes. There is
nothing anybody can do to help this one. When these people are ready, they will announce the
name of your new king. (OMOYENI and DELANI run in. She looks around, goes to IYA AGBA.)

OMOYENI: Is it done?

IYA AGBA: What do you think? Delani, you can at last have your wife and child. (OMOYENI
Suddenly clutches her stomach.) What is it? Are you all right?

OMOYENI: He is coming!

IYA AGBA: Is it time?

OMOYENI: Yes ... yes, it is time!

IYA AGBA: Well, let him come! (The women quickly form a circle round her Lights fade.
Blackout.)

THE END