Free My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Amos Tutuola

what I could eat because there wasnothing more edible than the small fruits which had fallen down from this tree where I sat at its foot, although I did not know the name of the fruits or its tree as they belonged only to ghosts of that area. When I tasted them, they were very sour, though I ate them like that as there was no other food or any edible thing there for me again. Having finished these fruits at about eight o’clock I was looking for a safe place to sleep. After a few minutes I saw a large tree which was near that place and there was a huge hole in its body which could contain a person. Not knowing that this hole was the home of an armless ghost who had been expelled from his town which belonged only to all the armless ghosts. When I entered this hole I travelled to a part of it which contained me, but it still went further, so I laid down and fell asleep at the same time, because I had no chance to sleep or rest once for all the time that I spent inside that pitcher. But when it was about twelve o’clock in the midnight this armless ghost who was the owner of the hole wanted to go out, of course, I did not know that somebody was living there before I entered.
    As he could only go out at night to fetch his food, so when he reached the place that I slept he stumbled on me and fell down unexpectedly, because he did not know that somebody was there already and also the hole was very dark, so some part of his body was wounded as he was armless to defend himself. I woke up unexpectedly as he fell down on me suddenly, after a few minutes he tried his best and got up with pain, then he asked with rage—“Who is that?” Of course, as my friend the young ghost in the town of the ghost burglars had taught mesome of the ghosts’ language, so I replied—“I am an earthly person.”
    But when he heard the words of “earthly person” from me, he exclaimed—“Oh you are the one who is always coming here and stealing all my property whenever I go out, I will catch you this night, just hold on for a minute.” Having said so he cried out louder to the other ghosts who are his partners to come and help him to grip me as he is armless. But before his partners could reach there I jumped down from the hole to the outside, and without any ado I started to run away that night for my life. Immediately I jumped down and ran away I met over one thousand ghosts who were rushing to his hole to help him, but at the same time that they met me all of them did not go to him direct to hear what he called for, instead of that all were chasing me as I was running away as fast as I could. When they chased me to a short distance to catch me and failed then they got back from me to the armless ghost to hear what he called them for. But I was still running away, I did not stop, as I thought within myself that perhaps if I stop to rest for a few minutes they might come again to catch me, so by that I was still running away faster until I stepped into a part of the ground of this bush. But to my surprise at the same moment that I put my left foot on it to be still running away it was saying thus with a loud voice—“Don’t smash me! oh don’t smash me, don’t walk on me, go back to those who are chasing you to kill you, it is paining me too much as you are smashing me.”
    When I heard this so suddenly, I was so frightened so that I withdrew my foot back at once and I heard novoice again. After that I turned to another part and smashed it with the same foot as well, perhaps that part would not cry out—“don’t smash me.” But I heard the same caution suddenly with louder voice, so I withdrew my foot from it, then I stopped there and asked myself this question—“Can land talk like a human being, or can land feel pain if somebody smashes it?” After I asked myself this question with a dead voice, as there was nobody to ask and explain it to me, so I turned back at once to look for where is possible to travel or run in this bush