THE UNKNOWN HANDS (EPISODE THIRTY-NINE)

STORY SERIES

…After walking some distance, I met a hunter who was about turning back when he saw me until I assured him that I was a normal human being. “I am like this because I am coming from a long journey and I had lost my clothes in the jungle”. I told him from a

distance.

The man waited reluctantly even though his posture showed that he was ready for any eventuality.

“Where are you going?” he asked me faintly.

“Ogodo” I told him

“If that is the case, you are near the place then. It is just a moment walk from here”.

I walked passed him having thanked him. When I looked back, I saw the man hurrying off.

I was overjoyed at the way I was received when I got to Ogodo. I never believed I could receive such a warm welcome considering how I had left the place and how wretchedly I dressed. I was just like someone who had just escaped from a mad people’s home but it was as if they had longed to see me, as if I held the keys to the doors of their happiness. Within a few minutes of my arrival, Chief had given me one of his clothes to put on and I had just started narrating my experiences to them.

Perhaps, what gladdened my heart most was the news I got concerning the money I had been accused of stealing. Several weeks after my departure, the same money was found inside a pot and the explanation was that the woman had thought she kept it under the clothes on her bamboo bed, unknown to her, as she was putting the money there; it had dropped and fallen directly into an empty pot under her bed. According to the chief the discovery was during Abaje’s marriage ceremony when all the hopes of finding the money had been lost and when the chief had even borrowed money from friends and relations.

“It was the way God wished it.” I explained.

I had come to realize that there is good in evil and evil in good, the more reason why a man should not feel totally bad at any evil done him. On the long run, it could even be better that such evil was done him.  Evil done a man could turn fortunes for him later and that; I reasoned was true in my own case.

Within just a few days of my stay in that hut, I had enriched nearly every man that came my way and I marveled at the kind of treatment I was receiving as people now treated me like a god. I was happier when Chief Ogunlari himself explained how Aduke had felt the time I was leaving, falling sick for several weeks and generally refusing to eat, telling them to look for me at all cost, especially when the lost money was found.

According to the chief, he was extremely glad that I returned from the long journey safe and sound and that he could not give the girl to any other man in marriage except me. He explained further that if I would not mind, I could settle permanently at Ogodo and he promised to make land available to me as much as I would need.

I thanked him sincerely for his suggestions and I explained that while I found his proposal that I should take Aduke as my wife incontestable, it would be pretty difficult for me to settle down at Ogodo for the rest of my life. My journey through life had been that of struggles and there were many people to meet and so many places to go on a “thank you” tour. Besides, I told him that no one willingly prays to die in another man’s land unless compelled by circumstance. I assured him that since he was becoming my in-law, I would never desert him. Apart from becoming my in-law, he had been very accommodating and understanding even though there had been a slight misunderstanding between us, it was caused by circumstances that had eventually brought me a good fortune. There was no way I could ever forget him. I was happy that after concluding my speech, the chief reasoned with me. The day of my marriage to Aduke was fixed and preparation began almost in earnest.

It was a good ceremony, even beyond what I ever imagined. At first, I had appealed to chief Ogunlari to allow me return to Orija to inform my people but he rejected the idea, stressing that he was giving me his daughter on purely personal merit, that from our stay together he had seen me as a man of high personal integrity and noble-nature who would always take care of her.

From nearly all the surrounding villages, people trooped out in large numbers to witness and partake in the marriage activity. I could not believe my eyes and I came to realize that a man who takes a time to nurture his crop well would surely eat the best of harvest.

Five days after my marriage, I left for Orija…To be continued on Saturday.

                                                                                                     

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