Free Simbi and the Satyr of the Dark Jungle by Amos Tutuola Page B

“There is no better improvement at all. Even I am feeling cold as well,” Simbi muttered. “Feeling cold again?” Rali was greatly embarrassed when she heard like that from her. And she explained “Here is no fire with which to warm your body?”
    “Of course, let us leave the matter of fire first. But how can we get something to eat, for I am feeling to eat badly?” Simbi asked seriously.
    “I wonder, I don’t know where to get food, and there is no any edible thing near this place,” Rali explained.
    “You may go round here, probably you may get some of edible fruits,” Simbi advised calmly with sick voice.
    Then Rali left her on that rock, she was going from one tree and then to another, she was looking for the edible fruits. Thus she was going on and on and no until she had travelled about one mile from the rock.
    But a few minutes after she had left Simbi, a strange eagle was flying about. It was searching for the food which to be given to its nestlings. Its nestlings were on top of a high mighty tree. To top of this tree had been cut off by the strong wind from a long time. And its remaining stump was still about five hundred feet tall. It had a very huge hole which went zigzag from the top to the last tap root of it.
    When this eagle discovered Simbi had noticed how shelay down helplessly on the rock, it thought she was a dead animal. At the same time it pounced to her. It held her cloth and then flew up with her.
    As it was flying away with her, Rali saw her with the eagle when she was just returning with the fruits she could find.
    “Please Rali! please Rali! please Rali! come and take me back from this eagle! Please don’t let this eagle take me away! Please snatch me back from it!” Simbi exclaimed hurriedly.
    “Ah Simbi! ah Simbi! don’t let the eagle take you away! Try to take yourself from it! Don’t leave me alone in this jungle and go away!” Rali was greatly shocked.
    Thus Simbi and Rali were crying loudly to each other until the eagle had carried her away. After the eagle vanished among trees and hills, Rali bursted into a great tear. Because there was nobody with whom to be discussing and to be travelling with. And she started to wander about in this Dark Jungle and she was weeping repeatedly for the loss of her friend, Simbi.
    “If it were you or I how in deep grief you or I would be?”
    Having wandered for about four months she discovered Kadara, Sala, the other nameless refugees and Bako, the Siamese twin who was still in the form of a cock, and then she was wandering about with them.

CHAPTER EIGHT
Simbi became the wife of the Woodcutter
    When the eagle flew for a few minutes, it came to the tree on top of which its nestlings were in the nest. Then it threw Simbi down on the centre of the nest for its nestlings to eat her. But as she was heavier than what the nest could hold or stop, therefore she simply rolled from there down to the bottom of the hole, and luckily she had no any wound at all, for the smooth refuses prevented her from that.
    Now, Simbi was at the bottom of the hole helplessly. She cried out for help till her voice had become entirely hoarse, but there was nobody who could drag her out.
    After a while, she became conscious when the fresh air rushed to her from the top of that tree. Then she gathered all the refuses to one part of the hole. She sorted out all the fluffy ones. She spread them onto one place and it was just like a mattress. All these refuses were falling into the hole from the eagles, hawks, parrots, etc. which were living on top of the tree.
    Then she lay flatly on this mattress of refuses, she faced up and she was looking at the sky far off through thetop of the tree. Her intention was that she would see something which would take her out. But she did not understand all what she was seeing, because the sky was cloudy.
    Having thought in mind for a few minutes about her wealthy mother, she simpered at herself and then said loudly “Hoh! this is the