Free My Life in the Bush of Ghosts by Amos Tutuola Page A

without any noise, but I saw more than one thousand of the armless ghost’s partners that were hunting for me up and down in this bush to catch me and kill me, after they heard from the armless ghost what I had done to him. When they nearly traced me out and I believed that if they caught me no doubt they would kill me instantaneously, so without hesitation I jumped onto this “talking-land”, running away as fast as I could. Then it started to speak as before, of course, I did not listen to what it was saying, I was only running on faster to leave that “talking-area” in time to the “talkless-area” to hide myself in a safe “talkless-place”, because this “talking-land” was showing the place that I was reaching in the bush to these ghosts. But as I was still running on fiercely and with fear I did not know the time I mistakenly entered into another bush which was more dreadful than the “talking-land”.
    Immediately I entered it every part of it was blowing alarm, which was very fearful to hear and remain there, because it was blowing as if enemies are approaching a town. Then I stopped suddenly behind a tree as the noisesof these alarms were so curious and too fearful for me. To my surprise immediately I stopped all the alarms stopped blowing at once, but there I saw a very young ghostess who hid herself under a small bush which covered the bottom of this tree. She ran out unexpectedly and when she ran out I saw her clearly that she was very ugly so that she could not live in any town of ghosts, except to be hiding herself about in the bush both day and night for her ugly appearance. But her ugly appearance was so curious to me that I was chasing her as she was running away to see her ugliness clearly to my satisfaction, because I had never seen such a very ugly creature as this since I was born and since entered the Bush of Ghosts.
    Again, at the same moment that I left the place that I stood behind this tree the alarms started to blow according to how I was chasing this ugly ghostess and I was unable to stop in one place so that the alarms might stop, my aim was only to see the ugliness of this ugly ghostess clearly, because as she was running away so that I might not see her ugliness it was so she was laughing louder at her ugliness and I was also laughing louder at the ugliness. As I was chasing her to and fro to look at her ugliness it was so this bush was blowing various fearful alarms and this was pointing out how I was running and how far reaching in the bush to the ghosts who were chasing me at the back to kill me. This young ghostess was so ugly that if she hid under a bush and if she looked at her ugly body she would burst suddenly into a great laugh which would last more than one hour and this was detecting her out of the hidden place she might hideherself. She could not live with any ghost or other kind of creature because of her ugly appearance. As I was chasing her fiercely to and fro for a long time it was so those ghosts who were chasing me to kill me were approaching nearer, because these alarms were blowing repeatedly and showing what I was doing. This ugly ghostess did not allow me to look at her ugliness as she was running and laughing with all her power and full speed until I was seeing all these ghosts slightly and they were also seeing me slightly before I hid behind a tree, but at the same moment that I stood on a place it was so all these alarms stopped blowing, which means this bush wanted me to be in one place until these ghosts would come and kill me there.
    Having rested for a few minutes then I remembered again the ugliness of this ugly ghostess, but at that time I was seeing these ghosts clearly and they were also seeing me clearly. But as I determined to see or to look at the ugliness of this ghostess to my satisfaction and said—“It is better for me to die than to leave this ugly ghostess and run away without seeing her ugliness clearly to my entire